* Penn Williamson's previous hardcover, Mortal Sins (Mysterious Press, 6/00), grossed nearly 50,000 copies. The paperback edition will be released simultaneously with, and contain a teaser chapter from, The Crucible Of Death.* The author's novels are extremely popular in Europe, especially France and Germany, where they are best-sellers.* The Crucible Of Death continues Williamson's successful departure from her earlier women's fiction titles, written under the name Penelope Williamson. Here, in this stand-alone novel, she picks up where Mortal Sins left off in a riveting story of murder, desire, and intrigue that will further establish her as a mainstream author in the same vein as Sandra Brown.