Robert Lopresti can still remember where he was when he first read the words "They were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" He spent his first three decades in New Jersey and the next three, almost, in the Pacific Northwest. He is the author of more than fifty mystery short stories which have been published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (twenty-five of them), Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, The Strand, and plenty of anthologies. His first novel, SUCH A KILLING CRIME, was published by Kearney Street Books in 2005. He conceived and edited THURBER ON CRIME, which Mysterious Press produced in 1995. His most popular character is Leopold Longshanks, a mystery writer who gets reluctantly pushed into solving true crime. A collection of the humorous stories, SHANKS ON CRIME, is available. Bill Crider, in Mystery Scene Magazine, wrote "All the stories are clever, witty, and well-written... If you haven't met Shanks before, this book provides an excellent chance to get acquainted." His stories have won the Derringer Award (twice), the Black Orchid Novella Award, and been nominated for the Anthony Award.Lopresti is an academic librarian and, besides his scholarly articles, he is particularly proud to have been paid cash money for a non-fiction piece entitled "How Overdue Books Caused The Civil War." You can find it on the web if you want to what REALLY caused the whole shebang.He is also a songwriter with an album called CAN I BLAME YOU? Three of his songs have been recorded by other musicians, who really should have known better.He promises that he will soon have a book out whose title does not end with the word CRIME.