In Instruments of Murder, his twenty-sixth book, the inimitable Max Haines describes more than fifty shocking crimes from around the world—many committed with the least likely of instruments. The stories include that of fifty-three-year-old Styllou Christofi of Cyprus, who was furious with her son Stavros for moving to England in 1937 and starting a family with a German named Hella—the ultimate betrayal of family and homeland. One night, while Stavros was at work and the two women were at home cleaning the kitchen, the older woman struck her daughter-in-law on the back of the head with a metal plate, rendering her unconscious. Using a scarf belonging to one of the grandchildren, Styllou strangled Hella and burned the body in a backyard bonfire.