The Verdict Is In(definite)

Kirkus Reviews is now out with its own “Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2022” list. Its critics’ top-10 choices are these:

• The 6:20 Man, by David Baldacci (Grand Central)
• Diablo Mesa, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central)
• The Christie Affair, by Nina de Gramont (St. Martin’s Press)
• The Berlin Exchange, by Joseph Kanon (Scribner)
• The Bullet That Missed, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman/Viking)
• Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone (MCD/Farrar, Straus
and Giroux)
• The Maid, by Nita Prose (Ballantine)
• Killers of a Certain Age, by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)
• What Happened to the Bennetts, by Lisa Scottoline (Putnam)
• Secret Identity, by Alex Segura (Flatiron)

Not to be outdone, BookPage introduces its book choices in the category of “Best Mystery & Suspense of 2022”:

• Blood Sugar, by Sascha Rothchild (Putnam)
• The Cage, by Bonnie Kistler (Harper)
• Geiger, by Gustaf Skördeman (Grand Central)
• The Half Life of Valery K, by Natasha Pulley (Bloomsbury)
• Lavender House, by Lev A.C. Rosen (Forge)
• Little Sister, by Gytha Lodge (Random House)
• Sometimes People Die, by Simon Stephenson (Hanover Square Press)
• Winter Work, by Dan Fesperman (Knopf)
• The Woman in the Library, by Sulari Gentil (Poisoned Pen Press)
• You’re Invited, by Amanda Jayatissa (Berkley)

Demonstrating just how diverse this genre is, and how reader viewpoints can differ tremendously, note that none of the works picked by Kirkus overlap with those favored by BookPage.

(Hat tip to Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.)