Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing That Meets the Eye | 1968 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 2 | Eleven / The Snail Watcher and Other Stories | 1970 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 3 | Little Tales of Misogyny | 1974 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 4 | The Animal-Lover’s Book of Beastly Murder | 1975 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 5 | Slowly, Slowly in the Wind | 1979 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 6 | The Black House | 1981 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 7 | Mermaids on the Golf Course | 1984 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 8 | Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes | 1987 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 9 | Chillers | 1990 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 10 | The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith | 2001 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
| 11 | Sour Tales for Sweethearts | 2015 | Patricia Highsmith | Buy |
Patricia Highsmith’s short story collections are some of the sharpest work in the crime fiction genre. Eleven volumes span from Nothing That Meets the Eye (1968) to Sour Tales for Sweethearts (2015, posthumous). The stories are typically brief and pointed, with twists that land like a punch rather than a surprise.
Her most distinctive collections are the themed ones. Little Tales of Misogyny (1974) offers bitterly satirical sketches of women’s lives, while The Animal-Lover’s Book of Beastly Murder (1975) tells stories from the animals’ perspective as they take revenge on their human owners. The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith (2001) provides a good entry point for readers new to her shorter work.