<p>The 2005 edition of <b>The Best American Crime Writing</b> offers the year's most shocking, compelling, and gripping writing about real-life crime, including Peter Landesman's article about female sex slaves (the most requested and widely read <em>New York Times</em> story of 2004), a piece from <em>The New Yorker</em> by Stephen J. Dubner (the coauthor of <b>Freakanomics</b>) about a high-society silver thief, and an extraordinarily memorable "ode to bar fights" written by Jonathan Miles for <em>Men's Journal</em> after he punched an editor at a staff party. But this year's edition includes a bonus -- an original essay by James Ellroy detailing his fascination with Joseph Wambaugh and how it fed his obsession with crime -- even to the point of selling his own blood to buy Wambaugh's books. Smart, entertaining, and controversial, <b>The Best American Crime Writing</b> is an essential edition to any crime enthusiast's bookshelf.</p>