Steph Cha, a rising star who brings a fresh perspective as series editor, takes the helm of the new The Best American Mystery and Suspense, with best-selling crime novelist Alafair Burke joining her as the first guest editor.

Crime writers, forgive the pun, are killing it right now creatively, writes guest editor Alafair Burke in her introduction. It was difficult–painful even–to narrow this year’s Best American Mystery and Suspense to only twenty stories. Spanning from a mediocre spa in Florida, to New York’s gritty East Village, to death row in Alabama, this collection reveals boundless suspense in small, quiet moments, offering startling twists in the least likely of places.

From a powerful response to hateful bullying, to a fight for health care, to a gripping desperation to vote, these stories are equal parts shocking, devastating, and enthralling, revealing the tension pulsing through our everyday lives and affirming that mystery and suspense writing is better than ever before.

The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021 includesJenny Bhatt, Gar Anthony Haywood, Gabino Iglesias, Aya de Leon, Laura Lippman, Delia C. Pitts, Alex Segura, Faye Snowden, Lina Under, and others