The Best American Mystery Stories 2007 (Paperback)

by Otto Penzler (Editor), Carl Hiaasen (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The 11th volume in this consistently high-quality series features such household names as Joyce Carol Oates and Lawrence Block, but for the most part it's the lesser lights who shine brightest with superb short crime stories that evoke human passions and bring characters to life with a few well-chosen phrases or images. As series editor Otto Penzler again cautions in his foreword, few of the stories revolve on whodunit, the why having become more important in contemporary crime fiction. One of the best of the 20 selections is Chris Adrian's Stab, a chilling tale of childish cruelty, as witnessed by an autistic child. Block himself weighs in with the masterful Keller's Double Dribble, a story of double crosses, white-collar crime and basketball. Another standout is Brent Spencer's The True History, a gripping account of brutality and revenge set during the Texas War of Independence. Cozy and Agatha Christie fans won't find much to suit their particular tastes, but lovers of good writing should be delighted. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
"A standout collection." (Kirkus Reviews )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (October 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618812652
• ISBN-13: 978-0618812653
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #117,913 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Always a Winner, November 6, 2007

By	Daniel J. Seitler "shinybear" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Best American Mystery Stories 2007 (Hardcover)

The Best American Mystery Stories series is always one of the year's highlights and the 2007 collection is dark, edgy, innovative and exciting. Many old favorites are onhand but so are many new and exciting writers. Is some of the subject matter disturbing? Absolutely! From animal killing to soccer-mom prostitutes, this is a collection that doesn't play it safe. Yet the consistancy of quality is always there. While I prefered some stories more than others, I found every story in this collection interesting and worth my time. Short stories make perfect reading in today's busy world and this collection is a great way to start getting into them!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great original and new dark crime stories , October 27, 2007

By	Avid Reader - See all my reviews

if you love cozies, then don't buy this book. get a cup of hot milk and an miss marple and leave now. fleeee! because this is a dark book. but it's a FABULOUS collection if you love dark noir, crime writing by the best of the best, including:

STAB by Chris Adrian! This is my personal favorite -- the smartest most evocative piece I have ever seen from a child's pov. His story, john dufresne's and scott wolven's are disturbing and fresh crime stories from the dark side of humanity and shouldn't be missed! sophistocated readers will also take satisfaction in the entire collection, especially stories by the usual suspects: joyce carol oates, ridley pearson, laura lippman at her darkest. Fresh, original, dark writing here. Transportive stuff -- so transportive that the suspense might just keep you up at night, either that or the excellent caliber of writing!

4.0 out of 5 stars More crime that mystery, with some real winners, January 8, 2009

By	T. Burket "tburket" (Potomac, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A few too many of the stories had little appeal, so no five stars here. The collection stretches the definition of a "mystery", as most are basically crime stories and none is a traditional detective story where there is an early setup to the crime, followed by the action leading to a resolution through someone's analysis. In some, the whole story is a setup to a crime near the end, and in others there is no resolution, other than we know who did what through basic narrative. We have no detectives or private eyes here, and few cops.

Be prepared for some relative crudeness in language and crime and not much lightweight content where the story is really about the mystery. Not here.

Here are my favorites:

Keller's Double Dribble: masterful story of a hit man, with a creative twist.

T-Bird: poker-playing babe hatches a scam.

One True Love: prostitute / soccer mom deals with an untimely threat.

Stab: unusual mass murder up the food chain as told by the survivor of a pair of separated twins.

Solomon's Alley: sometimes the inner voice demands action.

Pinwheel and Meadowlands: two completely different stories that include horse racing. One is from the perspective of a cool dude who is part of some illegal activity and the other is from a nervous woman clueless about what will happen.

Queeny: quick, crisp story about danger while jogging.

Lucy Had a List: nothing will stop Lucy from achieving her goal to be a professional golfer.

That's nine of the 20. Some of the remainder fall into a pretty decent second tier, and a couple I didn't like seemed rather pointless or uninteresting, never clicking into gear. Some that didn't make my list were probably very well written, and I could understand their selection. "The True History" about the conflict between Texas and Mexico in the 1800s comes to mind. I simply didn't care for it. Sorry.