# The Best American Mystery Stories 1997

The Best American Mystery Stories 1997, a volume in The Best American Mystery Stories series, was edited by guest editor Robert B. Parker with Otto Penzler. The series editor chooses about fifty article candidates, from which the guest editor picks 20 or so for publication; the remaining runner-up articles listed in the appendix.

## Mystery Stories included

| Author | Story | Source |
| Doug Allyn | "Blind Lemon" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine |
| James Crumley | "Hot Springs" | Murder for Love |
| Jeffery Deaver | "The Weekender" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine |
| Brendan DuBois | "The Dark Snow" | Playboy |
| Elizabeth George | "The Surprise of His Life" | Women on the Case |
| Jeremiah Healy | "Eyes That Never Meet" | Unusual Suspects |
| Melodie Johnson Howe | "Another Tented Evening" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine |
| Pat Jordan | "The Mark" | Playboy |
| Jonathan Kellerman | "The Things We Do for Love" | Murder for Love |
| Andrew Klavan | "Lou Monahan, County Prosecutor" | Guilty as Charged |
| Elmore Leonard | "Karen Makes Out" | Murder for Love |
| Michael Malone | "Red Clay" | Murder for Love |
| Mabel Maney | "Mrs. Feeley is Quite Mad" | Out for More Blood: Tales of Malice and Retaliation by Women |
| Joyce Carol Oates | "Will You Always Love Me?" | Will You Always Love Me? And Other Stories |
| George Pelecanos | "When You're Hungry" | Unusual Suspects |
| S. J. Rozan | "Hoops" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine |
| Allen Steele | "Doblin's Lecture" | Private Writings |
| Brad Watson | "Kindred Spirits" | Last Days of the Dog-Men |
| John Weisman | "There are Monsterim" | Unusual Suspects |
| Monica Wood | "Unlawful Contact" | Manoa |

## Distinguished Mystery Stories of 1996 - listed in appendix

| Author | Story | Source |
| Jan Adkins | "Barratry" | Unusual Suspects |
| Jamie Andree | "Wishing Ball" | Fish Stories 2 |
| Jessica Auerbach | "Police Report" | Unusual Suspects |
| Nikki Baker | "Backlash" | Night Bites |
| Ron Carlson | "On Killymoon" | Quarterly West |
| William J. Caunitz | "Dying Time" | Murder for Love |
| David Corn | "My Murder" | Unusual Suspects |
| Dorothy Salisbury Davis | "Miles to Go" | Women on the Case |
| Jacqueline Freimor | "The B Rules" | Murderous Intent |
| Ed Gorman | "Famous Blue Raincoat" | Cemetery Dance |
| James Grady | "Kiss the Sky" | Unusual Suspects |
| Paul Griner | "Boxes" | Playboy |
| Rick Hautala | "Hitman" | Night Screams |
| Edward D. Hoch | "The Problem of the Enormous Owl" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine |
| Clark Howard | "The Banzai Pipeline" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine |
| Ronald Kelly | "Exit 85" | Cemetery Dance |
| Lawrence Starling | "Desire Lines" | Legacies: Stories |
| John Lutz | "Shock" | Unusual Suspects |
| Ed McBain | "Running from Legs" | Murder for Love |
| Marcia Muller | "The Holes in the System" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine |
| Alice Munro | "The Love of a Good Woman" | The New Yorker |
| Robert Olmstead | "Rolling Stones" | The Midwesterner |
| Donald Olson | "The Stone House" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine |
| Lucius Shepard | "Pizza Man" | Playboy |
| Julie Smith | "Strangers on a Plane" | Unusual Suspects |
| Donald E. Westlake | "The Burglar and the Whatsit" | Playboy |
| Carolyn Wheat | "Cruel and Unusual" | Guilty as Charged |
| Chet Williamson | "Dr. Joe" | Diagnosis Terminal' |