• All The Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Everybody Knows, by Jordan Harper (Mulholland)
• Ozark Dogs, by Eli Cranor (Soho Crime)
• Scorched Grace, by Margot Douaihy (Gillian Flynn)
• Glory Be, by Danielle Arceneaux (Pegasus Crime)
• The Quiet Tenant, by Clémence Michallon (Knopf)
• My Men, by Victoria Kielland (Astra)
• Blaze Me a Sun, by Christoffer Carlsson (Hogarth)
• Reykjavik, by Ragnar Jonasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir (Minotaur)
• The Last Devil to Die, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman)
You will find Weinman’s short comments about these books here.
I must admit, several of these releases never crested my reading pile over the last 12 months. And My Men escaped my notice altogether, which is odd, since my appetite for more information about Norwegian-American serial killer Belle Gunness had been whetted by Camilla Bruce’s disturbing 2021 novel, In the Garden of Spite.
* * *
Another example of reviewers tag-teaming? Laura Wilson submitting to The Guardian her nominees for “Best Crime and Thrillers of 2023,” which follow Alison Flood’s thematically identical selections. But while the field under study is obviously the same, Wilson’s roll of books is much longer (34 to Flood’s five), giving it the feel of a high-points survey of what crime, mystery, and thriller fiction had to offer this year in Britain—from cozies to debuts, spy novels to vintage reprints—rather than an enumeration of her most treasured reads.• The Last Devil to Die, by Richard Osman (Viking)
• The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, by Janice Hallett (Viper)
• The Christmas Appeal, by Janice Hallett (Viper)
• Murder in the Family, by Cara Hunter (HarperCollins)
• The Turnglass, by Gareth Rubin (Simon & Schuster)
• Death and the Conjuror, by Tom Mead (Head of Zeus)
• Squeaky Clean, by Callum McSorley (Pushkin Vertigo)
• Scorched Grace, by Margot Douaihy (Pushkin Vertigo)
• Thirty Days of Darkness, by Jenny Lund Madsen (Orenda)
• Case Sensitive, by A.K. Turner (Zaffre)
• The Wheel of Doll, by Jonathan Ames (Pushkin Vertigo)
• Ozark Dogs, by Eli Cranor (Headline)
• All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Headline)
• Beware the Woman, by Megan Abbott (Virago)
• I Have Some Questions for You, by Rebecca Makkai (Fleet)
• Everybody Knows, by Jordan Harper (Faber)
• The Second Murderer, by Denise Mina (Harvill Secker)
• The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron (Baskerville)
• The Scarlet Papers, by Matthew Richardson (Michael Joseph)
• Moscow Exile, by John Lawton (Grove Press)
• The Translator, by Harriet Crawley (Bitter Lemon Press)
• Other Women, by Emma Flint (Picador)
• The Square of Sevens, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
• The Winter List, by S.G. MacLean (Quercus)
• Viper’s Dream, by Jake Lamar (No Exit Press)
• Palace of Shadows, by Ray Celestin (Mantle)
• Death of a Lesser God, by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Age of Vice, by Deepti Kapoor (Fleet)
• The Bandit Queens, by Parini Shroff (Atlantic)
• Strange Sally Diamond, by Liz Nugent (Penguin Sandycove)
• Black Thorn, by Sarah Hilary (Macmillan)
• Uncle Paul, by Celia Fremlin (Faber)
• The Man Who Lived Underground, by Richard Wright (Vintage)
In addition, Wilson touts Word Monkey (Doubleday), which she describes as the late Christopher Fowler’s “funny and moving memoir of a life spent writing popular fiction.”
* * *
The two end-of-year lists I always most look forward to studying are those from Sarah Weinman and from Oline H. Cogdill, the latter of whom is a longtime reviewer for South Florida’s Sun Sentinel newspaper. 
Not only is Cogdill a delightful woman in person, but she is a very discriminating critic. If she recommends a book, I’m quite certain to relish it, too. Her 2023 catalogue of crime, mystery, and thriller “bests” runs to 18 titles:• Sing Her Down, by Ivy Pochoda (MCD)
• Time’s Undoing, by Cheryl A.
Head (Dutton)
• Everybody Knows, by Jordan
Harper (Mulholland)
• Small Mercies, by Dennis Lehane (Harper)
• All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• The River We Remember, by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
• An Honest Man, by Michael Koryta (Mulholland)
• Dark Ride, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
• Prom Mom, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
• To Catch a Storm, by Mindy Mejia (Atlantic Monthly Press)
• The Last Word, by Taylor Adams (Morrow)
• Distant Sons, by Tim Johnston (Algonquin)
• Blood Sisters, by Vanessa Lillie (Berkley)
• Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, by Benjamin
Stevenson (HarperCollins)
• Beware the Woman, by Megan Abbott (Putnam)
• The Only One Left, by Riley Sager (Dutton)
• The Golden Gate, by Amy Chua (Minotaur)
Cogdill also identifies her six favorite 2023 debuts in this genre:
• The Curse of Penryth Hall, by Jess Armstrong (Minotaur)
• The Hunter, by Jennifer Herrera (Putnam)
• Fadeaway Joe, by Hugh Lessig (Crooked Lane)
• A Flaw in the Design, by Nathan Oates (Random House)
• Mother-Daughter Murder Night, by Nina Simon (HarperCollins)
• City Under One Roof, by Iris Yamashita (Berkley)
On top of all those, she offers compliments to Murder on the Orient Express: The Graphic Novel, by Agatha Christie and Bob Al-Greene (Morrow Paperbacks); the puzzle books Murdle, Volumes 1 and 2, by G.T. Karber (St. Martin’s Griffin); and a trio of short-story collections—The Best American Mystery and Suspense, edited by Lisa Unger (Mariner), The Refusal Camp, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime), and Happiness Is a Warm Gun, edited by Josh Pachter (Down & Out).
* * *
Apparently there can never—no, never—be too many opinions on books that must be read. Library Journal contributors Liz French and Lesa Holstine are out with their “Best Crime Fiction of 2023” picks:• The Golden Gate, by Amy Chua (Minotaur)
• Fall, by Tracy Clark (Thomas & Mercer)
• All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
• Age of Vice, by Deepit Kapoor (HarperCollins)
• Small Mercies, by Dennis Lehane (Harper)
• A Disappearance in Fiji, by Nilima Rao (Soho Crime)
• Guilt Strikes at Granger’s Store, by Terry Shames (Severn House)
• Mother-Daughter Murder Night, by Nina Simon (HarperCollins)
• City Under One Roof, by Iris Yamashita (Berkley)
* * *
Yesterday, Steve Donoghue, a veteran critic for The Boston Globe and the Christian Science Monitor, published his “Best Books of 2023: Thrillers!” selections in Open Letters Review:• Sea Castle, by Andrew Mayne (Thomas & Mercer)
• Forgotten War, by Don Bentley (Berkley)
• Sleepless City, by Reed Farrell Coleman (Blackstone)
• You Will Never Be Found, by Tove Alsterdal (Harper)
• All the Dangerous Things, by Stacy Willingham (Minotaur)
• Red River Seven, by A.J. Ryan (Orbit)
• Going Zero, by Anthony McCarten (Harper)
• Burner, by Mark Greaney (Berkley)
• Code 6, by James Grippando (Harper)
• Exiles, by Jane Harper (Flatiron)
* * *
And although it has only been a couple of weeks ago since the Web site She Reads posted its numerous candidates for “Best Books of 2023,” in 19 categories, the winners of a public have already been announced.The choice for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense novel is … All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron).
Competing as well for that honor this year were Blood Sisters, by Vanessa Lillie (Berkley); Bright Young Women, by Jessica Knoll (S&S/Marysue Rucci); Don’t Let Her Stay, by Nicola Sanders (Independently published); I Have Some Questions for You, by Rebecca Makkai (Viking); Just Another Missing Person, by Gillian McAllister (Morrow); None of This Is True, by Lisa Jewell (Atria); Stone Cold Fox, by achel Koller Croft (Berkley); The Only One Left, by Riley Sager (Dutton); The Traitor, by Ava Glass (Bantam); Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Berkley); and What Never Happened, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer).
Look for the victors in all 19 categories here.
(Hat tip to Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.)
No comments:
Post a Comment