“Kirkus” Singles Out Its Stars

Not to be left behind when it comes to choosing the “best mysteries and thrillers of 2015,” Kirkus Reviews has assembled a list of its critics’ favorite 18 works published during the last 11 months. Among the picks are Derek Haas’ A Different Lie, Sue Grafton’s X, Louise Penny’s The Nature of the Beast, John Connolly’s A Song of Shadows, Emily Schultz’s The Blondes, and David Mark’s Taking Pity.

Although I serve as Kirkus’ lead crime-fiction blogger, I was not involved in this selection process. My own (quite different) rundown of preferred reads from the genre will be posted next week.

Kirkus’ choices in other categories of fiction are available here.