“Some people might tell you that crime short stories, unlike the more precious kind, are a kind of fictional ghetto, full of cardboard characters and clichéd situations. Not true. These stories are remarkably free of bullshit — although there’s always a little, just to grease the wheels,” writes guest editor John Sandford in his introduction. From an isolated Wyoming ranch to the Detroit boxing underworld, and from kidnapping and adultery in the Hollywood Hills to a serial killer loose in a nursing home, The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 hosts an entertaining abundance of crime, psychological suspense, and bad intentions.

A collection of the year’s best mystery short fiction selected by New York Times best-selling and Edgar Award — winning author C. J. Box.

It's been a year since professional thief Crissa Stone last pulled a job, and she's spent that time under the radar, very carefully not drawing attention to herself. That kind of life is safe, but it's boring, and it's lonely, and it's not very lucrative. So when Crissa starts to get antsy - and low on funds - she agrees to act as a thief for hire, partnering with a wealthy art collector to steal a truckload of plundered Iraqi artifacts before they're repatriated to their native country. But what's supposed to be a "give-up" robbery with few complications quickly turns deadly. Soon Crissa is on the run again, with both an ex-military hit squad and her own partners in crime in pursuit. And...

Two years ago, Harry Rane took early retirement from the New Jersey State police after being shot in the line of duty. Now he lives one day at a time. It's not much, but he gets by. Things change when Bobby Fox, an old childhood friend, calls for help. A small-time dealer who's taken one last chance, Bobby's in over his head for $50,000 to Eddie Fallon, a local crime boss. Harry goes to see Fallon, hoping to work something out, but it's hard to negotiate with a man like Fallon. The one thing Harry does learn is that he and Fallon have something in common-Fallon's wife is an ex-girlfriend Harry hasn't seen since he was eighteen, a girl who was pregnant with his child when she ran away. In...

Crissa Stone is a pro. She never works close to home, never works with the same crew, and never rushes a job. Those are the rules her mentor and lover taught her. But now he's up for parole and needs some money to help grease the wheels. There's an illegal card game set for a week from now. The take? As much as seven figures. Desperate, Crissa slaps a plan together. It's robbery, not murder. Then one of her crew shoots a player, a man with connections to hitman Eddie the Saint. Recently released from prison, Eddie could use the work, not to mention all that money.

Ex-state trooper Harry Rane, who first appeared in Wallace Stroby's brilliant debut novel, The Barbed-Wire Kiss, is at loose ends. Doing some investigative work for a friend's firm just to keep himself busy, Harry meets Nikki Ellis, a woman desperate for help. Her ex, Johnny Harrow, was just released from prison after a seven-year stretch for attempted murder. Nikki hasn't spoken to him since he went down, but she knows what he's capable of, and that he'll be looking for her-and for the baby she put up for adoption after Johnny went away. She knows it's up to her to protect the child once again. And she's afraid. As Harry finds out, she should be. Johnny is headed home to New Jersey to...

Crissa Stone is a career criminal who has pulled a number of impressive heists by knowing how to keep her mouth shut and her temper in check. Still, as good as she is, she wants to get out of the life. All she needs is one last big score, enough to bribe her lover's way out on parole, set up a safe and stable new life, and get her daughter back. However, things keep going wrong, like when her last two partners lost their cool and fought over the take instead of walking away $150K richer. The mess they made of the job and each other has put her on the run again. She's not the only one. Benny Roth, a former mobster, has been straight for years, but now he has his own problems. A face from...

In the third stunning novel in Wallace Stroby's acclaimed crime series, a professional thief desperately tries to help the family of her slain partner - even if it costs her her life A half million dollars in drug proceeds, guarded by five men with automatic weapons. For Wallace Stroby's determined heroine, professional thief Crissa Stone, and her team, stealing it was the easy part. But when the split goes awry in a blaze of gunfire, Crissa finds herself on the run with a duffel bag of stolen cash, and bound by a promise to deliver part of the take to the needy family of one of her slain partners. In pursuit are the drug kingpin's lethal lieutenant, and a rogue Detroit cop with his...

"Fans of such notables as C.J. Box, Peter Straub, and Joyce Carol Oates chiefly known for their novels will be pleased to see how well they write at shorter length."--Publishers Weekly “Some people might tell you that crime short stories, unlike the more precious kind, are a kind of fictional ghetto, full of cardboard characters and clichéd situations. Not true. These stories are remarkably free of bullshit—al­though there’s always a little, just to grease the wheels,” writes guest editor John Sandford in his introduction. From an isolated Wyoming ranch to the Detroit boxing underworld, and from kidnapping and adultery in the Hollywood Hills to a serial killer loose in a nursing home,...

It's late at night when Florida sheriff's deputy Sara Cross arrives at the scene of a roadside shooting along a deserted highway. Another deputy, Billy Flynn, her former partner, who also happens to be her former lover, has fatally shot a twenty-two-year-old man during what started out as a routine traffic stop, and she's the first to arrive on the scene. He claims that the man pulled a gun, and that when he didn't respond to Billy's commands to drop it, Billy shot him. Billy is clearly upset, shaken up; Sarah sees the gun in the dead man's hand and the bag of illegal weapons in the trunk of his car and believes Billy's actions were justified. Up north in New Jersey, Mikey-Mike runs a major...