The Best of Mystery: 63 Short Stories Chosen by the Master of Suspense (Hardcover)

by Alfred Hitchcock (Compiler)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
These 63 spine-tingling stories originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery magazine, and in the words of the master himself, they’ll “make your blood run cold.” Hitchcock coolly serves up cool cops, clever gangsters, bodies stuffed in trunks, kidnappings, adulterous affairs, murder, and espionage, and the resulting thrills are positively delicious. The writers include Ed McBain, whose “Sadie When She Died” features a strange cat-and-mouse game between a sharp detective and the husband of a murdered woman whom the police suspect of having committed the crime. Other tales come from Donald E. Westlake, Bill Pronzini, Patricia Highsmith, Henry Slezar, and Richard M. Ellis.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Galahad (February 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0883656442
• ISBN-13: 978-0883656440
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.9 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #548,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Could Kill Someone With This Thing, December 28, 2008

By	R. H. Rich "Just One Reader" (Yorktown, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Best of Mystery: 63 Short Stories Chosen by the Master of Suspense (Hardcover)

This is a frighteningly large hardcover. Co-workers asked me if I was reading a textbook. No, instead it's 63 short stories culled from years of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. There's some big names in here, including Ed McBain, Lawrence Block, and Hillary Waugh.

Still, it's an uneven lot, with some true clunkers. Other stories are horribly dated by modern sensibilities with references to prices that stagger the imagination more than the dirty deeds (Sixty cents for a cheeseburger? Only at White Castle...) and a few references to 'Nam and the Cold War. There's even a tale with a science fiction bent about the first manned mission to Mars, but the author has planted tongue firmly in cheek, making it one of the more enjoyable, if quirky, stories in the collection.

There's enough memorable material to make this worth the read. I'd even recommend spacing the stories out, reading a few between other, longer works to prevent burnout. Recommended to any fans of mystery in any genre. You're sure to find something of merit here, especially if you find this on the cheap in a used bookstore since I'm fairly certain it's long out of print.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars lots of great little short stories , June 1, 2005

By	forest - See all my reviews

most of the stories are about 5-10 pages. interesting easy to read stories chosen from the Alfred Hitchcock mystery magazine. The book was put together after Hitchcock's death and stories of course were not written by hitch.

10 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stories NOT by Alfred Hitchcock, June 19, 2002

By	Robert Wesley Sager "Student" (South Charleston, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I havent finished the book, Im saving it for those long summer days that are filled with nothing to do. For the most part the stories are cool, but some are as dull as dirt. I wont name any stories because I have 2 of these types of books and I may confuse stories from the other and write that they are in here. The big thing for me was the fact that these stories were chosen by Alfred Hitchcock, no he didnt chose some of his favorite stories that he wrote; he chose stories by other authors. The book says that he chose them, but it also states that this book is By:Alfred Hitchcock. I have no clue why, its sort of like hes stealing other authors stories. Anyway this is more an adult book unless you are a very good reader. I purchased this book when I was 14 and I am now 15 and I am able to understand most everything in the book, but there are some big words in it. But I am also one of the best readers in my class(at when reading to myself, I hate reading out loud). So if you are looking for something by Alfred Hitchcock then you might not want this book. If you want something that Mr.Hitchcock liked then you may want this. For the most part the stories are enjoyable and scarry, but dont expect this from all of them.