Anthony Horowitz selects and introduces the best mystery stories from the past year, under the auspices of the world’s oldest mystery fiction specialty bookshop.
From a pool of over 3,000 considered stories published last year—anything that touched on crime, mystery, and suspense, from venues as disparate as The Strand Magazine, Dark Yonder, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, The Bellevue Literary Review, and more—these are the very best, selected by series editor Otto Penzler and guest editor Anthony Horowitz.
The tales included cover a range of styles, highlighting the diversity of subjects and forms comprising the genre we call mystery fiction. Featuring a mixture of household names, masters of the short form, and newcomers to the field, the collection offers a variety that promises something for every reader. And it’s all capped off by a vintage story from the first half of the previous century, sourced directly from the rare book room at the Mysterious Bookshop, the oldest mystery fiction specialty store in the world.
Authors include:
Ace Atkins
Michael Bracken
Fleur Bradley
Shelley Costa
Doug Crandell
Jeffery Deaver
John Floyd
Nils Gilbertson
Peter Hayes
Shells Legoullon
Victor Methos
Leonardo Padura
Dan Pope
Annie Reed
Cameron Sanders
Anna Scotti
Archer Sullivan
Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Stacy Woodson
Contributor Bio(s)
 
Anthony Horowitz is one of the most prolific writers in the UK, unique in that he works across so many genres including more than fifty novels and TV series as well as films, plays, and journalism. He was named “the greatest of our crime writers” by the Sunday Times. Anthony was awarded a CBE in 2022 for his services to literature.
Otto Penzler, the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of The Mysterious Press (1975); MysteriousPress.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City’s Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from NoirCon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.