The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025

A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of City in Ruins, Don Winslow, and series editor Steph Cha.

The Best American series, launched in 1915, is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction, and it is the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.

Don Winslow, the Raymond Chandler Award-winning author of City in Ruins, picks the best twenty mystery and suspense stories from the previous year.

“While a single sentence can turn a novel, a single word can turn a short story,” writes guest editor Don Winslow. The pieces featured in this collection hinge on those small, exacting moments that shock, spook, delight, and change a story entirely. A disgraced ex-cop approaches a crossroads with his ex-wife and new neighbor, pistol in hand; an ill-advised acid trip reveals the dark side of a twisted friendship; a hardened hit man struggles with his latest target. Full of dramatic twists, subtle clues, and chilling reveals, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025 will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last shoe drops. THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE 2025 INCLUDES: TOM ANDES • ANN APTAKER • JACQUELINE FREIMOR • TOD GOLDBERG • JAMES D. F. HANNAH • CAROLINE KEPNES • IVY POCHODA • TWIST PHELAN • MEAGAN LUCAS • AND OTHERS

• | Author: Don Winslow, Steph Cha
• | Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• | Publication Date: Dec 04, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9780063422292
• | ISBN-10: 0063422298