From the Publisher
To Cha’s great credit, along with her guest editor, novelist Alafair Burke, this year’s edition...not only features many women and writers of color, but also pairs household names like Alex Segura, Lisa Unger and Laura Lippman...with top up-and-comers to paint a clear picture of the genre in 2021.” — USA Today
“In this selection of tales exploring crime-sparking marginalization and thwarted desires, guest editor Alafair Burke and debut series editor Steph Cha have created a powerful vehicle for processing 2020’s volatility...Cha and Burke have curated a magical collection that serves as a master class in suspense writing.” — Booklist
Booklist
In this selection of tales exploring crime-sparking marginalization and thwarted desires, guest editor Alafair Burke and debut series editor Steph Cha have created a powerful vehicle for processing 2020’s volatility...Cha and Burke have curated a magical collection that serves as a master class in suspense writing.”
USA Today
To Cha’s great credit, along with her guest editor, novelist Alafair Burke, this year’s edition...not only features many women and writers of color, but also pairs household names like Alex Segura, Lisa Unger and Laura Lippman...with top up-and-comers to paint a clear picture of the genre in 2021.”
Booklist
In this selection of tales exploring crime-sparking marginalization and thwarted desires, guest editor Alafair Burke and debut series editor Steph Cha have created a powerful vehicle for processing 2020’s volatility...Cha and Burke have curated a magical collection that serves as a master class in suspense writing.”
USA Today
To Cha’s great credit, along with her guest editor, novelist Alafair Burke, this year’s edition...not only features many women and writers of color, but also pairs household names like Alex Segura, Lisa Unger and Laura Lippman...with top up-and-comers to paint a clear picture of the genre in 2021.”
Library Journal
11/01/2022
The quality of this collection will be no surprise to readers of earlier volumes. With only one true detective story in the whole batch, Gar Anthony Haywood's "Return to Sender," and one closest to Golden Age conventions from old pro Dennis Lehane, this year's collection focuses more on suspense, with a welcome variety of perspectives and settings. "Detainment" is about a child detained by ICE. Two of the creepiest stories, by Tracy Clark and Jacqueline Freimor, are about serial killers, and there's a killer clown in Tod Goldberg's "A Career Spent Disappointing People." David Heska Wanbli Weiden's "Turning Heart" takes place on a Lakota reservation. Hector Acosta's "La Chingona" and Raquel V. Reyes's "Mata Hambre" drop in and out of Spanglish. Juliet Grames's "The Very Last Time" revolves around time travel, and Megan Pillow's "Long Live the Girl Detective" takes place partly inside a book. Thirty additional stories are recommended at the back of the book. VERDICT This first-rate collection asserts that the short story is alive and flourishing still.—David Keymer
