I'm excited to have two new books published in 2010: A New Omnibus of Crime, which I co-edited with the late Tony Hillerman, and my first mystery novel, Front Page Teaser, which follows the adventures of gutsy Boston tabloid reporter Liz Higgins. While A New Omnibus of Crime is an anthology that celebrates the best of the last 75 years in mystery writing, Front Page Teaser is a love song to the news-reporting life, a tribute to librarians, and a celebration of Boston's lively Irish pub/Celtic music scene. It also takes a look at how the way we write and headline the news colors the public's understanding of it. In our edgy contemporary world, it is also shows how people who pre-judge one another often get into deep trouble. May I add, that there is plenty of humor in Front Page Teaser, along with these more thought-provoking themes. Much action is set in scenes that will be familiar to Bostonians and residents of some other Massachusetts cities and towns -- and some action is set during Christmastime.As the Edgar Award-nominated editor in chief of The Oxford Companion to Crime & Mystery Writing, as a book reviewer, and as the editor of a number of mystery anthologies, it is quite a thrill, with Front Page Teaser, to add "mystery writer" to my credentials as "mystery editor," "mystery scholar," and "mystery critic."