Drum Roll, Please

Well, it had to happen eventually: January Magazine has begun announcing the books its editors and writers have chosen as the Best Crime Fiction of 2007. There are almost 50 selections, coming from 10 critics--enough titles that the list has had to be split into two, with the remaining selections to be posted sometime tomorrow.

It’s a good list, even if I do say so myself (after editing this behemoth). Among the picks:

• The Archer Files: The Complete Short Stories of Lew Archer, Private Investigator, by Ross Macdonald, edited by Tom Nolan
• The Big O, by Declan Burke
• The Color of Blood, by Declan Hughes
• Dead Connection, by Alafair Burke
• Donkey Punch, by Ray Banks
• End Games, by Michael Dibdin

In case you haven’t tipped to this fact already, the list has been divided alphabetically. Today’s choices cover letters A through I.

You’ll find January’s first installment of crime-fiction “bests” here.

And if you’d like to read the entire rundown of 2007 books January contributors dub their “favorites,” simply click here.