Best Crime Stories of the Year Volume 4: a superb selection of crime and mystery fiction curated by award-winning author Anthony Horowitz

by Otto Penzler (Editor), Anthony Horowitz (Editor)

Internationally bestselling author and acclaimed screenwriter Anthony Horowitz, creator of Magpie Murders, together with founder of Mysterious Press, Otto Penzler, selects the very best of the year's crime and mystery tales in this latest collection perfect for crime fiction lovers. Featuring stories from Jeffery Deaver and L. Frank Baum among many others!

These twenty tales represent the best of short form crime and mystery fiction from over the past twelve months. With a variety of fiendishly twisty plots, and featuring murder and mischief in evilly evocative settings, this collection is perfect for crime fiction lovers. Also includes a bonus short mystery story from the Golden Age of Crime Fiction, by the fabled L. Frank Baum.

Featuring stories

Ace Atkins
Michael Bracken
Fleur Bradley
Shelley Costa
Doug Crandell
Jeffery Deaver
John Floyd
Nils Gilbertson
Peter Hayes
Shells Legoullon
Victor Methos
Leonardo Padura
Dan Pope
Annie Reed
Cameron Sanders
Anna Scotti
Archer Sullivan
Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Stacy Woodson

'A satisfying collection, varied in style and subject' Morning Star
'Thrilling... A must for mystery fans' Publishers Weekly

472 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2024

About the author

Otto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.

Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.

Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.

Reviews

[Imogen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Random pick up from the local bookshop. I really liked how some stories grabbed me such as Last Day at the JackRabbit and The Backwoods, which had wonderful hints about a backstory. Others for me fell a little flat such as Billowing Down the Bayou. But that's what great about a collection like this, you meet new writers, come across new works by old favourites and are challenged, some you like, some you don't. There is a story for everyone.
Recommend reading this in the colder months when the weather is grey and a bit moody. This book deserves a bit of atmosphere.

[Lyon Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology of short stories is a mixed bag. I confess that I did not read all of them but was not impressed with the ones I did read.