A Profusion of Picks

There are so many titles included in British bookseller Waterstones’ new lists of the “best” crime and thriller novels of 2023, that one is left thinking these people couldn’t actually make up their minds.

Cozy:
• The Last Devil to Die, by Richard Osman (Viking)
• A Death in the Parish, by Reverend Richard Coles (W&N)
• The Christmas Appeal, by Janice Hallett (Viper)
• West Heart Kill, by Dann McDorman (Raven)
• Death at the Chateau, by Ian Moore (Farrago)
• The Cat Who Solved Three Murders, by L.T. Shearer (Macmillan)
• Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night, by Sophie Hannah (HarperCollins)
• The Christmas Jigsaw Murders, by Alexandra Benedict
(Simon & Schuster UK)
• A Very Lively Murder, by Katy Watson (Constable)
• Murder at Holly House, by Denzil Meyrick (Bantam)

Detectives:
• The Running Grave, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere)
• The Secret, by Lee Child and Andrew Child (Bantam)
• Holly, by Stephen King (‎Hodder & Stoughton)
• Killing Moon, by Jo Nesbø (Harvill Secker)
• The Shadows of London, by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins)
• Deadly Game, by Michael Caine (Hodder & Stoughton)
• The Raging Storm, by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan)
• Traitors Gate, by Jeffrey Archer (HarperCollins)
• The Great Deceiver, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
• Stop Them Dead, by Peter James (Macmillan)
• The Lock-Up, by John Banville (Faber and Faber)
• Past Lying, by Val McDermid (Sphere)
• The Golden Gate, by Amy Chua (Corvus)
• A Game of Lies, by Claire Mackintosh (Sphere)
• The Enchanters, by James Ellroy (Hutchinson Heinemann)
• Cast a Cold Eye, by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
• Scarlet Town, by Leonora Nattrass (Viper)
• The Edge, by David Baldacci (Macmillan)
• The Watchmaker’s Hand, by Jeffery Deaver (HarperCollins)
• Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly (Orion)
• Gaslight, by Femi Kayode (Raven)
• Unnatural Death, by Patricia Cornwell (Sphere)
• Standing in the Shadows, by Peter Robinson (Hodder & Stoughton)

Thrillers:
• The Year of the Locust, by Terry Hayes (Bantam)
• Kala, by Colin Walsh (Atlantic)
• The Exchange, by John Grisham (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Geneva, by Richard Armitage (Faber and Faber)
• Speak of the Devil, by Rose Wilding (Baskerville)
• Penance, by Eliza Clark (‎Faber and Faber)
• Death of a Bookseller, by Alice Slater (Hodder & Stoughton)
• The Cloisters, by Katy Hays (Bantam Press)
• None of This Is True, by Lisa Jewell (Century)
• The Maiden, by Kate Foster (Mantle)
• The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons, by Karin Smirnoff (MacLehose Press)
• The Square of Sevens, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
• Broken Light, by Joanne Harris (Orion)
• Loyalty, by Martina Cole (Headline)
• Homecoming, by Kate Morton (Mantle)
• Drowning, by T.J. Newman (Simon & Schuster UK)
• Looking Glass Sound, by Catriona Ward (Viper)
• Conviction, by Jack Jordan (Simon & Schuster UK)
• The Trial, by Rob Rinder (Century)
• Kill For Me, Kill For You, by Steve Cavanagh (Headline)
• Central Park West, by James Comey (Head of Zeus/Aries)
• The People Watcher, by Sam Lloyd (Bantam)
• The Crash, by Robert Preston (Zaffre)
• City of Dreams, by Don Winslow (HarperCollins)
• For You and Only You, by Caroline Kepnes (Simon & Schuster UK)
• The Game, by Martin Kemp (HarperCollins)
• The Whispers, by Ashley Audrain (Michael Joseph)
• 73 Dove Street, by Julie Owen Moylan (Michael Joseph)
• Murder in the Family, by Cara Hunter (HarperFiction)

Espionage:
• The Defector, by Chris Hadfield (Quercus)
• The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron (Baskerville)
• On His Majesty’s Secret Service, by Charlie Higson (Ian Fleming Publications)
• Tomás Nevinson, by Javier Marias (Hamish Hamilton)
• Kennedy 35, by Charles Cumming (HarperCollins)

Meanwhile, the American online audiobook and podcast service Audible is out with its own picks of the top 18 mysteries and thrillers published this year. At a glance, the only two books appearing on both this and the Waterstones list seem to be those by S.A. Cosby and Lisa Jewell.

• All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• None of This Is True, by Lisa Jewell (Atria)
• Small Mercies, by Dennis Lehane (Harper)
• Gone Tonight, by Sarah Pekkanen (St. Martin’s Press)
• The Mystery Guest, by Nita Prose (Ballantine)
• Too Late, by Colleen Hoover (Grand Central)
• Symphony of Secrets, by Brendan Slocumb (Anchor)
• Murder Your Employer, by Rupert Holmes (Avid Reader Press)
• Bright Young Women, by Jessica Knoll (S&S/Marysue Rucci)
• Just the Nicest Couple, by Mary Kubica (Park Row)
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Berkley)
• The Villa, by Rachel Hawkins (St. Martin’s Press)
• The Senator’s Wife, by Liv Constantine (Bantam)
• The Silent Bride, by Shalini Boland (Thomas & Mercer)

Audible Originals:
• Stranger, by Ben H. Winters
• I Think You’re Projecting, by Cora Frazier
• Zero Tolerance, by James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski
• Moriarty: The Silent Order, by Charles Kindinger

There are numerous well-received books mentioned here. It’s only too bad that many of them are still gathering dust on my to-be-read pile, or waiting with great anticipation on my holiday gifts wishlist.

(Hat tip to Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.)