Among the highlights of this award–winning collection is “Sweet Cactus Wine‚” in which a widow fends off the attention of an unwanted suitor with a little assistance from a giant saguaro cactus. In “The Cyaniders” — written especially for this collection — husband and wife geologists team up to discover a killer in a remote mining town. “Forbidden Things” recounts the revelations of a woman who confronts her past in the ruins of a long–abandoned mountain cabin.
Marcia Muller is an American author of mystery and thriller novels. Muller has written many novels featuring her Sharon McCone female private detective character. Vanishing Point won the Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel. Muller had been nominated for the Shamus Award four times previously. In 2005, Muller was awarded the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master award. She was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Birmingham, Michigan, and graduated in English from the University of Michigan and worked as a journalist at Sunset magazine. She is married to detective fiction author Bill Pronzini with whom she has collaborated on several novels.