Crime Hits Home

What happens when crime intrudes into what are supposed to be safe spaces? The 20 contributors to this superior anthology offer answers ranging from the grim to the darkly humorous. In Walter Mosley’s searing “Not Exit,” a developmentally disabled man, Tom Exit, has been locked up after intervening on behalf of a woman he felt was being mistreated by the cops, only to be repeatedly brutalized on New York’s notorious Riker’s Island by both inmates and the guards supposed to protect him. Mosley pulls no punches in depicting Exit’s journey through the penal system, which ends surprisingly. In contrast, Jonathan Stone’s “The Relentless Flow of the Amazon,” mocks those who spent the pandemic ordering everything online. His protagonists, Annie and Tom, are disconcerted when they open some Amazon deliveries to find contraband contents, starting with a plastic firearm. Gabino Iglesias distinguishes himself with “What They Knew,” a noirish tale of infidelity, murder, and desperation that effectively presents its plot from multiple perspectives. This is one of the better Mystery Writers of America anthologies. Agent: Linda Biagi, Biagi Rights Management. (Apr.)