International bestselling author Sara Paretsky selects the twenty best mystery short stories of the year, including tales by Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead, and more in this crime connoisseur's collection. Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and aided by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, international bestseller and MWA Grandmaster Sara Paretsky has selected the twenty most puzzling, most thrilling, and most mysterious short stories from the past year, collected now in one entertaining volume. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allen Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. WIthin a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged, and its significance determined: all else is mere embellishment. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Colin Barrett, Jerome Charyn, Michael Connelly, Susan Frith, Tom Larsen, Sean Marciniak, Stefon Mears, Keith Lee Morris, Gwen Mullins, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Reed, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Anna Scotti, Ginny Swart, Ellen Tremiti, Joseph S. Walker, Colson Whitehead, and Michael Wiley - plus a bonus vintage story from the annals of mystery fiction, written over a century in the past.

Selected by #1 bestselling author Lee Child: the twenty finest short stories of 2021. There is no finer form for a crime than the short story. WIthin a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged and its significance determined; all else is mere embellishment. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allen Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. But mystery fiction has changed a great deal over the years - as have all things - and the writers within these pages present far more than a simple case of crime and resolution. Far from predictable, these stories provide fertile grounds of aberrant circumstances and the poor choices they lead to. You will find diverse methods and motivations, original perspectives and perils. Above all, you will find tales of the extremes of human psychology caused by despair, hate, greed, fear, envy, insanity or love. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Jim Allyn, Ambrose Bierce, Michael Bracken, James Lee Burke, Martin Edwards, John Floyd, Jacqueline Freimor, Alison Gaylin, Sue Grafton, Paul Kemprecos, Stephen King, Janice Law, Dennis McFadden, David Marcum, Tom Mead, David Morrell, Joyce Carol Oates, Sara Paretsky, Joseph Walker, Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

International bestselling author Sara Paretsky selects the twenty best mystery short stories of the year, including tales by Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead, and more in this crime connoisseur's collection. Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and aided by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, international bestseller and MWA Grandmaster Sara Paretsky has selected the twenty most puzzling, most thrilling, and most mysterious short stories from the past year, collected now in one entertaining volume. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allen Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. WIthin a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged, and its significance determined: all else is mere embellishment. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Colin Barrett, Jerome Charyn, Michael Connelly, Susan Frith, Tom Larsen, Sean Marciniak, Stefon Mears, Keith Lee Morris, Gwen Mullins, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Reed, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Anna Scotti, Ginny Swart, Ellen Tremiti, Joseph S. Walker, Colson Whitehead, and Michael Wiley - plus a bonus vintage story from the annals of mystery fiction, written over a century in the past.

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).

Twenty of the best mystery short stories of the year, from Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead, and many more in this crime connoisseur's collection. Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and aided by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, international bestseller and MWA Grandmaster Sara Paretsky has selected the twenty most puzzling, most thrilling, and most mysterious short stories from the past year, collected now in one entertaining volume. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allen Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. Within a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged, and its significance determined: all else is mere embellishment. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Colin Barrett, Jerome Charyn, Michael Connelly, Susan Frith, Tom Larsen, Sean Marciniak, Stefon Mears, Keith Lee Morris, Gwen Mullins, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Reed, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Anna Scotti, Ginny Swart, Ellen Tremiti, Joseph S. Walker, Colson Whitehead, and Michael Wiley – plus a bonus vintage story from the annals of mystery fiction, written over a century ago.

Selected by #1 bestselling author Lee Child: the twenty finest short stories of 2021. There is no finer form for a crime than the short story. WIthin a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged and its significance determined; all else is mere embellishment. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allen Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. But mystery fiction has changed a great deal over the years - as have all things - and the writers within these pages present far more than a simple case of crime and resolution. Far from predictable, these stories provide fertile grounds of aberrant circumstances and the poor choices they lead to. You will find diverse methods and motivations, original perspectives and perils. Above all, you will find tales of the extremes of human psychology caused by despair, hate, greed, fear, envy, insanity or love. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Jim Allyn, Ambrose Bierce, Michael Bracken, James Lee Burke, Martin Edwards, John Floyd, Jacqueline Freimor, Alison Gaylin, Sue Grafton, Paul Kemprecos, Stephen King, Janice Law, Dennis McFadden, David Marcum, Tom Mead, David Morrell, Joyce Carol Oates, Sara Paretsky, Joseph Walker, Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

The greatest detective of all time.

In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle put pen to paper and created a legend: Sherlock Holmes. His tall, slender, hawk-nosed figure with his deerstalker hat is instantly recognizable in every corner of the world.

Alongside Doyle's original stories, Sherlock has spawned a literature of his own in parodies and homages. More than 25,000 books, stories and articles have been written by authors, amateurs and scholars.

In this stupendous anthology, the best and most brilliant are collected together for the first time.

Fact. Fiction. Legend.

The predatory ritual, the escalating savagery of the crimes, the grisly trophies taken from his victim's bodies, the games played with his pursuers, the cannibalism: Jack the Ripper's reign of terror in London's East End during the autumn of 1888 casts a long shadow.

Many have murdered more, but few have killed so brutally and none have forged such an enduring legend. For a century and a quarter the Ripper's crimes have appalled and fascinated in equal measure, inspiring over one hundred theories about this prototypical serial killer's identity and spawning thousands of works of fiction. This collection is the ultimate exploration of the Ripper legend. It sifts through Jack's legacy, blending the true story (told via contemporary reports and a century's worth of the best analysis) with the best crime and horror fiction his depraved deeds have inspired.

Some of these stories are classics, some have been written especially for this volume. Including writing from Jeffery Deaver, Anne Perry, George Bernard Shaw, Ellery Queen, Boris Akunin, Ramsey Campbell, Harlan Ellison and Robert Bloch.

Lawrence Block, in Keller by a Nose," asks what obsession holds more hazards than betting on the ponies. The answer will surprise you...Max Allan Collins's "That Kind of Nag" proves that it's bad to play the wrong horse, but worse to pick the wrong woman..."The Great, the Good and the Not-So-Good" by H.R.F. Keating warns against old English ladies at the racecourse...Joyce Carol Oates shows how a young woman teams to trust a prize stallion more than her violent lover in "Meadowlands..".and Scott Wolven's "Pinwheel" offers a Japanese lesson in flying horses and honor among thieves."--BOOK JACKET.

A thrilling tome of the best crime and mystery tales of the year, selected by bestselling author Amor Towles. Includes sensational short stories by Jeffery Deaver, Andrew Child and Brendan Du Bois. International bestseller Amor Towles, the critically acclaimed author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility, together with award-winning editor and founder of the Mysterious Bookshop, Otto Penzler, has selected the crème de la crème of the year's crime and mystery stories, and presented them here in one entertaining volume perfect for crime fiction lovers. The classic mystery tale will be familiar to aficionados and casual readers alike: it was invented by Edgar Allan Poe, popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle, and perfected by Agatha Christie. WIthin a few pages, a clue can be discovered, divulged, and its significance determined: all else is mere embellishment. Featuring stories by: Doug Allyn, Derrick Belanger, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Joslyn Chase, Andrew Child, Aaron Philip Clark, Jeffery Deaver, Brendan DuBois, Kerry Hammond, Victor Kreuiter, David Krugler, Tom Larsen, Avram Lavinsky, Jesse Lewis, Ashley Lister, Michael Mallory, Lou Manfredo, Sean McCluskey, Annie Reed, Anna Round, Joseph S. Walker, and a special bonus story: a vintage mystery tale from the fabled literary chronicler of the American Gilded Age, Edith Wharton.

'What treats you have in store!' IAN RANKIN. Who knew literature could be so lethal? Here are 20 specially commissioned stories about deadly books from the world's best crime writers. By turns hair-raising and playful, packed with twists and turns, literary references and bookish conundrums, this is a treasure chest of bloodthirsty bibliophilia

The biggest, the boldest, the most comprehensive collection of Pulp writing ever assembled.
Weighing in at over a thousand pages, containing over forty-seven stories and two novels, this book is big baby, bigger and more powerful than a freight train--a bullet couldn't pass through it. Here are the best stories and every major writer who ever appeared in celebrated Pulps like "Black Mask," "Dime Detective," "Detective Fiction Weekly," and more. These are the classic tales that created the genre and gave birth to hard-hitting detectives who smoke criminals like packs of cigarettes; sultry dames whose looks are as lethal as a dagger to the chest; and gin-soaked hideouts where conversations are just preludes to murder. This is crime fiction at its gritty best.
Including:
- Three stories by Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Dashiell Hammett.
- Complete novels from Carroll John Daly, the man who invented the hard-boiled detective, and Fredrick Nebel,
one of the masters of the form.
- A never before published Dashiell Hammett story.
- Every other major pulp writer of the time, including Paul Cain, Steve Fisher, James M. Cain, Horace McCoy, and many
many more of whom you've probably never heard.
- Three deadly sections-The Crimefighters, The Villains, and Dames-with three unstoppable introductions by Harlan Coben,
Harlan Ellison, and Laura Lippman
Featuring:
- Plenty of reasons for murder, all of them good.
- A kid so smart-he'll die of it.
- A soft-hearted loan shark's legman learning-the hard way-never to buy a strange blonde a hamburger.
- The uncanny "Moon Man" and his mad-money victims.