"The Best American Mystery Stories 2003" edited by Michael Connelly
Reviewed by: Andrea Speed

The title is self-explanatory, although some might quibble about whether the best is truly represented here. But I think everyone can agree these are damn good stories, and it covers many aspects of the genre, from noir to the edge of horror, with contributions from the masters of the genre to unknowns.

The story I liked the most was "Home Sweet Home" by Hannah Tinti, which opens with the murder, and then, in flashbacks and present-day remembrances, shows who the murderer was and why they did what they did. The most extraordinary thing is that you sympathize with the killer, who may have taken things much too far, but you can understand completely where they were coming from. Making a sympathetic killer is a very tricky thing, but Tinti pulls it off very well.

Joyce Carol Oates--who has appeared in almost all these collections--turns up here with a story called "The Skull", a dark character study about a forensic scientist who becomes obsessed with the bones of an unknown murder victim. It's a strange but curiously haunting tale about a man who seems to have more of an affinity for the dead than the living.

Taylor Dilts's "Thug: Signification and the (De) Construction of Self" is a truly unique piece, a combination of pseudo-scholarly essay (complete with footnotes) and noir mystery, as an achingly self-aware, self-professed "thug" muses on his work as he does his brutal job. It's oddly funny at times, which just makes it that more compelling and disturbing.

"War Can Be Murder" by Mike Doogan is a speculative story about Dashiell Hammett investigating an Army-related murder in Anchorage during World War II. It's an atmospheric, fun story with a good dollop of wry humor.

"After You've Gone" by John Peyton Cooke is another genre-bending tale, this time concerning a troubled, suicidal cop who calls what he thinks is a suicide hotline, but discovers something far weirder on the other end of the line. Cooke sustains a believable hardboiled voice throughout the story, even when it takes some rather unusual narrative turns that take it the edge of horror.

"The Jukebox King" by Doug Allyn is a pretty straightforward mob noir story, about a small time bar owner in the early '60's attempting to outwit the mobsters trying to muscle him. It's rich with period detail, and while sometimes very Chandler-esque in tone, that's a compliment.

If you're a mystery fan, this is an essential collection. While there may be some debate about stellar all of these stories are--some lag terribly, or are just too predictable for their own good, coming off like so-so episodes of some crime drama television show--this is a pretty impressive collection that shows that sometimes mystery works best in a tight, short story format. Three and a half stars.

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin, 2003, $27.50
ASIN/ISBN: 061832965X