The Best American Mystery Stories 2009 - Tapa blanda

Series editor Penzler's preference for trolling literary journals instead of relying on the usual mystery magazines and anthologies pays big dividends.

Not a single one of the 20 reprints here is a dud. Standouts among the stories produced by mystery veterans are James Lee Burke's parable of a prison-camp inmate who refuses to box ("Big Midnight Special"); Chuck Hogan's account of the hamburger that will be a condemned convict's last meal ("Two Thousand Volrs"); and Kristine Kathrine Rusch's historical fantasy of a killer whose methodical execution of FBI agents reaches all the way to the top ("G-Men"). But there's excellent, if more formulaic work by Clark Howard, Rob Kantner, Robert McClure and Michael Connelly. "Free Radicals," Alice Munro's unexpected riff on a classic Agatha Christie story, tops the literary side, which provides a good deal more variety: Tom Bissell's portrait of a modern superhero ("My Interview with the Avenger"); Ron Carlson's tale of a Guatemalan baseball phenom whose fate is fatally linked to his scout's ("Beanball"); M.M.M. Hayes's depiction of a crusty old gentleman's unusual strategies for coping with change and death ("Meantime, Quentin Ghlee"); Randy Rohn's droll, creepy account of "The Man Who Fell in Love with the Stump of a Tree"; Jonathan Tel's story about a trucker whose life is upended by an accusation of rape and murder ("Bola de la Fortuna"); and series favorite Joyce Carol Oates' "Dear Husband," the feverish confession of a dying family-killer. N.J. Ayres, Alafair Burke, David Corbett, Nic Pizzolatto, Gary Craig Powell and Vu Tran round out the diverse list.

A choice mix of solid work from mystery specialists and one-shots from authors who'd never want to be identified with the genre.

-- (10/01/2009)

STARRED The Best American Mystery Stories 2009 Edited by Jeffery Deaver. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner, $14 paper (400p) ISBN 978-0-547-23750-3
Like previous anthologies in this ââ'¬Å"best ofââ'¬Â series, the impressive 13th volume favors crime stories over whodunits. As series editor Otto Penzler notes in his foreword, ââ'¬Å"it has become increasingly difficult to find... a new murder method, or an original way to hide a vital clueââ'¬Â (though some may wonder why Deaver passed over Hal Whiteââ'¬â"[s impossible crime puzzler, ââ'¬Å"Murder at the Fall Festival, ââ'¬Â listed in the appendix of ââ'¬Å"Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2008ââ'¬Â ). Readers interested in psychology will be more than satisfied by such tales as Joyce Carol Oatesââ'¬â"[s ââ'¬Å"Dear Husband, ââ'¬Â a heartrending first-person account of a mother who slaughtered her children, and Tom Bissellââ'¬â"[s ââ'¬Å"My Interview with the Avenger, ââ'¬Â about a vigilante superhero. As always, part of the pleasure derives from exposure to writers who have yet to gain the acclaim they deserve, such as Randy Rohn (ââ'¬Å"The Man Who Fell in Love with the Stump of a Treeââ'¬Â ) and Jonathan Tel (ââ'¬Å"Bola de la Fortunaââ'¬Â ). (Oct.)-- (08/31/2010)

Best-selling novelist Jeffery Deaver edits this latest collection of the genre's finest from the past year. Featuring "gritty tales told with panache," this is a "must-read for anybody who cares about crime stories" (Booklist).