The International Association of Crime Writers Presents Bad Behavior

This book is a collection of bizarre short stories edited by Mary Higgins Clark. A good variety of stories. Good for waits in doctors office as each story is only 4-5 pages long.

"Bad Behavior," a collaboration by the International Association of Crime Writers, contains 22 mystery stories, as recapped below:"Thrown-Away Child" by Thomas Adcock -- A young black man seeks to avenge his uncle's untimely death, supposedly caused by a conniving pastor. Not very suspenseful, but well written with a voodooistic New Orleans setting. >> "The Framing Game" by Paul Bishop -- A high school basketball player is framed for stealing a pair of Air Jordans. Simple, yet effective. Good ending. >> "Revenge" by Samuel Blas -- When a man's wife is brutally raped and beaten, he sets out to find the perpetrator. Fast paced, but ending left wide open.<p>"Like a Bug on a Windshield" by Lawrence Block -- A truck driver fears he may have given a fellow trucker the idea to run other vehicles off the road. This one will definitely have readers looking twice at truckers. >> "Bless This House" by Christianna Brand -- An unsubtle story set in England about a young carpenter, a pregnant virgin, and the woman who lets them stay in her shed. >> "The Gun" by Ann Carol -- A brief interrogation by two detectives of a teen boy who had found a gun in a parking lot. Surprising ending. You might have to read it twice to get it, like I had to.<p>"Lucky Dip" by Liza Cody -- A homeless girl pickpockets a corpse, unaware of what she's stolen. Very good story, but the ending left me wanting more. >> "Death of the Right Fielder" by Stuart Dybek -- The title says it all: a young right fielder mysteriously dies while playing baseball. Weak ending. >> "The Dare" by Carol Ellis -- A young man is pressured into breaking into a house, and steals a trophy.<p>"Why Herbert Killed His Mother" by Winifred Holtby -- An amusingly dry story of a mother who dotes on her son too much. >> "The Girl Who Loved Graveyards" by P. D. James -- An orphan girl searches for her father's grave. >> "The Green Killer" by M. E. Kerr -- When a young man's spoiled cousin dies, he's eager to inherit his things. Loose ending, but a good moral about trying--and failing--to be someone you're not.<p>"Kim's Game" by M. D. Lake -- A summer camp game teaches a girl how to solve a counselor's murder. Well written, though the motive is unanswered. >> "Darker than Just Before the Dawn" by John H. MaGowan -- A woman reads of several serial murders in an out-of-town newspaper. You almost feel sorry for the protagonist, despite her role in the story. >> "Late Developments" by Terry Mullins -- A young man witnesses a mob murder and helps to solve it.<p>"The Premonition" by Joyce Carol Oates -- A man has a premonition to visit his brother's family during Christmas. Kind of a creepy holiday story. The reader will have to read between the lines to understand what happened to the man's brother. >> "The Maltese Cat" by Sara Paretsky -- A private investigator looks for her client's runaway sister. Longest story here, but pretty good. >> Two young men play a nocturnal death-sport called "The Werewolf Game" (by Mauricio-Jo