When a Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta (Hanover Square Press, $27.99), is a top-drawer, themed anthology from the Mystery Writers of America. There are 19 mostly excellent stories about strangers, fear, and, usually, murder. S.A. Crosby’s “Solomon Wept” is a grim and excellent tale about poverty, glut, motherhood, and hard decisions. “Relative Stranger,” by Amanda Witt, is a suspenseful story about a stranger’s arrival at a rural family farmhouse. His bad intentions are made more terrifying by the family’s isolation.

Joe R. Lansdale’s “Room for One More” is a mean piece of dark humor that features a thief and murderer who gets more than he wanted from a big house in a new town. “A Different Kind of Healing,” by Steve Hamilton, is a sharp and suspenseful vigilante story about a Brooklyn nurse, rape, and Covid-19. There are also excellent tales by Alafair Burke, Michael Connelly, Lisa Unger, Lori Roy, Paul A. Barra, and others.