The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century

InTHEBESTAMERICANMYSTERYSTORIESOFTHECENTURY,best-sellingauthorTonyHillermanandmysteryexpertOttoPenzlerpresentanunparalleledtreasuryofAmericansuspensefictionthateveryfanwillcherish.Offeringthefinestexamplesfromallreachesofthegenre,thiscollectionchartsthemystery'seminenthistoryfromtheturn-of-the-centurypuzzlesofFutrelle,totheseminalpulpfictionofHammettandChandler,tothemysterystory'srisetolegitimacyinthepopularmind,atrendthathasbenefitedmasterlywriterslikeWestlake,Hunter,andGrafton.Nowhereelsecanreadersfindamorethorough,moreengaging,moreessentialdistillationofAmericancrimefiction.Penzler,theBestAmericanMysteryStoriesserieseditor,andHillermanwinnowedthisselectgroupoutofathousandstories,drawingonsourcesasdiverseasElleryQueen'sMysteryMagazineandEsquire,Collier'sandTheNewYorker.Giantsofthegenreabound--RaymondChandler,StephenKing,DashiellHammett,LawrenceBlock,ElleryQueen,SaraParetsky,andothers--buttheeditorsalsounearthedgemsbyluminariesrarelyfoundinsuspenseanthologies:WilliamFaulkner,JohnSteinbeck,DamonRunyon,HarlanEllison,JamesThurber,andJoyceCarolOates.Mysterybuffsandnewcomersalikewilldelightinthethrillingstoriesandtop-notchwritingofahundredyears'worthofthefinestsuspense,crime,andmysterywriting.