The Best American Mystery Stories 2003

by Penzler, Otto

• ISBN13: 9780618329663
• ISBN10: 0618329668
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-10
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary

This seventh installment of the premier mystery anthology boasts pulse-quickening stories from all reaches of the genre, selected by the world-renowned mystery writer Michael Connelly. His choices include a Prohibition-era tale of a scorned lover's revenge, a Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery solved by an actor playing the famous detective onstage, stories of a woman's near-fatal search for self-discovery, a bar owner's gutsy attempt to outwit the mob, and a showdown between double-crossing detectives, and a tale of murder by psychology. This year's edition features mystery favorites Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, James Crumley, Joyce Carol Oates, and Brendan DuBois as well as talented up-and-comers, for a diverse collection sure to thrill all readers.Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. Edgar Award winner Michael Connelly has chosen a collection of stellar stories by the genre's luminaries and by the most promising newer talents in the field. As usual, this year's Best American Mystery Stories will delight readers with dramatic variety and unsurpassed quality.James Crumley Pete Dexter Brendan DuBois Elmore Leonard Walter Mosley Joyce Carol Oates

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Introduction by Michael Connelly	xiii
DOUG ALLYN
The Jukebox King	1	(21)
CHRISTOPHER CHAMBERS
Aardvark to Aztec	22	(12)
CHRISTOPHER COOK
The Pickpocket	34	(13)
JOHN PEYTON COOKS
After You've Gone	47	(15)
JAMES CRUMLEY
Hostages	62	(6)
O'NEIL DE NOUX
Death on Denial	68	(12)
PETE DEXTER
The Jeweler	80	(8)
TYLER DILTS
Thug, Signification and the (De) Construction of Self	88	(8)
MIKE DOOGAN
War Can Be Murder	96	(19)
BRENDAN DUBOIS
Richard's Children	115	(22)
ELMORE LEONARD
When the Women Come Out to Dance	137	(13)
ROBERT MCKEE
The Confession	150	(19)
WALTER MOSLEM
Lavender	169	(30)
JOYCE CAROL OATES
The Skull	199	(16)
GEORGE P. PELECANOS
The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us	215	(16)
SCOTT PHILLIPS
Sockdolager	231	(19)
DANIEL STASHOWER
The Adventure of the Agitated Actress	250	(20)
HANNAH TINTI
Home Sweet Home	270	(19)
SCOTT WOLVEN
Controlled Burn	289	(10)
MONICA WOOD
That One Autumn	299	(16)
Contributors' Notes	315	(12)
Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2002	327

Excerpts

IntroductionI drive a two-seater. Its a drop-top sports car built low to the ground for better control and handling. All right, its an automatic with a pushbutton, electronic top. But thats not the point. The point is that when the tops down and Im sailing through the curves along the bay, the wind cutting in behind my shades, I cant think of a better car to be in. Sure, its so small, I cant fit more than one suitcase into it. But again, thats not the point. The point is performance and beauty. In a word, velocity. The point is this is why I love the short story. Velocity. Room for one suitcase only. The short story deals with issues and themes large and small. But it does it succinctly and quickly. The short story is a car for the short track. Put the top down and power into the curves. If youre going a long distance, get yourself a novel. Take the freeway and get yourself an SUV. I drove seven SUVs before I ever tried a sports car. I found the difference amazing. You have to dig in to write a novel. You have to cover all the angles. You need a trunk big enough to carry a lot of baggage and extra supplies. Conversely, the short story is lean and mean and built low to the ground. Its ideas burn on high-test. They are spare and to the point. What happened to me happened to many novelists I know. You push a few books out there, get them on the shelf, and get a bit of notice. Then comes the big question: "Have you ever thought about a short story?" One thing leads to another, and you leave the big car in the garage, and youre out running around in a candy-apple-red sports car. Its fun. Its a change of pace. Nine out of ten doctors recommend it. In these same pages last year James Ellroy said he wrote his first short story only to pay off a debt. After that, he repeatedly returned to the short form. Me, too. In fact, my guess is that the debt I paid with my first short story was to the same guy - but thats another story. The point is I reluctantly tried it and then liked it. I ended up happy for the coercive genesis of it. I got hooked. I found the short story gave me balance. Elements of character and action and intrigue were all there. But in a spare form I found invigorating. I like the short story because you can conceive and complete in hours or weeks instead of months or years. It is a form I am sure I will always come back to. It has become part of how I evaluate and then execute my ideas as a writer. This is not by any means to say that the short story is the easier road to take. The novel and the short story are simply different animals. Or, I should say, beasts. In the spare style of the short story is the bedrock philosophy of less is more. This makes the labor over each paragraph, each sentence, intensely important. Every word must count in the short story, so the pressure of the writing experience is ratcheted down tightly on the author. What you have here in this collection are

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Excerpted from The Best American Mystery Stories 2003
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