Otto Penzler has taken sole ownership of the Mysterious Press and added it to his publishing company, Penzler Publishers. For the past nine years, the Mysterious Press, founded by Penzler in 1975, has been an imprint at Grove Atlantic, which will publish 10 books under the imprint in 2020.
Beginning in 2021, the Mysterious Press will be distributed by Norton, which also distributes two other imprints of Penzler Publishers: American Mystery Classics, which is issuing hardcover and trade paperbacks of Golden Age detective novels; and Scarlet, which will release its first list of psychological/domestic suspense in the fall.
"Working with Morgan Entrekin at Grove Atlantic has been one of the singular pleasures of my career," said Penzler. "He has been enormously supportive and generous throughout our years of working together. There is no greater gentleman in the world of publishing than he is, and I am honored to have his friendship."
Entrekin commented: "Otto is the world's greatest expert on crime fiction, and it has been exciting to publish such wonderful authors both established and new together over the last nine years. I am sorry to see him go but I understand his desire to combine all his imprints and I wish him continued success."
Charles Perry, currently the publisher of MysteriousPress.com, has also been named publisher of Penzler Publishers and will be in charge of all three imprints. Luisa Smith of Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., will become editor-in-chief of Scarlet. Jane Friedman, former CEO of HarperCollins and founder of Open Road Integrated Media, and Nat Sobel of Sobel-Weber Associates, are acting as consultants for Penzler Publishers.