Meet the Thriller Author (Author Interviews)

Meet the Thriller Author (Author Interviews)


MTTA 123: Otto Penzler

November 24, 2020

Otto Penzler is the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City and is regarded as the world’s foremost authority on crime, mystery and suspense fiction.
He founded The Mysterious Press in 1975. He sold it to Warner Books in 1989. He reacquired the imprint in 2010 and it now publishes original books as an imprint at Grove/Atlantic, and both original works and classic crime fiction through MysteriousPress.com, in partnership with Open Road Integrated Media.
Penzler is a prolific editor, and has won two Edgar Awards, for Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977 and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994 and the Raven–the group’s highest non-writing award–in 2003.
I first came to know Otto’s work a few years ago, when I purchased
The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories which he edited.
His latest book is The Big Book of Espionage which features great stories from Lee Child, Charles McCarry, Ian Fleming, Eric Ambler, Sara Paretsky, and Jeffrey Deaver (just to name a few). It’s out now, I highly recommend this anthology.
As a fan of Otto’s work and as someone who has been at the forefront of the mystery/crime fiction/thriller genre for fifty years, I was delighted to have the opportunity to interview him about his work, book shop, mysteries, spy stories, and a lot more.
Latest Book

Other Books Edited by Otto Penzler

Connect with Otto Penzler
Show Notes
If you’re in New York City make sure to visit Otto’s Mysterious Bookshop.

Ott’s publishing company, MysteriousPress.com.
Check out Otto’s Mysterious Bookshop Gift Guide 2020. Great gift ideas for mystery/thriller/true crime lovers!