From a pool of over 3,000 considered stories published last year --- anything that touched on crime, mystery and suspense --- these are the very best, selected by series editor Otto Penzler and guest editor Anthony Horowitz. The tales included cover a range of styles, highlighting the diversity of subjects and forms comprising the genre we call mystery fiction. Featuring a mixture of household names, masters of the short form and newcomers to the field, the collection offers a variety that promises something for every reader. And it’s all capped off by a vintage story from the first half of the previous century, sourced directly from the rare book room at The Mysterious Bookshop, the oldest mystery fiction specialty store in the world.

Riverside Close is a picture-perfect community. The six exclusive and attractive houses are tucked far away from the noise and grime of city life, allowing the residents to enjoy beautiful gardens, pleasant birdsong and tranquility from behind the security of a locked gate. It is the perfect idyll, until the Kentworthy family arrives, with their four giant, gas-guzzling cars, gaggle of shrieking children, and plans for a garish swimming pool in the backyard. The Kentworthys do not belong in Riverside Close and quickly offend every last one of the neighbors. When Giles Kentworthy is found dead on his own doorstep, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, Detective Hawthorne is the only investigator they can call to solve the case. Because how do you solve a murder when everyone is a suspect?

Reluctant author Anthony Horowitz tells ex-detective Daniel Hawthorne that after three books, he’s splitting and their deal is over. Anthony’s new play, a thriller called "Mindgame," is about to open at the Vaudeville Theater in London’s West End. Not surprisingly, Hawthorne declines a ticket to the opening night. The play is panned by the critics. In particular, Sunday Times critic Margaret Throsby gives it a savage review, focusing particularly on the writing. The next day, Throsby is stabbed in the heart with an ornamental dagger, which turns out to belong to Anthony and has his fingerprints all over it. Anthony is arrested by an old enemy, Detective Inspector Cara Grunshaw, who is out for revenge. When a second theater critic is found to have died under mysterious circumstances, the net closes in.

Behind the Iron Curtain, a group of former Smersh agents want to use James Bond in an operation that will change the balance of world power. Bond is smuggled into the lion's den. But whose orders is he following, and will he obey them when the moment of truth arrives? In a mission where treachery is all around and one false move means death, Bond must grapple with the darkest questions about himself. But not even he knows what has happened to the man he used to be.

Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, are invited to an exclusive literary festival on Alderney, an idyllic island off the south coast of England. Upon arrival, they meet the festival’s other guests --- an eccentric gathering that includes a bestselling children’s author, a French poet, a TV chef turned cookbook author, a blind psychic and a war historian --- along with a group of ornery locals embroiled in an escalating feud over a disruptive power line. When a local grandee is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Hawthorne and Horowitz become embroiled in the case. The island is locked down, no one is allowed on or off, and it soon becomes horribly clear that a murderer lurks in their midst. But who?

Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is running a small hotel on a Greek island. The Trehernes come to stay and tell a story about a murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married, which fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts. One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim --- an advertising executive named Frank Parris --- and based the third book in his detective series on that very crime. The Trehernes’ daughter, Cecily, believes that the book proves the man convicted of Parris’ murder is innocent. When the Trehernes reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must find out what really happened.

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late…” These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine --- a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed? Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony. But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide.

FOREVER AND A DAY is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera, taking readers into the very beginning of James Bond’s illustrious career and the formation of his identity. The sea keeps its secrets. But not this time. One body. Three bullets. 007 floats in the waters of Marseille, killed by an unknown hand. It’s time for a new agent to step up. Time for a new weapon in the war against organized crime. It’s time for James Bond to earn his license to kill.

Diana Cowper, the wealthy mother of a famous actor, enters a funeral parlor to plan her own service. Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home. Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator. Hawthorne needs a ghost writer to document his life and chooses Anthony Horowitz. Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself at the center of a story he cannot control. Hawthorne is brusque, temperamental and annoying, but his latest case --- with its many twists and turns --- proves irresistible. The writer and the detective form an unusual partnership. At the same time, it soon becomes clear that Hawthorne is hiding some dark secrets of his own.

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. Conway’s latest tale has Atticus investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition and murder.

Incorporating original, never-before-published material from 007 creator Ian Fleming, Anthony Horowitz returns James Bond to his 1950s heyday. The world's most famous spy has just returned victorious from his showdown with Auric Goldfinger in Fort Knox. By his side is the glamorous and streetwise Pussy Galore, who played no small part in his success. As they settle down in London, the odds of Galore taming the debonair bachelor seem slim --- but she herself is a creature not so easily caught.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson embark on a mission to protect their client from a stalker, and soon find themselves chasing the mysterious House of Silk. As they come closer to discovering what they’re pursuing, they realize that it's worse than they could've imagined.