The Best American Mystery Stories 2011

Starred review from August 29, 2011
The excellent 15th edition of this “best of” series, edited by mystery maven Otto Penzler, contains 20 winning short stories, many by relative unknowns. Among the standouts are Brendan Dubois’s “Ride-Along,” in which a veteran cop and a freelance reporter get involved in a robbery, and Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin’s “What His Hands Had Been Waiting For,” in which the struggle for survival in the Mississippi Delta during the terrible 1927 flood takes a strange turn. In Ed Gorman’s memorable “Flying Solo,” two old men dying of cancer make the most of their last days. As in previous volumes, it’s hard to find lighter fare, but S.J. Rozan’s clever “Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case” is a beautifully crafted and satisfying tale of amateur detection. Other contributors include such pros as Lawrence Block, Loren D. Estleman, and Mickey Spillane and Max Collins.

October 15, 2011
Ranging from homespun to lush and tropical, this year's crop of 20 stories offers a variety of tastes and textures. But exotic doesn't always mean compelling. Charles McCarry's "The End of the String," set in Africa, lumbers like an elephant toward a conclusion as momentous as a mouse. "Diamond Alley," Dennis McFadden's quiet tale of small-town teens confronting the murder of a popular classmate, packs a far greater punch. Family stories are equally powerful. In Christopher Merkner's chilling "Last Cottage," a young couple tries to outlast a neighbor determined to oust them from their waterfront home. Across cultures, mothers protect. In Richard Lange's "Baby Killer," Blanca struggles with an acting-out granddaughter. And although embarrassed by her profession, a Chinese mother helps her detective daughter in S.J. Rozan's "Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case." An absentee father's return challenges a wife who's moved on in Joe R. Lansdale's "The Stars Are Falling." But Chris F. Holm shows in "The Hitter" that sometimes the greatest threat is to the dads themselves. Families don't always grow through birth or marriage, as Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin reveal in "What His Hands Had Been Waiting For." And of course, some families are just plain toxic, as Lawrence Block's "Clean Slate" and Loren D. Estleman's "Sometimes a Hyena" aptly demonstrate. But nasty behavior isn't just a family affair. Eric Barnes shows teenagers wreaking havoc for no particular reason in his slow-moving "Something Pretty, Something Beautiful." And in "A Long Time Dead," Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins show that evil can turn up where it's least expected. It has its highs and lows, but the best of Coben's Best is really first-rate.

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Starred review from November 1, 2011

Expertly edited by thriller master Coben and featuring an insightful introduction by series editor Otto Penzler, this superb anthology presents 20 high-caliber short stories, all first published in 2010 and culled from assorted journals, anthologies, submissions, and magazines. Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin's "What His Hands Had Been Waiting For" is a mesmerizing 1927-set country noir story that begs to become a novel. Or meet the crafty old dame in Ernest J. Finney's "A Crime of Opportunity." As a bonus, author bios and comments are included, along with a lineup of other recommended short story reads. VERDICT Some of the contributor names are huge--S.J. Rozan and Lawrence Block--but this collection offers a powerful array of familiar and new voices, leaning toward crime fiction's noir side. This is the perfect way for mystery fans to try newer voices in the field or to stretch their comfort level for subgenre reading.

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