The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022

by Sara Paretsky (Editor)

Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and aided by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, international bestseller and MWA Grandmaster Sara Paretsky has selected the twenty most puzzling, most thrilling, and most mysterious short stories from the past year, collected now in one entertaining volume.


Includes stories by:



Doug Allyn
Colin Barrett
Jerome Charyn
Michael Connelly
Susan Frith
Tom Larsen
Sean Marciniak
Stefon Mears
Kieth Lee Morris
Gwen Mullins
Jo Nesbo
Joyce Carol Oates
Annie Reed
Kristen Kathryn Rusch
Anna Scotti
Ginny Swart
Ellen Tremiti
Joseph S. Walker
Colson Whitehead
Michael Wiley

Plus a bonus vintage story from the annals of mystery fiction, written over a century in the past.

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

552 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2022

About the author

Sara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction. Paretsky was raised in Kansas, and graduated from the state university with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in 1968 to work there. She ultimately completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of Chicago, entitled The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War, and finally earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Married to a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, she has lived in Chicago since 1968.

The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.

Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.

Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).

Reviews

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent and diverse anthology of 20 of the best mystery short stories of the past year. Stories have been edited and selected by Sara Paretsky and Otto Penzler. There is such a variety that prospective readers should find a number of thrilling short stories to enjoy. There is information about the author at the beginning of the story and a short article at the end on what inspired the story. As an added bonus there is a mystery written over 100 years ago. The topics include mob activity, robberies, detective investigations, hit men, psychological and domestic thrillers, and a unique story about a book club whose members are women hired to carry out executions.

Some writers are well known. There are selections by Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, and Colson Whitehead. I was unfamiliar with the majority of the talented writers, This is an excellent source, providing an incentive for becoming acquainted with the works of writers previously unknown to me.

My favourites included: Better Austens by Susan Firth, Grief Spam by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Violent Devotion by Gwen Mullins, Little City Blues by Annie Reed, A Heaven or a Hell by Anna Scotti, and the short story by Joyce Carol Oates. That I have chosen six memorable stories as my favourites makes this a very enjoyable and successful anthology and there are several more I could have chosen. Because of the diversity in the types of mysteries, other readers might have an entirely different list, but I believe there are some selections that will keep them engaged and entertained.

My thanks to NetGalley, Penzler Publications and W.W. Norton & Company for an advance copy of this book.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second annual volume in the series The Mysterious Bookshop Presents The Best Mystery Stories of the Year. The overall editor of the series is Otto Penzler. Each volume will have a "guest editor," a person renowned in the field of mystery fiction. Michele Slung is a first reader who works with Penzler. She reads through the three thousand or thereabouts stories that might be eligible for inclusion and passes "several hundred" stories that she thinks are the best on to Penzler. He narrows the selection down to "fewer than fifty," and then in turn passes these on to the guest editor, who chooses the twenty to be included in this volume. Another ten stories considered to be "distinguished" are listed in the back of the book.

The stories chosen for this anthology include three from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, two from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, two from The New Yorker, two from different editions of Crimeucopia, and two from different editions of Fiction River. The other stories first appeared in various anthologies, collections, or periodicals.

A twenty-first story is also included, "a bonus story from the past." Information about the authors precedes each story and notes by the authors immediately follow the story to which they refer. The authors' notes are frequently fascinating.

Penzler considers mystery stories to be "any work of fiction in which a crime, or the threat of a crime, is central to the theme or plot." Stories considered for inclusion must have been published in the English language for the first time in the [appropriate] calendar year.

The guest editor for this volume is Sara Paretsky, who Penzler states is "one of the most significant figures in the history of American crime fiction." Paretsky is especially famous for her series about the female private investigator V. I. Warshawski.

Paretsky's "Introduction" recounts a time that a psychoanalyst at a dinner party told her, "You are a sociopath. You need help." He revised that opinion when told that she wrote mysteries; I am not sure why he thought that meant that she was not in fact a sociopath. Her introduction is brief and not particularly worthy of note.

I thought that the "bonus story" in the previous volume of this series was poor. Not so with this year's tale, "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell, originally appearing in a 1917 issue of Every Week magazine. This is excellent, one of the best stories in this book. The editorial introduction to this tale says that it has been "anthologized often"; that might have made Penzler hesitant about including it here, but it is so good that it merits being reprinted again. (It has also repeatedly appeared in other media, including being adapted as an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and being the basis for an Academy Award-nominated short film; unfortunately, I am not familiar with any of these.)

A woman's husband is found strangled to death in their bed. The woman claims that this happened while she was sleeping and she did not awaken until after he had died. She says she has no idea how this happened. She is arrested, understandably, but the officials can not find any reason that she would have killed him. Two women, wives of two of those officials, accompany the men to the house where the killing took place. They are more observant of what life must have been like for the murdered man and his wife, and they must decide what to do about their suspicions.

Two of the stories in this collection are science fiction, set in worlds that one hopes will never actually come to pass. "Better Austens" is by Susan Firth. The editorial introduction to this story has my favorite sentence from any of these: "She has recently completed a novel about a lactation consultant swept up in a cult that's also a goat farm."

"Better Austens" posits a time in which executions are an everyday occurrence. These sre not performed by the government but by private agencies. The company in the story is Covely-Bell. The people carrying out the executions are all mothers, who help shepherd the condemned through a period of preparation lasting several days and then the execution itself. (Their slogan is "Covely-Bell - Executions with a Mother's Touch™.) The narrator here is one of those mothers, who discovers that a condemned man to whom she is assigned is an old childhood friend of her son. She happens to be reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Park for her book club, and that plays a part in the story. I think this premise is absurd; however, it is so well developed that I accepted it.

Jo Nesbø is a Norwegian author who also writes of a time in which putting people to death is common, but not under legal auspices. Assassins are highly regarded and highly rewarded. The narrator of "Black Knight" is one such assassin. He is motivated largely by a desire for justice, following a death in his family caused by poorly made faulty equipment. He is very successful, one of the best in his field - which makes him a prime target for assassination himself. And the person trying to kill him has different motivations: vanity and greed.

This is the longest story in the book. It is principally an adventure tale, in which more than one life is put at risk. It is very clever and, obviously, it contains a large helping of violence. It was translated into English by Robert Ferguson.

Otto Penzler loves the writing of Joyce Carol Oates and honors it almost every year. She is a literary superstar. Her theme, her much-honored theme, seems to me to be There Are Malign Forces That Crush Us All; that may be accurate, but it certainly is not fun. In "Detour," a woman driving home to her beloved husband comes to a "detour" sign. She is forced to go through ever more rural and deserted roads. She loses control of her car and winds up partially in a water-filled ditch. She does what anyone would do: leaves the car, her bag, her wallet, her car key, her phone, and one shoe - obviously preferable to getting damp. And then things get increasingly strange. The reader (this reader, at least) suspects where this is going, and it does...or it doesn't. Damned if I know. And, for that matter, I don't much care.

Michael Wiley has an entry in his series about Sam Kelson, a private investigator who suffered brain damage and now compulsively blurts out whatever he is thinking. This is not a good quality in a profession in which being circumspect is the basis of one's career. I think that "Where There's Love" is the third story I have read from that series. It is light, it is funny, and - once again - it is a story that I don't understand. Kelton is hired to guard a jewelry store that has received a shipment of diamonds. The store owner explains that he does not have access to his safe and so he wants a guard posted overnight. Without telling that owner, Kelson has a friend join him, a very large and intimidating friend. Kelton explains that, "If a burglar robbed the store after the owner hired a guard, no insurance company could fight the claim." And now, I must switch to spoiler status:

The store owner is indeed plotting an insurance scam, I think. Except the only burglars that break in have nothing to do with that scheme. So what was the owner's nefarious plot? Did he have fake burglars standing by who backed off when the police arrived to arrest the real burglars? Is that ever stated? Otherwise how does this make any sense?

Most of these stories are by American authors and set in the United States but there are some exceptions. "Black Knight" takes place in Italy. "A Shooting in Rathreedane" is set in County Mayo in Ireland. Police Sergeant Jackie Noonan receives a phone call from a farmer saying that he had just shot an intruder on his property, who was attempting to steal oil from a tank. The farmer said that he had been in fear for his life and the life of his son. Noonan makes sure an ambulance is called and, accompanied by another officer, drives to the scene of the shooting and attempts to stop the wounded man's bleeding. The man who was shot was a petty criminal well known to the police. This is a fine story, conveying a picture of life - and possible death - in the rural community.

Tom Larsen's story "El Cuerpo en el Barril" is set in Ecuador. The title, the internet informs me, means "The Body in the Barrel." This is another story about the police. They are investigating a murder. The victim is a fisherman, originally from Venezuela. The story tells of the investigation, but it primarily deals with two of the police officers assigned to the case, Captain Juan Delgado, an experienced policeman newly assigned to the area, and Sergeant Ortega, two very different men who share a high level of intelligence and a dedication to their job. Delgado is a man with enormous appetites and a cynicism to match. This is one of the few stories of detection in this book.

In "Gun Running on Vacation" by Stefon Mears, two young American friends are vacationing in Mexico. They are crooks with a peculiar specialty - stealing from organized crime members. One of them gambles away all their money and agrees that they will assist the man to whom they are in debt with a new endeavor, gun running. The saner of the two men has strong reservations about this; he has also just met a young woman to whom he is attracted. This is totally implausible, but I enjoyed it.

This is far from the only implausible story in this collection. The central character in "Grief Spam" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is the female head of a private investigation firm, whose teacher husband recently died in a car crash. She is a highly competent woman, mother of three grown daughters; she is also absurdly naive. Revelations about her late husband are horrifying.
She is told, "You're one of the dumbest bitches who ever walked," and that seems to be accurate. And yet, that ridiculous premise does not totally ruin the story. Rusch is such a good writer that I accepted much of this while I was reading it.

Annie Reed's story "Little City Blues" is narrated by another private investigator, a man who recently returned from fighting in Vietnam. He also is a much too trusting person. (There are three stories here about private investigators, all of whom are nice people, but none of them seem competent.) The "little city" of the title is Reno, Nevada, in which a new casino is scheduled to open soon. The client hiring the detective says that he suspects that his wife, who works in that casino, is having an affair; he wants her followed. There is, of course, more to the story.

There are also amateur detectives, such as the woman in a Witness Protection program in a series by Anna Scotti. She keeps changing her name and her identity each time she is forced to move on. The reader now knows that she had been working on a PhD in library science when she had been involved with a murderer. In "A Heaven or a Hell," she is using the name Cam Baker and working as a teacher's aide in an exclusive prep school near Los Angeles. A man has an adopted son in the school, one of two brothers who, at the ages of ten and twelve, had participated in the murder of that man's own brother. The man had claimed that his brother would have forgiven the boys and so he had adopted them. Now that man is claiming that both of the children had died in a fall from a cliff, in which they had landed in the ocean. The narrator becomes involved in ways that I believe are unlikely. The "mystery" part of this story is quite similar to one in a 1955 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled Salvage, written by Fred Freiberger and Richard Carr. Nonetheless, I think that this is one of the best stories in this series.

Ray Beaumont, a lawyer in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is a continuing character in a series by Doug Allyn. Allyn's story "Kiss of Life" is actually an entry in more than one series by Allyn, one featuring Beaumont. Two other people in this story, Beau Jean Raven and Tommy Pachonka, minor characters here, have also appeared in other work by Allyn.

Beaumont and his friend Marcy Quinn rescue a woman from drowning. The woman is not appreciative. Her life has become very complicated. She has a new husband, whom she barely knew when they married, a drug habit which may - or may not - all be in the past, and a seventeen year old daughter, whom the word "troubled" would barely begin to describe. Beaumont would like to help, but he is suddenly confronted with various law officers, thugs, "debt collectors," and another, much less scrupulous, attorney. This is a complex, very violent story with a lot of unexpected developments. It is also very good.

And, of course, in some stories the detection is done by police officers. I have already mentioned "A Shooting in Rathreedane" and "El Cuerpo en el Barril." There are at least two other such stories in this anthology, both quite good. In "Avalon" by Michael Connelly, an officer is working in the town of Avalon on the island of Catalina in California. He sees a man getting off a ferry to the island and not acting like a typical tourist; then he realizes that the man has a gun. The officer comes to believe that the man is there to kill him.

The central character in "The Influencer" by Ellen Tremiti is Carol Clarke, a female officer heading to retirement, albeit somewhat reluctantly. She lives in California; her daughter and granddaughter live in Massachusetts, on the opposite side of the country. Her commanding officer asks her to take on one final case, the disappearance of a young woman. This investigation takes Clarke into situations new to her, worlds of burlesque and internet celebrity influencers. This gets increasingly complicated - and increasingly dangerous as well.

Some of the stories center on crooks and scoundrels - and the two are not necessarily synonymous. Colson Whitehead is a greatly honored author, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, but (I reluctantly admit) I think that "The Theresa Job" is the only thing by him that I have read. Carney is a man who owns a furniture store. His cousin Freddie is planning to take part in a robbery, a large-scale theft from the Hotel Theresa. Freddie wants to enlist Carney, to whom he is as close as a brother, to fence the loot; Carney thinks that this is too risky and refuses. But then the heist takes place. This makes up the center of the story, as with the robberies in the films Rififi and Topkapi. But a fence is still a requirement. An enjoyable tale about polite and considerate criminals.

"Bang on the Money" by Ginny Swart is, I think, the most unexciting story in the anthology. A man is caught robbing a house, but his aim is not solely to steal. The woman who lives there has plans of her own. This is intended to be a tricky and complicated tale, but the intended surprises never seemed all that surprising to me.

The main character in "Sleigh Bells for the Hayride" (a terrible title, in my opinion) by Keith Lee Morris is Glen, a small-scale crook caught up in an escalating situation. He has been hired to deliver some illegal drugs. He is to collect a thousand dollars from the recipient, keeping a hundred for himself. But that intended recipient turns out to need help transporting a body; she is deaf and needy and Glen happens to know how to sign, so he agrees to help her.

The young narrator of Sean Marciniak's "October in Kauai" is a high school student forced (literally) into crime. His brutal, police officer father, some bullying older students, and Polish gang members all want to use the student in various ways, and his own friends are less than helpful. I honestly do not understand some of his actions but they seem appropriate - and nasty.

There are also stories that seem not to fall into any of those groups. "Violent Devotion" by Gwen Mullins tells of a small family, father, mother, and daughter, all nice people, and a son, who is far from nice. Indeed the father has come to realize that his son is a sociopathic predator. Something must be done.

The wife of a former baseball pitcher is kidnapped in "Give or Take a Quarter Inch." The kidnapper has unusual demands, relating to the husband's former profession. This is not really believable but I like it anyway.

"White Chocolate" by Jerome Charyn is fine and funny. The narrator is the only lawyer in a small town in which he appears to be related to every one else living there. His mother has become very rich due to the success of her ice cream company; she now "owned the town." That woman does something very peculiar; she kidnaps the infant son of her own daughter. The lawyer tries to get her to return the child, but when you own a town, you can pretty much do what you want...until her lawyer son is elected mayor. A very entertaining story, with a final paragraph that I don't understand.

This is a good collection but not, in my opinion, a truly outstanding one. It seems to me to be decidedly less good than the previous book in this series. I like most of these stories, but I suspect that the only story here that will still be known in, say, fifty years is "A Jury of Her Peers," already more than a hundred years old. Others that I think might endure are "White Chocolate" by Jerome Charyn, "A Shooting in Rathreedane" by Colin Barrett, and possibly "Kiss of Life" by Doug Allyn and "Black Knight" by Jo Nesbø.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid collection of stories on a wide range of topics, set in the past, present, and future, and written in a variety of styles.

My own preference in mysteries generally runs to longer, darker, more complex stories. I marked five favorites as I read--Nesbo and Connelly from among the most famous writers, and Allyn, Larsen, and Marciniak as three authors new to me. My favorite story was probably Nesbo's, maybe not a surprise since I've read the entire Harry Hole series, but this story is written in a very different style.

Discovering the quality of this collection has made me want to read the previous year's first entry in the series.

Thanks to Penzler Publications and NetGalley for the advance copy to read and review.

[Kat (Katlovesbooks) Dietrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, edited by Sara Paretsky is an anthology of short stories

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press and of course the authors, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis and Opinions:  
The legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and with a forward by both Otto Penzler (who has been doing this type of thing for many years) and best-selling author Sara Paretsky (this year's guest editor), have selected the best short stories of 2022 -- although the year isn't over?

As always, I am providing my brief synopsis/opinion of each story, and rating them as per my normal criteria.  I've added their nationality, and was surprised at the number of Americans. The stories are:


Kiss of Life by Doug Allyn (American)  ... The mob, a gambler, a woman trying to save her marriage, and the daughter from hell....none of my favorite topics, and much too long. 1 star

A Shooting in Rathreedane by Colin Barrett (Irish) ... A man is shot while trying to steal oil in the middle of the summer.  It was okay, but nothing special. 2 stars

White Chocolate by Jerome Charyn (American) ... A lawyer has a mother who runs the town, but when she steals her own grandson, he is the only one to stand up to her.  Loved the writing and the plot.  Lots of fun!  5 stars

Avalon by Michael Connelly (American) ... A stranger arrives on a small island with murder on his mind.  Great writing.  Short and sweet.  4 stars

Better Austens by Susan Frith (American)  ... A group of mothers, who are also executioners, are part of a book club.  This was a really unique story, just great! 5 stars

El Cuerpo en el Barril by Tom Larsen (American) ... Corruption in Equador.  Didn't like the topic, or the characters.  The writing was fine.  1 star

October in Kauai by Sean Marciniak (American)    ... A young man with a corrupt and abusive father decides to start making his own choices.  Really entertaining.  4 stars

Gun Running on Vacation by Stefon Mears (American) ... Two friends decide to head to Mexico for vacation, but one of them gambles away all their money.  This was quite good.  3 stars

Sleigh Bells for the Hayride by Keith Lee Morris (American) ... A young man encounters a deaf woman when he agrees to drop off heroine for an acquaintance.  Well, I have no understanding of the title, but the story was okay.  3 stars

Violent Devotion by Gwen Mullins (American) ... A missing girl causes another father to worry about his son.  This was really good.  5 stars

Black Knight by Jo Nesbo (Norwegian) ... In a time when contract killers were the norm, sometimes the best chess player wins.  Absolutely loved the characters and plot, and although a little long, it was great!  5 stars

Detour by Joyce Carol Oates (American) ... A woman who encounters a detour has her world turned upside down.  Good, but not sure I would classify this as a mystery...more horror. 4 stars

Little City Blues by Annie Reed (American) ...  A private eye accepts a client who thinks his wife is cheating on him, but discovers there is much more going on.  Quite good. 4 stars

Grief Span Kristine  Kathryn Rusch (American) ... A woman is grieving the loss of her husband, but discovers he was not as he seemed.  This was was unexpected, and great!  5 stars

A Heaven or a Hell by Anna Scotti (American) ...  A lawyer adopts two boys who are responsible for his brothers death, but they don't all survive a fall off a cliff.  Really interesting, and apparently part of a series with the Librarian solving crimes.  5 stars

Bang on the Money by Ginny Swart (South Africa) ... An assassin is conned.  The story was short and to the point. 3 stars

The Influencer by Ellen Tremiti (American) ... A detective who wants to retire is handed a missing persons case.  This was really good!  5 stars

Give or Take a Quarter Inch by Joseph S. Walker (American) ... A retired professional baseball pitcher is forced out of retirement.  Short and sweet! 4 stars

The Theresa Job by Colson Whitehead (American) ... Two cousins get involved in a big heist.  Neither the topic nor the writing appealed to me.  2 stars

Where There's Love by Michael Wiley (American) ... A jeweler hires security for his diamonds, but diamonds are a girls best friend.  Rather comical.  Just okay.  2 stars

A Jury of her Peers by Susan Glaspell (American) ... Written over a century ago, this was a bonus story, set in a time where little respect was given to women. A man is found hung, and his wife taken into custody.  It started a little slow, but was quite good.  4 stars


Okay, in conclusion, the forwards were too long.  All the information about each author prior to their story were also too long in most cases.  The reader is here to read the stories!  We don't really care how many awards the author has won, or where they studied writing....that is fine for an entire book by the author, but these are supposedly short stories and they take forever to get to....and then after you read the story, the author tells why they wrote it.  While all this is entertaining, it makes the book really long.

Remember, these are only my opinions - we may like/dislike different stories - it would be a boring world if we all liked the same thing.  But I felt there were a lot of 4 and 5 star stories in this collection, and I was entertained.  That's what it's all about!

[January · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year: 2022 edited by Sara Paretsky and Otto Penzler, forward by Otto Penzler, introduction by Sara Paretsky, with stories by Doug Allyn, Colin Barrett, Jerome Charyn, Michael Connelly, Susan Frith, Tom Larsen, Sean Marciniak, Stefon Mears, Keith Lee Morris, Gwen Mullins, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Reed, Kristen Kathryn Rusch, Anna Scotti, Ginny Swart, Ellen Tremiti, Joseph S. Walker, Colson Whitehead, and Michael Wiley. Plus, a bonus vintage story from the annals of mystery fiction, written over a century in the past
22h 12m narrated by Daniel Thomas May and Rachel Perry, 500 pages

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Short Stories

Featuring: Narrative Drive, Characterization, Clarity of Vision and Execution, Literary Style, Intros, Author's Tidbits

Rating as a movie: R for adult content and violence

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My thoughts:
1️⃣ "Kiss of Life" by Doug Allyn ⭐️⭐️½
8% 1:48:01 - This book has no chapters just a single 1,332 minutes track titled Opening, so I have no idea how long each story is, and I can't skip a boring one. 😠 So far, I don't like this format.
2️⃣ "A Shooting in Rathreedane" by Colin Barrett
⭐️⭐️⭐️
11% 2:32:57 - This story wasn't bad. It was engaging, but I'm not sure how it's a mystery.
3️⃣"White Chocolate" by Jerome Charyn
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
13% 2:59:06 - This is what short stories are made of. I did think there was a huge plothole, but the author countered it well.
4️⃣"Avalon" by Michael Connelly
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
16% 3:34:06 - This story was very reminiscent of "Two Bagger." I decided not to hold it against the story; it was written very well, the best one so far. I recently discovered there is going to be a show based on this story.
5️⃣“Better Austens” by Susan Frith
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
19% 4:10:23 - Wow! That was unexpected. I really enjoyed that story. There was so much I didn't realize until the end, nice!
6️⃣"El Cuerpo en el Barril" ("The Body in the Barrel") by Tom Larsen
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
27% 6:03:16 - This was more of a novella. I don't know if that's cheating, but it was surprisingly fantastic. This is a really good collection.
7️⃣"October in Kauai" by Sean Marciniak
⭐️⭐️
33% 7:13:49 - I don't know if it was the string of 5 star stories that got my expectations up, but I didn't like this one. I thought about throwing in a half-star since it was inspired by his grandmother, but that's really not relevant to my experience, 2-stars it is.
8️⃣"Gun Running on Vacation" by Stefon Mears
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
36% 8:00:05 - This was good. I could totally see this as a movie.
9️⃣"Sleigh Bells for the Hayride" by Keith Lee Morris
⭐️⭐️½
39% 8:43:08 - Shrug. I didn't care for this one. I've noticed a pattern with this collection; every time I don't like a story, the author tells of how many times it was rejected. I'm starting to wonder if the stories have something in common like a writing style or plot troop I'm not a fan of.
🔟"Violent Devotion" by Gwen Mullins
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
43% 9:38:19 - I wasn't expecting this one to have such a powerful statement.
1️⃣1️⃣"Black Knight" by Jo Nesbø translated by Robert Ferguson
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
53% 11:50:31 - Okay, this one is my favorite so far!
1️⃣2️⃣ "Detour" by Joyce Carol Oates
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
59% 13:05:19 - That was trippy!
1️⃣3️⃣“Little City Blues" by Annie Reed
63%14:05:17 - This was really good. I will be looking her up.
1️⃣4️⃣ “Grief Spam” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
74% 16:25:10 - Not bad, I didn't love the ending.
1️⃣5️⃣"A Heaven or a Hell" by Anna Scotti
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
79% 17:29:05 - She did her job well. I might look into her series.
1️⃣6️⃣"Bang on the Money" by Ginny Swart
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟👏🏾
81% 17:57:43 - I didn't even know it had started; it was like a bomb. ❤️
1️⃣7️⃣"The Influencer" by Ellen Tremiti
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
87% 19:18:13 - I can totally see this as a movie or SVU episode.
1️⃣8️⃣"Give or Take a Quarter Inch" by Joseph S. Walker
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¾
89% 19:47:01 - This was very good but not quite a homerun for me.
1️⃣9️⃣"The Theresa Job" by Colson Whitehead
⭐️⭐️⭐️
93% 20:36:04 - I know a little more than half of what's going on after multiple reads. I shouldn't have to reread. The ending is still vague for me.
2️⃣0️⃣"Where There's Love" by Michael Wiley
⭐️⭐️⭐️
95% 21:05:43 - I found him a bit annoying, and the plot was just okay.
💫2️⃣1️⃣"A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell
⭐���⭐️⭐️½
This story is a classic. It was okay; I had moments of shock and suspected paranormal events for a second, but rereading the passages made it clear it was just the writing style.

Recommend to others?: Yes. This book is long but worth the effort.

[Kevintipple · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 is a roller coaster ride for the reader as some of the stories selected are very good and highly entertaining. Others, not so much. The digital arc via NetGalley that I received also had a very high number of formatting issues that got steadily worse as I worked my way through the read. That problem, far worse than most digital ARCs I get via NetGalley and elsewhere, certainly did not help with reading enjoyment.

As the foreword by Otto Penzler makes abundantly clear, the tales that appear in the book are primarily his choices. Michele Slung culls the stories that are believed to have no chance as well as the nonmysteries, then the remaining pile of several hundred is read by Mr. Penzler. He culls that pile to fewer than fifty tales and turns that batch over to the guest editor. In this case, noted author Sara Paretsky, who selected the final twenty stories that are included in this anthology. Mr. Penzler goes on in his foreword to explain that his definition of a mystery is wide and includes thrillers, crime fiction, and suspense as well.

After some more remarks, including how to be considered for next year, Sara Paretsky comes next with her introduction. She addresses the old axiom of “write what you know” and spins it to how those who are good at writing know emotions. Everything else is research. She also points out that language as well as reader perception of authors and stories changes over time as does the world they inhibit and the tales that come from that world.

Then it is finally on to the stories. There are twenty short stories in the book, split evenly between men and women. Each story has a short background explanation to how it came to be and there is a short author bio as well. The stories in the book are arranged by author’s last name.

That means Doug Allyn gets the ball rolling with “Kiss Of Life.” Attorney Ray Beaumont is at the beach on Lake Michigan enjoying the mid July day with his lady friend, Marcy. They soon realize something is wrong as a woman nearby has walked out into the water and is apparently attempting to commit suicide. Ray pulls her out of the water, performs CPR, and is soon at the local hospital dealing with the strange situation his latest client finds herself in as she is still very much among the living.

Colin Barrett’s “A Shooting In Rathreedane” follows where Sergeant Jackie Noonan and the young officer, Pronsius Swift, are called out for a shooting at Bertie Creedon’s place. He has reported the shooting at his farm and claims he was trying to warn the person off as he was in fear of his life. But, instead of missing him, the warning shot hit him and the intruder is a bad way. Swift and Noonan go out to assist and investigate.

White Chocolate by Jerome Charyn is a tale of small-town life where nearly everyone is related to each other. For a local attorney, that includes his mother who apparently just stole a child from the local hospital. While his mom may run the town and everyone in it, she may have gone too far this time, even with a lawyer in the family.

There may be a killer on Catalina. L. A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Nick Searcy saw the guy come off the ferry and wondered about him as the man seemed to be suspicious. After a conversation with FBI Agent Alex Cohen, Searcy thinks he might be the target and thinks it might be because of a trial starting in a few days. Things get complicated fast in “Avalon” by Michael Connelly.

It is a book club with a twist in “Better Austens” by Susan Firth. The ladies do read books as part of their book club. That is not all they do in a not-too-distant future where executions are privatized. This group of mothers provides the executions in the local area and do it while showing compassion to the legally condemned. A hard job becomes way harder when she realizes she knows the man she is supposed to execute from back when he was a little child playing with her own son.

Tom Larsen takes readers to Manta, Ecuador, in “El Cuerpo En El Barril where Sergeant Orlando Ortega has a new boss. Captain Juan Delgado is a big man and is not happy to be here in Manta where, as befits a coastal city, there is more than ample heat and humidity. Sergeant Delgado is not one to play politics, take small bribes, or go along to get along which is why he has been made the problem of another commander who is now stuck with him. Delgado is good at closing cases and soon will be working the case of a death near the local church.

The plan was to run away to Hawaii. Now, all the money they had in Bitcoin is gone in “October In Kauai” by Sean Marciniak. 15 and being abused by his cop dad, the money was a way out of a hellish life for him as well as Kayla and a friend of theirs. With the money gone, it is time for a new and far more dangerous plan.

Derek has done it. Again. Not something minor league stupid as he has frequently done before, but this time, something major league stupid. The money was supposed to last them for their stay down in Baja. Instead, all of the money, every last cent, is gone. Not only did Derek lose it all by gambling, he put them both in a bad situation as “Gun Running On Vacation” by Stefon Mears begins.

It was supposed to be an easy drug transaction a “Sleigh Bells For The Hayride” by Keith Lee Morris begins. He was waiting in the breezeway of some crappy condo complex courtyard. Good thing he knowns sign language even though he has been out of practice using it as the woman who was supposed to pay him for the drugs is deaf. She also does not seem to really want the drugs. She has a problem and a plan. He needs the money, so the drug sale is going to have to wait.

Red McClendon has not been facing the truth about his own son for a long time now. After all, on the surface, it appears that they are a perfect family. Not everything is as it appears in “Violent Devotion” by Gwen Mullins.

Dr. Meyer is well known for his hypnotism skills. He is not known for his secondary job in “Black Knight” by Jo Nesbo. That secondary job is soon ongoing to bring unwanted attention and a clear threat. While everything appears normal in the busy city of Milan, he is being toyed with in an elaborate game that befits his acknowledged skill in his secondary occupation.

When you are very used to taking one road from here to there the usual way all the time, a detour can cause all sorts of issues. It could also get you killed in “Detour” by Joyce Carol Oates. Abigail isn’t feeling herself this mid-March afternoon as it was before she arrived at the unwelcome sign. Being forced out of her normal way home will take her many miles out of her way and will take a lot of time, thus disrupting her normal routine as she savors the time when she is home alone after work and her husband is yet to arrive.

Bill Claymore wants the private investigator to follow his unfaithful wife in “Little City Blues” by Annie Reed. The private investigator may be home from Vietnam, but the war and what he went through in that hell is never far from his thoughts. He is willing to tail her and see what is going on as long as he gets paid. That does not mean he will do every single thing Claymore wants.

The next short story hit me pretty hard though my circumstances were quite a bit different. When a spouse passes, a lot of horrible people reach out to express their condolences and to try to take advantage of the death in one way or another. Most of mine were from women who claimed that Sandi had sent them my way as one of her last acts online or in person, which was obviously impossible, or others who wanted to personally help me with my grief according to their messages that included pictures of them naked or nearly naked. Some just needed plane ticket money. Some claimed to have messages from Sandi so I had to prove who I was by divulging some personal information. Nearly five years later now, it rarely happens by email. Instead, now and at a far lower rate, it happens via Twitter. One hopes that if there is a heaven and a hell, that such people have a front row seat in the hot zone.

In “Grief Spam” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, a widow has been devasted by her husband’s death. Now, just over two weeks later, she and others are receiving messages that seem to indicate Rob was doing and saying horrible things before he died in the single car crash. Lucca Kwindale has a private investigator company, Kwindale Investigations, and soon has a new mission and a compelling reason to get up and out of bed in the morning. Find out if Rob, the schoolteacher and the man she married and the father of their three daughters, was the man she though he was or if he was a scumbag and quite possibly even a criminal?

Paul Gates and his brother, Tristan, had been thought to be dead after the report by Kevin Delman. Mr. Delman had been lucky to survive the fall off the beach cliff several days ago. Authorities had found no trace of the boys and it was believed they had died and been taken out to sea. Now, four days after the accident, Tristian has pulled himself back up the cliff at a point a considerable distance from where he reportedly went over, and has been taken to a nearby hospital in “A Heaven Or A Hell” by Anna Scotti. The background of the situation with the boys and what really happened are major plot points in this complex tale.

The man is known as Marrick at the hotel in Singapore where he is staying. He gets a message to go to a certain locker at the airport in “Bang On The Money” by Ginny Stuart. He recovers the stored suitcase and changes his clothes and does quite a lot more as his latest job is underway.

Carol Clarke has a lot going on as “The Influencer” by Ellen Tremiti begins. Part of that is her job as a Detective. She isn’t really ready to retire, but her daughter and the grandbaby need her. She also has one last case to work as a favor to her boss. A missing person’s case that is hers because the mother of the missing young lady goes to her boss’s church.

After three weeks on the road doing his job, Ryan Vargas expected his wife in the house and waiting for him. She isn’t. Minutes after he arrives home, he gets a picture on his cellphone making it clear his wife is elsewhere and not by choice. Why she was taken and how he is going to get her back are two major pieces of “Give Or Take A Quarter Inch” by Joseph S. Walker.

It is an early taste of the blazing heat of summer in the neighborhood surrounding the bar known as Nightbirds when Ray Carney arrives. He certainly had no desire to be there as “The Theresa Job” by Colson Whitehead begins, but Freddie wanted to talk to him. Freddie knows about a job. Miami Joe is involved, as is a safe, and his cousin Freddie has been throwing his name around. So now, Ray Carrey is involved even though he wants no part of it.

Sam Kelson and DeMarcus Rodman have had a quiet night in where things in “Where There’s Love” by Michael Wiley. That is when Kelson was not talking as he pretty much talks nonstop these days. Especially when he is nervous. They knew there was something fishy about the overnight security job in the jewelry store. They might soon find out exactly what the deal is as they are no longer alone.

A “Bonus Story” titled “Jury Of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell brings the short stories to a close. In this short story, Mrs. Martha Hale is summoned, by the Sheriff, along with her husband, to go to a nearby house. Ostensibly, Mrs. Peters wanted her company. Why and what happened there the day before is the crux of this tale.

The book concludes with a listing of ten additional short stories of honorable mention. Among the notable ten are “An Ache So Divine” by S. A. Cosby and “Everybody Comes To Lucille’s” by John M. Floyd. Both stories can be found in the anthology, Jukes & Tonks: Crime Fiction Inspired by Music in the Dark and Suspect Choices, which was edited by Michael Bracken and Garry Phillips, and published by Down & Out Books in April 2021.

The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 is an interesting anthology. It certainly fits Mr. Penzler’s stated definition of what constitutes a mystery and there are crimes galore. Diverse in terms of author styles and subject matter, it was also a book that was very much hit or miss for this reader. Some tales very much appealed to me. Others, not at all. Still, every reader should be able to find several stories they really like in the book.


As previously noted, my reading copy came by way of a NetGalley ARC. The book is currently scheduled to be released on September 13th.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

[Freja Ivermark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories worth reading (aka I actually remember what they were about) :
White Chocolate- Jerome Charyn
Avalon- Michael Connelly
Better Austens- Susan Frith
El cuerpo en el barril- Tom Larsen
Grief spam- Kristine Kathryn Rusch

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022” is the annual collection of short stories picked out by a well-known guest editor, Sara Paretsky this year. As is usual, we have a wide variety of subjects and settings, some of which stretch the definition of a mystery story:

“Kiss Of Life” by Doug Allyn – a man saves a drowning victim and gets more than he bargains for.
“A Shooting in Rathreedane” by Colin Barrett – a shooting in the Irish countryside gets complicated.
“White Chocolate” by Jerome Charyn – the mayor of a small town run by a family deals with an internal kidnapping.
“Avalon” by Michael Connelly – a hitman comes to a tourist island, but who is his target?
“Better Austens” by Susan Frith – outsourced executions performed by “mothers”, one of whom has her own issues, in the not-too-distant future.
“El Cuerpo En El Barril” by Tom Larsen – a regional cop gets moved to the city, set in Ecuador, and gets involved in a murder that’s more than it seems.
“October in Kauai” by Sean Marciniak – A young boy has difficult choices to make when a UPS truck goes missing.
“Gun Running on Vacation” by Stefon Mears – two crooks on vacation get tangled with a DEA agent.
“Sleigh Bells for the Hayride” by Keith Lee Morris – delivering heroin for a friend leads to an interesting encounter.
“Violent Devotion” by Gwen Mullins – a man has to confront some hard truths about his son.
“Black Knight” by Jo Nesbo – One of the “Drivers”, the best assassins in the world, uses hypnosis to exact his revenge, and gets caught up in a trap himself.
“Detour” by Joyce Carol Oates – a detour leads a woman to face the unknown, with disastrous consequences.
“Little City Blues” by Annie Reed – tailing a cheating wife at a casino leads to unexpected complications.
“Grief Spam” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch – a woman grieving her husband’s fatal “accident” has to deal with some unpleasant truths.
“A Heaven or a Hell” by Anna Scotti – two boys fell off a cliff and perished, but when one of them survives the question start.
“Bang on the Money” by Ginny Swart – A burglary gets interesting when the tables get turned.
“The Influencer” by Ellen Tremiti – a detective mulls retirement as she tracks down a missing burlesque dancer.
“Give or Take a Quarter Inch” by Joseph S. Walker – a man goes to great lengths to get one more shot at knowing if he was good enough.
“The Theresa Job” by Colson Whitehead – a fence gets dragged into a hotel robbery.
“Where There’s Love” by Michael Wiley – a jewelry store robbery driven by love.
“A Jury of her Peers” by Susan Glaspell – from 1917, two women are confronted with evidence of a motive for murder.

Overall a good (not great) collection, several of the stories have unexpected twists and hidden truths, a couple are quite disturbing.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

[L C · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a collection of mystery stories. The one * rating is rather unfair to the couple of good reads in the assortment but I likely would have rated it higher if it were titled A Collection of Pretty Good Crime Adjacent Non-Mystery Stories.

[S S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess some of this is my fault - I went in expecting a bunch of short story 'whodunnit'-type mysteries, for not reason than the fact that the title says "mystery stories" - whilst what the book delivers seems to fall more within the idea of 'crime' stories and stories involving some flavor of criminal. Nothing wrong with that, of course - but it's like when you turn on a movie looking forward to a whodunnit and then, 15 minutes into the movie, they've already revealed to you exactly whodunnit (Bollywood, for example, loves doing this).

That's not to say these stories aren't good. There are definitely some pretty enjoyable ones. Ones that do, thankfully, throw in a bit of detecting (which, admittedly, a full whodunnit in just like 5-10 pages seems awfully difficult to do - but then, that's why I was so excited to find a book that I thought would have 20 of those types of stories). But, alas...

My favorites, I think, were:
- Grief Spam, which had a touch of whodunnit but also just a really good story about a woman who just lost her husband and is blindsided by allegations of his reality that come hurtling out after this fact. She says multiple times that she can't believe she never knew any of this about her husband, which, I don't know - I know some people are great at hiding things, but we learn that it isn't exactly like her husband never let it be known how he felt about his kids (as she tells us as the story progresses). I enjoyed the way the story unfolded, I enjoyed the characters for the most part.
- El Cuerpo En El Barril, which was very much up the alley of what I was looking for. It's a well-paced whodunnit that introduces our two main characters who are hunting down a killer that may have dressed up a more personal murder as something that is more about intolerance. But the detectives quickly figure out it isn't and, with that, they're off on a hunt. The interplay between our senior, recently demoted to this small town, detective and the man working under him is pretty entertaining too.
-Avalon, less of a whodunnit and more of a whoheafter, or something like that. A stranger walks into town - well, takes a boat ride into town, and immediately catches the eye of the inspector. And this stranger is just weird enough to raise the question of who exactly he is in town for. And whether that question can be answered fast enough to save the intended target.

I also really enjoyed (although, again, none of these are whodunnits by any sense of the word): Black Knight (though, there was a run on stories that involved the intentional or incidental death of pets/animals, which was hard to stomach), which gives as a sort-of hitman as our protagonist as he tries to outsmart another hitman who is after his life; Gun Running on Vacation, which is admittedly probably a bit unrealistic in resolution, but I'm all here for that; Where There's Love, which is just a generally fun/funny story in the mix, although the ending may be a bit confusing with what is going on in the mind of the jewelry store owner; Better Austens, which gives us an Austen-loving reader who has an unusual (shocking?) sci-fi/future world job; Sleigh Bells for the Hayride, which is a much better story than title, in my opinion; and Give or Take A Quarter Inch, which is, while at low power just a simple case of a kidnapping, a very different type of mystery/story, and is quite great in how things are resolved and how our villain knows exactly what he wants and just leaves it at that and nothing more.

There are some other stories that I personally wasn't as huge a fan of, but I'm pretty sure in most cases, that just has to do with the styles of story and/or writing that interest me. The 'best stories of 2022' is wrapped up by the inclusion of an older story from like 1917, A Jury of Her Peers, which really didn't appeal to me - either in writing or in terms of the characters we meet (or, again, dead animal), which left me with a slightly sour taste in my mouth as the book came to an end.

But I guess, as you could probably expect from an anthology, there are some stories I really enjoyed, some I didn't, and some that fell somewhere in between. Overall, I'm glad I read them and I did enjoy the journey overall - though, I also will definitely be much more careful next time I pick up a book of "mystery" stories to check whether they're more of the whodunnit flavor I want or just a bunch of stories involving crime/criminals.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 edited by Sara Paretsky.

BLURB: "Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and aided by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, international bestseller and MWA Grandmaster Sara Paretsky has selected the twenty most puzzling, most thrilling, and most mysterious short stories from the past year, collected now in one entertaining volume ... including tales by Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead, and more!"

Mysterious Bookshop proprietor Otto Penzler begins this volume with a brief explanation of the process that goes into picking these stories and explains his VERY broad definition of what constitutes a "mystery" for purposes of this anthology (basically, anything in which a crime, or threat of a crime is central to the theme or plot of the story).

Then Sara Paretsky, author of the V.I. Warshawski series, gives the introduction to this collection of twenty-one* short stories (Paretsky's anecdote about her table mate at a dinner party is priceless).

Each story is introduced with a brief bio of the author and book-ended by the individual author's comments about what inspired them to write it. The inhabitants of these pages are a large mishmash of heroic, bizarre, devious, benign, and tragic characters, including: Several lawyers, an ex-professional athlete, some troubled teens, mothers who abet executions, and a variety of detectives - police, private, amateur, and accidental. The criminals, as well as the heroes, come in all shapes, sizes, and temperaments.

There are good guys (and gals), bad guys, bad good guys, good bad guys, semi-innocent bystanders, and more than a few protagonists who operate in a decidedly gray area. There's also one story that is at the extreme edge of the genre with something of a Twilight Zone flavor to it. Plus a bonus story* originally published in 1917 that offers a look back at a simpler era (or was it?) when society had very specific roles and everyone was expected to play their part accordingly.

I've given the rating a lot of thought. I give this collection 4 1/2 stars. I just can't see my way clear to bumping it up that extra step to 5-stars, as I most generally would. The quality of the majority is so high that the two or three that were less than perfect really stand out. In those instances, instead of being at the edge of my seat wondering where they were ultimately going, I was wondering how much longer it would be before they were over... They just weren't up to par (in my opinion, obviously). Again, this is a critique that focuses on the exceptional content and my own personal taste. In any other collection those same stories would possibly be the standouts -but not here.

Bottom line: You can't go wrong with this collection. With a reputation that goes back to the late 1970s, when the original location first opened its doors, The Mysterious Bookshop (with proprietor Otto Penzler) is the absolute best source for crime fiction of all kinds!
.
***NOTE: Some of the stories in this anthology contain language and situations that might be offensive to more sensitive readers: cursing (including "F-bombs"), violent imagery, racial slurs, and sexual innuendo. For the most part those instances are a minor part of the overall content but I like to let folks know it's there.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 is a really well curated anthology of short crime fiction edited by Otto Penzler. Released 13th Sept 2022 by W.W. Norton on their Penzler Press imprint, it's an impressive 500 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a well rounded collection of top shelf fiction from big name authors who will probably already be familiar to most mystery fans. The stories are all reprinted here, and were originally published in well known magazines, including Harper's, Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, New Yorker and other similarly august periodicals. They run the gamut from serious to lightly witty, but all are very well written by professionals who know what they're doing. Even the introduction managed to raise a smile when Crime Queen Sara Paretsky retells a story from a dinner party in her past where an appalled therapist who apparently had no idea who she was diagnosed her as having worrying tendencies and suggested she seek out professional help.

I enjoy anthologies very much. They're palate cleansers. They reset the reading mojo and if one story doesn't engage the reader, there's always another one to come along in a few pages. Short fiction is challenging in and of itself as well. Especially in crime fiction which has the intricacies of plot devices, clues, and a solution, getting all that to fit into fewer than 10,000 words is a monumental task. I like seeing how adept authors can be with fitting all the nuts and bolts under the hood, so to speak.

This is a good anthology. All of the stories are good, several are really really good. Additionally, as with nearly all of Mr. Penzler's published anthologies, his story introductions are well written and worth reading on their own merit. They're shorter and more pithy in this collection compared to previous anthologies, but still worth a look.

Four and a half stars. This is a relevant, engaging bunch of stories. Good choice for gift giving, library acquisition, and travel reading.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mysterious Bookshop contains twenty of the best mystery short stories for 2022 (plus a bonus), culled by editor Sara Paretsky and Otto Penzler, editor of the Mysterious Bookshop and founder of The Mysterious Press. Though my preference is Golden Age mysteries, this book was a varied and interesting read and I learned about a few new-to-me authors. The stories did not all feel like mysteries to me but in the beginning Penzler was clear about his encompassing definition of "mystery",

My favourites include Doug Allyn's Kiss of Life, especially the ending. Better Austens by Susan Frith is about a book club with a rather macabre slant. In Violent Devotion by Gwen Mullins blood is always thicker than water...or is it? The story I enjoyed the most is suspenseful Detour by Carol Oates in which a detour sign changes everything. After an accident Abigail views her husband differently. It reminds me of a favourite Golden Age author of mine, Ursula Curtiss. In Grief Spam author Kristine Kathryn Rusch powerfully describes acute grief. She and her daughters are at the receiving end of spam. Things are not what they first seem. Susan Glaspell's A Jury of Her Peers is a fascinating tale in which a bird and a quilt have roles to play.

Short story readers (or even those who are not) ought to read this compendium, dabbling here and there as you wish. Some of the stories are more believable than others, hence fiction, but I read them for sheer enjoyment without seeking deeper meaning. I do like surprise endings and cliffhangers and several fit the bill. A few of the stories in my view are superb but others lack je ne sais quois and left me disappointed.

My sincere thank you to Sara Paretsky, Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this motley collection.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strong collection of stories. Twenty-one stories. Ten are four or five star stories. Six are three star. Five are two star. No one star.

It is hard to get a memorable character or two, an interesting setting, a good mystery and a satisfying ending into a short story.

Tom Larsen does it in "El Cuerpo en el Barril". It is a classic grizzly old detective partnered with an eager young cop story, with satisfying variations on the formula. He captures the feel of a seaside town in Ecuador. He hits on a few big social issues, tells a good murder mystery and lands the ending.

Michael Connolly's "Avalon" is a satisfying stranger-in-town set on Catalina Island, off of LA. Joseph S. Walker has solid gimmick story, "Give or Take a Quarter Inch", about a professional burglar

Several of the good stories just can't figure out an ending and just peter out. The first story, Doug Allyn's "The Kiss of Life" is a fascinating story with great twists and turns but if fizzles out at the end. Colin Barrett in "A Shooting in Rathreedane" has a suspenseful Irish small-town cop investigating a murder, but the ending disappointed me.

I am not a fan of the violent thriller type stories. Jo Nesbo has a long story, "Black Knight" set in a dystopia corporate controlled world where corporations hire free-lance assassins as a business plan. The concept is fascinating, but the story is brutal stuff that seemed over the top to me.

I am picking fault here, but I enjoyed almost all of the stories. It is a great cross section of types of mysteries and storytelling skills. The editors clearly focused on good writing used to tell interesting stories.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022.

I'm always wary of anthologies and short story collections; I end up only liking one or two, three or four if I'm lucky.

But, I'm happy to report that I enjoyed most of the stories collected here; there are a diverse range of authors featuring electic themes, subject matter and interesting characters.

Some of my favorites include the one from Jo Nesbo (no surprise since I'm a fan); Better Austens by Susan Firth, Grief Spam by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Violent Devotion by Gwen Mullins, A Heaven or a Hell by Anna Scotti, and Detour by Joyce Carol Oates.

You get the feel for each author's writing style, their tone and how they develop their characters in a particular scenario.

Some stories are longer than others and this collection is a hefty one.

The best thing I like about anthologies is that I can read one or two, put the book down and read something else and come back to this later.

I recommend this collection for any mystery or short story collection connoisseur.

[Peter Sidell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy crime fiction. I have read Otto Penzler’s Best American series in its entirety. I got started after the series started so went back and read older volumes. Now that the Publisher has changed the editor for the series I find I now have two annual crime fiction anthologies to keep track of. A good thing from a readers perspective. I am sure the publisher felt there were good reasons to make the switch. I won’t enter into that debate - but it van be followed in the internet if you are interested.
I continue to enjoy the anthology Otto Penzler has put together,. Now I need to go back and sort out when the change happened - if this year or earlier. If earlier I have some catch up reading to do. Time will tell if there is any overlap between the two series. I had the impression I had read one of the stories in this volume before. Now going through the table of contents I can’t remember which. I enjoyed all the stories in the volume and have to say that as a reader I have benefitted from the change in editorship and release of a new series.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. What a disappointing slog through dismal, preachy tales. The first book in this series, edited by Lee Child, was a delight. I’m still fondly remembering almost every story, despite the many different types of mysteries presented. This book, however, was like expecting to sit down to a wonderful meal, only to find that every dish—every story (EVERY story)—was permeated by a bitter taste. These stories were bleak, sometimes disturbing and offered little in the way of hope for humanity.
At first I thought it was just, “Well, this story doesn’t appeal to me,” but the longer I read (listened, actually, on audio) the more it struck me that this unpalatable taste was in every story. That seemed less than accidental. I may never know, but I can only asssume that the guest editor chose to deliberately collect a series of stories positively triumphant in their discontent.
I had such high hopes, but apparently “hopefulness” must be offensive to the editor. Save your time (I wish so had) and read last year’s collection again.

[Suz Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite stories in the anthology are as follows:

“Better Austin’s” by Susan Frith: An executioner bonds with her captive over memories and the latest book club selection. I enjoyed the world building with its “mother knows best” approach to capital punishment.

“October in Kauai” by Sean Marciniak: A dreadful dad thwarts his son’s attempt to flee Schenectady by stealing his money, but another opportunity for fast cash presents itself. The coming of age elements added heart.

“The Influencer” by Ellen Tremiti: A police detective investigates a case involving a missing burlesque dancer. I liked Carol Clarke, a protagonist, who, though on the verge of retirement, remained sharp and savvy.

“Give or Take a Quarter Inch” by Joseph S. Walker: A retired pitcher turned recruiter returns from a scouting trip to find his wife has been kidnapped. The kidnappers motivation was wonderfully unexpected.

[Kate (kate_reads_) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 was a solid collection. I liked the description in the introduction of what was included:
"..I define mystery very liberally as any work of fiction in which a crime, or the threat of a crime, is central to the theme or the plot. This allows me to embrace detective stories (which is the first kind of mystery that comes to mind for many people), thrillers, crime fiction, and suspense."

And the stories included in this collection really covered a wide range of types as well as a combination of well known authors and some I wasn't familiar with before reading these stories. Most also included a note about where the author got the inspiration for the story which I thought was a nice addition. Some stories weren't a hit for me but that's the fun of a collection - just move along to the next! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy to review.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is this year’s edition of a perennial favorite, this time edited by Sara Paretsky. There is a good selection within these pages. Just some of the featured authors include Michael Connelly, Joyce Carol Oates and Colson Whitehead. Many of the other authors were new discoveries for me. I especially enjoyed Better Austens by Susan Frith.

In addition, the book begins with two introductions. Readers get to find out what both the venerable Otto Penzler and favorite author, Sara Paretsky have to share.

I tend to gravitate to novels over short stories but sometimes a shorter read is better. For those times, there is a lot to enjoy here.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Otto Penzler Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

[Karin Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under the auspices of New York City's legendary mystery fiction specialty bookstore, The Mysterious Bookshop, and aided by Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler, international bestseller and MWA Grandmaster Sara Paretsky has selected the twenty most puzzling, most thrilling, and most mysterious short stories from the past year, collected now in one entertaining volume. And I loved them all. So much so I now going back to find last years volume and read it. This book included some of my favorite writers at their finest. If you are a fan of short mystery stories you will love this book. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this anthology of mystery short stories. For 2022, selection and editing was by Sara Paretsky and Otto Penzler.

I thought there was a lot of variety in the stories, not only in the topics but authors. While there were several well-known authors, many of the writers were not known to me and I really appreciated the exposure to these new-to-me authors. Due to reading this anthology, I now have multiple authors I'm planning to further explore. The writing kept me engaged and I found myself wanting more when I reached the end of the book.

Thank you to the authors, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC. In return, this is my honest review and all opinions are mine.

[Gabriela Galescu · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst “best mystery” collection

I have read a great deal of “best mystery stories of the year” collections and this is the worst. Most stories are at best forgettable. The rest are quite awful. Really, i found only one exception, the great “a jury of her peers” and that’s a classic, not a 2022 publication.

Moreover, a great deal of the stories are unbearably long. I understand the title promises “stories” and not “short stories”, but there seem to be a tacit understanding that more than 15 pages/story is quite rare. Not in this collection: lots of 35-50 page long stories and quantity does not do anything for quality when it comes to writing.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a general rule, I have found these annual collections of "the best of the year" something of a mixed bag.

However, this one really lived up to its title. Only about four of the twenty stories included here -- that range in length from a few pages to 60 or so -- didn't do much for me. Most of the others, however, were quite good to excellent!

When a compilation like this is well done it functions as a great way to introduce readers to new writers they may not have previously encountered. Such was my experience in reading this.

If you like mystery stories, I bet you will appreciate at least most of these.

[Susan Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Fuzzypants here: I am fond of anthologies. I like books filled with short stories that the reader can dip in and out of at will. This one is chock full of stories by famous authors and with a selection of mysteries that will satisfy any number of tastes. There are some that have a whimsical side. There are some that are deeply dark. They are all well written and entertaining.

If you are a fan of modern mysteries and would like a sampler of various styles and tastes, this is an excellent way to find new favourites or revisit old ones. Four purrs and two paws up.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second year for this Mysterious Bookshop Otto Penzler collection since his spilt from the Best American series. This is another really good collection of stories. My personal favorites were Kiss of Life, Gun Running on Vacation, Black Night, Detour, Grief Spam and Where There’s Love.

The worst story was The Theresa Job. It wasn’t that the story itself was bad, it was a good concept. The prose and the dialogue sounded like it was written by Lee Child if he was recovering from a traumatic brain injury. It felt like I was reading something from ChatGPT.

[Greg Hernandez · Rating 1 out of 5]

You lost me at black criminals described by the protagonist as thugs in the first story, Sara. Also, that story couldn’t have been more hackneyed Mickey Spillane wannabe trash with the teenage daughter of the mystery woman talking like a Humphrey Bogart character. Also, I can’t see the name of that story because the audiobook is a botch job with one hours-long chapter. Total fail, editor Sara. Maybe there’s a vigilante-run neighborhood newsletter you could work on instead. You know, keep an eye on the “thugs”. Trash

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend anthologies and books of short stories on a regular basis. So many readers ask for recommendations of series and authors that the easiest way for them to discover new to them authors is to sample their writing in these books. This book contains 20 stories by some of the best authors in publishing today plus those up and coming with skills that shine. As they flex their writing skills to give readers a complete story in fewer pages than a typical chapter, you'll find many to add to your TBR pile.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy hell--Sara Paretsky put her name on this trash? Very few stories were even mysteries. What you get are a variety of depressing crime stories written by a lot of old(er) men out of touch with modern sensibilities. Most of these read like a couple chapters clipped from a larger novel that I wouldn't want to read anyways.

[Groucho42 · Rating 2 out of 5]

A really mixed bag with some good ones but some really terrible ones. I know I though some early were awful, but don't remember which and don't want to check. The dumbest I remember was near the end, kidnapping because of baseball? Sigh. I'd like to give is an average, three-star, rating, but there were just too many bad ones.