A review by rickklaw
The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century by Otto Penzler, Tony Hillerman

5.0

How could a 813 page book with 46 stories titled The Best American Mystery Stories Of the Century steer you wrong? It can’t. Sure you won’t agree with everything that is in and not in the book (that is part of the fun of Best of... collections) but with contributors like [a:Lawrence Block|3389|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1175465339p2/3389.jpg], [a:James M. Cain|14473|James M. Cain|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1214424417p2/14473.jpg], [a:Raymond Chandler|1377|Raymond Chandler|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1206535318p2/1377.jpg], [a:William Faulkner|3535|William Faulkner|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1189905090p2/3535.jpg], [a:Sue Grafton|9559|Sue Grafton|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1202586126p2/9559.jpg], [a:Dashiel Hammett|16927|Dashiell Hammett|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1202585790p2/16927.jpg], [a:O. Henry|854076|Robert Louis Stevenson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192746024p2/854076.jpg], [a:Shirley Jackson|4191|Emily Brontë|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1200326444p2/4191.jpg], [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1175465339p2/3389.jpg], [a:Donald E. Westlake|30953|Donald E. Westlake|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1230870096p2/30953.jpg] (still chuckling from his Dortmunder tale) and a host of others even the most hardened mystery fan will find something to like. This is truly the best.