The Best American Mystery Stories 2020

A collection of the year's best mystery short fiction selected by New York Times best-selling and Edgar Award-winning author C. J. Box. C. J. Box, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the hugely popular Joe Pickett series, selects the best short mystery and crime fiction of the year in this annual "treat for crime-fiction fans" (Library Journal).

Steph Cha, a rising star who brings a fresh perspective as series editor, takes the helm of the new The Best American Mystery and Suspense, with best-selling crime novelist Alafair Burke joining her as the first guest editor. "Crime writers, forgive the pun, are killing it right now creatively," writes guest editor Alafair Burke in her introduction. "It was difficult--painful even--to narrow this year's Best American Mystery and Suspense to only twenty stories." Spanning from a mediocre spa in Florida, to New York's gritty East Village, to death row in Alabama, this collection reveals boundless suspense in small, quiet moments, offering startling twists in the least likely of places. From a powerful response to hateful bullying, to a fight for health care, to a gripping desperation to vote, these stories are equal parts shocking, devastating, and enthralling, revealing the tension pulsing through our everyday lives and affirming that mystery and suspense writing is better than ever before. The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021includes JENNY BHATT- GAR ANTHONY HAYWOOD- GABINO IGLESIAS- AYA DE LEÓN- LAURA LIPPMAN DELIA C. PITTS- ALEX SEGURA- FAYE SNOWDEN- LISA UNGER and others

New York Times best-selling author of ten genre-bending novels Jonathan Lethem helms this collection of the year's best mystery short fiction. Jonathan Lethem, "one of America's greatest storytellers" (Washington Post), selects the best short mystery and crime fiction of the year in this annual "treat for crime-fiction fans" (Library Journal).

The New York Times–bestselling author presents a thrilling anthology of devious crimes with stories by C. J. Box, Peter Straub, Joyce Carol Oates and more. “Some people might tell you that crime short stories, unlike the more precious kind, are a kind of fictional ghetto, full of cardboard characters and clichéd situations. Not true. These stories are remarkably free of bullshit—al­though there’s always a little, just to grease the wheels,” writes guest editor John Sandford in his introduction to this action-packed volume of mystery fiction. From an isolated Wyoming ranch to the Detroit boxing underworld, and from kidnapping and adultery in the Hollywood Hills to a serial killer loose in a nursing home, The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 hosts an entertaining abundance of crime, psychological suspense, and bad intentions. The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 includes entries by C.J. Box, Gerri Brightwell, Jeffery Deaver, Brendan DuBois, Trina Corey, Craig Johnson, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub, and others.

New York Times best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld selects the twenty best short stories of the year.

The Anthony Award–winning author presents a “highly readable” anthology featuring mysteries by Stephen King, Megan Abbott, Elmore Leonard and more (Publishers Weekly). “What you’ll find in this volume are stories that demonstrate a mastery of plotting; stories that compel you to keep turning the pages because of plot and because of setting; stories that wield suspense like a sword; stories of people getting their comeuppance; stories that utilize superb point of view; stories that plumb one particular and unfortunate attribute of a character,” promises guest editor Elizabeth George in her introduction. The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 is a feast of both literary crime and hard-boiled detection, featuring a seemingly innocent murderer, a drug dealer in love, a drunken prank gone terribly wrong, and plenty of other surprising twists and turns. The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 includes entries by Steve Almond, Megan Abbott, Matt Bell, Lydia Fitzpatrick, Tom Franklin, Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and others. “There isn’t enough Xanax in anyone’s medicine cabinet to calm the jitters these 20 skillful stories will unleash on a worried world.” —Kirkus Reviews

An anthology of the best mystery short stories published in 2017 selected by best-selling author Louise Penny.

Guest editor Lee Child selects the best mystery stories of the year.

Presents a collection of mystery stories selected from magazines in the United States and Canada

Featuring twenty of the year's standout crime short stories handpicked by one of the world's best thriller writers, Best American Mystery Stories 2010 showcases not only the very best of the crime genre, but the best of American writing full stop. Within its pages, literary legends rub shoulders with the hottest new talent. Contributors in the past have included James Lee Burke, Jeffrey Deaver, Michael Connelly, Alice Munro and Joyce Carol Oates. This year's guest editor is Lee Child, the creator of Jack Reacher and a simultaneous bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic.

Collects the best noir writing from 1910 to 2010, including works by James M. Cain, Joyce Carol Oates, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane, Evan Hunter, Mickey Spillane, Patricia Highsmith, and William Gay.

Presents a collection of mystery stories selected from magazines in the United States and Canada

Presents a collection of mystery stories selected from magazines in the United States and Canada

"Impressive precision and heart-gripping suspense....Good characters, an extra good story, and great scenes of life and death in the wilderness"--New York Times Book Review Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must investigate an attempted murder--a crime committed from a confoundingly long distance--in the riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box. When Joe Pickett is asked to join the rescue efforts for the victim of a startling grizzly attack, he reluctantly leaves his district behind. One survivor of the grizzly's rampage tells a bizarre story, but just as Joe begins to suspect the attack is not what it seems, he is brought home by an emergency on his own turf. Someone has targeted a prominent local judge, shooting at him from a seemingly impossible distance. While the judge was not hit, his wife is severely wounded, and it is up to Joe to find answers--and the shooter. The search for the would-be assassin becomes personal when Joe's best friend, Nate Romanowski --just as he's adjusting to the arrival of his first child--falls under suspicion for the crime. It's a race against the clock as Joe tries to clear Nate's name and identify the real shooter, all while deciphering the grizzly encounter. Beset by threats both man-made and natural, the two men must go to great lengths to keep their loved ones safe.

A chilling noir collection featuring fifteen crime and mystery tales and six poems from female authors. Joyce Carol Oates, a queen-pin of the noir genre, has brought her keen and discerning eye to the curation of an outstanding anthology of brand-new top-shelf short stories (and poems by Margaret Atwood!). While bad men are not always the victims in these tales, they get their due often enough to satisfy readers who are sick and tired of the gendered status quo, or who just want to have a little bit of fun at the expense of a crumbling patriarchal society. This stylistically diverse collection will make you squirm in your seat, stay up at night, laugh out loud, and inevitably wish for more. With stories by: Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood (poems), Valerie Martin, Aimee Bender, Edwidge Danticat, Sheila Kohler, S.A. Solomon, S.J. Rozan, Lucy Taylor, Cassandra Khaw, Bernice L. McFadden, Jennifer Morales, Elizabeth McCracken, Livia Llewellyn, Lisa Lim, and Steph Cha. Praise for Cutting Edge “The indefatigable Joyce Carol Oates gathers a strong list of names . . . . Emerging and established authors provide attention-grabbing short works: especially notable are Edwidge Danticat's story on the quotidian horror of domestic violence, Bernice L. McFadden’s comic take on the appropriation of racial friendship, and Lisa Lim’s illustrations of a grotesque marriage.” —Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine “But of course, in the end, it isn't the themes or the innovations on the format of the short story anthology that make the tales collected in Cutting Edge most “feel” as if you were reading Joyce Carol Oates herself. It is the writing. The tight plots and fresh, flowing prose that go about their business until—snap!—the story’s well-oiled mousetrap does its job.” —New York Journal of Books “The 15 stories and six poems in this slim yet weighty all-original noir anthology . . . are razor-sharp and relentless in their portrayal of life, offering snapshots of dysfunction, everyday toil, and brief joy. It is unusual, however, in its scope, zeroing in not only on what the female characters endure but what they dish out . . . . Each story sears but does not cauterize, leaving protagonists and readers raw . . . . Fans of contemporary crime fiction won’t want to miss this one.” —Publishers Weekly

A cornucopia of the best new whodunits, collected by one of the mystery scene’s eminent editors, “a giant of the genre” (Lee Childs). One of the best mystery books of the 21st century, this volume features outstanding new stories of crime, derring-do, fast-paced adventures, and puzzles, featuring hardy amateur detectives ranging from young to old and grizzled private eyes whose patches cover the city streets, all in the hallowed tradition of Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Philip Marlowe. Jakubowski’s many anthologies, like The Book of Extraordinary Historical Mystery Stories, have attracted plenty of attention and awards. His newest collection, The Book of Extraordinary Amateur Sleuths and Private Eye Stories, features never-before-seen short fiction by some of the most renowned American and British crime and thriller authors of today. Whether the victim was done in at the party uptown or discovered in the other room of a particularly difficult woman or man, these mysteries will have you reading at the edge of your seat. Praise for Maxim Jakubowski and His Books “I have been a fan of Maxim Jakubowski for years. There just is no finer mystery writer and editor anywhere. Find a comfortable chair and a strong drink and prepare to be enthralled.” —Alexander Algren, author of Out in a Flash: Murder Mystery Flash Fiction “Maxim Jakubowski is deeply experienced in the field . . . Sometimes a brief zap of great writing is just what you’re in the mood for or have time for. That’s when anthologies like his are ideal . . . intellectually outstanding.” —New York Journal of Books

Whether it's a subway station in Norway, ski resort in Vermont, McMansion in the suburbs, or trendy art gallery in Toronto, the 21 authors represented in this superb collection of mystery and suspense interpret the overarching theme of the best-laid plans in their own inimitable style. And like many best-laid plans, they come with no guarantees. Stories by Tom Barlow, Susan Daly, Lisa de Nikolits, P.A. De Voe, Peter DiChellis, Lesley A. Diehl, Mary Dutta, C.C. Guthrie, William Kamowski, V.S. Kemanis, Lisa Lieberman, Edward Lodi, Rosemary McCracken, LD Masterson, Edith Maxwell, Judy Penz Sheluk, KM Rockwood, Peggy Rothschild, Johanna Beate Stumpf, Vicki Weisfeld, and Chris Wheatley.

The latest Mystery Writers of America story collection, featuring terrifying tales of encounters with strangers from some of the top bestsellers and award winners in crime fiction It’s been said that all great literature boils down to one of two stories—a man takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town. While mystery writers have been successfully using both approaches for generations, there’s something undeniably alluring in the nature of a stranger: the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water. No matter how or where they appear, strangers are walking mysteries, complete unknowns in once-familiar territories who disrupt our lives with unease and wonder. In the newest collection of stories by the Mystery Writers of America, each author weaves a fresh tale surrounding the eerie feeling that comes when a stranger enters our midst, featuring stories by prolific mystery writers such as Michael Connelly, Dean Koontz and Joe Hill.

A Best Book of 2020 from Suspense Magazine Deadly Anniversaries celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Mystery Writers of America with a collection of stories from some of the top names in crime fiction. An anniversary can honor many things: a birth, a wedding and sometimes even a death. In Deadly Anniversaries, editors Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini present new stories from some of the best contemporary authors to honor the diamond jubilee of the Mystery Writers of America, an organization founded on the principle that “Crime Doesn’t Pay—Enough.” Each author puts their own unique spin on what it means to recognize a certain day or event each year. These nineteen stories travel across a wide range of historical and contemporary settings and remind readers of how broad the mystery writing tradition can be, encompassing detective tales, domestic intrigue, psychological suspense, black humor and thrilling action. By the time this group of bestsellers and award-winners is through, none of us will ever look at anniversaries the same way again. Deadly Anniversaries is sure to shock, scare and delight mystery and suspense fans of all kinds, featuring the following contributors: Sue Grafton Laurie R. King Lee Child Margaret Maron S.J. Rozan Max Allan Collins Wendy Hornsby Jeffery Deaver Bill Pronzini Carolyn Hart Peter Lovesey Meg Gardiner Marcia Muller Julie Smith William Kent Krueger Peter Robinson Naomi Hirahara Doug Allyn Alison Gaylin Laura Lippman

"Featuring guest-editor contributions by the author of the Outlander series, a latest annual edition compiles top-selected short works of science fiction and fantasy from the year 2019."--Provided by publisher.