This collection of twenty-six stories includes the 2008 Al Blanchard Award-winning story, Family Plot, where a death in the family exposes a struggling single mom to the greed of relatives she didn't even know she had. This year's collection introduces stunning shorts by new voices Libby Mussman and Joe Ricker. Susan Oleksiw continues the adventures of Indian-American Anita Rey at Auntie Meena's Hotel Delite, in a sad tale of jealousy and ambition. Mike Wiecek returns with a closely-observed story of city crooks and small town politics in Vacationland. Judy Green takes us back to a 1950's childhood, and a child's attempts to understand the mysteries of adult behavior, in Dark. An aging editor struggles to revive his paper's readership in Pat Remick's Circulation.