The Best American Mystery Stories 2011

by Harlan Coben (Editor), Otto Penzler (Series editor)

Twenty of America’s best mystery short stories from 2011, selected by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author.

The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected—and most popular—of its kind. The Best American Mystery Stories 2011  Block Brendan DuBois, Loren D. Estleman, Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin, Ed Gorman, Richard Lange, S. J. Rozan, Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins, and others

Praise for The Best American Mystery Stories 2011
“Ranging from homespun to lush and tropical, this year’s crop of 20 stories offers a variety of tastes and textures . . . The best of Coben’s Best is really first-rate.” —Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Crime, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller

435 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2011

About the author

Harlan Coben is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's leading storytellers. His suspense novels are published in forty-five languages and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries with seventy-five million books in print worldwide.

His books have earned the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony Awards, and many have been developed into Netflix Original Drama series, including his adaptations of The Stranger, The Innocent, Gone for Good and The Woods. His most recent adaptation for Netflix, Stay Close, premiered on December 31, 2021 and stars Cush Jumbo, James Nesbitt, and Richard Armitage.

Reviews

[Dixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of both short stories and mysteries, so The Best American Mystery Stories 2011 was bound to pique my curiosity. This year’s collection was edited by Harlan Coben, so I knew this would be a good set of stories.

Surprisingly, I think my favorite story was The End of the String by Charles McCarry. This story involves an American in Ndala who becomes involved with a military man wishing to overthrow the president. This is not a topic I would normally seek out, but what a storyteller! I was completely drawn into the plot.

I also enjoyed Destiny City by James Grady, which centers around a terrorist plot. I am not one to seek out terroristic or political crime stories, but I found that I enjoyed all of them in this collection.

My second favorite story in this collection was The Hitter by Chris F. Holm. The Hitter is about a hit man who kills other hit men. This hit man contracts with potential victims to profit off the fact that he can save their lives by killing their would be assassins. Eventually, his chosen profession catches up to him.

Flying Solo by Ed Gorman is about two elderly men who befriend one another while receiving chemo treatment, and together they become vigilantes, fighting injustices.

Honorable mentions include Who Stole My Monkey? by David Corbett and Luis Alberto Urrea, A Crime of Opportunity by Ernest J. Finney and The Stars Are Falling by Joe R. Lansdale. I discovered many new authors through this collection, as well as an interest in subject matter that I would not normally seek out in my reading.

Many thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with a copy to review, via NetGalley.

[Tzu-Mainn Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halfway through “The Best American Mystery Stories 2011”, I was ready to throw in the towel. A run of bad stories - unkind, unsavory, and sometimes flat-out boring - had me wondering if continuing meant that I secretly hated myself. Fortunately, I hated myself enough to read just one more story, and it was amazing: a crime story that understood that the greatest mystery was the human mind. The next one was good, as was the one after, and although there was at least one more clunker, I finished the book well-satisfied with the time spent.

Then I read the contributor’s notes (as I always do with these collections), and as I read each author’s note on their own stories, I discovered something bizarre: I had really liked the first couple of entries as well. What to conclude from this? I guess that I found “The Best American Mystery Stories 2011” to be somewhat of a feast-or-famine collection, with the famine so deep that I gnawed away part of my own memory. Based on that, I can’t recommend the collection without reservation. But I can say that I enjoyed more than a few of the stories - and those that I enjoyed, I *really* loved.

[Mark Pearce · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest I was disappointed by this book. There were very few stories which I felt merited the description "Best" or "Mystery". For Harlan Coben to have associated himself with the collection disturbs me as I have read quite a few of his books and been delighted to have read them. I did not complete the book because I was that disappointed with it.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best American Mystery Stories are an annual anthology that publishes a selection of tales published in magazines an anthologies during the year. Each year a guest editor is chosen who determines from a list of about 50 submissions, their favourite 20 stories to be included. Harlan Coben is this years editor and as a fan of his books I was interested to read his choices.
The Best American Mystery Stories 2011 has great variety and I was more than impressed with the overall quality. Of the twenty short stories there were only two I didn't much care for. For me the stand out's included Clean Slate by Lawrence Block is the story of a woman damaged by her childhood who has found a way to take revenge, Flying Solo by Ed Gorman involves two elderly men dying of cancer leaving a better world behind them and Chin Yong Yun Takes a Case by SJ Rozan is a case of amateur detection in Chinatown by a minor character in Rozan's Lydia Chin series.
Many of the stories are quite dark and violent as to be expected when the story centers around crime. Some mysteries are solved, others are open ended leaving you to wonder. In others just who is the victim isn't clear. My interest in several authors work was piqued by this collection, others I was already a fan of.
I really enjoyed reading the Contributors Notes where the author provides some background to the development of their story. It's an inside look into inspiration that is rarely seen.
The Best American Mystery Series 2011 is a terrific read and I hope to get my hands on a few of the previous years issues. If you are a crime/mystery fan then you will surely appreciate this outstanding anthology, it's a must read.

[Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to give a rating to a short story anthology. Nevertheless, overall this was a solid collection of stories. Some "old favorite" and familiar authors are represented but I especially like that I can "try out" new authors easily in this format.

For new-to-me writing, I especially liked Brock Adams' "Audacious" and Ernest Finney's "A Crime of Opportunity" and will be looking for more from these authors.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read two of the stories in this volume. The first came off as creepy in the post #metoo era, and wasn't a mystery. The second was suspense I think. In any case it was a genre I dislike. Then I went to the end of my Kindle copy to verify that only two of the twenty authors in the collection were women. And it was going to take some effort to figure out which stories were theirs. So I stopped reading.

[Ardys Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to agree. These ARE the best mystery stories. Some are not mysteries as much as curious. All but one sucked me in.

[EuroHackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harlan Coben is an auto-read author for me, so I was curious to see if his taste in reading material came anywhere close to mine. This is definitely one of the better compilations of mystery-themed stories that I've read, so I guess our tastes are rather similiar :)

There were a couple of stories that stretched credulity as mysteries (including the first one - sorry to say I'm with the author's writing group in that I'd have panned this if it was presented as a mystery), some that were way more graphic than I anticipated (like Lawrence Block's contribution, ugh), and one was populated by complete assholes (all passive-aggressive nicey-nice sorts who kill solely to hurt others - not a good look, IMO). I DNFed one of the stories, not being in the mood to read about terrorism in this locked down world of ours.

The best thing about reading short stories, and the reason why I've subscribed to both AHMM & EQMM, is that its a great way to discover new authors. My favorite stories from this collection - as in, I'll definitely be purusing more of the author's work - include the following:

[+] "Flying Solo" - Ed Gorman: Two dying men take it on themselves to become avenging angels for their chemo nurses. They're already dying, the last of both of their families, so why not go out with a bang?

[+] "The Hitter" - Chris F. Holm: A Quarry-like main character (that is, a hitman of hitmen) comes up against his worst fear when his family is put in the line of fire thanks to a double-crossing victim. I'm a sucker for hitman stories anyway, but man oh man, this one just pushes you right up to the line. Mr. Holm is the only author who doesn't have compiled works, but he appears to be a regular contributor to the aforementioned magazines, so maybe I'll get lucky and come across his work again.

[+] "Baby Killer" - Richard Lange: In spite of that title, this is ultimately a sweet story about a much put-upon woman trying to make the best of her life, living under the thumb of the local thugs and gangs, who finally decides she's had enough and does something about it when one of the fore-mentioned thugs shoots and kills an innocent baby.

[+] "Heart Like a Balloon" - Andrew Riconda: A rather amusing tale of a reluctant hitman who helps his latest "victim" commit suicide, because the man is totally hopeless. The end is a little gross, but I'm intrigued enough by the main character to seek out more stories about him.

[+] "Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case" - S.J. Rozen: A very traditional Chinese grandmother steps in for her PI daughter when the son of a 'friend' comes begging for help because his son has been kidnapped. Though the tale unfolds in a very obvious way, I very much enjoyed reading about Chin Yong-Yun, who is the mother of a character that Ms. Rozen writes a series of books about. I'll definitely be checking those out.

[+] "A Long Time Dead" - Max Allen Collins & Mickey Spillane: A Mike Hammer short, originated by Spillane and continued by Collins. Neither of these names are new to me, but I might take a crack at the Mike Hammer novels at some point. Collins is the author of the aforementioned Max Quarry novels, and I've enjoyed those.

As always, a HUGE thanks for the author's notes in the back, which are the most fun for me, because I like knowing the origin of stories from the author's point of view :)

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good batch this year - I read these every year to find stories for Thrilling Tales, so I'm reading with a focus on more inherently clear and satisfying stories - and Coben has a fair number of these. I've been wanting to do a Brendan DuBois story in the storytime for some years now, and I think "Ridealong" is finally one that will work w/ the format, as there are some very good twists. Less certain about risking a story co-written by Tom Franklin ("What His Hands had been Waiting For") about two ruthless lawmen patrolling the wastes of a big delta flood who wind up with a dead looter's baby on their hands - it is kind of McCarthy-esque in its funkiness and even some alluded baby cannibalism and people freak out about a babe in jeopardy, BUT it still might work. One great uncanny piece - "Last Cottage," told in the plural first person voice of villagers who are trying to oust a happy family - very odd but I still might try it for TT. And finally one of the Max Alan Collins / Mickey Spillane 'collabos' that is classic Mike Hammer, and that I think I will do, even though it has a perfectly stomach churning sadistic climax. A good bet every year, but this is a pretty strong year.

[window · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was much better than the 2007 Best Short Stories anthology. I had high hopes after reading this line in Harlan Coben's introduction: "[these authors} have taken Elmore Leonard's credo and fed it steroids and raised it to the tenth power and then driven it out to a dive bar by the airport and given it an unlimited tab." Oh yeah.

One of the editors, Otto Penzler, makes a point to explain that these stories are not typical mysteries. As long as a story has elements of a crime, it qualifies for inclusion in this collection, so don't expect a series of whodunits.

Of course, there were a few stories that were meh, but there were several shining stars including Flying Solo, Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case, Something Pretty, Something Beautiful, A Long Time Dead, Last Cottage (which might be my favorite), and The Hitter (which might be my other favorite). This is a collection worth checking out!

[PopcornReads - MkNoah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Best American Mystery Stories of 2011 edited by Harlan Coben and Otto Penzler is the 15th edition of this very popular anthology. I look forward to it every year, so I gave a little fist pump when I was able to snag an advance reader’s copy from the publisher. As usual, this is an excellent collection of stories by new-to-me authors and some old favorites. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=2125

[Zora · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a couple of five-star stories in this collection, about half of them did not engage me and those I thumbed past. It's difficult to write a short mystery story, and there are few in here (they're mostly crime stories, really--you'd shelve them in "thriller" rather than "mystery.")

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Coben edits the annual showcase. This year? Block, DuBois, Estleman, Fennelly, Franklin, Gorman, Lange, Rozan, Spillane, Collins, etc.

[Alejandra Durbin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shockingly few women authors are included in this compilation

[Robert P. Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. Audacious. A wonderful story that has so many unexpected plot developments, all of them believable. A story also that shows how random life is--I am thinking both of how the main character met the girl and how he discovered her true identity.
2. Something Pretty, Something Beautiful. There is an amazing poet, Ryan Vine, who writes many poems about the characters that the author of this short story writes about and they both write with such insight and their respect and understanding of the people described in this story are first rate.
3. Clean Slate. This is a well done story with a few twists, all done well. Nothing exceptional but a solid story.
4. Who Stole my Monkey. A great story, with wonderful characters, dialogue that is so well written, and a story that unfolds with deliberate speed and moves toward a satisfying conclusion.
5. Ride Along. An excellent story that has some unexpected plot developments and is, like Clean Slate, written by someone who knows his craft.
6. Sometimes a Hyena. A masterpiece. All of the characters are so well drawn, the story is interesting, and the conclusion was, for me, unexpected.
7. What His Hands Had Been Waiting For. A masterpiece with such good writing and a story that is wonderfully told with great characters.
8. A Crime of Opportunity. For some reason I could not connect with this story. It is well written but for some reason I never connected with the characters and it fizzled out.
9. Flying Solo. So far the best story. There is humor, it is a sad story as two retired cops come to the end of their lives, and they begin to act as vigilantes. Every part is believable and the ending is so well done.
10. Destiny city. Again another story I couldn't connect with about people trying to stop a terrorist act. There was not a sense of getting involved with the characters and the ending reached for emotions that the story hadn't earned.
11. Hitter. A great story, with so many unexpected plot developments and wonderful characters.
12. West of Nowhere. Another great story about a group of people trying to get a big score but they are incompetent, they are treacherous and they are unsuccessful. But what a wonderful story.
13. Baby Killer. Another story that while well-written was one where I had little interest in the characters in the story.
14. The Stars Are Falling. The best story in the selection. From one of the best opening lines to the ending where the death of the main character connects back to a death the character saw during World War One. There is such a sense of foreboding throughout this story. Such a lesson in telling a good story that builds tension and that has such clean writing.
15. The End of the String. I did not care for this, it was a dated story and it was mystifying as to why a reader should care about this.
16. Diamond Alley. A fine story.
17. Last Cottage. A creepy story that does a good job in an understated way of describing some horrifying events.
18. Heart Like a Balloon. I did not care for this. It is almost a parody of tough guy noir.
19. Chin Yong-Yun. A masterpiece. Tied for the best story in the collection. It is so well-written with such wonderful characters and the inner dialogue of the main character is excellent.
20. A Long Time Dead. An okay story about someone who cheats death one time.

[Sherman Langford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just really like mystery stories. This is a good collection, some strange, some classic in style. Some accomplished writers among the authors.

Favorites

Audacious— 74 year old widower kindly takes in a pickpocketing 21 year old girl who turns out to be a 16 yr old runaway.  She runs off when he tries to take her home.

Flying solo — two old widowers meet in chemo and begin helping out nurses who are in trouble with bad men in their lives

The Hitter — hitman who targets other hitmen has last job go awry, putting his former wife (who thinks he died in Afghanistan, and has since remarried) in danger.  He determines to die confronting the mob hitmen who are coming for her to get to him.

Ride Along — woman poses as journalist to ride along with police patrol in order to be on scene of crime she had previously planned, knock out the policeman, and kill partners (who had double crossed them) and steal the loot.

[Berry Muhl · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's pretty much impossible to review a collection like this. There are many stories, of varying quality and mood, all selected by the editor from a fairly long list. No one reader will be satisfied by all of them. And I have to point out that there is a great deal of violation of a central premise of authorship, that the main characters should change or learn something essential along the way. (I've seen a lot of violations of this in short-story format over the past couple years, suggesting that perhaps it's a new literary trend.)

I can only assert that this collection is worth a look. If you're a fan of Coben's writing, you can probably trust his instincts as to what constitutes good fiction.

[Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie jestem zwolenniczką antologii, zbiorów drobnych literackich dzieł. Wolę pełnowymiarowe powieści, w których można się zżyć z bohaterami, wyrobić o nich opinię, opartą na dłuższej znajomości. Ale stwierdziłam, że co mi szkodzi spróbować i sięgnęłam po "Najlepsze amerykańskie opowiadania kryminalne 2011". Nie żałuję, choć mogło być lepiej. Niektóre opowiadania bardzo mi się podobały ("Zadziorna", "Czyste konto"), niektóre mniej, a inne wcale, jedynie mnie nużyły i nudziły ("Czasem hiena", "Na co czekały jego dłonie", "Na końcu sznurka"), ale te kilkadziesiąt stron każdego z nich dało się przetrwać. Mimo wszystko, wydaje mi się, że każdy fan kryminałów znajdzie w tej antologii coś dla siebie.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s my opinion that the quality of the annual Best American Mystery Stories depends heavily on who’s doing the editing, and although I don’t care for Harlan Cohan’s writing, I very much enjoyed his editing. Best American Mystery Stories 2011 is exactly the kind of anthology I like: it contains good stories by new (to me) authors. In this case the authors were Grady, Holm and McCarry, and I recommend their stories in particular. This entry in the series is among the best. Recommended.

[Lauren Heaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the forward did address this issue, the majority of stories would not really be considered mysteries. Not sure how they ended up in this anthology. That being said, many of the stories were page turners, my favorites being “Flying Solo”, “Clean Slate”, “Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case” and “A Long Time Dead”. I paid a dollar for this anthology at a used book store. I definitely would have felt cheated if I paid full price for this one.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah. Well. Like most anthologies, The Best American Mystery Stories 2011 has some gems and some duds with lots of mediocre stuff in the between. The gems were genuine gems, though. Nicely written, beautifully crafted, engaging characters, entertaining plots, ... The duds were...well, duds.
I suppose this is a worthwhile read for mystery readers, for me I'm glad I found it in the discount bin.

[Bon Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

SORRY! I WAS NOT IMPRESSED

I push myself to finish what I begin, but I found the stories antiquated for the most part. I realize they’re mostly written by award-winning authors. I was bored while trying hard to nudge my interest.

Overall, I give the compilation about 3.85 stars.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimited
This collection of mystery shorts compiled by Harlan Coben are set to keep you up all night. I didn't find even one I could bookmark and take a nap. This man's mind can find the obscure and eye-opening mysteries that we love to absorb - almost as good as those he writes himself.
REVIEWED on July 29, 2025, at Goodreads, AmazonSmile, B&N, BookBub, and Kobo.

[Leron Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Fun

I chose this rating to Express my thorough satisfaction with reading these short stories.
Would not change a thing, liking all the good and bad of it all.
I would recommend this group of stories to anyone who enjoys the short story form.

[Sharon Oxford · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste

I read five of the stories from throughout the book before giving up - these aren’t mystery stories. They’re essays in misery with no real point. No plot, no solutions.

[Andrea A · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to review this audio.

A nice collection of mystery stories for those wanting a bit of variety. Good narrator, very engaging. Highly recommend.

[Meghan Albizo · Rating 1 out of 5]

First story about a man in his 70’s who “falls in love with” a 16 year old runaway.

Third story glamorizing incest and child molestation, framing the victim as a femme fatale with a hit list.

It’s a no for me!

[Aviva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came across this book by chance in the library, gave it a try, and was thoroughly entertained. I read it between novels as a sort of palate cleanser. This collection has very few stories written by women, though, which is quite disappointing.

[John Lomnicki, · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time reading a group of short stories

I prefer a longer story, the short stories seemed like disjointed chapters or ideas for books. Now I understand that I appreciate character development more than action, but action is the spice of my reading life.

[Gabriela Galescu · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a poor selection

Too many very, very long stories of no interest to me. Too many stories that had little more than mindless shooting in terms of plot and no characterization. Don’t even know why I bother with this review; all in all this book was
major disappointment.