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Inspector Ian Rutledge #8.5 - Trafalgar
The Best American Mystery Stories 2012
The Best American Series®
First, Best, and Best-Selling
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 2012 includes
Peter S. Beagle, Kathleen Ford, Mary Gaitskill, Jesse Goolsby, Lou Manfredo, Thomas McGuane, Gina Paoli, T. Jefferson Parker, Kristine Kathryn Rusch,
Charles Todd, Daniel Woodrell, and others
First, Best, and Best-Selling
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 2012 includes
Peter S. Beagle, Kathleen Ford, Mary Gaitskill, Jesse Goolsby, Lou Manfredo, Thomas McGuane, Gina Paoli, T. Jefferson Parker, Kristine Kathryn Rusch,
Charles Todd, Daniel Woodrell, and others
397 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
205 people are currently reading
604 people want to read
About the author
Robert Crais
180 books4,582 followers Robert Crais is the author of the best-selling Elvis Cole novels. A native of Louisiana, he grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River in a blue collar family of oil refinery workers and police officers. He purchased a secondhand paperback of Raymond Chandler’s The Little Sister when he was fifteen, which inspired his lifelong love of writing, Los Angeles, and the literature of crime fiction. Other literary influences include Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Robert B. Parker, and John Steinbeck.
After years of amateur film-making and writing short fiction, he journeyed to Hollywood in 1976 where he quickly found work writing scripts for such major television series as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, and Miami Vice, as well as numerous series pilots and Movies-of-the-Week for the major networks. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on Hill Street Blues, but is most proud of his 4-hour NBC miniseries, Cross of Fire, which the New York Times declared: "A searing and powerful documentation of the Ku Klux Klan’s rise to national prominence in the 20s."
In the mid-eighties, feeling constrained by the collaborative working requirements of Hollywood, Crais resigned from a lucrative position as a contract writer and television producer in order to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a novelist. His first efforts proved unsuccessful, but upon the death of his father in 1985, Crais was inspired to create Elvis Cole, using elements of his own life as the basis of the story. The resulting novel, The Monkey’s Raincoat, won the Anthony and Macavity Awards and was nominated for the Edgar Award. It has since been selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.
Crais conceived of the novel as a stand-alone, but realized that—in Elvis Cole—he had created an ideal and powerful character through which to comment upon his life and times. (See the WORKS section for additional titles.) Elvis Cole’s readership and fan base grew with each new book, then skyrocketed in 1999 upon the publication of L. A. Requiem, which was a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller and forever changed the way Crais conceived of and structured his novels. In this new way of telling his stories, Crais combined the classic ‘first person’ narrative of the American detective novel with flashbacks, multiple story lines, multiple points-of-view, and literary elements to better illuminate his themes. Larger and deeper in scope, Publishers Weekly wrote of L. A. Requiem, "Crais has stretched himself the way another Southern California writer—Ross Macdonald—always tried to do, to write a mystery novel with a solid literary base." Booklist added, "This is an extraordinary crime novel that should not be pigeonholed by genre. The best books always land outside preset boundaries. A wonderful experience."
Crais followed with his first non-series novel, Demolition Angel, which was published in 2000 and featured former Los Angeles Police Department Bomb Technician Carol Starkey. Starkey has since become a leading character in the Elvis Cole series. In 2001, Crais published his second non-series novel, Hostage, which was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times and was a world-wide bestseller. Additionally, the editors of Amazon.com selected Hostage as the #1 thriller of the year. A film adaptation of Hostage was released in 2005, starring Bruce Willis as ex-LAPD SWAT negotiator Jeff Talley.
Elvis Cole returned in 2003 with the publication of The Last Detective, followed by the tenth Elvis Cole novel, The Forgotten Man, in 2005. Both novels explore with increasing depth the natures and characters of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. RC’s third stand-alone novel, The Two Minute Rule, was published in 2006. The eleventh entry in the Elvis Cole series, The Watchman, will be published sometime in 2007.
After years of amateur film-making and writing short fiction, he journeyed to Hollywood in 1976 where he quickly found work writing scripts for such major television series as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, and Miami Vice, as well as numerous series pilots and Movies-of-the-Week for the major networks. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on Hill Street Blues, but is most proud of his 4-hour NBC miniseries, Cross of Fire, which the New York Times declared: "A searing and powerful documentation of the Ku Klux Klan’s rise to national prominence in the 20s."
In the mid-eighties, feeling constrained by the collaborative working requirements of Hollywood, Crais resigned from a lucrative position as a contract writer and television producer in order to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a novelist. His first efforts proved unsuccessful, but upon the death of his father in 1985, Crais was inspired to create Elvis Cole, using elements of his own life as the basis of the story. The resulting novel, The Monkey’s Raincoat, won the Anthony and Macavity Awards and was nominated for the Edgar Award. It has since been selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.
Crais conceived of the novel as a stand-alone, but realized that—in Elvis Cole—he had created an ideal and powerful character through which to comment upon his life and times. (See the WORKS section for additional titles.) Elvis Cole’s readership and fan base grew with each new book, then skyrocketed in 1999 upon the publication of L. A. Requiem, which was a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller and forever changed the way Crais conceived of and structured his novels. In this new way of telling his stories, Crais combined the classic ‘first person’ narrative of the American detective novel with flashbacks, multiple story lines, multiple points-of-view, and literary elements to better illuminate his themes. Larger and deeper in scope, Publishers Weekly wrote of L. A. Requiem, "Crais has stretched himself the way another Southern California writer—Ross Macdonald—always tried to do, to write a mystery novel with a solid literary base." Booklist added, "This is an extraordinary crime novel that should not be pigeonholed by genre. The best books always land outside preset boundaries. A wonderful experience."
Crais followed with his first non-series novel, Demolition Angel, which was published in 2000 and featured former Los Angeles Police Department Bomb Technician Carol Starkey. Starkey has since become a leading character in the Elvis Cole series. In 2001, Crais published his second non-series novel, Hostage, which was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times and was a world-wide bestseller. Additionally, the editors of Amazon.com selected Hostage as the #1 thriller of the year. A film adaptation of Hostage was released in 2005, starring Bruce Willis as ex-LAPD SWAT negotiator Jeff Talley.
Elvis Cole returned in 2003 with the publication of The Last Detective, followed by the tenth Elvis Cole novel, The Forgotten Man, in 2005. Both novels explore with increasing depth the natures and characters of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. RC’s third stand-alone novel, The Two Minute Rule, was published in 2006. The eleventh entry in the Elvis Cole series, The Watchman, will be published sometime in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
April 8, 2014
I preferred some stories over others, of course, but enjoyed 'em all. I've read quite a few volumes from this series over the years and always appreciate the opportunity to read mystery stories by authors known to me and unknown. The excellent writing found in these volumes is, I believe, what first opened my discerning and highly critical mind to the possibilities and pleasures of mystery stories. In the introduction, the series editor, Otto Penzler, often explains and/or apologies for his wide definition of a mystery story, which basically requires a crime or the threat of one and is not at all limited to sleuths. Penzler does the introduction well enough each year, and distinctly enough, that I always read it and never feel like a sucker (It may be similar to what couch potatoes experience when watching reruns, but I doubt it.).
I blurbed about each story without planning to. Shared whatever gems came to mind as I skimmed the contents:
The Hit by Tom Andes: Very good tale about a goofball, told by a hit man.
The Bridge Partner by Peter S. Beagle: Yes, that Peter S. Beagle. He gets away with this because the narrator's bridge partner's modus operandi is hilarious.
Filament by K.L. Cook: Don't get pregnant and drop out of college.
The Funeral Bill by Jason DeYoung: Engaging tale of obsession.
Fifty Minutes by Joe Donnelly and Harry Shannon: A psychotherapist tells the story, maintaining a streak of truly impressive and interesting characters. You will love him.
Man on the Run by Kathleen Ford: Extremely old narrator, realistically portrayed, and kick ass. God bless this writer.
The Other Place by Mary Gaitskill: A narrator looks back. The looking back was written in a way that grabbed my attention more than the story in the past...
Safety by Jesse Goolsby: Unexpected ending. I smiled.
Trafficking by Katherine L. Hester: Visiting the past, visiting a prison.
Soul Anatomy by Lou Manfredo: Very interesting perspective on police.
The Good Samaritan by Thomas McGuane: Narrator likes to end his day working on his ranch. I liked that.
Looking for Service by Nathan Oates: American on business in unnamed Latin American country encounters American backpackers. Communication breakdown.
Dog on a Cow by Gina Paoli: Farmer, flood story within the story. Told by a victim in truly terrifying circumstances.
Vic Primeval by T. Jefferson Parker: Crazy kids. A wrestler. A detective.
Hard Truths by Thomas J. Rice: Historical. Takes place in Ireland in 1958 and seems to capture the times and the tone. Narrated by a boy. The story of his parents.
Icarus by Lones Seiber: Portrays a disturbing ordinariness/hopelessness. Lock your guns away before reading.
Trafalgar by Charles Todd: Historical. Cambridgeshire, 1920. Police procedural, I believe. Atmospheric. Like a condensed novel in its complexity.
Half-Lives by Tim L. Williams: Gritty, realistic, urban, with mafioso and an environmental/social responsibility theme. Unique, I thought. Applause.
Returning the River by Daniel Woodrell: Short, damn near incomprehensible to me, not because of the writing, 'cause of the outlook, which I am still contemplating...
P.S. Besides the stories, there's more fun to be had because they include notes about the contributors, which are often brief bios with short descriptions of how they came to write their stories. I almost always turn to the notes after reading each story, mainly out of envy, sometimes out of awe.
I blurbed about each story without planning to. Shared whatever gems came to mind as I skimmed the contents:
The Hit by Tom Andes: Very good tale about a goofball, told by a hit man.
The Bridge Partner by Peter S. Beagle: Yes, that Peter S. Beagle. He gets away with this because the narrator's bridge partner's modus operandi is hilarious.
Filament by K.L. Cook: Don't get pregnant and drop out of college.
The Funeral Bill by Jason DeYoung: Engaging tale of obsession.
Fifty Minutes by Joe Donnelly and Harry Shannon: A psychotherapist tells the story, maintaining a streak of truly impressive and interesting characters. You will love him.
Man on the Run by Kathleen Ford: Extremely old narrator, realistically portrayed, and kick ass. God bless this writer.
The Other Place by Mary Gaitskill: A narrator looks back. The looking back was written in a way that grabbed my attention more than the story in the past...
Safety by Jesse Goolsby: Unexpected ending. I smiled.
Trafficking by Katherine L. Hester: Visiting the past, visiting a prison.
Soul Anatomy by Lou Manfredo: Very interesting perspective on police.
The Good Samaritan by Thomas McGuane: Narrator likes to end his day working on his ranch. I liked that.
Looking for Service by Nathan Oates: American on business in unnamed Latin American country encounters American backpackers. Communication breakdown.
Dog on a Cow by Gina Paoli: Farmer, flood story within the story. Told by a victim in truly terrifying circumstances.
Vic Primeval by T. Jefferson Parker: Crazy kids. A wrestler. A detective.
Hard Truths by Thomas J. Rice: Historical. Takes place in Ireland in 1958 and seems to capture the times and the tone. Narrated by a boy. The story of his parents.
Icarus by Lones Seiber: Portrays a disturbing ordinariness/hopelessness. Lock your guns away before reading.
Trafalgar by Charles Todd: Historical. Cambridgeshire, 1920. Police procedural, I believe. Atmospheric. Like a condensed novel in its complexity.
Half-Lives by Tim L. Williams: Gritty, realistic, urban, with mafioso and an environmental/social responsibility theme. Unique, I thought. Applause.
Returning the River by Daniel Woodrell: Short, damn near incomprehensible to me, not because of the writing, 'cause of the outlook, which I am still contemplating...
P.S. Besides the stories, there's more fun to be had because they include notes about the contributors, which are often brief bios with short descriptions of how they came to write their stories. I almost always turn to the notes after reading each story, mainly out of envy, sometimes out of awe.
December 17, 2012
I found this to be an excellent collection of mystery/crime stories (Penzler is always careful to elucidate how the term "mystery" has broadened itself over the years, but I don't have to, do I? And isn't a good story a good story, regardless of what genre it falls under?) with a number of particularly stellar entries. I had a hunch I'd like Crais's selections, since I find his writing appealing, but I was very happy to have it confirmed, especially in stories like:
K. L. Cook's "Filament," where a single filament of hot metal lodged in a man's eye sets a chain of life-changing events into action. It's about how purely accidental life can be, but the theme never feels--as it can in some cases--overly manipulative: the grounded reality and sense of place keep this darkly effective.
Mary Gaitskill's "The Other Place," which I read and liked in The Best American Short Stories 2012, and which gains added atmosphere here from being surrounded by similar tales. It's about a man with disturbing impulses (mostly) in his past observing those same traits in his son, and I found it extremely believable and even--in its way--hopeful.
Jesse Goolsby's "Safety," possibly my favorite of the collection, which has an absolute gut-punch of an ending and which deals with questions of violence and safety from multiple chilling angles throughout. It's the kind of story where saying too much would spoil, and the kind of story you want to go into blind.
Lou Manfredo's "Soul Anatomy." I admit that the titular conceit (the idea of anatomy as intersecting with, or substituting for, the soul) didn't strike me as powerfully as it strikes rookie cop Anthony Miles, involved in his first shooting, but I did find everything else about this extremely effective. It's detailed and clever, with another great ending.
Tim L. Williams's neo-noir "Half-Lives," in my favorite gritty and well-realized urban subgenre, which has a private investigator finding his bail jumper case spiraling out into a hauntingly plausible ongoing disaster. This grapples enticingly with questions of morality and doesn't provide easy answers, and William's sense of place, like Cook's, is incredibly good.
I look forward to this collection every year, and this year's is a wonderful example of why it's an automatic buy from me every time.
K. L. Cook's "Filament," where a single filament of hot metal lodged in a man's eye sets a chain of life-changing events into action. It's about how purely accidental life can be, but the theme never feels--as it can in some cases--overly manipulative: the grounded reality and sense of place keep this darkly effective.
Mary Gaitskill's "The Other Place," which I read and liked in The Best American Short Stories 2012, and which gains added atmosphere here from being surrounded by similar tales. It's about a man with disturbing impulses (mostly) in his past observing those same traits in his son, and I found it extremely believable and even--in its way--hopeful.
Jesse Goolsby's "Safety," possibly my favorite of the collection, which has an absolute gut-punch of an ending and which deals with questions of violence and safety from multiple chilling angles throughout. It's the kind of story where saying too much would spoil, and the kind of story you want to go into blind.
Lou Manfredo's "Soul Anatomy." I admit that the titular conceit (the idea of anatomy as intersecting with, or substituting for, the soul) didn't strike me as powerfully as it strikes rookie cop Anthony Miles, involved in his first shooting, but I did find everything else about this extremely effective. It's detailed and clever, with another great ending.
Tim L. Williams's neo-noir "Half-Lives," in my favorite gritty and well-realized urban subgenre, which has a private investigator finding his bail jumper case spiraling out into a hauntingly plausible ongoing disaster. This grapples enticingly with questions of morality and doesn't provide easy answers, and William's sense of place, like Cook's, is incredibly good.
I look forward to this collection every year, and this year's is a wonderful example of why it's an automatic buy from me every time.
December 28, 2014
A nice collection of mystery stories of all types. A few historicals, a few thrillers, a few whodunits. Many were noir. A nice read for in the doctor's office.
December 1, 2017
Some of these stories I liked a lot. Some of them I didn't warm up to. One of them I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated. (I'm not naming names.) The mix of literary to genre offerings was about the same as always for this series, which can lead to a bit of tonal monotony. (The mix leans strongly to the literary/"dark" side.) I took my sweet time reading the book, stepping away for plenty of palette cleansers, so I never burned out on it. If you like your crime fiction introspective, unsentimental and noir-ish, you'll probably sail right through it.
October 16, 2012
Prior to getting this from the Virginia Festival of the Book office to read as a reviewer of book applications for their planning committee, I had no idea that the famous "Best American" series had a mystery subgenre. I mostly enjoyed this collection, though I think the title calling them all "mystery stories" is rather misleading. In his introduction, the series editor - the well-known mystery editor and aficionado Otto Penzler - states that it's really a collection of both mystery and crime stories. OK, I can still get behind that. The two are closely related and often lumped together.
But it seemed to the me that the editors had a rather broader definition than I would have had for what constitutes a crime story. For example, in one story entitled "Trafficking," the crux of the story is the complex family relationships in a blended family (mother and son, step-father and step-son) when the parents have aged/died and the brothers have grown up and chosen different paths in life. The entire story is about one step-brother visiting the other in prison. Why the one brother is in prison is only very vaguely defined (something drug-related) and is ultimately unimportant. It's not a bad story; I just would not have classified it as a crime story.
Anyway - most of the authors here are fairly well-known, and those who aren't have still been published in respectable venues before. Most of the stories were quite good. I wouldn't necessarily have classified all of them as crime stories, but most are at least that - with a crime or multiple crimes playing a pivotal role in the storytelling - and a few are quite satisfying mysteries. Personal favorites in the collection: "The Bridge Partner" by Peter S. Beagle; "Dog on a Cow" by Gina Paoli; "Vic Primeval" by T. Jefferson Parker; "Hard Truths" by Thomas J. Rice; "Local Knowledge" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch; and "Trafalgar" by Charles Todd. The last two stories listed are probably the most traditional whodunit kinds of mysteries in the book, the first a kind of hard-boiled American police procedural and the second a more old-fashioned British police investigation (though I can't quite call it a cozy since it is an investigation run by Scotland Yard, there are some cozy elements to it).
But it seemed to the me that the editors had a rather broader definition than I would have had for what constitutes a crime story. For example, in one story entitled "Trafficking," the crux of the story is the complex family relationships in a blended family (mother and son, step-father and step-son) when the parents have aged/died and the brothers have grown up and chosen different paths in life. The entire story is about one step-brother visiting the other in prison. Why the one brother is in prison is only very vaguely defined (something drug-related) and is ultimately unimportant. It's not a bad story; I just would not have classified it as a crime story.
Anyway - most of the authors here are fairly well-known, and those who aren't have still been published in respectable venues before. Most of the stories were quite good. I wouldn't necessarily have classified all of them as crime stories, but most are at least that - with a crime or multiple crimes playing a pivotal role in the storytelling - and a few are quite satisfying mysteries. Personal favorites in the collection: "The Bridge Partner" by Peter S. Beagle; "Dog on a Cow" by Gina Paoli; "Vic Primeval" by T. Jefferson Parker; "Hard Truths" by Thomas J. Rice; "Local Knowledge" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch; and "Trafalgar" by Charles Todd. The last two stories listed are probably the most traditional whodunit kinds of mysteries in the book, the first a kind of hard-boiled American police procedural and the second a more old-fashioned British police investigation (though I can't quite call it a cozy since it is an investigation run by Scotland Yard, there are some cozy elements to it).
January 3, 2013
Robert Crais is one of my favorite authors and this series is one of my favorite anthologies, so I was especially disappointed with the choices. They just seemed a little too esoteric and they didn't string together with any discernible thread. I kept looking back at the opening of the stories to find where they were coming from.
January 5, 2013
Not many stories fit the classic mystery genre, but they are all well-written. My favorite is "The Bridge Partner" by Peter S. Beagle.
November 21, 2020
It is a mixed bag. Some are good but most are rather mediocre.
February 9, 2013
I was disappointed in this collection, based on the fact that the stories are not mysteries.
Perhaps I am behind the times, and what the genera includes may be expanding. Still, calling the stories mysteries is not really fair to the reader. I don't feel competent to say how good the stories were, as I was judging them as mysteries, which they clearly are not.
Best American Crime stories might be a better title. If you like contemporary fiction with an element of crime, you might find this to be what you are looking for. If you are looking for actual Mysteries, I cannot recommend it.
Perhaps I am behind the times, and what the genera includes may be expanding. Still, calling the stories mysteries is not really fair to the reader. I don't feel competent to say how good the stories were, as I was judging them as mysteries, which they clearly are not.
Best American Crime stories might be a better title. If you like contemporary fiction with an element of crime, you might find this to be what you are looking for. If you are looking for actual Mysteries, I cannot recommend it.
December 12, 2015
Hit men, kidnappers, the obsessed, and a some common criminal behavior. This collection has more than a few fine mystery stories. And a couple, including "Funeral Bill" that just aren't quite classifiable, yet worth the read.
February 3, 2013
I liked some of the stories more than others but all were well crafted and interesting.
January 3, 2013
My favorite story is Thomas McGuane's "The Good Samaritan," which includes this:
"Telling people to relax is not as aggressive as shooting them, but it's up there."
"Telling people to relax is not as aggressive as shooting them, but it's up there."
September 6, 2020
This collection doesn’t hold up in 2020. Although the stories selected were not all whodunit plot lines, the overall collection still seemed very monotonous and uninspired. I tried to figure out why. Turns out 14 out of 20 of the stories selected we’re written by male author. 18 out of 20 of the stories had a male protagonist. Huge failure on the editors’ part.
August 23, 2023
The Best American Mystery Stories 2012 is the premier annual showcase for the country's finest
short fiction mystery stories. Stories are selected by a special guest editor and a leading writer
in the field and then chooses the best 20 or so pieces to publish. There were several very good
short stories and some I didn't care for, so that is why I give this 31/2 stars.
short fiction mystery stories. Stories are selected by a special guest editor and a leading writer
in the field and then chooses the best 20 or so pieces to publish. There were several very good
short stories and some I didn't care for, so that is why I give this 31/2 stars.
November 26, 2022
bleak beyond mortal belief
there are writers who include sad or even evil episodes ... but an entire book of hate and violence has literally no redeeming value. two stars awarded because of the great Robert Crais. otherwise ... just take a pass on this book. yuck.
there are writers who include sad or even evil episodes ... but an entire book of hate and violence has literally no redeeming value. two stars awarded because of the great Robert Crais. otherwise ... just take a pass on this book. yuck.
April 24, 2018
Most of the stories in this collection weren't what I would call mysteries at all, so I was disappointed.
December 13, 2019
I read this book for the Charles Todd story in it. "Trafalgar" isn't the strongest outing for Inspector Rutledge, although it was enjoyable enough. However, the other stories in the collection were diverse, engaging, and intriguing, although like any anthology--even a "Best of" one--the group was a bit uneven. Still, it was nice for a brief foray into authors I haven't read before.
Read
March 2, 2021DNFing at 45%
Not sure what I expected, but there wasn't a single mystery at 10 stories in. They weren't even weird or surreal.
Not sure what I expected, but there wasn't a single mystery at 10 stories in. They weren't even weird or surreal.
August 25, 2021
Depressing stories for the most part. Stopped half way through.
April 19, 2021
This collection got better in the second half. Some decent ones, my favorite being one T Jefferson Parker about a washed up wrestler being conned to steal from the mob and give to a “helpless” stripper.
June 14, 2013
The enjoyment you get from this book will depend a lot on the baggage you bring to it. First: expectations. What do you expect a mystery story to be or do? I came in anticipating whodunits with a corpse, a gumshoe, and a list of possible suspects. Maybe that's hard to accomplish in the short story form. Series editor Otto Penzler's nebulous definition of a "mystery" sounds more like a product disclaimer than a statement of faith. Basically, Penzler contends that any story containing even a whiff of a crime fits the bill. Thus you get something like Thomas McGuane's "The Good Samaritan" where the long con art theft is almost a sidenote to the piece's main themes. Personally, I'm fine with this looser definition since I felt the strongest stories in the collection were the ones that weren't trying to fit any set genre conventions. Second: literary tastes. To my mind, the "New Yorker" stories by McGuane and Mary Gaitskill stood in stark contrast to the more paint-by-number genre exercises by the likes of Tom Andes, Joe Donnelly, Harry Shannon, and T. Jefferson Parker. Some readers will pick up this anthology wanting the standard genre stuff. Personally I felt it was harmed by its proximity to the McGuane and Gaitskill stories that don't quite fit the mold. Gaitskill's story, "The Other Place," was the true standout of the collection. It is a story devoid of any true crimes or mysteries, though full of dark impulses, imagined crimes, and almost-crimes. Effortlessly Gaitskill creates scenes that cause the reader's pulse to quicken--a teen gazing in a sleeping girl's window, a hitchhiker and a cancer victim on a quiet stretch of road. What's amazing about the story is the way Gaitskill is able to articulate broad themes of violence and sexuality with a few deft strokes. Her story is so complex, so resonant, that it causes other stories in the collection to dim by comparison.
August 28, 2013
In the foreword to this compilation, Series Editor Otto Penzler warns readers that his definition of the mystery genre differs with popular opinion. Specifically, he believes that mysteries are more than just detective stories and whodunits, a sentiment I can agree with. It does appear, however, that Penzler is swinging the pendulum too far in the opposite direction. More than half of the 20 stories included in the edition have no or very few mysterious elements. Penzler apparently prefers murder stories where the protagonist murderer justifies his or her actions in some way. Some of the stories are compelling (some are decidedly not - double whammy), but I picked up this book of short mystery stories for a reason. Perhaps the volume should have been entitled "The Best American Crime Fiction, Which May or May Not Contain Mysterious Material, 2012."
Some of the stories were superb, as I mentioned. Standouts for me included "The Funeral Bill," which was somehow both intense and laid back, "Fifty Minutes," a fast-paced psychological thriller in a literal sense, "Safety," the most heart-breaking story I've read in some time, and "Vic Primeval," which was full of colorful characters. Overall, a decent compilation, but not as advertised.
Some of the stories were superb, as I mentioned. Standouts for me included "The Funeral Bill," which was somehow both intense and laid back, "Fifty Minutes," a fast-paced psychological thriller in a literal sense, "Safety," the most heart-breaking story I've read in some time, and "Vic Primeval," which was full of colorful characters. Overall, a decent compilation, but not as advertised.
September 12, 2013
I found this rather disappointing even though it contains many fine stories. Few of the stories are mysteries, though. The editor's foreword explains how he defines the category differently (more like stories with a crime in them, but the stories here don't necessarily meet that criterion either). Most of the stories here would not be out of place in the Best American Short Stories collection--indeed, one of them IS in that collection--but that's not what I expected from this volume. I was disappointed. In his foreword, the editor perfectly describes the pleasures of the mystery story; unfortunately not much of that pleasure is on offer here. I got a much bigger kick out of the 2011 collection; I hope 2013 will be back to the previous standard.
June 4, 2014
A lifetime of reading mysteries, writing a few with some success, I now understand why an increasing number of literary journals are taking mysteries off their taboo "genre" lists and adding them to the mainstream. Two, maybe three, in this collection are just The Best! I'll never forget Eileen Dreyer's "The Sailor in the Picture". We all know The Picture: sailors returning to New York following WWII. The guy sweeps a nurse into his arms and kisses her at Times Square. This story is the about the woman he kissed just before he kissed the nurse. WOW.
The fact that Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine has five stories in this collection of 20, deepens my respect for this magazine. The fact they published my story, "Walking Out" the same year makes it personal!
The fact that Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine has five stories in this collection of 20, deepens my respect for this magazine. The fact they published my story, "Walking Out" the same year makes it personal!
November 2, 2014
In an anthology such as this, it's expected that some stories will resonate more than others. None of the stories here is challenging to get through. They're all well written. Your enjoyment will depend on the style you prefer and, as many people -- editors included -- have noted, your willingness to be open-minded to the definition of "mystery."
That being said, I enjoyed Soul Anatomy and stories mostly toward the end of the anthology (Hard Truths, Local Knowledge, and Trafalgar) more than others. Check it out. I've discovered some great authors over the years thanks to this series, and I'm definitely intrigued to look further into some of the authors here.
That being said, I enjoyed Soul Anatomy and stories mostly toward the end of the anthology (Hard Truths, Local Knowledge, and Trafalgar) more than others. Check it out. I've discovered some great authors over the years thanks to this series, and I'm definitely intrigued to look further into some of the authors here.
December 7, 2012
The Best American series is a collection of excellent writing spanning several genres in both fiction and nonfiction. Writings tend to come from literary magazines so they tend to be of high quality. This collection does not disappoint in this area, and the stories are interesting. However, if you like traditional page-turning mysteries, this is not necessarily the place to look. Thats not to say this collection isnt worth reading; the title is just a bit of a misnomer at times. Of local interest is "Filament," which features a protagonist from Honey Grove, TX.
December 29, 2013
Penzler's taste in mystery definitely runs similarly to mine, so this is a series I like to return to each year - it's intriguing to see how authors are playing with elements of traditional mystery in surprising and challenging ways. There are only a few straight mysteries here; the rest take a crime or a hidden backstory as a jumping-off point for a plot that doesn't follow the classic rules. There are a number of standouts, but if I'm picking a favorite, I'll take the Ireland-set "Hard Truths."
June 1, 2013
I have read this mystery series since 2007. This year's collection is consist of the crime stories following last two years. All writers are highly talented, so I enjoyed reading.
I like best 'Fifty Minutes' by Joe Donnelly and Harry Shannon, 'Soul Anatomy' by Lou Manfredo, and 'Looking for Service' by Nathan Oates.
I thought that 'Soul Anatomy' and 'Filament' by K.L. Cook are also suitable for short stories series.
I like best 'Fifty Minutes' by Joe Donnelly and Harry Shannon, 'Soul Anatomy' by Lou Manfredo, and 'Looking for Service' by Nathan Oates.
I thought that 'Soul Anatomy' and 'Filament' by K.L. Cook are also suitable for short stories series.
November 2, 2013
This is a pretty solid compilation of short stories, but it wasn't quite what I expected. These are almost entirely stories that have some element of the weird or creepy, but virtually none of them are what I'd qualify as mysteries. This didn't matter for me but I can see that if you're a diehard mystery fan, this book wouldn't be quite what you expected. If you're just a fan of good writing, this is worth a read.
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