The best mystery stories of the year, 2022 / introduction by Sara Paretsky ; foreword by Otto Penzler

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Title:

Author:

Paretsky, Sara, editor, writer of introduction.

Penzler, Otto, writer of introduction.

Allyn, Douglas, author.

Barrett, Colin, 1982- author.

Charyn, Jerome, author.

Connelly, Michael, 1956- author.

Nesbø, Jo, 1960- author.

Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938- author.

Reed, Annie, author.

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn, author.

Scotti, Anna, author.

Swart, Ginny, author.

Whitehead, Colson, 1969- author.

Wiley, Michael, 1961- author.

Glaspell, Susan, 1876-1948, author.

ISBN:

9781613163498

9781613163481

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

xv, 529 pages ; 21 cm

Contents:

Kiss of life / A shooting in Rathreedane / White chocolate / Avalon / Better Austens / El cuerpo en el barril / October in Kauai / Gun running on vacation / Sleigh bells for the Hayride / Violent devotion / Black knight / Detour / Little city blues / Grief spam / A heaven or a hell / Bang on the money / The influencer / Give or take a quarter inch / The Theresa job / Where there's love / A jury of her peers

Subject Term:

Detective and mystery stories.

Short stories.

Detective and mystery stories. (OCoLC)fst00891461

Short stories. (OCoLC)fst01117043

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction. (OCoLC)fst01726581

Short stories. (OCoLC)fst01726740

Short stories.

Detective and mystery fiction.

Added Author:

Paretsky, Sara,

Penzler, Otto,

Allyn, Douglas,

Barrett, Colin, 1982-

Charyn, Jerome,

Connelly, Michael, 1956-

Nesbø, Jo, 1960-

Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938-

Reed, Annie,

Rusch, Kristine Kathryn,

Scotti, Anna,

Swart, Ginny,

Whitehead, Colson, 1969-

Wiley, Michael, 1961-

Glaspell, Susan, 1876-1948,

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Adult Mystery Fiction Book Hardback	120791002984103	M BES	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

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!

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.

Includes stories by:

Doug Allyn Colin Barrett Jerome Charyn Michael Connelly Susan Frith Tom Larsen Sean Marciniak Stefon Mears Kieth Lee Morris Gwen Mullins Jo Nesbo Joyce Carol Oates Annie Reed Kristen Kathryn Rusch Anna Scotti Ginny Swart Ellen Tremiti Joseph S. Walker Colson Whitehead Michael Wiley

Plus a bonus vintage story from the annals of mystery fiction, written over a century in the past.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Tom Larsen's "El Cuerpo en el Barril" ("The Body in the Barrel") is the first among equals in this impressive anthology of 20 mystery stories. Larsen's years in Ecuador translate into a vivid depiction of that country in the service of a memorable procedural featuring Capitán Juan Delgado, nicknamed the fat toad by underlings. Delgado, whose indifference to societal norms may be what has made him a great sleuth, must solve the murder of a man whose corpse was left in a barrel in the coastal town of Manta. Larsen's tale is an exemplar of making an unpleasant lead a character who compels attention. Susan Frith's unsettling "Better Austens" lures readers in with benign opening passages about a book club whose members read light fiction to balance their demanding jobs; the reveal of what those jobs are is a shocker. Among the better-known contributors, Jo Nesbø stands out with "Black Knight," whose antihero lead, a hit man, is engaged in a deadly battle of wits with a professional rival in Milan. Diverse voices, settings, and premises make this a treat for fans of literate and inventive mystery fiction. (Sept.)

Kirkus Review

The latest in publisher Otto Penzler's long-running series presents 20 contemporary American mystery stories and one bonus story from 1917, with a brief but sharp introduction by Paretsky. Paretsky argues that contrary to the oft-quoted dictum, "Write what you know," mystery fiction gives authors license to use their imaginations liberally, often starting with their own emotions and then pushing the boundaries into the realm of what might have been if only they had been bolder, or more curious, or occasionally just plain sociopathic. Most of these stories have rather pedestrian settings. Doug Allyn's "Kiss of Life" begins with a day at the beach. Sean Marciniak's "October in Kauai" traces two youngsters' scheme to leave Schenectady for a tropical paradise. Keith Lee Morris celebrates Christmas in Jacksonville, Florida, in "Sleigh Bells for the Hayride." Joyce Carol Oates' "Detour" has a familiar suburban setting, and Annie Reed's "Little City Blues" uses Reno, Vegas' less glamorous sister, as the background for a timeworn detective trope: A private eye gets the goods on an errant spouse. Even the two overseas adventures, Tom Larsen's "El Cuerpo en el Barril" and Colin Barrett's "A Shooting in Rathreedane," are set largely in police stations. And Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Grief Spam" unfolds over the internet. But the stories take off from their humble points of origin into spaces few would have predicted as they explore the terrain most familiar and yet most mysterious of all: the geography of the human heart. Imaginations run loose in the best ways possible. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Penzler's latest anthology of the year's best mystery stories, guest edited this time by Sara Paretsky, brings together short fiction weighted toward character-driven tales awash in psychological thrills. Mobsters, assassins, and executioners blend with conflicted and embattled everypersons, leaving no doubt that mayhem can slip into our tightest corners. In Norwegian thriller powerhouse Jo Nesbø's outstanding contribution, "Black Knight," a psychologist/assassin faces the disintegration of his noble delusions in a chess-like battle with his nemesis. Susan Frith's "Better Austens" takes readers to a dystopia where privatized executions are performed by a corporatized cadre of "Mothers" desperate to combat their vulnerabilities by joining the system. In Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Grief Spam," Jerome Charyn's "White Chocolate," Gwen Mullins' "Violent Devotion," and Sean Marciniak's "October in Kauai," compelling protagonists confront monstrous domestic realities while questioning their own culpability and motives. Then Colson Whitehead's "The Theresa Job" flips the script, revealing an upstanding citizen's dawning recognition of his criminal self. And, while Joyce Carol Oates' "Detour" ends on a positive note, shared threads of imprisonment tie it to the feminist gut-punch of Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers." At 500 pages, this collection may be on the long side for some book groups, but those who take up the challenge won't regret it.