The Best American Mystery Stories 2005 »

In a prolific and varied oeuvre that ranges over essays, plays, criticism, and several genres of fiction, Joyce Carol Oates has proved herself one of the most influential and important storytellers in the literary world.

The Best American series has been the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction since 1915. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of periodicals. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the very best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected--and most popular--of its kind.

The Best American Mystery Stories 2005 includes

Scott Turow • Edward P. Jones • Louise Erdrich • Dennis Lehane • Daniel Handler • Laura Lippman • George V. Higgins • David Means • Richard Burgin • Scott Wolven • Stuart M. Kaminsky • and others

Joyce Carol Oates, guest editor, is a highly respected novelist, critic, playwright, poet, and short story writer. She is the author of numerous books, including the National Book Award winner Them and most recently the novel The Falls.

Publishers Weekly

Says series editor Otto Penzler, "It's about finding the best stories, by whoever happens to have written them," in his foreword to this outstanding mystery annual. He chose Joyce Carol Oates as this year's guest editor, and Oates almost immediately put her brand on the book-not waiting for Penzler to send her the top 50 choices from which she would winnow the 20 final entries, but branching out on her own, finding some of the volume's best stories by beginning writers in small circulation magazines as well as in collections from relatively unknown publishers. There's also much star power, made even more impressive by the editors' resistance to famous names getting in on reputation alone. Dennis Lehane's "Until Gwen," Laura Lippman's "The Shoeshine Man's Regrets," Louise Erdrich's "Disaster Stamps of Pluto" and Scott Turow's "Loyalty" are as good as any full-length novels these writers have produced recently. And what a great pleasure it is to have the remarkable talents of the late George V. Higgins displayed in all their glory in "Jack Duggan's Law." Agent, Warren Frazier at the John Hawkins Agency. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Contents Foreword • ix Introduction by Joyce Carol Oates • xiii

Richard Burgin The Identity Club • 1 Louise Erdrich Disaster Stamps of Pluto • 19

Daniel Handler Delmonico • 33

George V. Higgins Jack Duggan’s Law • 49

Edward P. Jones Old Boys, Old Girls • 80

Stuart M. Kaminsky The Shooting of John Roy Worth • 103

Dennis Lehane Until Gwen • 113

Laura Lippman The Shoeshine Man’s Regrets • 129

Tim McLoughlin When All This Was Bay Ridge • 141

Lou Manfredo Case Closed • 152

David Means Sault Ste. Marie • 173

Kent Nelson Public Trouble • 184

Daniel Orozco Officers Weep • 194

David Rachel The Last Man I Killed • 203

Joseph Raiche One Mississippi • 217

John Sayles Cruisers • 225

Sam Shaw Reconstruction • 241

Oz Spies The Love of a Strong Man • 259

Scott Turow Loyalty • 274

Scott Wolven Barracuda • 297 Contributors’ Notes • 313 Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2004 • 323