There’s nothing more mysterious than a locked box. Whether it’s a literal strongbox, an empty coffin, the inner workings of a scientist’s mind, or an underground prison cell, there are those who will use any means necessary to unlock the secrets of…The Mystery Box. With this anthology, bestselling author Brad Meltzer introduces twenty-one original stories from today’s most prominent mystery writers. In Laura Lippman’s Waco 1982, a young reporter stuck with a seemingly mundane assignment on lost-and-found boxes unwittingly discovers a dark crime. In Joseph Finder’s Heirloom, a scheming neighbor frightens the new couple on the block with an unnerving tale of buried treasure. In R.L. Stine’s High Stakes, a man on his honeymoon gets drawn into a bizarre bet involving a coffin–a bet he may pay for with his life.

From the foothills of Mount Fuji to Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp, from a physics laboratory in wartime Leipzig to an unusual fitness club in Boca Raton, these sometimes terrifying, sometimes funny, and always suspenseful tales will keep you riveted to the page.