by The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021
“Pull,” Story, Issue #7
Oleksiw, Susan
“Kenny Orslow Shows Up on Time,” Mystery Weekly Magazine
Perona, Elizabeth
“The Ear Witness,” Murder 20/20, ed. M. B. Dabney, Lillie Evans, and Sherri Held (Speed City Press)
Sibi-Okumu, J. E.
“Belonging,” Nairobi Noir, ed. Peter Kimani (Akashic Books)
Simpson, Chad
“Notes Towards a Story Called Streetlight Superman,” Story, Issue #8
Terrell, Stephen
“In the Deepest Darkness,” Murder 20/20, ed. M. B. Dabney, Lillie Evans, and Sherri Held (Speed City Press)
Todd, Marilyn
“Burning Desire,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October
Wilson, Matthew
“The Wretched Strangers,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January/February
THE MYSTERIOUS BOOKSHOP PRESENTS
THE BEST MYSTERY STORIES OF THE YEAR 2021
Mysterious Press
An Imprint of Penzler Publishers
58 Warren Street
New York, N.Y. 10007
Compilation copyright © 2021 by The Mysterious Press
Introduction copyright © 2021 by Lee Child
“30 and Out” by Doug Allyn. First published in Deadly Anniversaries. Copyright
© 2020 by Doug Allyn. Reprinted by permission of Doug Allyn.
“Things That Follow” by Jim Allyn. First published in Ellery Queen Mystery
Magazine. Copyright © 2020 by Jim Allyn. Reprinted by permission of Jim Allyn.
“Blest Be the Tie That Binds” by Michael Bracken. First published
in Black Cat Mystery Magazine. Copyright © 2020 by Michael
Bracken. Reprinted by permission of Michael Bracken.
“Harbor Lights” by James Lee Burke. First published in A Private
Cathedral: Barnes & Noble Exclusive Signed Edition. Copyright © 2020 by
James Lee Burke. Reprinted by permission of James Lee Burke.
“The Locked Cabin” by Martin Edwards. First published in The Book of
Extraordinary Impossible Crimes and Puzzling Deaths. Copyright © 2020 by
Maxim Jacubowski. Reprinted by permission of Maxim Jacubowski.
“Biloxi Bound” by John Floyd. First published in The Strand Magazine. Copyright
© 2020 by John M. Floyd. Reprinted by permission of John Floyd.
“That Which Is True” by Jacqueline Freimor. First published in
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline
Freimor. Reprinted by permission of Jacqueline Freimor.
“The Gift” by Alison Gaylin. First published in Hush. Copyright © 2020 by
Alison Gaylin. Reprinted by permission of Alison Gaylin. All rights reserved.
“If You Want Something Done Right . . .” by Sue Grafton. First published
in Deadly Anniversaries. Copyright © 2020 by Steven Humphrey. Reprinted
by permission of Margaret E. Friedrich, the Friedrich Agency.
“The Sixth Decoy” by Paul Kemprecos. First published in
Nothing Good Happens After Midnight. Copyright © 2020 by Paul
Kemprecos. Reprinted by permission of Paul Kemprecos.
“The Fifth Step” by Stephen King. First published in Harper’s Magazine.
Copyright © 2020 by Stephen King. Reprinted by permission of
Darhansoff & Verrill Literary Agents. All rights reserved.
“The Client” by Janice Law. First published in Alfred Hitchcock
Mystery Magazine. Copyright © 2020 by Janice Law Trecker.
Reprinted by permission of Janice Law Trecker.
“The Truth About Lucy” by Dennis McFadden. First published in Louisiana Literature.
Copyright © 2020 by Dennis McFadden. Reprinted by permission of Dennis McFadden.
“The Adventure of the Home Office Baby” by David Marcum. First
published in The Strand Magazine. Copyright © 2020 by David
Marcum. Reprinted by permission of David Marcum.
“Heatwave” by Tom Mead. First published in Detective Thrillers Short Stories.
Copyright © 2020 by Tom Mead. Reprinted by permission of Tom Mead.
“Requiem for a Homecoming” by David Morrell. First published in The Darkling Halls
of Ivy. Copyright © 2020 by David Morrell. Reprinted by permission of David Morrell.
“Parole Hearing, California Institution for Women, Chino, CA” by Joyce
Carol Oates. First published in Boulevard. Copyright © 2020 by Ontario
Review Inc. Reprinted by permission of Ontario Review Inc.
“Love & Other Crimes” by Sara Paretsky. First published in
Love & Other Crimes. Copyright © 2020 by Sara Paretsky.
Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
“Etta at the End of the World” by Joseph Walker. First published
in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Copyright © 2020 by Joseph
S. Walker. Reprinted by permission of Joseph Walker.
“The Path I Took” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins. First published in
Mystery Tribune. Copyright © 2020 by Andrew Welsh-Huggins.
Reprinted by permission of Andrew Welsh-Huggins.
First Mysterious Press edition
Interior design by Maria Fernandez
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper, magazine, or electronic publication; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021910912.
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-61316-267-5
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-61316-238-5
ebook ISBN: 978-1-61316-239-2
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company
