The Best American Mystery Stories 2004

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When this series, Best American Mystery Stories, began eight years ago, my estimable editor at Houghton Mifflin gave me no instructions, no rules, no censorious commands, no guidelines, other than that the stories must fit the definition of the title: The mystery/crime/suspense story must be by an American or Canadian and first published in the appropriate calendar year.

It was understood by us both, however, that the point of each anthology is that it contain the best writing produced that year. The reputation of the author, the subject of the story, the place in which it first appeared — none of that carried any weight. It was from the first, and remains, all about the work.

While the criteria for selecting these stories are inevitably subjective, reflecting my taste and that of each edition’s guest editor, the same standards apply to this fiction as to Houghton Mifflin’s legendary sister publication, Best American Short Stories. You know what they are: characterization, narrative drive, clarity of vision, literary style. Make me believe that the people who populate your stories are genuine, force me to wonder what will happen to them next, have interesting events befall them, say it in a way that hasn’t been said a thousand times before, and you’ve got me in the palm of your hand.

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