Short Story Wednesday: The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century

 

The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century is an anthology edited by Tony Hillerman and Otto Penzler and published in 2000. The anthology contains 46 short stories, and is 813 pages long. This is my husband's book, which he purchased in 2025 at the Planned Parenthood book sale which we attend every September.

In addition to the short stories, the book has a Foreward by Penzler, an Introduction by Hillerman, and Biographical Notes for each author at the end.

I haven't read any of the stories in this book, but I have read several of the stories from other sources. All the stories listed below were good reads.

• I read "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell, published in 1917, from an anthology of short stories selected by Elizabeth George, A Moment on the Edge. 
• I read "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson online. I think it was the first short story I read by her, except for "The Lottery." It was published posthumously, in 1965.
• Two of the stories I have read were published in 1996. I read "Red Clay" from Red Clay, Blue Cadillac by Michael Malone. 
• The other story from 1996 was "The Dark Snow" by Brendan DuBois. My notes indicate that it was very well done, a great read, but the ending so very dark that it turned me off.

As with most anthologies of short stories, there are mixed reactions to this volume and the stories chosen. For anyone interested in comparing how the styles of the mystery short story changed over the years, this book would probably be very useful.

I am including a list of the stories in the book below. The list is in chronological order. 

• A Retrieved Reformation / O. Henry
• Paul's Case / Willa Cather
• The Problem of Cell 13 / Jacques Futrelle
• Blind man's Buff / Frederick Irving Anderson
• Naboth's Vineyard / Melville Davisson Post
• A Jury of Her Peers / Susan Glaspell
• The Gutting of Couffignal / Dashiell Hammett
• Haircut / Ring Lardner
• Blue Murder / Wilbur Daniel Steele
• The Perfect Crime / Ben Ray Redman
• The Baby in the Icebox / James M. Cain
• The Murder / John Steinbeck
• Sense of Humor / Damon Runyan
• Ransom / Pearl S. Buck
• Red Wind / Raymond Chandler
• The Catbird Seat / James Thurber
• The Rear Window / Cornell Woolrich
• An Error in Chemistry / William Faulkner
• The Nine Mile Walk / Harry Kemelman
• The Adventure of the President's Half Disme / Ellery Queen
• The Homesick Buick / John D. MacDonald
• Gone Girl / Ross Macdonald
• The Moment of Decision / Stanley Ellin
• First Offense / Evan Hunter
• The Couple Next Door / Margaret Millar
• The Day of the Execution / Henry Slesar
• The Terrapin / Patricia Highsmith
• The Possibility of Evil / Shirley Jackson
• The Comforts of Home / Flannery O'Connor
• Good Man, Bad Man / Jerome Weidman
• Goodbye, Pops / Joe Gores
• The Whimper of Whipped Dogs / Harlan Ellison
• The Wager / Robert L. Fish
• Do With Me What You Will / Joyce Carol Oates
• Quitters, Inc. / Stephen King
• The Absence of Emily / Jack Ritchie
• By the Dawn's Early Light / Lawrence Block
• Iris / Stephen Greenleaf
• Three-Dot Po / Sara Paretsky
• The Parker Shotgun / Sue Grafton
• Too Many Crooks / Donald E. Westlake
• Hot Springs / James Crumley
• The Dark Snow / Brendan DuBois
• Red Clay / Michael Malone
• Poachers / Tom Franklin
• Running Out of Dog / Dennis Lehane