Count me as a huge short story fan. I gobbled up any Stephen King collection that I could find and when I saw the Mystery Edition of 2018. I snapped it up.
There are good, bad and ugly in any collection but this one had a higher fun ratio than most. I really like “Y is for Yangchuan Lizard” was both funny but stuck the landing with the bad girlfriend twist. I was excited to see a T.C. Boyle story but it was a superficial and weirdly not aged well elder theft story. Another top 3 story was Smoked which combined BBQ and the witness protection program and a long range shooter you don’t see coming.
There was a Jack Reacher story which was solid and movie like. You can easily tell why the character resonates. It was good to see an old Western included and not good to see ye’ Olde Jack the Ripper trotted out again.
Probably my favorite was a piece entitled Windward. About a missing 3rd wife to a hotshot film producer. It had good PI language and a fun Venice setting.
For the beers, I am going to say that you look for really sessionable beers. Dark English milds would be good, maybe a dry hopped lighter lager. Since the stories are shorter the ABV should be lower. A German Helles might do the trick since some of these characters are probably bound for the hotter place.