The Best Mystery Stories of the Year

 

I'm truly delighted to be one of the twenty authors whose work is included in The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, edited by Lee Child, and this year's instalment of a series edited by Otto Penzler. The US version is published by Otto's Mysterious Press, the UK version (titled Best Crime Stories of the Year) by Head of Zeus. 

You can no doubt imagine my glee when Otto told me that Lee had selected my story for the book, and when I found out that the other contributors included such luminaries as Stephen King, David Morrell, James Lee Burke, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton (a posthumous publication, alas) and Joyce  Carol Oates. It's so gratifying to be in such company. And to have another story published by Mysterious Press in the US, just after The Traitor, my new bibliomystery, appeared.

My author copies of the anthology have just arrived and I'm looking forward to diving into my fellow contributors' stories. Early reviews have been terrific. Publishers' Weekly gave the collection a starred review, saying: 'Superior...this volume is a must for mystery aficionados.' There was another starred review from Kirkus, which referred to 'Twenty Gems'. And for good measure Library Journal called the book 'a delicious mixture of style and sub-genre...there isn't a weak link in the bunch.'

My story is 'The Locked Cabin', which originally appeared in Maxim Jakubowski's book of 'impossible crime' stories and was inspired by my Atlantic crossings on the Queen Mary a couple of years back. It's a history-mystery set on the original Queen Mary and was great fun to write. The fact that it's achieved this recognition is an unexpected added pleasure.

 

The Interrogator

What do the following crime writers have in common? Lee Chld, Michael Connelly, Joyce Carol Oates, Laura Lippman, David Morrell, Jeffrey Deaver, Mickey Spillane, and Martin Edwards? One thing's for sure, it's not the fact that they are all best-sellers, since I'm certainly not in that league. But I'm pleased to say that, along with those other, much bigger names, I have a story in a new anthology, The Interrogator, published by Cemetery Dance in the US. Quite an honour.

The book is edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, and a sad note is that Marty Greenberg, the doyen of anthologists, died not long after this book was first put together. I never met or talked to him, but I have had stories in a few of the colossal number of books of stories that he either edited or co-edited. Ed has dedicated this collection to Marty, and it's a fitting tribute, given the calibre of the other contributors.

The story of mine that is included is "Clutter", which previously appeared in Original Sins, the CWA anthology of 2010. I'm absolutely delighted to say that, although there was no CWA anthology last year, there should be a new collection later in 2013, to celebrate the CWA's Diamond Jubilee. Suffice to say the stories I've received are of a very high calibre, and there are some major names among the contributors..

The same is true of those in The Interrogator, and I'd also like to mention the extremely informative introduction by Jon L. Breen. As with Ed Gorman, he's someone I've never met, but have admired for a long time. Undoubtedly, he's one of the leading crime fiction critics of the past 30 years, and everything he writes is well worth reading. He's also produced a handful of enjoyable novels of his own. They are worth a look and so too, regardless of my own contribution, is The Interrogator.

Between the Dark and the Daylight

I’ve just received the very handsome and substantial hardback and paperback editions of Between the Dark and the Daylight, edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, published by Tyrus Books. This is a collection of 28 ‘of the best crime and mystery stories of the year’ and I’m proud to say that it includes ‘The Bookbinder’s Apprentice’, a story which was a joy to write, and which has been so good for me, having won the CWA Dagger for best short story and featured in Maxim Jakubowski’s equivalent UK anthology of Best British Mysteries.

Even before you get to the stories, there is a fascinating and authoritative preface by Jon L. Breen which reviews ‘the mystery year’, covering not only novels and short stories, but also movies; in addition, there is a detailed list of major mystery award winners in 2008.

The list of contributors to this volume is so impressive, that it’s flattering, as well as a privilege, to be part of the project. The authors include Michael Connelly and Joyce Carol Oates, two fellow Brits in John Harvey and Peter Robinson, and fellow bloggers including Bill Crider and Patti Abbott (there is also a story from Patti’s daughter Megan, whom I was glad to meet at the Harrogate Festival last summer.) The collection takes its title from a story by Tom Piccirilli.

Tyrus have done a good job in producing an attractive book which weighs in at just short of 600 pages; having declared my interest, I have to say that it seems a real bargain. One thing I have noticed is that the permissions list indicates that several of the stories included first appeared online. Is this a sign of things to come? It’s notoriously difficult to find print markets for short stories, but maybe the internet offers fresh possibilities. So far I have never had any of my stories appear online prior to print publication, but who knows what the future may bring?