Best American Mystery Stories 1998 » (Older Edition)

Grafton is a writer on a mission: Already two-thirds of the way into her series of alphabetic murder stories starring P. I. Kinsey Millhone, she aims to make it to the end. Millhone, who has her own bio on Grafton's web site, indeed seems to have taken on a life of her own. She is "human-sized," as Grafton says, a simple gal solving complex, irresistible murder cases.

This year's guest editor, Sue Grafton, has put together a wonderfully diverse collection of stories to surprise and satisfy all fans of the genre. In this volume, best-selling writers such as Mary Higgins Clark, Walter Mosley, Lawrence Block, Jay McInerney, and Donald E. Westlake stand alongside an impressive array of new talent. As Grafton writes in her introduction, "Nowhere is iniquity, wrongdoing, and reparation more satisfying to behold than in the well-crafted yarns spun by the writers represented here."

Already a bestseller in its first year, this year's collection of The Best American Mystery Stories promises to keep readers intrigued and coming back for more.

Nikki Amdur

Broad in scope and crackling with tension. The masters of the genre put in peerless performances. . .The lesser names also provide their share of surprises. -- Entertainment Weekly