Search Worlds Without End

Over the years, Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn have investigated a wide variety of murder and arson cases. This collection assembles for the first time the shorter cases of the detecting duo, including: "With Thimbles, with Forks, and Hope," their first case ever; the harrowing account of an arsonist out for revenge, "Torch Song," which has never been published before; and "All for One," also published first in this volume - a bittersweet tale of murderous family relations. Together with "Sister Alice" and "The Gorgon Field," these stories comprise a full house of fantastic fiction.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Robin Scott Wilson
• With Thimbles, with Forks, and Hope - (1981) - novella
• Sister Angel - (1983) - novelette
• All for One - novella
• The Gorgon Field - (1985) - novella
• Torch Song - novella

WFA and Nebula Award nominated novella.

What is Ramón's hold on Carl Wyandot, one of the richest men in the country? Carl's daughter hires Constance and Charlie to find out why her father intends to give a hidden valley in Colorado to him. In the valley there is the mammoth formation called the Gorgon Field, red sandstone pillars that are unscalable, cover an area a mile and a half from front to back, and reach nearly two hundred feet in height. Why is Constance entranced by them? Why are others so afraid of them?

The Gorgon Field originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August 1985. The story is included in the collections Children of the Wind (1989) and A Flush of Shadows (1995).

Hugo Award nominated novella.

It started with an insurance fraud investigation that took Constance and Charlie to a luxurious resort hotel in Florida where they found their suspect being stalked by an enigmatic woman. It ends with the couple aboard a fishing boat alone with a ruthless killer, and fighting for their lives.

The story originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, November 23, 1981. The story is included in the collections Listen, Listen (1981) and A Flush of Shadows (1995).