Lively and glamorous the 1920s may have been, but it was also a productive era for American writers who chronicled the dark side of human nature. This impressive collection includes Ellery Queen's The Roman Hat Mystery, W.R. Burnett's Little Caesar, S.S. Van Dine's The Benson Murder Case, and Earl Derr Biggers's The House Without a Key—Charlie Chan's 1925 debut. For each of these four unabridged novels, Edgar-winning editor Leslie Klinger provides extensive annotations, illustrations, and supplemental materials related to the authors, plus an overview of the history of American crime writing.