A Cut Above

’Tis the season for “best crime fiction of the year” lists, and I am chiming in today with my own roster of favorites for the Kirkus Reviews Web site. You’ll find that piece here.

There’s some overlap between my 10 U.S.-published choices and those of other critics. But what’s always most interesting about these sorts of inventories is where they diverge. Today’s crime, mystery, and thriller genre is a broad and diverse one, and each reader brings to it his or her idiosyncratic tastes. There can never be universal agreement on which works published in any given year are the “best.” After long consideration, I have come up with a list of my favorites. Other readers are welcome to offer their own contrary picks.