Twenty of America's best mystery short stories from 2011, selected by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author.
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish....

"Yo llegaré a donde no llegue la ley". Hace más de veinte años robaron un Vermeer y un Picasso a la familia Lockwood. Poco después, Patricia Lockwood fue secuestrada y su padre, asesinado. Ella pudo escapar tras cinco meses de cautiverio, pero los responsables del robo y del secuestro nunca aparecieron. El tiempo acabó enterrando estos episodios traumáticos hasta ahora. En lo más alto de un edificio de Manhattan acaban de encontrar un cadáver,...

From the Civil War-era south to 1950s New York to the present day's gritty cities and seemingly innocuous suburbs, the eighteen stories in this anthology edited by the award-winning mystery writer Harlan Coben chart the complications-always surprising, sometimes deadly-that arise between lovers, dear friends, and even complete strangers coming together for a single, shocking encounter. In Lee Child's "Safe Enough," a blue-collar city boy takes up...

David Beck has rebuilt his life since his wife's murder eight years ago, finishing medical school and establishing himself as a pediatrician, but he's never forgotten the woman he fell in love with in second grade. And when a mysterious e-mail arrives on the anniversary of their first kiss, with a message and an image that leads him to wonder whether Elizabeth might still be alive, Beck will stop at nothing to find the truth that's eluded him for...

One night, Matt Hunter innocently tried to break up a fight?and ended up a killer. Now, nine years later, he?s an ex-con who takes nothing for granted. His wife, Olivia, is pregnant, and the two of them are closing on their dream house. But all it will take is one shocking, inexplicable call from Olivia?s cell phone to shatter Matt?s life a second time..

"The man known as Wilde is a mystery to everyone, including himself. Decades ago, he was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. After the police concluded an exhaustive hunt for the child's family, which was never found, he was turned over to the foster system. Now, thirty years later, Wilde still doesn't know where he comes from, and he's back living in the woods on the outskirts of town, content to be an outcast, comfortable...

A seemingly innocuous twenty-year-old photograph turns Grace Lawson's peaceful life upside down when her husband, Jack, mysteriously vanishes with the photograph and unanswered questions threaten her marriage and everything she knows.

"The Stranger appears out of nowhere, perhaps in a bar, or a parking lot, or at the grocery store. His identity is unknown. His motives are unclear. His information is undeniable. Then he whispers a few words in your ear and disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world."--

Paul Copeland, a New Jersey county prosecutor, is still grieving the loss of his sister twenty years ago?the night she walked into the woods, never to be seen again. But now, a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to the disappearance. The victim could be the boy who vanished along with Paul's sister. And, as hope rises that his sister could still be alive, dangerous secrets from his family's past threaten to tear apart everything Paul...

"With unmatched suspense and emotional insight, Harlan Cob enexplores the big secrets and little lies that can destroy a relationship, a family, and even a town in this powerful new thriller. Suburban New Jersey Detective Napoleon "Nap" Dumas hasn't been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo's girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks -- and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke...