PETTY OFFENSES AND CRIMES OF THE HEART includes stories of ordinary people engaged in ordinary lives until betrayals, accidents, and misfortune put the puzzles of their weak choices and unfair chance into stark relief, leaving them with a kind of clarity they may have been happier not to have. Threads of danger and emotional trauma run through the fourteen stories in this collection. In crime, love, marriage, or friendship, it's the little things that matter most. It's the small betrayals or mistakes that often result in our downfall. Among the stories in the book are the Pushcart Prize nominated story "The Duke of Broad Street," and a 13th Story Magazine First Place Award winning story.