Mysterious Press
| Company type | Imprint |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Founder | Otto Penzler |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Otto Penzler (founder) |
| Products | Mystery fiction books |
| Parent | Penzler Publishers (since 2020) |
The Mysterious Press is an American publishing house headquartered in New York City, focusing primarily on mystery fiction. Over time, it has operated under multiple publishers, most recently serving as an imprint of Grove Atlantic from 2011 until 2019. Beginning January 1, 2020, it resumed operations as an independent imprint within Penzler Publishers, with its offices situated inside The Mysterious Bookshop.
History
Established in 1975 by Otto Penzler, Mysterious Press was a pioneer among genre publishers for utilizing acid-free paper, cloth-bound covers, and vibrant dust jackets. The company often issued titles in both trade and limited edition formats. In 1989, ownership transferred to Warner Books, which was later absorbed by Hachette in 2005. In 2011, Penzler regained the rights to the Mysterious Press name and relaunched it as an imprint under Grove/Atlantic, Inc., although this did not include the previous backlist copyrights. By 2020, the imprint became fully autonomous under Penzler Publishers and its distribution is managed by W. W. Norton & Company. Since 2011, Mysterious Press has collaborated with Open Road Integrated Media for distributing ebooks.
Among its early catalog were works by authors such as Cornell Woolrich, Ross Macdonald, and Isaac Asimov. Subsequently, the press published acclaimed writers including James Ellroy, Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell, Donald E. Westlake, and Eric Ambler.