A collection of short stories about murder from 1958-1963, collected and introduced by Hitchcock. Included are "A Little Push From Cappy Fleers" by Gilbert Ralston, a Sunset Boulevard styled story about an innocent who finds the sordid underbelly of Hollywood. "Third Party in the Case" by Philip Ketchum is the story of two criminals so similar in personality that they fall in love with the same woman, and "If This Be Madness" by Lawrence Block is narrated by an institutionalized man who explains his public and violent instability. My favorites in the collection were the Ralston story and "Anatomy of an Anatomy" by Donald E. Westlake, about a woman who can't convince the police that, piece by piece, someone in her apartment building is disposing of a body in the incinerator. ( )

No real clunkers here, but nothing rises above the amusing or ironic either. Most of the stories have some sort of twist, but nothing shocking or surprising, despite the presence of some "name" authors - Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, Fredric Brown, etc. ( )

Who's afraid of Alfred Hitchcock?
Here are 16 haunting stories from the few stout-hearted men who aren't afraid of the gentleman…
and nearly scared him to death.
Murderers to remember….
Greedy husbands, hen-pecking wives, fickle bachelors, nosey spinsters, grumbling servants, wronged maidens, crooked executives, jealous siblings -- these are the unsung heroes and heroines of crime. Where professionals rarely execute an inspirational murder, these mere amateurs persecute and kill with passionate ingenuity. But, alas, all too often the brilliance of their acts has to be admired by them alone. For a perfect crime, by definition, must go undetected.
In this volume you are given a rare opportunity to observe, with their reluctant permission, these dedicated masters of murder at their ingenious best. It is an experience you are likely never to forget.