The Mysterious Press is an American

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

company specializing in mystery fiction based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The company has been associated with various publishing companies, most recently with Grove Atlantic, where it was an imprint from 2011 to 2019. As of January 1, 2020, it became an independent imprint as part of Penzler Publishers. The offices of the Mysterious Press are located within The Mysterious Bookshop.

History

Mysterious Press was founded in 1975 by Otto Penzler, and was one of the first genre publishers to use materials such as acid-free paper, full-cloth bindings, and full-color dust jackets. Many of the books it published were done in both trade and limited editions. In 1989, the company was sold to

Warner Books Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Kinney National Company acquired the New York City-based Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publis ...

, which was bought by Hachette in 2005. Penzler re-acquired the Mysterious Press name in 2011 and it became an imprint at Grove/Atlantic, Inc., though without publication rights to any of the previous imprint's back titles. In 2020, Mysterious Press became fully independent as part of Penzler Publishers, distributed by W. W. Norton & Company. Mysterious Press has also partnered with Open Road Integrated Media since 2011 for

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

s. In its earliest days, Mysterious Press published works by

Cornell Woolrich Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich the ...

, Ross Macdonald, and

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

. It went on to publish Maxwell Grant, James Ellroy,

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (born Mary Patricia Plangman; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character T ...

, Ruth Rendell, Donald E. Westlake,

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social crit ...

, and

Eric Ambler Eric Clifford Ambler OBE (28 June 1909 – 23 October 1998) was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books ...

, among others.

References

External links

Mysteriouspress.com

Archives and Publications of Mysterious Press
The Ohio State University Libraries Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection {{Authority control Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies established in 1975 1975 establishments in New York City Tribeca American companies established in 1975