Level Best Books' annual crime wave continues with release of Best New England Crime Stories 2012: Dead Calm, its new anthology of original tales of cons, capers, subterfuge, suspense and, of course, murder and mayhem.  

Featuring twenty-seven of New England's most acclaimed mystery and crime writers, along with several compelling new voices, Level Best Books once again takes its readers on a sometimes scary, sometimes hilarious, walk down the region's dark side.

Edited by award-winning authors Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Barbara Ross and Leslie Wheeler, Best New England Crime Stories 2012: Dead Calm is the ninth annual anthology from the Massachusetts based independent press.  

Stories from the Level Best series have won virtually every national mystery-writing award including the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and Derringer awards, as well as the Robert L. Fish Memorial Prize for best first American mystery story, and have been honored with three Edgar® nominations--the mystery writing world's "Oscars®.

John Bubar: After thirty-six years as a pilot in both military and civilian aviation, Durham resident, John Bubar found his way back to school and is currently a candidate for an MFA in Writing at the University of New Hampshire.

Pat Remick: Portsmouth resident, Pat Remick is an award-winning short story author and veteran journalist, and has co-authored two non-fiction books.  She won the 2007 Al Blanchard Crime Fiction Award, and her short stories have appeared in previous Level Best Books anthologies.  A member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, Pat is working on a novel.

Tom Sweeney is another Portsmouth resident, whose stories have appeared in such magazines as Ellery Queen Myster Magazine and Woman’s World, and anthologies, including Mammoth Book of Legal Thrillers and Feodora: Private Eyes and Tough Guys.  His stories have been shortlisted for the Shamus Award and Pushcart Prize. He is currently working on a novel.

Leslie Wheeler: An award-winning author of books about American history and biographies, Wheeler now writes the Miranda Lewis “living history” series, the most recent of which is Murder at Spouters Point.  Her mystery stories have appeared in six anthologies published by Level Best Books, including the most recent, Best New England Crime Stories 2012: Dead Calm, to which she was a contributing editor.