Book excerpt: True stories of crime in Miami by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Corpse Had a Familiar Face. Set against the neon backdrop of the South Florida city where Miami Herald reporter Edna Buchanan covered the police beat for nearly two decades, this memoir collects true tales of both heroes and villains—from the heartbreaking to the heartwarming to the outright hilarious. “A flurry of cases—of criminal Christmases, historic crimes, homicidal love, cop heroes, rescuers, odd occurrences (such as that of the barbiturate-soaked gunman who took 26 direct hits from cops’ guns and kept shooting until a 27th round took him down) . . . a generous bonanza for crime buffs, presented by one of the sharpest writers in the field.” —Kirkus Reviews