From over 3,000 considered stories published in the past year, this anthology contains the twenty best, selected by #1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham under the auspices of New York City’s legendary crime fiction specialty store The Mysterious Bookshop.
Included are tales of suspense, detection, and puzzlement that illuminate the diversity of styles contained under the “mystery” umbrella and highlight some of the greatest practitioners of the short form working today, with a blend of household names and lesser known writers no less worthy of your attention.
There’s something for everyone in this celebrated anthology, now in its fifth year, which continues to dazzle with the breadth of its selection and which draws from sources as disparate as Black Cat Weekly, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and Conjunctions. Plus, it’s all capped off with an additional “bonus story” from an earlier era, sourced from the bookshop’s rare book room.
Edited by:
John Grisham
Series edited by:
Otto Penzler
Imprint: Penzler Publishers
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 206mm,
Width: 132mm,
Spine: 33mm
Weight: 541g
ISBN: 9781613166840
ISBN 10: 1613166842
Pages: 504
Publication Date: 23 September 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
CONTENTS Foreword, Otto Penzler Introduction, John Grisham The Golden Road, David Avallone Home Game, Craig Faustus Buck Under the Blackjack Tree, V.P. Chander Jamming at Jollies, Tracy Falenwolfe Totality, James Hearn The Art of Disappearance, April Kelly Eat My Moose, Erika Krouse The Other Brother, Tom Larsen Same Old Song, Billie Livingston Only a Story, Kai Lovelace The Secret Menu, Sean McCluskey Mister George, Richard McMahon Dream Stuff, Lou Manfredo Her Dangerously Clever Hands, Karen Odden A New Weariness, Anna Scotti Snapshot, Shelagh Smith Effie’s Oasis, Casey Stegman The Lost and the Lonely, Lamont A. Turner Run and Gun, Joseph S. Walker Through Thick and Thin, Andrew Welsh-Huggins Bonus Story: The Problem of Cell 13, Jacques Futrelle The Best Mystery Stories of 2025 Honor Roll
John Grisham is the author of fifty consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include Camino Ghosts, The Exchange: After the Firm, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction. When he’s not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system. John lives on a farm in central Virginia. Otto Penzler, the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of The Mysterious Press (1975); MysteriousPress.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City’s Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from NoirCon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.
Reviews for The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year: 2025
The stories cover a satisfying range of styles and themes, embellished with notes from their authors. . . . A must-read for short story aficionados.-- ""Booklist starred review for Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024"" Wide-ranging . . . Because the stories vary so much, it's a great bet for gifting to mystery and crime fiction readers.-- ""NY Journal of Books on Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024""
