Best detective stories of the year, 1977 : 31st annual collection

The Year's Best Mystery & Suspense Stories 1982 edited by Edward D. Hoch, was the first volume in a then-new annual series of "best" short mystery-detective-suspense stories. Previously, from 1976 to 1981, Hoch had edited the annual series titled BEST DETECTIVE STORIES OF THE YEAR, which was begun by David C. Cooke in 1946. Probably most readers of detective/ mystery fiction harbor a secret desire to solve a mystery themselves. This unusual collection offers that opportunity because in many of the stories, you, the reader, are the detective. Although murder is the principal crime involved, there is also art fraud, literary theft, blackmail, conspiracy, and forged identity—a broad range of subjects on which to sharpen your skills. Pay close attention to detail and you will be rewarded. Ruth Rendell’s hero of “People Don’t Do Such Things’’ is a good example of just how well it can pay off; Joyce Porter’s Inspector Dover might be another; and surely Charles W. Runyon’s Breeze Henley will be a comfort to you in case you fail to solve the mystery by yourself. But there are too many wonderfully imaginative stories in these pages to enumerate all the main characters here CONTENTS INTRODUCTION IX ETTA REVESZ—Like a Terrible Scream From Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine RUTH RENDELL—People Don’t Do Such Things From The Fallen Curtain BARBARA CALLAHAN—November Story From Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine JACK RITCHIE—Next in Line From Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine AVRAM DAVIDSON—Crazy Old Lady From Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine BILL PRONZINI—Sweet Fever From Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine JAMES HOLDING—Rediscovery From Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine CHARLES W. RUNYON—Death Is My Passenger From Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine JANE SPEED—View from the Inside From Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine LAWRENCE BLOCK—A Pair of Recycled Jeans From Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine JOYCE PORTER—Dover Does Some Spadework From Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ROBERT BLOCH—Crook of the Month From Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine S.S. RAFFERTY—The Georgia Resurrection From Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine EDWARD D. HOCH—The Centennial Assassin From Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine RICH RAINEY—The Man in the White Room From Mystery Monthly LAURENCE SHEEHAN—“The Christmas Tree Lot Murders" From The Atlantic Monthly