Tough and Other Short Stories: Tough, High Stakes, The Real Shape of the Coast

About this book

Product Description Three John Lutz mysteries in one collection"Tough"A major casino robbery turns sour when the getaway car breaks down in the desert. The robbers come across a nearby cabin but it is inhabited by an old loner. The three robbers try and hold him hostage but he escapes. It became their biggest mistake."High Stakes"Ernie, a down-on-his-luck gambler who owes the wrong people $1,000, is visited by two enforcers. To escape them, he climbs out onto a narrow building ledge, where he is unseen by the people far below. His only hope of survival lies in his imaginative way with a deck of cards."The Real Shape of the Coast"Along a beautiful stretch of beach sits a state institution for the criminally insane. Among its inmates are a man who killed his wife with a wine bottle; an ex-butcher who put strange substances into meat; and a man who pushed his daughter out of a forty-story window. When an inmate is found dead on the beach, the rest of the men eye each other coldly—for each of them had a motive to murder the unpopular victim. About the Author John Lutz—a multiple Edgar and Shamus Award winner including the Shamus Lifetime Achievement Award—is the author of over 40 books. His novel SWF Seeks Same was made into the hit movie Single White Female, and The Ex was a critically acclaimed HBO feature. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri, and Sarasota, Florida. Visit him online at johnlutzonline.com.