From Publishers Weekly
Is it possible to publish an anthology of mystery stories without including Joyce Carol Oates? Apparently not, as series editor Otto Penzler says in his foreword to this outstanding compendium: "She has appeared in six of the seven annual volumes.... Nobody makes it into these books based on their fame or popularity, and she is no different. It is about the work, and she simply will not be denied." Oates's "The Skull," a richly mordant, Poe-ish tale of a forensic scientist obsessed with the head bones of a murder victim, might not be the best of the 20 stories, but it's certainly right up there. Other brand names working at their peak include George P. Pelecanos ("The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us") and Scott Phillips ("Sockdolager"), both of whom probe the roots of characters from their respective novels. Writers who deserve to be more famous, like Doug Allyn, O'Neill de Noux and Monica Wood, bring fresh insights to familiar material. By far the oddest entry is Taylor Dilts's "Thug: Signification and the (De) Construction of Self," which manages to combine an essay on deconstruction, complete with footnotes, with an entertaining crime story. As guest editor Connelly says in his introduction, if a novel is an SUV, a short story is a sports car. "I drove seven SUVs before I ever tried a sports car," he admits. "I found the difference amazing." Readers should share that amazement.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Michael Connelly and Otto Penzler unite for the seventh installment in this mystery anthology. Predictably, the quality of the narrators varies. "The Pickpocket," which features an old pickpocket who explains the tricks of his trade, includes a wonderful surprise ending. The narrator perfectly "sets up" his listeners for a terrific climax. Joyce Carol Oates's "The Skull" is a disturbing story further enhanced by Eric Conger, who seems to take on the persona of the complex main character. Finally, the two most bizarre stories, "Controlled Burn" and "The Jeweler" are presented with just the right amount of creepiness. This series offers a variety of appetizers for short story fans and those new to the mystery genre. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
For this annual collection, series editor Penzler first selects what he feels are the best 50 crime stories of the year from the 1,000 to 1,200 possibilities; then the guest editor, Connelly this time around and always a big-name crime writer, chooses from that group the 20 that will appear in the annual volume. High-end literary figures not usually associated with genre fiction often appear--Joyce Carol Oates has turned up in six of the seven volumes--but the mix of well-known and unheralded writers varies from year to year. This year the well-knowns have the floor, with James Crumley, Pete Dexter, Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, and George P. Pelecanos all on board and all turning in excellent stories. The highlight, though, goes to Doug Allyn's "The Jukebox King," in which a Detroit bar owner uses the murder of a Mob hit man as a way to parlay himself into the juke racket. This series can be counted on to showcase the best of mainstream crime fiction. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
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. 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<en>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 as well as talented up-and-comers, for a diverse colleciton sure to thrill all readers.James CrumleyPete DexterBrendan DuBoisElmore LeonardWalter MosleyJoyce Carol Oates

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
IntroductionI drive a two-seater. It"s a drop-top sports car built low to the ground for better control and handling. All right, it"s an automatic with a pushbutton, electronic top. But that"s not the point. The point is that when the top"s down and I"m sailing through the curves along the bay, the wind cutting in behind my shades, I can"t think of a better car to be in. Sure, it"s so small, I can"t fit more than one suitcase into it. But again, that"s 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 you"re 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 you"re out running around in a candy-apple-red sports car. It"s fun. It"s 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 that"s 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 the examples in which the author has met that pressure and come out with a beauty. Each one of these stories has a well-tuned machine under the hood. What I have tried to do here is put together a collection that showcases the power of the short story. These stories run from the traditional to the experimental, from deadly serious to deadly satirical, from established writing masters to voices I am betting you have not heard before but will likely hear again. Each story is a sports car that handles superbly as it takes you to a destination you haven"t been to before. Pay attention to the nuances of the ride, the telling details of character and place and emotion and experience. Watch the way a man struggles with language and a new country, the way a man sees his long-lost daughter in the reconstructed face of a murder victim. The way a woman extracts justice after being betrayed. On and on. The way you never know how somebody is going to act or react. These aren"t shiny sports cars. No way. There is a lot of road grit on these pages. There is violence and betrayal and justice meted out without the benefit of the justice system. There is also sympathy and hard-edged romance and a haunting sense of hope. I think that is why the mystery story is so important. It can carry all the ingredients, even if the car will hold only one suitcase. We live in uncertain times. And as I write this it looks as if they are only going to become more uncertain. The mystery story is no antidote. But it certainly can act to reassure, to help make some sense of the world. Maybe only in a small way, but that is still better than in no way. So let"s begin. Time to take a ride. You are in luck here. I think you will find everything you are looking for in these pages.—Michael ConnellyCopyright © 2003 by Houghton Mif&#64258;in Company. Introduction copyright © 2003 by Michael Connelly. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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.

This seventh installment of the premier mystery anthology boasts pulse-quickening stories from all reaches of the genre. Michael Connelly's 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, and a tale of murder by psychology. This year's edition features mystery favorites as well as talented up-and-comers, for a diverse collection sure to thrill all readers.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Is it possible to publish an anthology of mystery stories without including Joyce Carol Oates? Apparently not, as series editor Otto Penzler says in his foreword to this outstanding compendium: "She has appeared in six of the seven annual volumes.... Nobody makes it into these books based on their fame or popularity, and she is no different. It is about the work, and she simply will not be denied." Oates's "The Skull," a richly mordant, Poe-ish tale of a forensic scientist obsessed with the head bones of a murder victim, might not be the best of the 20 stories, but it's certainly right up there. Other brand names working at their peak include George P. Pelecanos ("The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us") and Scott Phillips ("Sockdolager"), both of whom probe the roots of characters from their respective novels. Writers who deserve to be more famous, like Doug Allyn, O'Neill de Noux and Monica Wood, bring fresh insights to familiar material. By far the oddest entry is Tyler Dilts's "Thug: Signification and the (De) Construction of Self," which manages to combine an essay on deconstruction, complete with footnotes, with an entertaining crime story. As guest editor Connelly says in his introduction, if a novel is an SUV, a short story is a sports car. "I drove seven SUVs before I ever tried a sports car," he admits. "I found the difference amazing." Readers should share that amazement. (Oct. 10) FYI: Each year Michelle Slung, the primary preliminary reader, does the initial winnowing from 1,000-1,200 stories, Penzler picks 50, then the guest editor comes up with the final 20. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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