I love this series and enjoyed the selection of writing for 2021. I highly recommend having this in your collection for people who want a short but enjoyable read.

The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021 by Alafair Burke is an enthralling and engrossing read with great plots and characters! Well worth the read.

"The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021", edited by Steph Cha and Alafair Burke, is an exceptional group of short stories. Sometimes collections can be a hard read, having to shift gears just after getting used to the voice and tempo of the previous tale. Here there are many highlights and not a bad detour can be taken. One or two may have seemed like partials, the beginning of a fuller story, but the quality was universally high.

A few of my very favorites: "Everything is Going to Be Okay" by Gabino Iglesias poses an age-old dilemma: is there anything you would not do to save the life of one you loved? In this case it is in the age of COVID-19 and a murder to afford medical treatment. "90 Miles" by Alex Segura shows the life and death risk a desperate immigrant father takes to save his family. "Slow Burner" by Laura Lippman is a clever plot to give a cheating husband his comeuppance. "One Bullet, One Vote" by Faye Snowden takes us back to 1964 and breathes life into the struggle people had to make way back in the days when some would deny people the right to vote just based on the color of their skin. (Yes... way back when it was conceivable that people were capable of such a thing)

5 stars as a collection. Even with my backlog of books I will be rereading these stories soon. Thank you to Steph Cha, Alafair Burke, Mariner Books, and NetGalley for providing the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. #TheBestAmericanMysteryandSuspense2021 #NetGalley

"The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021" is to be published on October 12, 2021 and this review will be posted on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookBub, Facebook and Twitter on that day.

I pretty much enjoyed this collection of mystery srories! It is a perfect possibility to get to know different auhors of this genre. As it is a collection it can be read easily and while some of the stories are very good oothes there were others I didn't like that much. Really helps readers to find out if they want to dig deeper into the work of certain writers.
Thanks #NetGalley and #Mariner Books for this ARC

This is a pretty good mystery anthology, with a decent variety of stories, some of which are very good while others are less so. Overall, it's a good journey for fans of the mystery genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. There were some formatting issues with the Kindle version, though.

Great way to discover new mystery writers.
Interesting how a mystery short story collection was more character driven than plot/mystery, which to me was perfect, because that's exactly what I like the most.
My favorite story was "Returns to India", by Jenny Bhatt. .

I really hope that people buy the hell out of the upcoming BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY & SUSPENSE. I'm blown away by the new voices there. But yes, many of your faves too. Amazing foreword by new series editor
Steph Cha & intro by guest editor Alafair Burke. What a reboot! So much talent, so much fun to read.
Just a few of the writers you'll find:
Nikki Dolson
Alison Gaylin
Laura Lippman
Delia Pitts
Gabino Iglesias
Kristen Lepionka
Alex Segura
Aya de Leon
Lisa Unger
Gar Anthony Haywood
Faye Snowden
Christopher Bollen (whose story is SO GOOD)

The Best American Mystery and Suspense is a striking anthology of short stories, not developed around a theme, but pulled from the pages of literary magazines and other anthologies to reflect the best of the year. Steph Cha along with guest editor, Alafair Burke, certainly hit the mark with their first effort in the series. The stories selected show America at a critical time, when discussions of race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, and COVID are at the forefront of the mind, and the writers represented in these pages are able to deftly address these issues.

Gabino Iglesias’ “Everything is Going to Be Okay” hits close to the bone of the current climate, pitting those in the clutches of a failing health care system against the deadly coronavirus, showing what desperate people will do when backed into a corner. “Slow Burner” by Laura Lippman is deliciously suspenseful, building to a perfect crescendo, which seems next to impossible to do in short form. Alex Segura and Alison Gaylin will break your heart in a thousand different places with their offerings “90 Miles,” which navigates the expanse from Cuba to Key West, and “Where I belong,” addressing homelessness and mental health. Save Kristen Lepionka’s “Infinity Sky” for last if you’re hoping to end on a more humorously suspenseful note. Lepionka threads the needle between suspense and slap stick, highlighting one fateful night in the life of a former rock star.

These are just a few of the highlights that wait in the pages of The Best American Mystery and Suspense. Big thank you to the editors, the authors, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and #NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my review.

Mixed Bag Anthology…
A mixed bag anthology of short mystery and suspense with guest editor Alafair Burke and new series editor Steph Cha. Like any anthology, a varied selection of both mystery and suspense, some which may appeal, some may not but surely something for most who enjoy this genre, Enjoyable reading and a fresh perspective.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021.

While mystery and suspense are usually near the top of my reading lists, this compilation just didn't do it for me. Alafair Burke's name and reputation intrigued me, but the book fell short.

From the first story on, I just wasn't captivated. Overall, this was not so great for me.

Wow what amazing book. All are brilliant s!!! I strongly recommend this book you won’t believe it !!! I want to read more

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021.

I love mystery and suspense novels, but these types of compilations are always a mixed bag. I'm excited to be able to read the ARC but I approach these collections with much trepidation.

My biggest caveat with these anthologies is that most of them aren't suspenseful or mysterious.

I understand these are short stories so character development will be brief, if any, and the plot will be just as fast. But, most of the stories lacked suspense or any element that might characterize it as a mystery.

The only story I enjoyed was Laura Lippman's. I thought the final story in the collection was a drag.

All the stories were well written but like a box of chocolates, I only liked one or two of them.

Okay I’m sorry, requested this as I thought it was going to be completely different then what it was.