Some murder cases reveal the answers quickly and with relative ease. But sometimes, the case is an intractable puzzle, filled with smoke and mirrors. The "country's premier true crime author" (Library Journal) reveals several such cat-and-mouse cases here.

First, the ideal family is targeted for death by the least likely enemy. In another case, a sexual predator hides behind multiple fake identities, eluding police for years while his past victims live in fear that he will hunt them down. There's also the true story of a modest preacher's wife confessing to shooting her husband after an argument but there's more to her shattering story than meets the eye. These and other true crime tales are analyzed with Ann Rule's "extraordinary" (The New York Times) compassion and objectivity in this collection.