The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 Read online

  Contents

  * * *

  Title Page

  Contents

  Copyright

  Foreword

  Introduction

  Doug Allyn, The Snow Angel

  Andrew Bourelle, Cowboy Justice

  Tomiko M. Breland, Rosalee Carrasco

  Lee Child, Wet with Rain

  Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane, Red Eye

  Joseph D’Agnese, Harm and Hammer

  Jeffery Deaver, The Adventure of the Laughing Fisherman

  Brendan DuBois, Crush Depth

  John M. Floyd, Molly’s Plan

  Scott Grand, A Bottle of Scotch and a Sharp Buck Knife

  Steven Heighton, Shared Room on Union

  Janette Turner Hospital, Afterlife of a Stolen Child

  Richard Lange, Apocrypha

  Theresa E. Lehr, Staircase to the Moon

  Lee Martin, A Man Looking for Trouble

  James Mathews, Many Dogs Have Died Here

  Thomas McGuane, Motherlode

  Kyle Minor, A Kidnapping in Koulèv-Ville

  Joyce Carol Oates, The Home at Craigmillnar

  Eric Rutter, The Shot

  Contributors’ Notes

  Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2014

  Read More from The Best American Series®

  About the Editors

  Copyright © 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

  Introduction copyright © 2015 James Patterson

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  The Best American Series® is a registered trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. The Best American Mystery Stories™ is a trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

  No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the proper written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. With the exception of nonprofit transcription in Braille, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is not authorized to grant permission for further uses of copyrighted selections reprinted in this book without the permission of their owners. Permission must be obtained from the individual copyright owners as identified herein. Address requests for permission to make copies of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt material to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York 10003.

  www.hmhco.com

  ISSN 1094-8384

  ISBN 978-0-544-63874-7

  ISBN 978-0-544-52675-4 (pbk.)

  Cover design by Christopher Moisan

  Cover photograph © Superstock

  eISBN 978-0-544-52796-6

  v1.1015

  These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  “The Snow Angel” by Doug Allyn. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, January 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Doug Allyn. Reprinted by permission of Doug Allyn.

  “Cowboy Justice” by Andrew D. Bourelle. First published in Law and Disorder: Stories of Conflict & Crime. Copyright © 2014 by Andrew D. Bourelle. Reprinted by permission of Andrew D. Bourelle.

  “Rosalee Carrasco” by Tomiko M. Breland. First published in Ploughshares, Winter 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Tomiko M. Breland. Reprinted by permission of Tomiko M. Breland.

  “Wet with Rain” by Lee Child. First published in Belfast Noir. Copyright © 2014 by Lee Child. Reprinted by permission of Lee Child.

  “Red Eye: Patrick Kenzie vs. Harry Bosch: An Original Short Story” by Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly. First published in FaceOff, edited by David Baldacci. Copyright © 2014 by Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly. Reprinted by permission of Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly.

  “Harm and Hammer” by Joseph D’Agnese. First published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, October 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Joseph D’Agnese. Reprinted by permission of Joseph D’Agnese.

  “The Adventure of the Laughing Fisherman” by Jeffery Deaver. First published in In the Company of Sherlock Holmes. Copyright © 2014 by Gunner Publications, LLC. Reprinted by permission of Jeffery Deaver, Manager.

  “Crush Depth” by Brendan DuBois. First published in Ice Cold, edited by Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson. Copyright © 2014 by Brendan DuBois. Reprinted by permission of Brendan DuBois.

  “Molly’s Plan” by John M. Floyd. First published in the Strand Magazine, Issue XLIII, June–Sept 2014. Copyright © 2014 by John M. Floyd. Reprinted by permission of John M. Floyd.

  “A Bottle of Scotch and a Sharp Buck Knife” by Scott Grand. First published in Thuglit, Issue 11. Copyright © 2014 by Zach Basnett. Reprinted by permission of Zach Basnett.

  “Shared Room on Union” by Steven Heighton. First published in The Dead Are More Visible by Steven Heighton. Copyright © 2012 by Steven Heighton. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company, and Steven Heighton.

  “Afterlife of a Stolen Child” by Janette Turner Hospital. First published in the Georgia Review, vol. LXVIII, no. 3, Fall 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Janette Turner Hospital. Reprinted by permission of the Georgia Review.

  “Apocrypha” by Richard Lange. First published in Bull Men’s Fiction, Bull #4. Copyright © 2014 by Richard Lange. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Staircase to the Moon” by Theresa E. Lehr. First published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, September 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Theresa E. Lehr. Reprinted by permission of Theresa E. Lehr.

  “A Man Looking for Trouble” by Lee Martin. First published in Glimmer Train Stories, Issue 90, Spring/Summer 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Lee Martin. Reprinted by permission of Lee Martin.

  “Many Dogs Have Died Here” by James Mathews. First published in Iron Horse Literary Review 16.3, 2014. Copyright © 2014 by James Mathews. Reprinted by permission of James Mathews.

  “Motherlode” by Thomas McGuane. First published in The New Yorker, September 8, 2014. From Crow Fair: Stories by Thomas McGuane, copyright © 2015 by Thomas McGuane. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC for permission.

  “A Kidnapping in Koulèv-Ville” by Kyle Minor. First published in The Normal School, Spring 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Kyle Minor. Reprinted by permission of Kyle Minor.

  “The Home at Craigmillnar” by Joyce Carol Oates. First published in the Kenyon Review, Winter 2014. Copyright © 2014 by The Ontario Review, Inc. Reprinted by permission of The Ontario Review, Inc.

  “The Shot” by Eric Rutter. First published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, November 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Eric Rutter. Reprinted by permission of Eric Rutter.

  Foreword

  AUTHORS ARE SELDOM cultural icons in America. A vast number of young people cannot identify a photo of Joe Biden or Mitt Romney, have never heard of The New Yorker or The Atlantic, think Abraham Lincoln is the president of the United States (yes, a survey taken last year showed that 4 percent of Americans were confident that this was the case), and guess that Stephen Hawking is, like, um, a quarterback. Yet they can instantly recognize a photo of Katy Perry or Beyoncé and, in all likelihood, provide a comprehensive discography in relatively accurate chronology. But an author? So
meone who writes the books from which their favorite films are so frequently adapted? No.

  Publishers spend small fortunes advertising and marketing their star authors, and legions of writers work their fingers bloody tweeting, blogging, posting, and whatever else it’s possible to do on various social media. Authors make personal appearances at bookshops, libraries, universities, and whatever organizations will have them, and they give scads of interviews for newspapers, magazines, websites, radio programs, podcasts, and television shows. Nonetheless, most may as well be laboring in the Witness Protection Program for all the recognition they receive, while their books seemingly are released as documents that only those classified with top-level security clearance may locate.

  Having made that (perhaps) hyperbolic statement, I should note that there are occasional exceptions to the anonymity of authors, and there is no greater refutation of the concept of anonymity than James Patterson, the guest editor of The Best American Mystery Stories 2015.

  Several factors contribute to the recognizability of Patterson’s name and, more recently, likeness. First, predictably, is the enormous popularity of his books, largely instigated by his creation of Alex Cross, the African-American psychologist who works as a homicide detective in the Washington, D.C., police department. While most mystery writers struggle with the expectation of writing a book every year, the prolific Patterson increased his presence by writing multiple books every year, ultimately producing so many different series that he hired other authors to collaborate with him. When he began to add books for young readers to his opera, his output reached a book a month—every one of which sold enormous quantities (the New York Times reported that one out of every seventeen hardcover novels published in the United States since 2006 has been written by Patterson).

  As books are being published with such regularity and in such impressive numbers, there is always a Patterson book on the bestseller list and in the front of the store, so it is impossible to avoid being reminded of his work and his name. He is now a “brand.” Also, and this is extremely unusual in the world of publishing, his books are advertised on television, frequently with the author onscreen, enticing potential readers while warning them of the scary stuff that awaits them.

  Finally, Patterson has become a highly visible spokesman for literacy programs, to which he offers more than his name and image. He has initiated several programs to which he has contributed millions of dollars, most recently in the form of stipends to independent booksellers.

  How he found the time to be the guest editor for this book is anyone’s guess. Why he agreed to do it is more complex. Trust me—it’s not for the money, which would be a rounding error for his monthly income. It’s not because he needs another book on the shelf to prove he works hard. I confess that I didn’t ask the question, lest he pause for a moment to ask himself what in the world he was doing.

  Most likely Patterson has an affection for this important series and liked the idea of being part of it. I helped him assemble a library of great fiction (titles that he chose), reflecting his eclectic but elevated taste (he loves War and Peace, Ulysses, One Hundred Years of Solitude). It is evident that literature means a great deal to him, and let’s face it, having his involvement with this book will help sales (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is even releasing a hardcover edition this year). A lot of contributors who are not household names will receive exposure that they would have been unlikely to have had otherwise.

  As has been true every year (and this is the nineteenth volume in the series), this is a wonderful collection of original fiction about extremes of human behavior caused by despair, hate, greed, fear, envy, insanity, or love—sometimes in combination. Desperate people may consider desperate acts, and desperation is a fertile ground for poor choices. Many of the authors in this cornucopia of crime have described how antisocial solutions to difficult situations may occur, and why perpetrators feel that their violent responses to conflicts seem appropriate.

  The psychology of crime has become the dominant form of mystery fiction in recent years, while the classic detective tale of observation and deduction has faded further into the background. Those tales of pure deduction may be the most difficult mystery stories to write, as it has become increasingly difficult to find original motivations for murder, or a new murder method, or an original way to hide a vital clue until the detective unearths it. The working definition of a mystery story for this series is any work of fiction in which a crime, or the threat of a crime, is central to the theme or the plot. The detective story is merely one subgenre in the literary form known as the mystery, just as are romantic suspense, espionage, legal legerdemain, medical thriller, political duplicity, and stories told from the point of view of the villain.

  To find the best of these stories is a yearlong quest, largely enabled by Nat Sobel, the best literary agent in the world, and by my invaluable colleague, Michele Slung, who culls the mystery magazines, both printed and electronic, for suitable stories, just as she does short story collections (works by a single author) and anthologies (works by a variety of authors), popular magazines, and, perhaps the richest trove to be mined, literary journals. As the fastest and smartest reader I have ever known, she looks at somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 stories a year, largely to determine if they are mysteries (you can’t tell a story by its title) and then to determine if they are worth serious consideration. I then read the harvested crop, passing along the best fifty (or at least those I liked best) to the guest editor, who selects the twenty that are then reprinted, the other thirty being listed in an honor roll as “Other Distinguished Mystery Stories.”

  A word of thanks is more than appropriate for the previous eighteen guest editors (listed at the front of the book), who gave so much of their time and energy to help make this such a distinguished and successful series.

  The search has already begun for suitable stories for next year’s edition. To qualify, a story must be—duh—a mystery, must be written by an American or a Canadian, and must have had its first publication in the calendar year 2015 in an American or Canadian publication. If you are the author of such a work, or its editor, or any interested party (your credentials will not be reviewed), please feel free to submit it. Every word of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and The Strand is read, so there’s no need to waste postage on sending a story from them. If the story was first published online, only hard copies will be read; these must include the name of the e-zine, the date on which it was published, and contact information. No unpublished stories are eligible, for what should be obvious reasons. Submitted material will not be returned. If you do not trust the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the book, magazine, or tearsheets, please enclose a self-addressed postcard to receive confirmation.

  The earlier submissions are received, the less hurriedly will they be read. Please send submissions to Otto Penzler, The Mysterious Bookshop, 58 Warren Street, New York, NY 10007. If your story is one of the fifty or sixty or more customarily delivered by thoughtless dunderheads during Christmas week, it may not receive quite the same respectful reading as those submitted in less crowded months. If the story is published during the last week of the year, okay, fair enough. But if it was published in the spring and you just got around to sending it, I will view it as a personal affront and an attempt to ruin my Christmas celebrations; you will have had to write an extraordinary story for me to forgive you. Because of the unforgiving deadlines necessarily imposed on a work of this nature, the absolute final date for receiving material is December 31. This is neither an arrogant nor a whimsical decision, but is essential in order for production schedules to be met. If it arrives on January 2, it will not be read. Yes, really.

  O.P.

  Introduction

  A FEW YEARS ago, I dug up some short stories to share with my son, Jack. I got him the world’s greatest (and funniest) story of workplace dysfunction, “The Catbird Seat” by James Thurber. I dusted off the classic that some sa
y inspired The Hunger Games—“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. I got him the not terribly short but unforgettable Hemingway classic, “The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber.” I passed him the heartbreaking “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury. And several others.

  They included laugh-out-louders, cry-in-your-handers, heart-in-your-throaters, and shake-your-fist-at-the-worlders. All, to my mind, were profound and provocative. It’s no wonder these stories have endured through the years. Each one manages to say something more profound and provocative in a few pages than some novels manage to say over the course of several hundred pages.

  These days, Americans tend to think about short stories in a, well, shortsighted way. How many short stories can the average person name off the top of his head? Probably a few here and there by Edgar Allan Poe, sure. But how about ones that were written in the last year? The last five years? The last ten? I think you’d be hard-pressed to find even a handful of people who could do it.

  It’s a simple fact of modern life that short stories are not very popular. Which is bizarre when one considers what one hears about our attention spans. My personal theory is not that they don’t work for us any longer but rather that we (except when we’re trying to inspire our kids with the things that inspired us when we were their age) have largely forgotten about them. And, perhaps, that they haven’t been very well published lately, given the changes in the magazine world.

  The short story is also one of the most fertile mediums for adaptations. Movies, TV shows, and plays are often adapted from short stories, and it’s not hard to see why. With such a limited amount of space, authors bring to life a world created through the painstaking selection of every single word, leaving a lasting, highly visual impression in the minds of readers.

  Think of some iconic films, ones that have made a cultural impact in our world—The Birds, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Brokeback Mountain, The Shawshank Redemption, Minority Report, Million Dollar Baby. Did you know they were based on short stories? Does the typical moviegoing American know? People love short stories, and often they don’t even realize it.