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The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2026

By Megan Abbott, Steph Cha

On Sale: 10/20/2026

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A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by Edgar-winning author and screenwriter Megan Abbott 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.

Megan Abbott, the Edgar Award-winning author of The Fever, picks the best twenty mystery and suspense stories from the previous year.

ISBN: 9780063422339
Imprint: Mariner Books
On Sale: Oct 20, 2026
List price: $24.99
No of pages: 384
Trim Size: 4.710 in (w) x 7.170 in (h) x 1.040 in (d)
BISAC 1: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Collections & Anthologies
BISAC 2: FICTION / Anthologies (multiple authors)
BISAC 3: FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense

Megan Abbott

Biography

Megan Abbott is the award-winning author of twelve crime novels, including You Will Know Me, Beware the Woman and the New York Times bestseller The Turnout, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is also a screenwriter and the co-creator Dare Me, the series she adapted from her own novel, now streaming on Netflix. She is currently adapting her latest novel, the national bestseller El Dorado Drive, for television for A24.

Steph Cha

Biography

Steph Cha is the author of Your House Will Pay, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the California Book Award, and the Juniper Song crime trilogy. She’s an editor and critic whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. A native of the San Fernando Valley, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two basset hounds.

A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by Edgar-winning author and screenwriter Megan Abbott 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.

Megan Abbott, the Edgar Award-winning author of The Fever, picks the best twenty mystery and suspense stories from the previous year.

ISBN: 9780063422339
Imprint: Mariner Books
On Sale: Oct 20, 2026
List price: $24.99
No of pages: 384
Trim Size: 4.710 in (w) x 7.170 in (h) x 1.040 in (d)
BISAC 1: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Collections & Anthologies
BISAC 2: FICTION / Anthologies (multiple authors)
BISAC 3: FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense

Megan Abbott

Biography

Megan Abbott is the award-winning author of twelve crime novels, including You Will Know Me, Beware the Woman and the New York Times bestseller The Turnout, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is also a screenwriter and the co-creator Dare Me, the series she adapted from her own novel, now streaming on Netflix. She is currently adapting her latest novel, the national bestseller El Dorado Drive, for television for A24.

Steph Cha

Biography

Steph Cha is the author of Your House Will Pay, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the California Book Award, and the Juniper Song crime trilogy. She’s an editor and critic whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. A native of the San Fernando Valley, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two basset hounds.