I.D. Crimes of Identity

Michael Jecks, Stuart Pawson, Natasha Cooper, Edward D Hoch, Carla Banks, Bill Kirton , Peter Lovesey , Christine Poulson , Zoe Sharp , Frank Tallis , Yvonne Eve Walus , Tonino Benacquista , Robert Barnard , Matt Coward , Kate Ellis , Paul A Freeman — 2022

***Winner of the National Crime Short Story Prize*** Robert Barnard's contribution 'Sins of Scarlet' won the National Crime Short Story Prize. A woman contemplating suicide on Beachy Head finds a bench dedicated to the memory of herself. An art lover in Venice conducts a spree of mutilations as a response to the Surrealist Movement. At Heathrow Airport, armed police take up positions to apprehend the wrong man... The latest showcase of shorts from the CWA celebrates the ‘who’ in the whodunnit, the psyche behind the psychological profile. Husbands lead double lives, psychologists confuse perpetrators with ex-partners, neighbours reassess the people they thought they knew. It seems if there’s one thing you can’t classify or slap an ID card on, it’s the id. The collection includes stories by two recipients of the Crime Writers’ Association ‘Diamond Dagger’ lifetime achievement award (Peter Lovesey and Robert Barnard), and an American Grand Master awardee (Edward D Hoch, who has published more crime short stories than anyone else, ever!).