"In Private Investigations, twenty fan-favorite mystery writers share their first-person stories of grappling with mysteries they've personally encountered, at home and in the world. Caroline Leavitt regales us with a medical mystery, a time when she lost her voice and doctors couldn't find a cure; Martin Limon travels back to his military stint in Korea to grapple with the chaos of war; Anne Perry ponders the magical powers of stories conjured from writers' imaginations, and more"-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction : solving the mystery / Victoria Zackheim -- Ghosted / Hallie Ephron -- Plot twists : this writer's life / Jeffrey Deaver -- An extra child / Sulari Gentill -- Field notes à la Maigret from Paris / Cara Black -- Lydia and Jack / Connie May Fowler -- The land of the morning calm (and other military mysteries) / Martin Limón -- The clay that we shape / William Kent Kruege -- Origins and destinations / Ausma Zehanat Khan -- A trick of the light / Kristen Lepionka -- The mystery of deception / Lynn Cahoon -- The long shadow of war / Rhys Bowen -- I don't know this word / Rachel Howzell Hallie -- The beams keep falling / Steph Cha -- Writing about war / Jacqueline Winspear -- Can we live without mystery? / Tasha Alexander -- Godfathers, Nancy Drea, and cats / Carole Nelson Douglas -- The mystery of my lost voice / Caroline Leavitt -- Remembering the past / Charles Todd -- Nuns, magic, and Steven King / Robert Dugoni -- I want to be a magician / Anne Perry.