“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.
Includes the following 20 stories:
MEGAN ABBOTT—The Little Men
STEVE ALMOND—Okay, Now Do You Surrender?
MATT BELL—Toward the Company of Others
BRUCE ROBERT COFFIN—Fool Proof
LYDIA FITZPATRICK—Safety
TOM FRANKLIN—Christians
STEPHEN KING—A Death
ELMORE LEONARD—For Something to Do
EVAN LEWIS—The Continental Opposite
ROBERT LOPRESTI—Street of the Dead House
DENNIS MCFADDEN—Lafferty’s Ghost
MICHAEL NOLL—The Tank Yard
TODD ROBINSON—Trash
KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH—Christmas Eve at the Exit
GEORGIA RUTH—The Mountain Top
JONATHAN STONE—Mailman
ART TAYLOR—Rearview Mirror
SUSAN THORNTON—Border Crossing
BRIAN TOBIN—Entwined
SARAL WALDORF—God’s Plan for Dr. Gaynor and Hastings Chiume