The Best American Mystery Stories 2020: A Collection

by C.J. Box, Otto Penzler (Editor), David Dean (Contributor)

A collection of the year’s best mystery short fiction selected by New York Times best-selling and Edgar Award–winning author C. J. Box.

C. J. Box , #1 New York Times best-selling author of the hugely popular Joe Pickett series, selects the best short mystery and crime fiction of the year in this annual “treat for crime-fiction fans” (Library Journal).
 

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

432 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2020

About the author

C. J. Box is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 24 novels including the Joe Pickett series. He won the Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Novel (Blue Heaven, 2009) as well as the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, two Barry Awards, and the 2010 Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Award for fiction. He was recently awarded the 2016 Western Heritage Award for Literature by the National Cowboy Museum as well as the Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel by the Western Writers of America in 2017. The novels have been translated into 27 languages.

Box is a Wyoming native and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he co-owns an international tourism marketing firm with his wife Laurie. They have three daughters. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He served on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Box lives in Wyoming.

--from the author's website

Series:
* Joe Pickett

http://us.macmillan.com/author/cjbox

Reviews

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final year with Otto Penzler as series editor is unfortunately not one of the better editions of this long-running anthology series, although the latter third makes up for some of the weaker efforts in the early and middle sections (stories are printed in alphabetical order by author's surname). The following is a list of stories included, along with a rating for each and - as usual - some lyrics that you might find astute or mirthful. Or not.

Justice by Pamela Blackwood - 3/5 - sometimes you tell the day by the bottle that you drink
Home Movie by Jerry M. Burger - 3/5 - oh, the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on
Deportees by James Lee Burke - 4/5 - I feel a hot wind on my shoulder
Second Cousins by Michael Cebula - 4/5 - I had a dad, he was big and strong
The Surrogate Initiative by Brian Cox - 2/5 - so much for the golden future, I can’t even start
Shandy Falls by Doug Crandell - 1/5 - come closer and see, see into the trees
The Duelist by David Dean - 4/5 - what comes around goes around, I’ll tell you why
Security by Jeffery Deaver - 4/5 - I’m such a good good boy, I just need a new toy
Rhonda and Clyde by John M. Floyd - 4/5 - I fought the law and the law won
On Little Terry Road by Tom Franklin - 3/5 - it's you and me baby no one else we can trust
See Humble and Die by Richard Helms - 3/5 - your cheatin' heart will tell on you
All This Distant Beauty by Ryan David Jahn - 2/5 - afternoon delight, cocktails and moonlit nights
Miss Martin by Sheila Kohler - 2/5 - what did her daddy do?
The Most Powerful Weapon by Jake Lithua - 3/5 - you give love a bad name
Baddest Outlaws by Rick McMahan - 3/5 - just some good ol' boys
What Ever Happened to Lorna Winters? by Lisa Morton - 4/5 - I see your face every time I dream
Girl With an Ax by John Sandford - 4/5 - don't know what you got 'til it's gone
Pretzel Logic by David B. Schlosser - 4/5 - clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right
Nightbound by Wallace Stroby - 4/5 - but I'm always on the run
The Last Hit by Robin Yocum - 4/5 - hit me with your best shot

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

CONTENTS


◼️Foreward - Otto Penzler


◼️Introduction - C. J. Box


◼️Fiction:

▪️"Justice" - Pamela Blackwood
▪️"Home Movie" - Jerry M. Burger
▪️"Deportees" - James Lee Burke
▪️"Second Cousins" - Michael Cebula
▪️"The Surrogate Initiative" - Brian Cox
▪️"Shanty Falls" - Doug Crandell
▪️"The Duelist" - David Dean
▪️"Security" - Jeffery Deaver
▪️"Rhonda and Clyde" - John M. Floyd
▪️"On Little Terry Road" - Tom Franklin
▪️"See Humble and Die" - Richard Helms
▪️"All This Distant Beauty" - Ryan David Jahn
▪️"Miss Martin" - Sheila Kohler
▪️"The Most Powerful Weapon" - Jake Lithua
▪️"Baddest Outlaws" - Rick McMahan
▪️"What Ever Happened to Lorna Winters" - Lisa Morton
▪️"Girl with an Ax" - John Sandford
▪️"Pretzel Logic" - David B. Schlosser
▪️"Nightbound" - Wallace Stroby
▪️"The Last Hit" - Robin Yocum


◼️Contributors' Notes


◼️Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2020


This is the twenty-fourth volume in "The Best American Mystery Stories" series. All mystery and crime stories written by a Canadian or an American published in the United States or Canada in print or online during the calendar year are eligible for inclusion. Each year, Otto Penzler, the series editor, chooses what he feels are the fifty best mystery stories of that year. These are then given to a "guest editor," an author renowned in the mystery field, who further winnows them down to the twenty stories that are included in the book. The other thirty stories that Penzler had chosen appear on a list at the back of the book, designated as "Other Distinguished Mystery Stories" of that year.

Penzler's definition of "mystery story" is very broad; he includes not only traditional mystery stories but also any story "in which a crime, or the threat of a crime, is central to the theme or plot." Penzler's Forewards to the volumes of this series are all very simple and very similar, with much of the material repeated from year to year. (I should add that my own introductory comments are pretty much the same as the ones in my reviews of earlier volumes in this series.)

This year the guest editor is C. J. Box. Penzler says that Box is the "bestselling author of twenty-seven novels" and has won an Edgar, "an Anthony, a Macavity, a Gumshoe, two Barrys, and the 2010 Reading the West Book Award for fiction." Box writes that some people are currently not interested in reading short stories. In the past, he says, "For over a century in America, short stories were a staple of both literary and mainstream magazines and periodicals. Great and popular short story writers were well known and valued, as they should have been."

As usual, the stories come from a wide variety of sources. This year there are more stories from the two long-standing print mystery periodicals than there were in the previous year, three from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and two from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. There are also two stories from The Strand Magazine and one each from The Briar Cliff Review, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and Mystery Tribune #8. The others first appeared in original anthologies.

The "Contributors' Notes" in the back of the book are always fascinating. They include information about each author and comments by the authors about their stories. Some of the authors mention writers who have in some way influenced their work. The fact that three of them cite Lawrence Block is a fine tribute to him.

I think that this is one of the better volumes in this series, a significant improvement over the previous couple. I don't think that any of the twenty stories are less than good, and some are very good indeed.

Mystery fiction, especially short stories, often has surprises, particularly in the endings. Some of these are "the butler did it" sort of revelations. Those can be fun, and can often be reread with pleasure even when the reader knows of the impending "surprise." But the reader probably wouldn't want to reread one of these repeatedly if there is no more to the story.

Many of the tales in this book have surprises, but there are very few in which the surprise is the sole point of the story. Jeffery Deaver's commentary about his story "Security" emphasizes the way he tries to trick readers, and his tricks often do work well. I thought that this story was clever, although I didn't think that the main twist here was difficult to figure out. Deaver has often flabbergasted me in the past though.

In some of these stories, surprises may occur but they are not really important to the story. In "Baddest Outlaws" by Rick McMahan, young lawmen are convinced that the most feared family in the area can't really be too dangerous, as all of the men in the family are little people. I think that this just skirts mocking the little people; others might disagree.

Wallace Stroby's "Nightbound" is almost pure action, a tough modern variant on a Black Mask theme. Stroby's series character Crissa Stone takes part in a robbery in a very dangerous New York City. This is not my favorite type of story, but it is extremely well done.

"All This Distant Beauty" by Ryan David Jahn is another action tale. A Mexican newspaper editor is looking for his missing reporter, who also happens to be his stepdaughter. She had been working on a story about wealthy sexual abusers who prey on children. The editor hires a very tough American to find the reporter and, if she is still alive, to bring her back. This is not the most believable of stories, but it moves so fast that readers might well not be bothered by that.

Crimes are often committed in times of war, and inhuman practices may flourish under those conditions. In "The Most Powerful Weapon" by Jake Lithua, Ariya was a twelve year old Yazidi child when she was taken captive by the Islamic State and forced to marry a brutal soldier. She is now fifteen and frequently beaten by her husband. When her husband is away for a combat operation, there is also fighting in the area in which they live. Ariya comes across a seriously wounded American combatant. She brings him into her home and cares for him, asking one thing in return: "If I help you, would you kill my husband?" The American says that he will try, but tells Ariya that she must be prepared to fight as well. And she must use the most powerful weapon of all, one more effective than a gun. This is another story which is primarily a tale of adventure.

David B. Schlosser's "Pretzel Logic" combines action, multiple plot twists, and a large dollop of humor in a tale of brotherly love with a gangster background. The central character is almost unbelievably perfect - smart, wily, generous, self-sacrificing, and loving - but I bought every word while I was reading the story. I think that I still might. (This story was originally published as by dbschlosser.)

Brian Cox has a science fiction story, "The Surrogate Initiative," telling of the first trial taking place in which the "jury" is made up of "replicate consciousnesses," computerized surrogates instead of people. This seems like a very fundamental change toward eliminating the human element, but even surrogates may provide surprises. And some surrogates may be used in other ways as well.

In some of the stories, the plot twists seem rather obvious, but the other elements of the stories are so good that it scarcely matters. In "The Last Hit" by Robin Yocum, a seventy-two year old mob hitman has his own sense of loyalty and honor, which others might not share. I have repeatedly stated that I dislike the concept of the noble assassin - but disliking the concept is not the same as disliking the story, which I think is fine.

Every year there are comments on Goodreads about the new books in this series, saying, "These aren't what I think of as mysteries," although in each book Penzler sets forth his extremely wide parameters for what he considers to merit inclusion. Some times, however, I also wonder in what way a particular story could be regarded as a "mystery." John Sandford's "The Girl with the Ax" not only has no detection, it also does not have "a crime, or the threat of a crime." What it does have is a very good story about a woman who is a professional session guitar player whose life is changed by the death of her elderly neighbor. There are two would-be surprises in this story, both of which I thought were obvious. I like the story anyway.

Only a few of these stories could be regarded as having happy endings. "The Girl with the Ax" is one. Another would be "What Ever Happened to Lorna Winters?" by Lisa Morton. The narrator is a man who restores old films, usually fragments of family movies. He comes across a film that appears to show why Lorna Winters, a star of noir films, disappeared. But things are not what they seem.

"Rhonda and Clyde" by John M. Floyd is a small-town version of a police procedural, in which bank robbers come up with a clever (albeit unlikely) plan. Good luck, good police work, and good people interfere with that plan, though.

The ending of "Miss Martin" by Sheila Kohler is at least not an unhappy one. Diane comes home from boarding school to the home which her father now shares with his second wife, his former secretary, who used to be referred to as Miss Martin. Diane has begun showing signs of having serious problems. Can these three people come up with solutions?

There is a reversal of the "happy endings" theme in "See Humble and Die" by Richard Helms. A retired law officer has become a private investigator, working at times as a process server. This feels like a light comic story, right up until a body is found. After that, some things go well; others do not.

This entire series of books tend to be overwhelmingly dark in tone. Most of them could almost pass as anthologies of noir fiction. All of the rest of the stories in this book, in addition to some of those already mentioned, are bleak at best. That does not mean that they all have tragic endings - some are just the opposite - but they all have a somber feeling. In Tom Franklin's "On Little Terry Road," a deputy sheriff has a lonely existence, with one occasional spot of light, his late girlfriend's adult daughter. His feelings about her are conflicted; he feels protective, but also finds himself uncomfortably attracted to her. She reenters his life after some time away, saying that she has moved back to the area and just shot two men who tried to rape her. The deputy tries to help.

In "Home Movie" by Jerry M. Burger, a woman alone shows herself brief films from decades earlier. They show the woman, her husband, and a neighboring couple. The woman recalls the male neighbor telling her that he thought his wife was involved with another man. Developments are not as predictable as one might think.

There are no actual cousins in "Second Cousins" by Michael Cebula, but much of the story is about relationships, both within and outside of families. The narrator is a police officer, whose father is a brutal criminal, recently released from a penitentiary. The officer comes across the murdered body of an enemy of his father. He must decide what to do. His decision is affected by his feelings for others about whom he cares.

In "Shanty Falls" by Doug Crandell, a man out for a walk finds a badly beaten young woman. He can not get his cell phone to function where the girl is, so he needs to leave her long enough to get to a place with better coverage. He returns after notifying authorities. There is now a young man there too, who indicates that he was the one who beat the girl. Six weeks later, the girl remains comatose and in critical condition. It appears that there may be no punishment for the wealthy, bright, and athletically talented young man who had beaten the girl. The man who found the girl is determined that the man who beat her should be punished in some way.

The three remaining stories are all set in the past. Pamela Blackwood's tale "Justice" is the longest story in this collection. It is set in a rural community. The central character is a farmer, bereft after the death of his wife in childbirth; that child died as well. The farmer has two young daughters, whom he does his best to care for. He finds no comfort either in religion or in the passing of time. Then a mentally challenged neighborhood boy is brutally murdered and robbed, his dog killed as well. No one seems to be interested in finding his killers. The farmer is sure that he knows who the killers are, and with the help of a minister, he makes a plan to catch them. Blackwood is the only author in the book whose information in the notes at the back of the book does not mention any other publications. If her writing is always this good, she should have a wonderful career.

A substantial portion of my review of the 2019 entry in this series was devoted to praise of the work of James Lee Burke. I could give similar praise to his story "Deportees," set in another farming community at the time of the beginning of the United States' involvement in World War II. The narrator, a little boy at the time, moves with his mother to her father's farm in Texas. The mother has problems with depression; the grandfather, a former Texas Ranger, used to have a serious drinking problem. The grandfather lets illegal Mexican immigrants stay at his farm, to which neighborhood bullies object. The treatment of the Mexicans combine with echoes of incidents from the past and create further issues. As usual, Burke's fine prose is a pleasure to read.

"The Duelist" by David Dean is set in Natchez at a time when dueling was still acceptable. A man there kills his twelfth opponent in a duel. The man has become something of a local hero, although the "men" he has killed have been mere boys, not from Natchez, and virtually forced to duel for seemingly frivolous reasons. A stranger arrives in Natchez and goads the master duelist into his thirteenth duel, and then continues to taunt him right up to the moment they face each other with drawn pistols. This story won the Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Readers Award, voted best story to appear in that magazine in 2019.

None of these stories were nominated for Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America. That means that they felt the four that were nominated were all better than any of these. If that is true, 2019 must have been an absolutely incredible year for short mystery fiction.

This is a fine and distinguished anthology.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Brigitte · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there were a couple of stand out stories here,I found myself mostly frustrated, offended, and annoyed: out of 20 stories, only three were written by women and every single male writer is white (I checked). A handful of the stories had cliched female characters and offensive tropes (so many men saving damsels in distress UGH, dwarves as criminals in one story = the disabled are bad). It reads like a collection from the early to mid twentieth century instead of one from the 21st. What the hell? I looked at the table of contents for the 2021 collection coming out next month and there’s a new series editor and far more women writers. I’ll buy it to see if they’ve improved.

Stories I did like: Justice by Pamela Blackwood
Second Cousins by Michael Cebula
The Surrogate Initiative by Brian Cox
Rhonda and Clyde by John Floyd
Girl with Ax by John Sanford (my favorite in the collection)

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last two years of this annual compendium have been pretty bad but it seems to be back on track. The 2020 edition is very good, the first 3 stories in particular are great.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am still reading this book but wanted to review the stories as I read them so they are fresh.

A story called “ Justice “, written by Pamela Blackwood published in the Hitchcock magazine begins the collection. A man named William is a widower, left with two young daughters. Doing his best he struggles with some of his new responsibilities such as doing the girls hair. When a young man, a mentally disabled man , is killed and robbed he throws himself into bringing the killers to justice as the local law is intimidated by the importance of the killers family

“ Home Movies “ has a woman reviewing old family film strips from the seventies. Her ex husband, her suburban neighbors. She remembers being convinced that her next door neighbor was having an affair with her husband. After that woman’s disappearance her husband did confess his affair, unfortunately he then left to live with the woman from his office he was sleeping with.

James Lee Burke is a well regarded Southern detective fiction writer with a repeating character called Robichaud. In s slight departure in this story, titled, “ The Deportees “ he visits a stubborn Texas farmer in the early years of World War Two who treats Mexican immigrants with more care and kindness than his neighbors, and the law approve of.

In “ Second Cousins” by Micheal Cebulla a small time Deputy must deal with the release from prison of his drug dealing Father. He hates his Father, not due to the drugs but because he believes he had killed his Mother when he was a boy. His girlfriend sells pills for the local dealer who has filled the vacancy in his Fathers absence and now, out on patrol he has found a car in the woods with said dealers brains blown out. Life can be complicated

Brian Cox writes “ The Surrogate Initiative “ which is an odd story about a future time when AI trained intelligence will take the place of live jurors in criminal trials

Doug Crandall writes “ Shanty Falls.” A strong story about a retired man who finds a young woman with Down’s syndrome beaten and almost dead on his early morning walk. The young man who did it comes from an immensely wealthy family and he decides to take matters into his own hands.

“ The Duelist” by David Deans is a story set in the past with some modern sensibilities. A man has made a name for himself by killing men in duels. Double figures in total he operates within the law by goading inexperienced men into challenging him or accepting his challenge after a presumed insult. A small, not imposing man comes to town in the aftermath of his most recent victim. He allows himself to be drawn in but, in this case, the results are different, as is, as we learn at the story’s conclusion, his motivation

Jeffrey Deaver adds a wild tale called “ Security”. In it we meet a hardened Secret Service agent providing such for a rising Presidential candidate. A proto populist he is certainly a “ Trump “ like figure. When a threat is determined to be valid at a campaign event we see the machinations of the Service and their local liaisons to protect him.

“ Rhonda and Clyde “ by John Floyd is a very clever story that tells of a middle aged bank teller who becomes fast friends with a woman she meets at the local nightspot. Soon her new friend and her husband and her are inseparable. On a ski trip she hurts her ankle and we see them how this all leads to a well thought out bank robbery

“ On Little Terry Road “ is too clunky to be much more than a cliche ridden story of a good cop going beyond the law for “ the right reasons.”

Conversely “ See Humble and Die “ is cliche ridden in just the right way. Written by Richard Helms but narrated by a retired Texas Ranger who spends some of his time serving subpoenas. Sent to serve a summons for failing to report for jury duty he inadvertently sets in motion a crime of passion. He does feel bad about it, but even if he didn’t, the language, the Sam Spade pot boilerish narration makes it well worth it.

“ All This Distant Beauty “ tries hard. A man on a mission to save a reporter who had investigated a Mexican human trafficking ring ends up on a totally different mission.

Sheila Kohler’s “ Miss Martin “ is not the story you expect when you begin. Diane is a pampered East Coast private school girl returning to her Long Island home for break. This will be the first time she will see Miss Martin, her widowed Father’s previous secretary, in her new role as his wife, I.e , her stepmother. Not much is as we expect though in either Diane or Miss Martins relationship with her father

“ The Most Powerful Weapon “ follows a young captured Yazhdi woman who has been forced to be an Isis members wife.

Rick Mcmahan pays homage to the memory of Elmore Leonard with “ Baddest Outlaw” which has a young state trooper, the greenest in his county , and how he learned to believe that a family with the last name Creech, who all also happen to be little people are the toughest group he has to deal with.

“ Whatever Happened to Lorna Winters” is fun if easily predictable. A young man hoping to break into the film business goes to Hollywood and …. Gets a job digitalizing old home movies. When he spots a long missing Hollywood star in what appears to be a murder it’s almost feels as if he is in a movie.

“ Girl With An Ax “ works well. A young woman, trying to scrape a life together as a session musician in Hollywood befriends and smoked pot occasionally with the octogenarian in the next bungalow. When she finds the woman dead it brings some lost young relatives out of the woodwork. She doesn’t mislead these people. She tells them of the reverse mortgage on the property, promptly ruining their day. Is it her fault they give her the rusty ancient guitar ( not realizing it’s a 57 Fender) and ask her to throw out all her old papers and such. Some of which happen to be original drawings of the woman, in the nude, by Thomas Hart Benton.

In “ Pretzel Logic” a man has spent time in prison for his younger brother and now has got himself involved in criminal activity again to pay this young man’s debt to a criminal boss. When his brother sells stolen guns , the same guns to two different Texas motorcycle gangs, it might be a problem he can’t fix.

“ Nightbound” is a messy story about the hold up of a drug den when our purported hero kills many clearly bad guys. But her escape leaves her cohorts dead, and innocent bystanders as well. There are no characters to root for here.

Robin Yocum’s “ The Last Hit “ is narrated by a septuagenarian hit man in the mob. About to be out to pasture by the new boss, the son of the man he was loyal to for forty years, he is not ready to lay down quietly. Interesting in that no matter your profession or background it seems likely that you will find much to complain about in the actions of the young folks coming up behind you.

[Cheryle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of author CJ Box so when I saw he had edited this years compilation of mystery short stories I started reading. There were several stories that caught my attention and were enjoyable reads, but there were more stories that I could not get into. I am not much for short stories but wanted something easy to read during the holidays.
A collection of the year’s best mystery short fiction selected by New York Times best-selling and Edgar Award–winning author C. J. Box.

C. J. Box , #1 New York Times best-selling author of the hugely popular Joe Pickett series, selects the best short mystery and crime fiction of the year in this annual “treat for crime-fiction fans” (Library Journal).

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good collection! I skipped over a few that didn't interest me, but I read most of them, and liked most of what I read.

Favorites were:
Justice by Pamela Blackwood (warning, dogs get hurt but "off screen" so to speak -- I thought the story was worth it)
The Surrogate Initiative by Brian Cox (what if juries were made up of AI?)
The Duelist by David Dean
Miss Martin by Sheila Kohler (although this story was also in the collection Cutting Edge, so I was disappointed to realize I had read it already)
Girl With An Ax by John Sandford
The Last Hit by Robin Yocum

[Dayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

While every story was unique, and quite a few were outstanding (see "The Girl with the Axe"), most of the detectives were a collection of unstable, drinking men, who never would make good marriage material. Some did overcome in the end, but most might have one or two more cases in them and that's all.

A couple of female protagonists were included, but they didn't resemble any woman I know. But still, good effort.

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most short story collections, some of the stories I liked, others I didn't care for. I usually am not attracted to drug or mafia-related stories. However, this book had a good variety, including historical fiction and even sci-fi. The stories I liked were: "Justice"; "The Surrogate Initiative"; "Shanty Falls"; "Security"; "Rhonda and Clyde"; "See Humble and Die"; "Baddest Outlaws"; "What Ever Happened to Lorna Winters"; and "Girl with an Ax".

[Deborah Taylor-French · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Seeing people’s heads half gone kind of turns you off to the Second Amendment, Deputy.” Shelby nodded, and started to stand up. David said, “Besides, I tend to think of retribution as something of an art form, you know, where creativity meets hatred.”

This quote is an example of one of the best written stories in this book. Experience breeding insight. I wish more people would read this type of short mystery and crime fiction.

Makes me glad that this type of anthology is available.

These stories are full of strong characters with huge challenges. And characters who care about others. I recommend this book for those who like action, big mistakes, and a willingness to go all in on a choice.

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love mysteries and crime stories, and I'm a big supporter of this series, but this year didn't strike me as too interesting, apart from a few pieces. Among them, "Second Cousins" by Michael Cebula, about a lawman's lover who may have committed a crime; "The Most Powerful Weapon" by Jake Lithua, about a woman who escapes from terrorist captivity; and "The Last Hit" by Robin Yocum, about an aging mafioso who still has a few tricks for an old dog. This entry in the series will, admittedly, make me a little gunshy about dipping into it in the future, but I'll keep my mind open.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll give the entire book four stars, but individually some are worthy of five. Of course, the Jeffery Deaver was the best! A great ending, I didn't see it coming. Others I particularly enjoyed were, Second Cousins (great saying about what is truth and what can be proven being second cousins, I hadn't hear that before), Home Movie, What Ever Happened to Lorna Winters, Miss Martin, and The Last Hit. Really none I disliked, which I suppose is why they are included in the "Best" for 2020!

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle of the road collection, as is becoming usual for this series, some of the short stories seemed a bit long. Very few traditional mysteries, one veers into sci-fi, some focus on rural America. Not a bad way to pass the time, but there are better

[Sammi Krug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed bag - couple of great stories, a few good ones, and a few that were kind of disappointing

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the exposure to writers I was not familiar with.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short stories

2020 must have been a good year for stories bc this is a particularly enjoyable collection. The stories are very diverse. I enjoyed this collection.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of short stories that has been sitting in my to read list for a while. A bit of a stretch to call some of them mysteries b ut I have to say I enjoyed all of them. You get some nice bite sized stories that you can consume in one sitting.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always with a collection, there are some stories that hit my personal sweet spot and others that aren't my exact cup of tea. This collection skewed a little more macho than my taste, I think -- two stories featured a law man cleaning up a bad girl's murder of a rural drug peddler, for example.

My favorite story arguably didn't even include a crime -- John Sandford's "Girl With an Ax," which opens "The girl with the ax got off the bus at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Gower Street and started walking the superheated eleven blocks down Gower to Waring Avenue, where she lived by herself in a four-hundred-square-foot bungalow with an air conditioner designed and manufactured by cretins." This particular girl, a session musician, finds her friendship with her 99-year-old neighbor unexpectedly rewarded when said neighbor's greedy heirs fail to spot the wheat among the chaff.

I also liked "Home Movie" by Jerry M. Burger, in which a woman reviews the Super 8mm footage that led her to suspect the wrong woman as her husband's paramour; "Miss Martin" by Sheila Kohler, in which a girl and her step-mother use a domestic trick to give themselves a day out, which also unexpectedly disposes of the man who is ruining their lives; and "What Ever Happened to Lorna Winters?" by Lisa Morton, which again features archival video, this time footage that appears to depict the murder of a minor and long-vanished Hollywood noir starlet but really shows how Lorna Winters used movie magic to escape from an abusive mobster boyfriend.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery's not normally my thing--I read this for a class. Now I'm not really sure what constitutes a "mystery." I think I'm kind of stuck on the Encyclopedia Brown idea from when I was a kid, in which the author gives the reader all the clues to figure out some crime, and the reader may or may not come to the same conclusion as the protagonist: here, the only real through-line was that every story dealt with a crime of some kind.

I did enjoy a few.
"Justice" was a satisfying character study and revenge tale.
"Second Cousins" is pretty similar to "Justice," but with a semi-dirty-cop protagonist.
"The Surrogate Initiative" is a fun sci-fi legal drama about trying a case before an AI jury.
"The Duelist" was, I think, my favorite: a period revenge piece with fun deception.
"All This Distant Beauty" has a gripping, tense first three quarters, but the end is a bit over-the-top.
"Nightbound" is an extended, tense run-and-gun action sequence.

The collection has mysteries, but just as many straight crime stories and thrillers. My genre confusion didn't really affect my enjoyment of the stories: I liked pieces of each of the stories listed above, and only one story in the collection ("Baddest Outlaws") really stood out to me as a poor choice (it relies heavily on "humorous" depictions of little people).

[Cornelia Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried out this set of short stories because I was unsure about the mystery genre. I haven’t read many and wanted to see if it was something I enjoyed. I thought that this would give me a good idea of the genre and I would be able to tell if I liked mysteries in general or not.
To be honest, I don’t think I accomplished my goal. The stories were well written but largely boring or unsatisfying. This may just be a personal problem, since I’m not used to the genre, but I was expecting a little more mystery. Most of the stories felt a lot like literary fiction. Also, most of the reveals felt very much too-little-too-late since some of these stories didn’t even have a clear mystery until almost the end.
Of the 20 stories in this collection, I would recommend about 5 of them. That’s all that really felt like good mystery stories. Which makes it obvious I wouldn’t really recommend the book.

[Judith Shadford · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some truly fine stories in this collection as well as some, sort of, meh. Meeting the criteria of BEST...that's a high bar. And then, if this actually is BEST, then maybe I might have a better chance of getting one of mine published.

Most disappointing: Jeffrey Deaver's Security Begun with a nice intensity, detail, then a sudden, unexpected (I thought) corner of magic realism. Then lots more detail, some people not as good as projected and the magic realism simply became deus ex machina.

Loved Robin Yocum's The Last Hit. Charming. Smart. Witty.

Then there was The Girl Who Got Off the Bus with an Ax. Nice.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the editor makes clear in the intro, the word "mystery" is interpreted extremely broadly; a better term for the stories in this book would be "crime stories". There is much variety among the selections, but not a single whodunit. I noticed from reading a few other reviews that people generally agreed that there are good and not-so-good stories, but they disagree about which are which. For my part, I thought the mostly action-adventure stories were on the shallow side. I'd rank "The Duelist" (David Dean) and "Girl with an Ax" (John Sandford) among my favorites.

[Blaine Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book on Kindle in a search for CJ Box (author of the Joe Pickett series that I like). Box chose this set of mystery short stories from a broad list of competitors. I haven’t read many short stories, but this was a delightful diversion. I really liked the diversity of approaches by the selected authors. Each story was 20-30 minutes long, which enabled me to consume 1-2 and then leave them behind. I’ll read more short stories from this collection.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like reading these collections because they provide a wide selection of different styles and I always discover a new author to check out. Because of the diversity, some these stories I really liked, and others weren't to my taste. Overall, an interesting group that were mostly pretty good.

[Jazzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started all of the stories in this book, but only the first one caught my attention enough to finish it. The stories were not so much mysteries as rural/ western/ adventure stories with some mystery to them. The writing was generally not great. All in all, not for me.

[Clarence Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

ReedIII Quick Review: Extensive variety of mystery stories, some good, many great and a few less than good. Overall a great collection for anyone who enjoys mystery short stories. Wide range of writing styles and topics.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. I guess I’m not a fan of short stories. And they didn’t seem like mystery stories to me. Stories with a twist, but not a mystery story.

[Matt Cantillon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as previous years' collections.

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

A largely forgettable anthology prefaced with the usual "Greatest year ever" nonsense from the guest editor. The reason for this forgetability it occurs to me is an issue raised by the series editor, Otto Penzler in his forward. He takes issue with how narrowly people define mysteries, while he has a more expansive definition for these collected stories where the criteria is simply that it include a crime as a central element of the plot. Okay, he may dismiss investigation stories as "detective fiction", but then he should be consistent with his own more expansive definition. There are stories in this book that both fail to qualify as classic mysteries, but also fail to include a crime. The primary example of a neither detection/nor crime in this volume is the one folks seem to have liked most (me included), "Girl with an Axe", by John Sandford. I like Sandford's writing a great deal. While his novels are uneven, and are often overcome with a terminal case of series disease, they are always engaging and readable. "Girl with an Axe" is a great story, it's funny and clever and pays off at the end beautifully. What it does not include is an investigation, a murder, or a crime.
Now when I say that this explains the high forgettable quotient of this collection, what I mean is that there is no real commonality to this collection. They are simply short stories by persons who publish regularly in 'mystery' publications or are known as 'mystery' authors, collected.
If Sandford's contribution is a high point of the collection, then a notable low is "Baddest Outlaws" by Rick McMahan which is a simple goof of a tale. Well written and kind of funny, it's a middling effort that in no way qualifies as a 'Best of...' anything. It's a story that McMahan competently tells but gives nothing back to the reader for their effort. That was the tale that made me put this book down for several days. It's an okay story for a magazine looking to complete an issue, but that's all it is, entertaining time-wasting filler.
Finally there are tales that I sincerely wish were better because they had such promise. Doug Crandell's contribution, "Shanty Falls" stands out here, where the set up, the center, and the telling were all involving and well executed. Then at the end there is a hole where the conclusion should be.

It's a fine book to meander through, but it makes me a little sad that the majority of this collection isn't worth the effort to even review.