Book Review: The Best American Mystery Stories of the Twentieth Century

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Best American Mystery Stories of the Twentieth Century     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Tony Hillerman , Otto Penzler
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Houghton Mifflin, Apr 2000, $28.00, 848 pp.

Talk about pressure. The goal is to select fifty-five tales with each twentieth century decade having at least three entries written by American authors to represent the best mystery short stories of the last hundred years. That is what Tony Hillerman and Otto Penzler set out to do and succeeded.

As expected many of the famous classic mystery writers such Hammett, Queen, and Chandler have works included in this tome. Also not surprising is that several of current popular authors such as Block, Paretsky, and Lehane have works contained in the anthology. It will be very startling to some fans that members of the Who’s Who of American literature includes names such as O’Henry, Hemingway, Faulkner, Steinbeck, and Thurber. Added to the mix is an explanation on the selection process by Penzler and a brief historical look at how vast the genre has grown from its roots.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner