A collection of the year's best mystery short fiction selected by New York Times best-selling and Edgar Award-winning author C. J. Box. C. J. Box , #1 New York Times best-selling author of the hugely popular Joe Pickett series, selects the best short mystery and crime fiction of the year in this annual "treat for crime-fiction fans" (Library Journal).

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...

"EASTER BASKET MURDER by LESLIE MEIER Tinker's Cove businesses are clashing over a new Easter Basket-themed promotion to boost in-store sales, with tensions boiling over the grand prize--a mysterious golden egg crafted by a reclusive Maine artist. When the one-of-a-kind art piece is stolen, it's up to part-time reporter Lucy Stone to investigate three struggling entrepreneurs who stick out in the local scene. But a huge town scandal comes into focus...

An omnibus of novels by Lee Hollis, Leslie Meier and Barbara Ross. With the fireplace crackling, the tree twinkling, and the carols humming, few things in life are as picture perfect as Christmas in Maine - until murder dampens the holiday spirit. It must be something in the eggnog ...

When the cousin of a crime boss is found shot to death, the man's missing girlfriend, Tanya Starling, becomes the prime suspect, but as detective Catherine Hobbes investigates the crime, she discovers a deceptive killer who has become more elusive.

Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar bake shop, is surprised by the news that her companion, Norman Rhodes, is buying a house. Soon after Hannah and her mother arrive to clear out the house, they discover the dead body of the former owner, Rhonda Scharf, along with some of Hannah's famous lemon meringue pie. Hannah must switch her baker's hat for her sleuthing cap and get to the bottom of this puzzling mystery.