The Best of Manhunt 4: The Jack Ritchie Stories

BEST OF MANHUNT 4

Although Ritchie never achieved the kind of name recognition that even lesser authors enjoyed, perhaps because he toiled in mostly one genre and in one format, he still garnered the respect of his peers and the admiration of regular readers of mystery digests.

Ritchie was nominated for three Edgar Awards, winning for his Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine story "The Absence of Emily." His stories were selected in Best Detective Stories of Year anthologies 21 times over a period of 21 years, beginning in 1961 with his story "Shatter Proof" for Manhunt until his death in 1983.

Ritchie's stories appeared in 117 issues of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and in 57 Alfred Hitchcock anthologies. Three television episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents/Hour were based on his stories and five episodes of Tales of the Unexpected, as well one episode of the Canadian television show The Unforeseen. His story "The Green Heart," which appeared in AHMM, was filmed as A New Leaf, an Elaine May film starring Walter Matthau.

-Jeff Vorzimmer from his Introduction