The Mysterious West

by Tony Hillerman

Edited by Tony Hillerman, the Southwest's foremost suspense writer, this first-ever collection of mystery stories set in the West contains 20 original entries by such luminary mystery writers as Marcia Muller, Susan Dunlap, and Robert Campbell.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, American, Mystery Thriller

464 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Tony Hillerman, who was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, was a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he resided with his wife until his death in 2008. Hillerman, a consistently bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 25th wealthiest man in 1996. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of these stories are copyright in 1994 and they present a middle and western America with no cell phones, no computer searches, just people, cars and horses. Landscape and weather, sometimes dogs. Tony Hillerman is the editor and none of the stories are about tribal police in the Four Corners; he could easily have contributed one. The closest is an early Dana Stabenow about Kate Shugak and Mutt when Kate has just returned to her Park cabin in Alaska. Hillerman also does not contribute a foreword, which I missed. I like to hear the editor's own voice when they are not being a storyteller. The editor has added a very brief intro to each short story.

I found a Midnight Louie short story by Carole Nelson Douglas. In this tale Midnight Louie is enlisted to aid a coyote family who are losing members to poison. The big black cat is wary of coyotes but accepts the case, and his human friend Temple Barr does not feature.

Some of the stories appeal more than others, but overall we get a sense of complete ordinariness. These are ordinary people, not spies, dangerous Seals and FBI, just quarrelling couples, wilderness explorers, divorcees starting new lives. What matters to them will perhaps matter to you. The West here is taken to be anywhere from the Midwest to the ocean's edge, but not cityscapes. These stories are a good way to explore. Most of the authors are unfamiliar to me but some were not and others I would like to revisit. Already the tales feel frozen in time.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I continue my efforts to try and read short stories between my regular rotation of longer works and am happy to say that I’ve really come to appreciate the form. I still prefer full length novels, probably because I enjoy falling deeply into the world of whatever novel I happen to be reading and often find myself desiring to continue wallowing there instead of coming out and facing the real world. But the craft of writing a high quality short story is a difficult thing to accomplish and I am always amazed when I read a good one and realize how much I have come to know the characters and their situation in only 20-30 pages.

This volume, put together by the esteemed Tony Hillerman, is packed with good ones. It’s important to note that these are all stories that are set in The West, not “Westerns”. The West has always been a great setting for stories for me, especially mysteries and I enjoyed every one of these entries. As always with collections of these kinds, some are better than others, but I didn’t read a single stinker in all 20 stories. Several great authors have stories here including Robert Campbell, D.R. Meredith, M.D. Lake, J.A. Jance, Dana Stabenow, and Bill Pronzini. Of course the downside of reading collections like this is all of the authors who have now intrigued me to search out other stories and novels they have written.

Well deserving of the Anthony Award for Best Short Story Collection in 1995 (literary award for mystery writers).

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent and varied collection of short stories, mysteries set in the west and Midwest of the United States. The stories are as different as sand and silk, but they are united by the theme of geography and its people.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of twenty short stories by twenty different mystery authors, "The Mysterious West" (1994) is a good read. These were written specifically just for this collection so they aren't found in earlier publications and feature a number of familiar mystery writers who were colleagues of Hillerman's.

They are all similar in setting, that of the modern American West (hence the collection's title), not really western genre reads but mysteries simply set in Alaska, Wyoming, California, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and some other western and midwestern locations.

Most have familial mysteries or rural-set crimes that bring feelings of sadness, regret, unfulfilled judgement, whodunit investigations, and a few with true horror themes - "The River Mouth" by Lia Matera made the strongest impression on me, but I'm going to admit it might just be because it was the scariest, not necessarily the best. John Lutz' "Bingo" is notably wickedly smart, and Carol Nelson Douglas' "Coyote Peyote" is really good, starring a cat detective named Midnight Louie.

Verdict: An interesting laid back collection of modern whodunit mysteries set in the rural American west and Midwest.

Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie review if made into a movie: PG-R

[Celeste Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short stories, felt like I was traveling to CA and Arizona for a few. Many by women authors- one favorite was “the river mouth” by Lia Matera

[Marilyn Fontane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mysterious West edited by Tony Hillerman is a collection of 20 stories set in the West (broadly-- from Alaska to Iowa to California, etc.) with a variety of emphases. I particularly liked "Coyote Peyote" by Carole Nelson Douglas, set in Las Vegas with a feline narrator and detective Midnight Louie; "Nooses Give" by Dana Stabenow, set in Alaska with an intrepid woman Kate working on destroying bootleggers who are ruining people's lives; "A Woman's Place" by D. R. Meredith with Elizabeth Walker who proves a woman can be a Texas town's Justice of Peace whether the men realize it or not; "The Beast in the Woods" by Ed Gorman with an autistic Iowa boy Bobby as narrator of his father's crime and death; "Blowout in Little Man Flats" by Stuart M. Kaminski where a New Mexico handicapped sheriff prevents a lynching of an innocent man; and "Engines" by Bill Pronzini where the narrator's love of Death Valley helps him to help others.
Hillerman and Navaho lore are totally absent from this collection, but it is an interesting collection for short story lovers.

[Michael Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of mediocre and worse stories, but a couple that were pretty good.
I'm always partial to Stuart Kaminsky, and D.R. Meredith's story is powerful and different.
However, i's hard to imagine, in the year 2020 that Minnesota, and especially modern Minnesota, could qualify as "West," and, frankly, some of these stories seem to be fragments, not complete stories.
Hillerman is a good story teller, but not so good at selecting stories, or alleged stories, by others.
Borrow it from your library, but it's not worth buying.

[Avis Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

With twenty stories, filled with various authors, in settings that range from an Arizona trailer park, to the freezing and isolated Alaska bush, from a narrow-minded Texas cowtown to California’s lost coast, from the high-voltage glitz of Las Vegas to the repossessed farmlands of Iowa, this collection hisses, rattles, and stings with a vengeance.
I gave this book a 4 star rating because a couple of the stories weren’t of interest to me, but you’ll have to decide for yourself as we all have different likes in books.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of serial mysteries so didn't really know any of the writers in this collection, but I enjoyed nearly all of them. There was a range from humorous to more heavy and the "west" was also pretty broad-- covering Arizona, New Mexico and California but also the upper midwest. At a time when my attention is diverted elsewhere, this required just the right amount of concentration.

[Alethea Hammer · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Dog Days of Summer my attention span gets very short. Whodunits and short stories are just right to get me through. This is a lovely little collection of short mystery stories written by other people, edited and compiled by Tony Hillerman. Fun little book.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like short stories but I seem to pick up an anthology and never quite finish. This collection was good and varied enough that I did. Tony Hillerman was a favorite of mine and apparently we also agree on what makes a good short story.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was published in 1994. Lots of short stories. I enjoyed them all. Lots of different authors. Now I have more books to look for by authors I had not read before. Better than most new books being published today.

[Jayne Niemi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this collection of short stories for the one by Stabenow. It wasn't my favorite of hers, but most others in the book were pretty good. Not the one written in a cat's voice - no thanks to that.

[Joanne Timm · Rating 4 out of 5]

a series of short stories

[Teri Heyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every short story in this anthology is great. Many of the stories are by authors I've never read & now look forward to reading.

[Regine]

Well-chosen.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy short stories and love Tony Hillerman. Hillerman selected a delightful selection of western mysteries by some of my favorite writers

[Mike Sigler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, old school detective stories

[Saleris]

I restarted the book (29th May, 2024)

[Tony Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The shorts were 50/50 for me. Coyote Peyote is my favorite. I’d read a novel if Coyote Peyote was expanded. Postage Due was idiotic, for me.

[SuZanne]

An excellent collection of short stories from several different authors

[Robert Hann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories aren't something I enjoy instinctively, but I do try to check in with the form from time to time. For the most part, these stories weren't for me. Well, they were neither here nor there. But there were several exceptions, and three of those were positive: 'Nooses Give,' by Dana Stabenow; 'The Beast in the Woods,' by Ed Gorman; and 'Engines,' by Bill Pronzini. The Stabenow story because I liked the window it gave on modern Alaskan natives, the Gorman story because it worked for me emotionally, and the Pronzini story for his regard of the desert. I'd not heard of any of these people, and I'll now likely follow up on them going forward.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

As some mystery writers age they use their expertise to edit anthologies. Hillerman has done an excellent job with this volume. His area of expertise is the American West. The short stories in this volume are set in the American West. All of the authors develop their characters and their plots with mystery in mind. While some endings are predictable part way through the stories, they all are excellent reads.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the paperback I keep in my purse for when I'm waiting at the doctor's office or the car dealer. The stories are delightfully mysterious and I can usually get through at least one in a sitting. I especially like Hillerman's introductions to the authors and their stories, many of which I haven't been exposed to before.

[Jill Manske · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice compilation of mysteries set in the West written by a variety of novelists. The stories are very entertaining, and it introduced me to some new authors. The late Tony Hillerman wrote an intro to each story and about each author. Nice book to read on a cold winter night.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

bathtub book - cat mystery was hilarious!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An delightful collection of tales by authors selected by Hillerman, each of whom provided a new story for this volume. It's a fine introduction to a variety of voices of the American West.

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compilation of bone-chilling, head scratching, knee-slapping stories-the like that will never be seen again about the Wild West. There is not a dull story in the whole bunch!

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collection of suspensful short stories set in the West. Various authors. Mostly so-so.

[Tracy]

Taking this back to the library for the second time, unfinished. I think I'm not in the mood to read short stories right now.