{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260417T232332Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07896J32K?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"B07896J32K","authors":["Louise Penny","Otto Penzler"],"book_id":"9780544949225","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/the-best-american-mystery-stories-2018-B07896J32K","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780544949225.jpg?v=20260417T232332Z%3A2026-04-17T23%3A23%3A32Z","description":"#1 New York Times best-selling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels, Louise Penny brings her “nerve and skill—as well as heart” (Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post ) to selecting the best short mystery and crime fiction of the year. Writing short stories takes “Skill. Discipline. Knowledge of the form while not being formulaic,” contends Louise Penny in her introduction. “In a short story there is nowhere to hide. 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