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The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2025
1 pages, Audio CD
Published September 23, 2025
About the author
Various
1,356 followersVarious is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).
If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 22, 2026
Anytime the publisher of a story collection labels the work as the “Best,” they’ve already set the book up for failure. Readers tend to be somewhat forgiving of an occasional mediocre or poor story in collections by a particular author or about a specific theme, but they expect premium quality from every single work in a “Best” collection. Judged by that impossibly high standard, “The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2025” falls short, as it must. However, the 20 stories in the collection are very good overall, and genre fans will enjoy making their way through the book, a story or two at a time.
The anthology’s full title is “The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2025.” This year’s edition is the fifth annual collection under the current format. (The Bookshop published a dozen previous annual collections under a similar title.) Otto Penzler, founder of the Mysterious Bookshop, explains his methodology in a detailed foreword. The only requirements for inclusion, other than overall high quality, are that a story must be a mystery that had its first English-language publication in 2024. The word “mystery” might more accurately be termed crime fiction, which Penzler describes as “any work of fiction in which a crime, or the threat of a crime, is central to the theme of the plot.” Throughout the year 2024, Penzler and his staff scrutinized hundreds of stories before the finalists were provided to this year’s editor, John Grisham. Penzler and Grisham made the ultimate selection of the book’s 20 stories. (Grisham also contributes a brief introduction about his own career.)
The stories in the anthology appear in alphabetical order by author, so the book lacks thematic continuity. In a way, that makes reading the book more entertaining because, like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get next. Each story is preceded by a brief bio of the author, which was educational for me since I was unfamiliar with all of them. After each story, the author added a brief explanation of how the story originated. Many of them were based on the author’s personal experiences, and this material was often quite interesting. As a bonus, the book contains an extra classic story, Jacques Futrelle’s “The Problem of Cell 13.”
My favorite story was “Same Old Song” by Billie Livingston. The son of an old-time grifter learns the ropes from his father, but his efforts to be a legitimate businessman continually fail because he can’t avoid getting involved in shady schemes. As the story begins, the father is confined to a nursing home with possible dementia, and a former associate he double-crossed is now looking for him to collect what’s owed. The son suspects his father’s dementia is feigned, but the trouble the older man has gotten himself into is genuine.
Although “Same Old Song” is my favorite, the best story in the anthology in terms of overall literary quality is the oddly titled “Eat My Moose” by Erika Krouse. It’s a crime story only in the loosest sense of the word, but it’s an excellent reflection on life and death. Two late-stage cancer patients in Alaska dub themselves Bonnie and Clyde and go to remote locations to help other late-stage patients commit suicide. The experiences have a profound effect on them, leading them to reconsider their own mortality. The story also had a profound, long-lasting emotional effect on me.
Other stories in the anthology are lighter in tone. “Dream Stuff” by Lou Manfredo is a paean to old noirish PI stories, with a reason. A former ad executive decides to become such an investigator, and his new client is a classic femme fatale who wants the detective to scare off a now-bothersome boyfriend. He discovers that someone else has scared the boyfriend off permanently. “Run and Gun” by Joseph S. Walker is the story of two criminals, one a ruthless fixer and the other a crooked cop, who vie for possession of a highly incriminating flash drive. It’s a procedural told from the perspective of two unlikable but competent antagonists. “The Art of Disappearance” by April Kelly follows the typical mystery magazine formula of the twist ending, but with a flourish. A man who helps battered women assume new identities to avoid abusive husbands and boyfriends also takes on gangsters occasionally as clients. Readers will see the end coming well before the client in the story does, but waiting for the twist is entertaining.
In an odd coincidence, three stories are set at a staple location for crime fiction: the out-of-the-way roadside motel. The best of these is “Only a Story” by Kai Lovelace. A nerdy 14-year-old who’s fascinated by pulp crime stories works as the night clerk at his grandfather’s motel in the 1950s. A man who’s clearly a robber checks in, and the boy thinks he’s met his hero, only to learn that reality isn’t what it seems in the pulps. The proprietor in “Effie’s Oasis” by Casey Stegman is much older, pushing 80, but faces a similar situation when some ruthless robbers check into her motel with a young child in tow. Finally, the motel in “The Secret Menu” by Sean McCluskey serves as the setting for a brief rendezvous between a wealthy businessman and his female “friend.” A private investigator spots them and tries to turn the affair to his advantage, but things don’t work out as everyone planned.
“Best Mystery Stories” didn’t have any outright duds, but some stories were merely passable and not what I would consider anything resembling the best stories of a calendar year. The most mediocre tale in the anthology is “Her Dangerously Clever Hands” by Karen Odden. It’s a historical piece, set in England in 1879, and features a gang of female pickpockets of the era called the Wrens. I give the author credit for historical research that introduces readers to a potentially fascinating look at the underside of Victorian life, but she cannot turn the setting into a compelling story.
I really enjoyed “The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2025.” Most of the stories are quite enjoyable. The best ones, like “Eat My Moose” and “Only a Story,” are among the best stories I’ve read in a long time. All the stories are at least passable, and the book allows for days of enjoyment for genre fans, if they limit themselves to one or two tales a day. These may not be the best stories of the year (I’m not familiar with the potential competition), but they’re highly worthwhile for genre fans or followers of the Mysterious Bookstore.
NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.
The anthology’s full title is “The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2025.” This year’s edition is the fifth annual collection under the current format. (The Bookshop published a dozen previous annual collections under a similar title.) Otto Penzler, founder of the Mysterious Bookshop, explains his methodology in a detailed foreword. The only requirements for inclusion, other than overall high quality, are that a story must be a mystery that had its first English-language publication in 2024. The word “mystery” might more accurately be termed crime fiction, which Penzler describes as “any work of fiction in which a crime, or the threat of a crime, is central to the theme of the plot.” Throughout the year 2024, Penzler and his staff scrutinized hundreds of stories before the finalists were provided to this year’s editor, John Grisham. Penzler and Grisham made the ultimate selection of the book’s 20 stories. (Grisham also contributes a brief introduction about his own career.)
The stories in the anthology appear in alphabetical order by author, so the book lacks thematic continuity. In a way, that makes reading the book more entertaining because, like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get next. Each story is preceded by a brief bio of the author, which was educational for me since I was unfamiliar with all of them. After each story, the author added a brief explanation of how the story originated. Many of them were based on the author’s personal experiences, and this material was often quite interesting. As a bonus, the book contains an extra classic story, Jacques Futrelle’s “The Problem of Cell 13.”
My favorite story was “Same Old Song” by Billie Livingston. The son of an old-time grifter learns the ropes from his father, but his efforts to be a legitimate businessman continually fail because he can’t avoid getting involved in shady schemes. As the story begins, the father is confined to a nursing home with possible dementia, and a former associate he double-crossed is now looking for him to collect what’s owed. The son suspects his father’s dementia is feigned, but the trouble the older man has gotten himself into is genuine.
Although “Same Old Song” is my favorite, the best story in the anthology in terms of overall literary quality is the oddly titled “Eat My Moose” by Erika Krouse. It’s a crime story only in the loosest sense of the word, but it’s an excellent reflection on life and death. Two late-stage cancer patients in Alaska dub themselves Bonnie and Clyde and go to remote locations to help other late-stage patients commit suicide. The experiences have a profound effect on them, leading them to reconsider their own mortality. The story also had a profound, long-lasting emotional effect on me.
Other stories in the anthology are lighter in tone. “Dream Stuff” by Lou Manfredo is a paean to old noirish PI stories, with a reason. A former ad executive decides to become such an investigator, and his new client is a classic femme fatale who wants the detective to scare off a now-bothersome boyfriend. He discovers that someone else has scared the boyfriend off permanently. “Run and Gun” by Joseph S. Walker is the story of two criminals, one a ruthless fixer and the other a crooked cop, who vie for possession of a highly incriminating flash drive. It’s a procedural told from the perspective of two unlikable but competent antagonists. “The Art of Disappearance” by April Kelly follows the typical mystery magazine formula of the twist ending, but with a flourish. A man who helps battered women assume new identities to avoid abusive husbands and boyfriends also takes on gangsters occasionally as clients. Readers will see the end coming well before the client in the story does, but waiting for the twist is entertaining.
In an odd coincidence, three stories are set at a staple location for crime fiction: the out-of-the-way roadside motel. The best of these is “Only a Story” by Kai Lovelace. A nerdy 14-year-old who’s fascinated by pulp crime stories works as the night clerk at his grandfather’s motel in the 1950s. A man who’s clearly a robber checks in, and the boy thinks he’s met his hero, only to learn that reality isn’t what it seems in the pulps. The proprietor in “Effie’s Oasis” by Casey Stegman is much older, pushing 80, but faces a similar situation when some ruthless robbers check into her motel with a young child in tow. Finally, the motel in “The Secret Menu” by Sean McCluskey serves as the setting for a brief rendezvous between a wealthy businessman and his female “friend.” A private investigator spots them and tries to turn the affair to his advantage, but things don’t work out as everyone planned.
“Best Mystery Stories” didn’t have any outright duds, but some stories were merely passable and not what I would consider anything resembling the best stories of a calendar year. The most mediocre tale in the anthology is “Her Dangerously Clever Hands” by Karen Odden. It’s a historical piece, set in England in 1879, and features a gang of female pickpockets of the era called the Wrens. I give the author credit for historical research that introduces readers to a potentially fascinating look at the underside of Victorian life, but she cannot turn the setting into a compelling story.
I really enjoyed “The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2025.” Most of the stories are quite enjoyable. The best ones, like “Eat My Moose” and “Only a Story,” are among the best stories I’ve read in a long time. All the stories are at least passable, and the book allows for days of enjoyment for genre fans, if they limit themselves to one or two tales a day. These may not be the best stories of the year (I’m not familiar with the potential competition), but they’re highly worthwhile for genre fans or followers of the Mysterious Bookstore.
NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.
October 6, 2025
This annual collection has become one of my favorite traditions—an entire year’s worth of mystery distilled into one audiobook, featuring writers both familiar and new. John Grisham’s introduction and Otto Penzler’s foreword set the tone perfectly: mysteries may evolve, but the thrill of a good puzzle never gets old.
The stories range from clever noir to emotional domestic suspense to historical crime. A few that really stood out to me:
- Erika Krouse’s Eat My Moose A bittersweet story of two friends that travel Alaska to help people with assisted suicides.
- Shelagh Smith’s Snapshot Two daughters are going through their recently deceased former policeman’s things when a picture is found that could solve his biggest cold case.
- V.P. Chandler’s Under the Blackjack Tree The young daughter of the jailer is used to pass information from one thief to another, with long lasting psychological consequences.
- Richard A. McMahan’s Mister George I love how the policeman helps figure out the crime and how he helps find a replacement for Mister George.
- Jacques Futrelle’s classic “The Problem of Cell 13” closes things out with wit, logic, and humor, as well as a sort of twisted take on the classic “locked room” mystery.
Jamie Renell and Marnye Young’s narration adds just the right mix of grit and polish. Each voice feels distinct, carrying the mood from noir alleyways to dusty motel parking lots to fog-drenched London streets.
If you love mystery anthologies that balance variety with depth—and that introduce you to new authors you’ll want to read more from—this one’s a must-listen. A standout mix of classic craft and fresh ideas, all tied together by the timeless question: what really happened, and why?
Full list of authors and titles:
- Otto Penzler, Foreword
- John Grisham, Introduction
- David Avallone, The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)
- Craig Faustus Buck, Home Game
- V. P. Chandler, Under the Blackjack Tree
- Tracy Falenwolfe, Jamming at Jollies
- James Hearn, Totality
- April Kelly, The Art of Disappearance
- Erika Krouse, Eat My Moose
- Tom Larsen, The Other Brother
- Billie Livingston, Same Old Song
- Kai Lovelace, Only a Story
- Sean McCluskey, The Secret Menu
- Richard A. McMahan, Mister George
- Lou Manfredo, Dream Stuff
- Karen Odden, Her Dangerously Clever Hands
- Anna Scotti, A New Weariness
- Shelagh Smith, Snapshot
- Casey Stegman, Effie's Oasis
- Lamont A. Turner, The Lost and the Lonely
- Joseph S. Walker, Run and Gun
- Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Through Thick and Thin
- Bonus Story: Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13
Special thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.
The stories range from clever noir to emotional domestic suspense to historical crime. A few that really stood out to me:
- Erika Krouse’s Eat My Moose A bittersweet story of two friends that travel Alaska to help people with assisted suicides.
- Shelagh Smith’s Snapshot Two daughters are going through their recently deceased former policeman’s things when a picture is found that could solve his biggest cold case.
- V.P. Chandler’s Under the Blackjack Tree The young daughter of the jailer is used to pass information from one thief to another, with long lasting psychological consequences.
- Richard A. McMahan’s Mister George I love how the policeman helps figure out the crime and how he helps find a replacement for Mister George.
- Jacques Futrelle’s classic “The Problem of Cell 13” closes things out with wit, logic, and humor, as well as a sort of twisted take on the classic “locked room” mystery.
Jamie Renell and Marnye Young’s narration adds just the right mix of grit and polish. Each voice feels distinct, carrying the mood from noir alleyways to dusty motel parking lots to fog-drenched London streets.
If you love mystery anthologies that balance variety with depth—and that introduce you to new authors you’ll want to read more from—this one’s a must-listen. A standout mix of classic craft and fresh ideas, all tied together by the timeless question: what really happened, and why?
Full list of authors and titles:
- Otto Penzler, Foreword
- John Grisham, Introduction
- David Avallone, The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)
- Craig Faustus Buck, Home Game
- V. P. Chandler, Under the Blackjack Tree
- Tracy Falenwolfe, Jamming at Jollies
- James Hearn, Totality
- April Kelly, The Art of Disappearance
- Erika Krouse, Eat My Moose
- Tom Larsen, The Other Brother
- Billie Livingston, Same Old Song
- Kai Lovelace, Only a Story
- Sean McCluskey, The Secret Menu
- Richard A. McMahan, Mister George
- Lou Manfredo, Dream Stuff
- Karen Odden, Her Dangerously Clever Hands
- Anna Scotti, A New Weariness
- Shelagh Smith, Snapshot
- Casey Stegman, Effie's Oasis
- Lamont A. Turner, The Lost and the Lonely
- Joseph S. Walker, Run and Gun
- Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Through Thick and Thin
- Bonus Story: Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13
Special thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.
December 1, 2025
"The Best Mystery Stories of the Year" is an anthology of short mystery stories by various authors curated by The Mystery Bookshop out of over 3000 entries. This book was edited by John Grisham and Otto Penzler.
This was narrated by Marnye Young and Jamie Renell who both did excellent jobs.
This took me awhile to read and process. There are 21 short stories in this anthology. I wrote a summary and rated each story. The average rating comes to 3.83 rounded up to 4 stars.
I had four stories rated 5 stars. Twelve rated at 4 stars. Four rated 3 stars. Two rated 2 stars. Zero rated 1 star.
My favorite 5 star stories were "Home Game" by Carrie Faustus Buck, "Mr. George" by Richard A. McMahon, "A New Wariness" by Anna Scotty, and "Effie's Oasis Hotel" by Kasey Stegman. My favorite stories have either an older character or an animal or more character detail or extra subterfuge that is clear.
One story, "Eat My Moose" is included in both this book and the other well known mystery anthology of the year. "Eat My Moose" by Erika Kraus is about an elder man who helps euthanize people who wish to be. This one is somewhat creepy and interesting, but not especially mysterious.
Some stories don't have enough detail or are just too confusing. It is difficult to get enough info into a short story for it to make sense.
This is a good collection and I recommend this to short story lovers.
Thank you to Netgalley, High Bridge Audio, and The Mystery Bookshop for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
This was narrated by Marnye Young and Jamie Renell who both did excellent jobs.
This took me awhile to read and process. There are 21 short stories in this anthology. I wrote a summary and rated each story. The average rating comes to 3.83 rounded up to 4 stars.
I had four stories rated 5 stars. Twelve rated at 4 stars. Four rated 3 stars. Two rated 2 stars. Zero rated 1 star.
My favorite 5 star stories were "Home Game" by Carrie Faustus Buck, "Mr. George" by Richard A. McMahon, "A New Wariness" by Anna Scotty, and "Effie's Oasis Hotel" by Kasey Stegman. My favorite stories have either an older character or an animal or more character detail or extra subterfuge that is clear.
One story, "Eat My Moose" is included in both this book and the other well known mystery anthology of the year. "Eat My Moose" by Erika Kraus is about an elder man who helps euthanize people who wish to be. This one is somewhat creepy and interesting, but not especially mysterious.
Some stories don't have enough detail or are just too confusing. It is difficult to get enough info into a short story for it to make sense.
This is a good collection and I recommend this to short story lovers.
Thank you to Netgalley, High Bridge Audio, and The Mystery Bookshop for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
March 1, 2026
John Grisham and Otto Penzler are two of the people I would trust the most to do an anthology, and they do not disappoint. I love how mystery has evolved over the years and there is such a variety of crime-related stories here. The selection is fantastic and there are new stories from writers I already love and new writers to learn more about.
There are multiple wonderful narrators for the stories.
Thanks to Netgalley for letting me listen to this
This is a review of the audiobook.
There are multiple wonderful narrators for the stories.
Thanks to Netgalley for letting me listen to this
This is a review of the audiobook.
September 28, 2025
I think seeing John Grisham's name associated with these stories really drew me in. Some of the stories were better than others but none of them excited me. After listening to these mysteries I've come to the conclusion that short stories are just not for me. My thanks to HighBridge Audio for providing the audiobook via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
October 9, 2025
Oh this is great listen for working. Very different authors with Mystery for stories.
January 29, 2026
Audiobook had decent narrators. like most short story collections, some stories were better than others.
May 4, 2026
Didn't find the stories all that interesting.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews