Pub Date: 2006-10-31 Pages: 96 Language: English Publisher: HarperCollins US Six years before she wrote Little Women. Louisa May Alcott. in financial straits. entered Paulines Passion and Punishment. a novelette. in a newspaper contest Not only. did it win the 100 prize. but. published anonymously. it marked the first in the series of blood & thunder tales that would be her livelihood for years In Behind a Mask. editor Madeleine Stern introduces four Alcott thrillers:. Paulines Passion and Punishment. The Mysterious Key. The Abbots Ghost. and the title story. Behind a Mask. First published in one volume in 1975. they are regarded as Alcotts finest work in this genre. These gruesome. passionate stories reveal a darker side of Alcott. Yet. in their mastery of suspense and psychological drama. they attest to the multifaceted genius of their creator. While Alcott wrote many of t...