The Best American Mystery Stories 2016

by Elizabeth George, Otto Penzler (Editor)

Overview

“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 STEVE ALMOND, MEGAN ABBOTT, MATT BELL, LYDIA FITZPATRICK, TOM FRANKLIN, STEPHEN KING, ELMORE LEONARD, KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH and others
 
ELIZABETH GEORGE, guest editor, is the New York Times and internationally best-selling author of twenty British crime novels featuring Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his unconventional partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. Her crime novels have been translated into thirty languages and featured on television by the BBC.  

OTTO PENZLER, series editor, is a renowned mystery editor, publisher, columnist, and owner of New York’s The Mysterious Bookshop, the oldest and largest bookstores solely dedicated to mystery fiction. He has edited more than fifty crime-fiction anthologies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544527188
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Series:	Best American Mystery Stories Series
Edition description:	2016 ed.
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	295,068
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

OTTO PENZLER is a renowned mystery editor, publisher, columnist, and owner of New York’s The Mysterious Bookshop, the oldest and largest bookstore solely dedicated to mystery fiction. He has edited more than fifty crime-fiction anthologies. He lives in New York.

Hometown:

Seattle, Washington

Date of Birth:

February 26, 1949

Place of Birth:

Warren, Ohio

Education:

A.A. Foothill Community College, 1969; B.A. University of California, Riverside, 1970; M.S. California State University

Website:

http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com

Editorial Reviews

08/15/2016
Short story fans will find much to enjoy in series editor Otto Penzler’s highly readable 20th annual best-of anthology. Among the 20 contributors are such genre giants as Elmore Leonard (“For Something to Do”) and Stephen King (“A Death”), but lesser known authors prove more than able to hold their own. “Little Men,” an Edgar finalist by Megan Abbott, delivers delicious twists and dreamlike prose in a ghostly story of death set in 1950s Hollywood. “Safety” by Lydia Fitzpatrick strikes close to home with the tale of a school shooting, imbuing the characters with humanity. And Evan Lewis successfully riffs on Hammett’s “The Continental Op” with “The Continental Opposite,” while Robert Lopresti’s “Street of the Dead House” plays with Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by relating the familiar story from the perspective of the killer ape. Those looking for a quick fix of suspense and intrigue won’t be disappointed. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Characters linger in memory...a nice mix of stories by well-known authors (Stephen King and Elmore Leonard) and lesser knowns...a treat for crime-fiction fans wanting a small plate rather than the full meal."—Library Journal "Highly readable...those looking for a quick fix of suspense and intrigue won’t be disappointed."—Publishers Weekly "Venerable series...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 —

From the Publisher

2016-07-20
Turning away from the spooky and toward the psychologically fraught, the latest edition of this venerable series offers variations on themes that may well be uppermost in Americans’ minds.Pursuit looms large in this year’s collection. Tiny apparitions challenge the mental balance of a savvy Hollywood makeup artist in Megan Abbott’s “The Little Men.” Hardworking Loomis is dogged by stalkers who have a novel way of getting him to be kinder to his wife in Steve Almond’s “Okay, Now Do You Surrender?” In “Lafferty’s Ghost,” Dennis McFadden’s layabout hero is trying to mend his marriage as well, but his efforts are derailed as much by his own poor judgment as by big men with big guns. And it isn’t always clear who’s the hunter and who’s the prey, as Elmore Leonard shows in “For Something to Do.” Escape is another favorite theme this year. In “Toward the Company of Others,” Matt Bell gives a scavenger the agonizing choice of saving an imprisoned child or getting away with his ill-gotten gains. The heroine of Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Christmas Eve at the Exit” struggles to make the holiday meaningful for her 10-year-old daughter while the pair are on the run. Escaping from prison isn’t as easy as it sounds in Bruce Robert Coffin’s “Fool Proof.” And Robert Lopresti’s “Street of the Dead House” shows that even for the supposedly lower species, the ultimate escape isn’t from imprisonment but from the mystery of one’s own mind. Perhaps Lydia Fitzpatrick sums up best the insecurity that marks so many of this year’s sharpest stories in “Safety,” a tale that will chill the spine of anyone who lived through the Sandy Hook massacre: no one is ever truly safe.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