Houghton Mifflin, October 2008
The Best American Mystery Stories 2008 is first and foremost a collection of short stories. As guest editor George Pelecanos notes, the twenty stories have “twists and surprises to be discovered” but aren’t necessarily “traditional” mysteries. And while Pelecanos, author of many crime novels set in and around Washington, D.C., says this result wasn’t intentional, he’s happy with it. “What you will be reading here has a degree of realism to it,” he writes in the Introduction. “I liked the characters and recognized something in them that rang true. The writing, I promise you, is good, thoughtful writing.”
Indeed, the writing and the stories are good and thoughtful. They have elements of mystery and meet the qualification set out by series editor (and mystery publishing icon) Otto Penzler that “a crime, or the threat of a crime, is integral to the theme or plot.” The crime itself may not be a mystery, or even the focus of the story per se. Many of the pieces collected here shine an intense light on the very real and tragic consequences of crime.
Pelecanos’s Introduction sets up the volume well and invokes several masterful passages from Raymond Chandler. It’s definitely worth reading before diving into the stories.
The Best American Mystery Stories 2008 is first and foremost a collection of short stories. As guest editor George Pelecanos notes, the twenty stories have “twists and surprises to be discovered” but aren’t necessarily “traditional” mysteries. And while Pelecanos, author of many crime novels set in and around Washington, D.C., says this result wasn’t intentional, he’s happy with it. “What you will be reading here has a degree of realism to it,” he writes in the Introduction. “I liked the characters and recognized something in them that rang true. The writing, I promise you, is good, thoughtful writing.”
Indeed, the writing and the stories are good and thoughtful. They have elements of mystery and meet the qualification set out by series editor (and mystery publishing icon) Otto Penzler that “a crime, or the threat of a crime, is integral to the theme or plot.” The crime itself may not be a mystery, or even the focus of the story per se. Many of the pieces collected here shine an intense light on the very real and tragic consequences of crime.
Pelecanos’s Introduction sets up the volume well and invokes several masterful passages from Raymond Chandler. It’s definitely worth reading before diving into the stories.
The realism he promises is evident in most stories. James Lee Burke’s “Mist,” for example, is a chilling picture of post-Katrina Louisiana. “Child’s Play” by Alice Munro captures how one child can hate another for being different, awkward, clinging.
Thrillers aren’t completely absent. “Mulholland Drive” by Michael Connelly tautly follows an accident reconstructionist as he explains a crash scene. Undercover-cop intrigue plays into “One Good One” by Chuck Hogan. Creepy vans and mysterious disappearances are featured in “The Invisibles” by Hugh Sheehy.
And many stories have touches that will stay with you. Sheehy’s narrator, Cynthia, confirms to herself in kindergarten that she’s an invisible, someone who doesn’t get noticed: “My new teacher couldn’t bring herself to remember my name. Other children never looked at me, and seemed to avoid the spaces where I played at recess.”
In “The Blind Man’s Sighted Daughters” by Joyce Carol Oates, Helen -- caretaker of her nearly blind father -- tells sister Abigail about their routine: “He asks me to read the newspapers to him, the worst news first, atrocities, suicide bombers, plane crashes, famines, killings and dismemberings in New Jersey, anything lurid to do with politicians or celebrities, he wants to be consoled that the world is a ridiculous hellhole...”
Thrillers aren’t completely absent. “Mulholland Drive” by Michael Connelly tautly follows an accident reconstructionist as he explains a crash scene. Undercover-cop intrigue plays into “One Good One” by Chuck Hogan. Creepy vans and mysterious disappearances are featured in “The Invisibles” by Hugh Sheehy.
And many stories have touches that will stay with you. Sheehy’s narrator, Cynthia, confirms to herself in kindergarten that she’s an invisible, someone who doesn’t get noticed: “My new teacher couldn’t bring herself to remember my name. Other children never looked at me, and seemed to avoid the spaces where I played at recess.”
In “The Blind Man’s Sighted Daughters” by Joyce Carol Oates, Helen -- caretaker of her nearly blind father -- tells sister Abigail about their routine: “He asks me to read the newspapers to him, the worst news first, atrocities, suicide bombers, plane crashes, famines, killings and dismemberings in New Jersey, anything lurid to do with politicians or celebrities, he wants to be consoled that the world is a ridiculous hellhole...”
And Elizabeth Strout’s “A Different Road” begins with the sentence, “An awful thing happened to the Kitteridges on a chilly night in June.” But what literally happens to Olive and Henry Kitteridge is not what changes their lives the most.
Pelecanos describes the collection as not only the best mystery stories of the year, but also some of the best short stories of the year in general, and he somewhat laments the separation within the “Best American” series. The types of pieces comprising this volume certainly support the blurring of these lines. While the book is filled with high-quality stories with their own types of twists and surprises, it doesn’t exactly feel like a book of mysteries. Whether that’s a plus or a minus depends on the reader. If you are looking for a genre-oriented book of detective fiction, you may be disappointed with The Best American Mystery Stories 2008. But if you like good stories of all stripes, don’t overlook this collection.
Pelecanos describes the collection as not only the best mystery stories of the year, but also some of the best short stories of the year in general, and he somewhat laments the separation within the “Best American” series. The types of pieces comprising this volume certainly support the blurring of these lines. While the book is filled with high-quality stories with their own types of twists and surprises, it doesn’t exactly feel like a book of mysteries. Whether that’s a plus or a minus depends on the reader. If you are looking for a genre-oriented book of detective fiction, you may be disappointed with The Best American Mystery Stories 2008. But if you like good stories of all stripes, don’t overlook this collection.
