The Best American Mystery Stories 2017

by John Sandford (Editor), Otto Penzler (Editor)

Overview

"Fans of such notables as C.J. Box, Peter Straub, and Joyce Carol Oates chiefly known for their novels will be pleased to see how well they write at shorter length."—Publishers Weekly
“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. 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
C. J. BOX, GERRI BRIGHTWELL, JEFFERY DEAVER, BRENDAN DUBOIS,
TRINA COREY, CRAIG JOHNSON, JOYCE CAROL OATES, PETER STRAUB,
and others

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544949089
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/03/2017
Series:	Best American Mystery Stories Series
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	583,131
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.10(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:

St. Paul, Minnesota

Date of Birth:

February 23, 1944

Place of Birth:

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Education:

State University of Iowa, Iowa City: B.A., American History; M.A., Journalism

Website:

http://www.johnsandford.org

Editorial Reviews

08/28/2017
The 21st annual best-of volume in general editor Otto Penzler’s series demonstrates the care that went into selecting its 20 entries. Doug Allyn’s “Puncher’s Chance,” in which a man hopes to save his family from a thug, is a perfect illustration of how a gifted writer can bring readers into an unfamiliar world—here professional boxing—and combine that with deft characterizations and an intelligent plot within the confines of a short story. Geri Brightwell’s “Williamsville” deviates wickedly from its opening narrative pathway, in which a gun for hire in the Old West seeks the man his cuckolded client has paid him to kill. Charles John Harper’s hard-boiled yarn, “Lovers and Thieves,” will make fans of the subgenre hope that its PI lead, Darrow Nash, will walk the mean streets of L.A. again. In Brendan Dubois’s “The Man from Away,” another high point, a man whose wife is killed in an accident seeks his own form of justice, despite her harsh treatment of him. Fans of such notables as C.J. Box, Peter Straub, and Joyce Carol Oates chiefly known for their novels will be pleased to see how well they write at shorter length. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Fans of such notables as C.J. Box, Peter Straub, and Joyce Carol Oates chiefly known for their novels will be pleased to see how well they write at shorter length."—Publishers Weekly   —

From the Publisher