Steph Cha

A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby, author of Razorblade Tears, and series editor Steph Cha. In his introduction, guest editor S. A. Cosby observes that writing short stories is “a special skill that combines brevity with wit and cleverness and the hint of the existential...

Compelling from first to last page. - Denise Mina Meet Juniper Song, an under-employed, twenty-something, Raymond-Chandler-loving, Korean American woman from downtown LA. When a friend asks Song to carry out surveillance on his father, she figures she doesn't have anything better to do—plus she gets to indulge her Philip Marlowe fantasies. But barely half a day into playing private eye,...

“While a single sentence can turn a novel, a single word can turn a short story,” writes guest editor Don Winslow. The pieces featured in this collection hinge on those small, exacting moments that shock, spook, delight, and change a story entirely. A disgraced ex-cop approaches a crossroads with his ex-wife and new neighbour, pistol in hand; an ill-advised acid...

Crime fiction has always been outsider fiction, and this anthology, too, is a safe harbour for misfits and outcasts, writes guest editor Megan Abbott. Full of wacky, peculiar, and eccentric characters, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2026 features an enterprising dental hygienist who makes some extra money by collecting corpses for a funeral home, a sixth-grade girl who uses...

A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger and series editor Steph Cha. “This form has a special kind of magic, the ability to transport you quickly, intensely, to capture character, time, place, and story with immediacy,” writes guest editor Lisa Unger in her introduction. The transporting stories...

Nathanael West and Raymond Chandler would be proud. - LA Times Juniper Song has a new gig: apprenticed to a private investigation firm in downtown LA, she's racking up hours following cheating spouses. When a NY artist hires Song to keep an eye on her long-distance boyfriend in LA, Song has no problem tailing the guy - until a panicked...

Two families. One desperate to remember, the other to forget. Will the truth burn them both? Masterful. - Ruth Ware A smart, sensitive page-turner. - Daily Mail Grace Park and Shawn Mathews share a city, but seemingly little else. Coming from different generations and very different communities, their paths wouldn't normally cross at all. As Grace battles confusion over her...