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The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023: A Collection
A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger and series editor Steph Cha.
“This form has a special kind of magic, the ability to transport you quickly, intensely, to capture character, time, place, and story with immediacy,” writes guest editor Lisa Unger in her introduction. The transporting stories in this year’s The Best American Mystery and Suspense are populated by those who exist on the fringe of our society and want more than what life has dealt A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks vengeance for his lost love. An assassin on his last job finds himself questioning his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim. By turns thrilling and enlightening, each story, according to Unger, “will have you holding your breath, flipping the pages, will leave you thinking about people and why they do the dark, dangerous, frightening things that they do.”
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 includes Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier • William Boyle • S. A. Cosby • Jacqueline Freimor • James A. Hearn • Ladee Hubbard • A. J. Jacono • Adam Meyer • Silvia Moreno-Garcia • Walter Mosley • Leigh Newman • Joyce Carol Oates • Margaret Randall • Annie Reed • Anthony Neil Smith • Faye Snowden • Jervey Tervalon • Joseph S. Walker • Thaai Walker • Jess Walter
“This form has a special kind of magic, the ability to transport you quickly, intensely, to capture character, time, place, and story with immediacy,” writes guest editor Lisa Unger in her introduction. The transporting stories in this year’s The Best American Mystery and Suspense are populated by those who exist on the fringe of our society and want more than what life has dealt A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks vengeance for his lost love. An assassin on his last job finds himself questioning his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim. By turns thrilling and enlightening, each story, according to Unger, “will have you holding your breath, flipping the pages, will leave you thinking about people and why they do the dark, dangerous, frightening things that they do.”
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 includes Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier • William Boyle • S. A. Cosby • Jacqueline Freimor • James A. Hearn • Ladee Hubbard • A. J. Jacono • Adam Meyer • Silvia Moreno-Garcia • Walter Mosley • Leigh Newman • Joyce Carol Oates • Margaret Randall • Annie Reed • Anthony Neil Smith • Faye Snowden • Jervey Tervalon • Joseph S. Walker • Thaai Walker • Jess Walter
392 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 17, 2023
148 people are currently reading
295 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Unger
51 books10.8k followersLisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty-three novels, including her upcoming release SERVED HIM RIGHT (March, 2026). With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.
Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year, an honor held by only a few authors including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.
Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year, an honor held by only a few authors including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
August 27, 2023
My expectations leaned heavily toward more mystery and suspense in this edition, so I must admit I found myself somewhat let down. While I did find merit in some of the stories, I couldn't help but notice that a few of them lacked the depth and substance I was hoping for. Additionally, with the initial excitement of Lisa Unger's involvement, I had hoped for more, but it seemed to fall short of my expectations.
September 26, 2023
Better luck next year.
January 4, 2024
The Best American Mystery and Suspense series has been published since 1997, with a new volume every year. There is an overall series editor and each individual volume also has a second "guest" editor, always someone who is a well-respected mystery author. Starting in 2021, the series editor has been Steph Cha, who, she writes, "sifted through" many stories and passed "around fifty of the best (or, more accurately [her] favorites)" on to the guest editor who made the final choice of which twenty stories would appear in one of these anthologies. This year's guest editor was Lisa Unger, "internationally bestselling author of twenty novels," whose work I have frequently enjoyed.
The twenty stories here are from a variety of sources; indeed, somewhat surprisingly, no two of them came from the same source. Ms. Unger's fine Introduction contains one-sentence comments on each story; I am tempted to quote all of these in this review - but I won't. She also states:
The act of compressing suspense, action, and mystery into short fiction is no small feat. Suspense can take time to build. It might be pages and pages before we get to know a character well enough to care about him or her. A twist must seem like a surprise, but also that it was inevitable, not a gimmick or trick.
The back of the book has a list titled "Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2022." This includes the titles of the thirty stories that were seriously considered for this collection but ultimately not chosen. This includes five stories that appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and two from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.
There is also a section titled "Contributors' Notes," which I always find fascinating. There are comments about each author included in this anthology and comments from those authors about their stories. Readers who generally skip this kind of material should not do so here; for one example, knowing the details of the life of Martha Randall and how she came to write "The Invitation" will almost certainly increase a reader's pleasure.
And so, the stories:
"Best of the Year" anthologies should always be wonderful. Sometimes they actually are, but that is rare; being realistic, all the stories should at least be good though. But "good" in art is always subjective. My taste is not likely to entirely agree with that of Steph Cha and Lisa Unger. I think that most of these stories are good, and a few might be better than that; I think that just a few of them might be memorable.
I will start with the only story in the book that I strongly dislike, "33 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister" by Joyce Carol Oates. I would be remiss if I did not begin by stating that I rarely like Oates' short mystery fiction, which many people seem to adore. I reviewed this story when it originally appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and I dismissed it rather curtly. It was, I wrote a
story narrated by "G." about the disappearance of her older sister "M." twenty-two years earlier, when M. was thirty years old. (I have mentioned this in another review, but every time I run across the use of initials to substitute, for no particular reason, for actual names, I can not help thinking of Woody Allen's pseudo-diary entry from "Selections from the Allen Notebooks":
Should I marry W.? Not if she won't tell me the other letters in her name.)
One subsidiary mystery in this story: what the hell was the creature in the cellar that the narrator says she killed?
I think that it is likely that the initials nonsense was intended to represent a quirk of the narrator rather than being one from Ms. Oates. This is the longest story in this collection - so, therefore, not just a waste of some space but the waste of a lot of space.
"Foreword" by Jacqueline Freimor is a meta-ish version of a foreword to a mystery novel written by the wife of a famous author, who had himself been murdered. The man writing the foreword discusses the author, that author's now-deceased wife, and their relationship. The foreword-writer discusses other couples joined by their work in literature: Vladimir and Vera Nabokov and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. I think that a more relevant couple would be Malcolm and Marjorie Bonner Lowry, for reasons that I could not mention without a strong "spoiler" warning.
A quite different example of a story that might be considered meta-fiction is "The Invitation" by Martha Randall. A young female student receives two offers simultaneously: the Boston Globe newspaper offers her an unpaid internship; a former boyfriend asks her to go to Spain with him, with him paying all her expenses. And there the story divides, treating each of these stories equally as if each had happened. I think this is quite good. I think that there is one problem, though; this is a mystery story, appearing originally in a mystery publication and now being included in this anthology. One of the student's choices does involve a mystery; I think that both should.
Two or three of the stories here combine mystery fiction with other genres. "The Blood-Red Leaves of Autumn" by Annie Reed is a science fiction tale, set on a space station. A woman's body is found. The primary mystery is not who killed her but who she is and how she got on the station. Comings and goings are always observed, but this dead woman seems to have come out of nowhere. This is intriguing as a mystery, but not, I think, as involving as it might have been.
"Mr. Filbert's Classroom" by Adam Meyer is a fantasy, beginning with an all-too possible situation. An armed shooter is loose in a school. After this is resolved, one entire roomful of children have disappeared. Their teacher, Mr. Filbert, knows where they are but may not want to bring them back. (I suspect that the fact that a filbert is a kind of nut might have been a consideration in Meyer's choice of the name.) A very nice story, if one accepts the premise.
Young children play an important part in some of the other stories here as well. In "Flip Lady" by Ladee Hubbard, a girl recently returned to the United States from Grenada goes with other children whom she wants to befriend to the home of a woman who sells frozen fruit drinks. Two older young men are also at the house - as is some white powder.
Two other young girls, teenagers, and the baby brother of one of them leave home in "How Hope Found Chauncey" by Jervey Tervalon. But where can they go? For the most part, "Hope" is just a name here, not a quality with which they are overly familiar.
Two younger girls have nothing special to do and that results in their being put into peril in "Flight" by Traai Walker. A simple visit to a city park shows dangers everywhere. As with "How Hope Found Chauncey," this is quite bleak. All men in these two stories are either ineffectual or brutal.
There are just a few stories here dealing with career criminals. I discussed "Crime Scene" by Joseph S. Walker in an earlier review, from which I will quote:
In Joseph S. Walker's story "Crime Scene," a professional assassin is hired to kill the world's foremost expert on the assassination of President John Kennedy. The challenge is in the conditions; the potential victim must be killed in the place in Dallas in which Kennedy was shot and the killing must occur on the anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. I rarely figure out the endings of mystery stories in advance; this time I did.
On the other hand, I did not anticipate the developments in "The Ticks Will Eat You Whole" (a most unpleasant title) by Anthony Neil Smith. A man is in the woods with his wife and her mother, spreading the ashes of his late father-in-law. A sad task made more so by the number of wood ticks in the area - and by more threatening beings as well.
The central figure in "Home Is the Hunter" by James A. Hearn is a professional criminal, a thief and a killer, who did something that aroused the wrath of his boss. The fugitive is hiding now in a cabin in the woods. Hearn makes this murderer somewhat sympathetic, as his pursuers are even worse.
A killer and kidnapper is one of the two main characters in A. J. Jocono's "When We Remembered Zion," but he is not a career criminal - he is a madman, who almost accidentally killed a man and then kidnapped that man's pregnant girlfriend. He also becomes rather sympathetic, as horrifying details of his childhood are revealed.
Two of the tales here are set mostly in bars. In "The Mayor of Dukes City" by S. A. Cosby, a bouncer is haunted by thoughts of his murdered girlfriend.
"New York Blues Redux" by William Boyle is, Boyle's back-of-the-book note states, about "a single hot night in the summer of 1986, [with] a crew of down-and-outers assembling in an end-of-world dive bar." The main characters include Jane the Stain, Widow Marie, Alkie Eleanor, and Double Stevie. I suspect that this is not entirely meant to be serious, but I might be wrong.
An even less likely (but, in my opinion, much better) tale is presented in "Not Exit" by Walter Mosley. I will again quote from an earlier review of this story that I wrote:
Tom Exit is a learning-disabled young Black man, sent to prison for yelling at police officers because they were searching a woman in a manner Exit thought was inappropriate. Because he continued to react badly in some situations, his sentence kept getting extended. A fellow inmate told Exit that if he ever got out of prison, he should go to a certain location in Detroit. This was a place where they accepted folks with special gifts; if the people did not have such gifts, they were killed. Exit did have such a gift; he remembered every word that he ever heard. Exit escapes, and with help from a friend, he goes to Detroit. He seeks to become part of Miller's Mine, a (literally) underground community. At that point, this odd story becomes increasingly more odd, more dreamlike. Mosley takes what is largely fantasy and spins it into something that feels real and urgent.
When I reviewed the anthology in which "Not Exit" originally appeared, I said that although it was not one of my favorite stories in the book, it had stuck in my mind. I have now read this several times and it continues to stick in my mind - which is, I guess, a reason to recommend it.
Leigh Newman's "Valley of the Moon" is also unusual, but in a totally different way. The narrator, now a young (but not all that young) woman living in Alaska comes to town to meet with her forty-four year old older sister, who is pregnant. When they were both children, their parents had split up. The mother took her daughters to Montreal and then, almost immediately, returned. The mother has become an alcoholic; the narrator lives with her. No mystery, no crime throughout the story. And yet, this story does not seem out of place in this anthology.
Mystery short stories are often entries in a series. I believe that the only such story here is "Ripen" by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier. Bernier's series character, who narrates the story, is Naomi Sinclair, a food journalist originally from the Virgin Islands and visiting there in this tale. While she is there, a politician marooned on an island is rescued, at great cost to those trying to save him. Bernier writes so well of places and people that the fact that this is not much of a mystery scarcely matters.
Politics of a sort is one of the subjects of "The Obsession of Abel Tangier" by Faye Snowden. How important is knowledge of the treatment of African-Americans in the United States in the past to those living here now? Much of this involves an incident that I had largely forgotten - and I shouldn't have. In 1985, "police in the United States bombed its own citizens... They burned children alive."
One story set in the past is "The Land of Milk and Honey" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. In 1949, six women lived with a domineering man: his sister, his wife, and his four daughters. They had no freedom and little contact outside their home. A young male cousin is summoned to work in the house, and this changes things.
The opening paragraph of the story sets the scene perfectly, with the equivalent of "Once upon a time...":
In the house with the red double doors there lived an old man and six women, just them and no one else.
The last story in the book is also the only one a reader might regard as charming or sweet. In "Love Interest" by Jess Walter, a private detective helps a former actress to see what a film she had not appeared in would have been like if she had.
As I have mentioned in earlier comments about this "Best American" series, there is now a second "Best of the Year" mystery series, The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year, which has now published their 2023 volume, the third in the series. The first two years, there were (remarkably, I think) no stories chosen for both books. This year there is one, "Crime Scene" by Joseph S. Walker.
I think that this is the least good of the first three anthologies in this series since Cha became the overall series editor. It is not that I think that many of these stories are poor, but rather that few of them are excellent and will be remembered. The ones that I particularly like are "When We Remembered Zion" by A. J. Jacono, "Not Exit" by Walter Mosley, "Valley of the Moon" by Leigh Newman, and "Love Interest " by Jess Walter.
The twenty stories here are from a variety of sources; indeed, somewhat surprisingly, no two of them came from the same source. Ms. Unger's fine Introduction contains one-sentence comments on each story; I am tempted to quote all of these in this review - but I won't. She also states:
The act of compressing suspense, action, and mystery into short fiction is no small feat. Suspense can take time to build. It might be pages and pages before we get to know a character well enough to care about him or her. A twist must seem like a surprise, but also that it was inevitable, not a gimmick or trick.
The back of the book has a list titled "Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2022." This includes the titles of the thirty stories that were seriously considered for this collection but ultimately not chosen. This includes five stories that appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and two from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.
There is also a section titled "Contributors' Notes," which I always find fascinating. There are comments about each author included in this anthology and comments from those authors about their stories. Readers who generally skip this kind of material should not do so here; for one example, knowing the details of the life of Martha Randall and how she came to write "The Invitation" will almost certainly increase a reader's pleasure.
And so, the stories:
"Best of the Year" anthologies should always be wonderful. Sometimes they actually are, but that is rare; being realistic, all the stories should at least be good though. But "good" in art is always subjective. My taste is not likely to entirely agree with that of Steph Cha and Lisa Unger. I think that most of these stories are good, and a few might be better than that; I think that just a few of them might be memorable.
I will start with the only story in the book that I strongly dislike, "33 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister" by Joyce Carol Oates. I would be remiss if I did not begin by stating that I rarely like Oates' short mystery fiction, which many people seem to adore. I reviewed this story when it originally appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and I dismissed it rather curtly. It was, I wrote a
story narrated by "G." about the disappearance of her older sister "M." twenty-two years earlier, when M. was thirty years old. (I have mentioned this in another review, but every time I run across the use of initials to substitute, for no particular reason, for actual names, I can not help thinking of Woody Allen's pseudo-diary entry from "Selections from the Allen Notebooks":
Should I marry W.? Not if she won't tell me the other letters in her name.)
One subsidiary mystery in this story: what the hell was the creature in the cellar that the narrator says she killed?
I think that it is likely that the initials nonsense was intended to represent a quirk of the narrator rather than being one from Ms. Oates. This is the longest story in this collection - so, therefore, not just a waste of some space but the waste of a lot of space.
"Foreword" by Jacqueline Freimor is a meta-ish version of a foreword to a mystery novel written by the wife of a famous author, who had himself been murdered. The man writing the foreword discusses the author, that author's now-deceased wife, and their relationship. The foreword-writer discusses other couples joined by their work in literature: Vladimir and Vera Nabokov and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. I think that a more relevant couple would be Malcolm and Marjorie Bonner Lowry, for reasons that I could not mention without a strong "spoiler" warning.
A quite different example of a story that might be considered meta-fiction is "The Invitation" by Martha Randall. A young female student receives two offers simultaneously: the Boston Globe newspaper offers her an unpaid internship; a former boyfriend asks her to go to Spain with him, with him paying all her expenses. And there the story divides, treating each of these stories equally as if each had happened. I think this is quite good. I think that there is one problem, though; this is a mystery story, appearing originally in a mystery publication and now being included in this anthology. One of the student's choices does involve a mystery; I think that both should.
Two or three of the stories here combine mystery fiction with other genres. "The Blood-Red Leaves of Autumn" by Annie Reed is a science fiction tale, set on a space station. A woman's body is found. The primary mystery is not who killed her but who she is and how she got on the station. Comings and goings are always observed, but this dead woman seems to have come out of nowhere. This is intriguing as a mystery, but not, I think, as involving as it might have been.
"Mr. Filbert's Classroom" by Adam Meyer is a fantasy, beginning with an all-too possible situation. An armed shooter is loose in a school. After this is resolved, one entire roomful of children have disappeared. Their teacher, Mr. Filbert, knows where they are but may not want to bring them back. (I suspect that the fact that a filbert is a kind of nut might have been a consideration in Meyer's choice of the name.) A very nice story, if one accepts the premise.
Young children play an important part in some of the other stories here as well. In "Flip Lady" by Ladee Hubbard, a girl recently returned to the United States from Grenada goes with other children whom she wants to befriend to the home of a woman who sells frozen fruit drinks. Two older young men are also at the house - as is some white powder.
Two other young girls, teenagers, and the baby brother of one of them leave home in "How Hope Found Chauncey" by Jervey Tervalon. But where can they go? For the most part, "Hope" is just a name here, not a quality with which they are overly familiar.
Two younger girls have nothing special to do and that results in their being put into peril in "Flight" by Traai Walker. A simple visit to a city park shows dangers everywhere. As with "How Hope Found Chauncey," this is quite bleak. All men in these two stories are either ineffectual or brutal.
There are just a few stories here dealing with career criminals. I discussed "Crime Scene" by Joseph S. Walker in an earlier review, from which I will quote:
In Joseph S. Walker's story "Crime Scene," a professional assassin is hired to kill the world's foremost expert on the assassination of President John Kennedy. The challenge is in the conditions; the potential victim must be killed in the place in Dallas in which Kennedy was shot and the killing must occur on the anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. I rarely figure out the endings of mystery stories in advance; this time I did.
On the other hand, I did not anticipate the developments in "The Ticks Will Eat You Whole" (a most unpleasant title) by Anthony Neil Smith. A man is in the woods with his wife and her mother, spreading the ashes of his late father-in-law. A sad task made more so by the number of wood ticks in the area - and by more threatening beings as well.
The central figure in "Home Is the Hunter" by James A. Hearn is a professional criminal, a thief and a killer, who did something that aroused the wrath of his boss. The fugitive is hiding now in a cabin in the woods. Hearn makes this murderer somewhat sympathetic, as his pursuers are even worse.
A killer and kidnapper is one of the two main characters in A. J. Jocono's "When We Remembered Zion," but he is not a career criminal - he is a madman, who almost accidentally killed a man and then kidnapped that man's pregnant girlfriend. He also becomes rather sympathetic, as horrifying details of his childhood are revealed.
Two of the tales here are set mostly in bars. In "The Mayor of Dukes City" by S. A. Cosby, a bouncer is haunted by thoughts of his murdered girlfriend.
"New York Blues Redux" by William Boyle is, Boyle's back-of-the-book note states, about "a single hot night in the summer of 1986, [with] a crew of down-and-outers assembling in an end-of-world dive bar." The main characters include Jane the Stain, Widow Marie, Alkie Eleanor, and Double Stevie. I suspect that this is not entirely meant to be serious, but I might be wrong.
An even less likely (but, in my opinion, much better) tale is presented in "Not Exit" by Walter Mosley. I will again quote from an earlier review of this story that I wrote:
Tom Exit is a learning-disabled young Black man, sent to prison for yelling at police officers because they were searching a woman in a manner Exit thought was inappropriate. Because he continued to react badly in some situations, his sentence kept getting extended. A fellow inmate told Exit that if he ever got out of prison, he should go to a certain location in Detroit. This was a place where they accepted folks with special gifts; if the people did not have such gifts, they were killed. Exit did have such a gift; he remembered every word that he ever heard. Exit escapes, and with help from a friend, he goes to Detroit. He seeks to become part of Miller's Mine, a (literally) underground community. At that point, this odd story becomes increasingly more odd, more dreamlike. Mosley takes what is largely fantasy and spins it into something that feels real and urgent.
When I reviewed the anthology in which "Not Exit" originally appeared, I said that although it was not one of my favorite stories in the book, it had stuck in my mind. I have now read this several times and it continues to stick in my mind - which is, I guess, a reason to recommend it.
Leigh Newman's "Valley of the Moon" is also unusual, but in a totally different way. The narrator, now a young (but not all that young) woman living in Alaska comes to town to meet with her forty-four year old older sister, who is pregnant. When they were both children, their parents had split up. The mother took her daughters to Montreal and then, almost immediately, returned. The mother has become an alcoholic; the narrator lives with her. No mystery, no crime throughout the story. And yet, this story does not seem out of place in this anthology.
Mystery short stories are often entries in a series. I believe that the only such story here is "Ripen" by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier. Bernier's series character, who narrates the story, is Naomi Sinclair, a food journalist originally from the Virgin Islands and visiting there in this tale. While she is there, a politician marooned on an island is rescued, at great cost to those trying to save him. Bernier writes so well of places and people that the fact that this is not much of a mystery scarcely matters.
Politics of a sort is one of the subjects of "The Obsession of Abel Tangier" by Faye Snowden. How important is knowledge of the treatment of African-Americans in the United States in the past to those living here now? Much of this involves an incident that I had largely forgotten - and I shouldn't have. In 1985, "police in the United States bombed its own citizens... They burned children alive."
One story set in the past is "The Land of Milk and Honey" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. In 1949, six women lived with a domineering man: his sister, his wife, and his four daughters. They had no freedom and little contact outside their home. A young male cousin is summoned to work in the house, and this changes things.
The opening paragraph of the story sets the scene perfectly, with the equivalent of "Once upon a time...":
In the house with the red double doors there lived an old man and six women, just them and no one else.
The last story in the book is also the only one a reader might regard as charming or sweet. In "Love Interest" by Jess Walter, a private detective helps a former actress to see what a film she had not appeared in would have been like if she had.
As I have mentioned in earlier comments about this "Best American" series, there is now a second "Best of the Year" mystery series, The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year, which has now published their 2023 volume, the third in the series. The first two years, there were (remarkably, I think) no stories chosen for both books. This year there is one, "Crime Scene" by Joseph S. Walker.
I think that this is the least good of the first three anthologies in this series since Cha became the overall series editor. It is not that I think that many of these stories are poor, but rather that few of them are excellent and will be remembered. The ones that I particularly like are "When We Remembered Zion" by A. J. Jacono, "Not Exit" by Walter Mosley, "Valley of the Moon" by Leigh Newman, and "Love Interest " by Jess Walter.
October 19, 2023
I want to thank Mariner books and Net Galley I love these books they’re short mystery and thriller stories in the written by those who are famous or her going to be famous authors. I enjoyed all the stories in this book although Ihe Invitation by Margaret Rattle was a little bit confusing because I didn’t understand if she went on the vacation or she did her internship at the paper. I think my favorite story in this book was The Obsession Of Abel Tangier by Faye Snowden which starts right after Abel‘s death and it is not only truly interesting but it’s also funny they have so many different stories in here there’s crime mystery investigations thrillers or something for everyone if they’re not long we all read books to match all moved in if you’re in the mood for a thriller/mystery and don’t have lots of time this is the perfect book I love short stories of these collections or among my top favorites I try to read it every year and I’m so glad I read this one. For this free Ark copy in exchange for a review please forgive any mistakes in my review I am blind and dictate my review.
August 27, 2024
Several of these stories have long meandering beginnings over a few pages in which it is not clear what the story is going to be about or even what kind of story it is and regardless what follows that kind of story is not to my liking. Some tasty stories in this anthology, however, by some big names: Walter Mosely, Joyce Carol Oates, S. A. Cosby, and Jess Walter. Loved the sci-fi/crime hybrid by Annie Reed: "The Blood Red Leaves of Autumn." My favorite, though, was Anthony Neil Smith's "The Ticks Will Eat You Whole."
January 6, 2024
A wonderful book to start the year. I especially loved the stories by James A. Hearn and S.A. Cosby.
September 3, 2023
“Crime fiction is a crucible, a place where human nature is revealed under the most intense of circumstances.”—excerpt from Lisa Unger’s Introduction*
Steph Cha’s timely forward and Lisa Unger’s introduction, where she discusses the unique magic of the short story form, nicely set the tone for the anthology. I continue to be impressed with the direction of this series with Steph Cha as Series Editor.
My favorites are as follows:
“New York Blues Redux” by William Boyle: Boyle proves himself to be a master of characterization as drama in the summer of 1986 at a Brooklyn bar, with a group of regulars and a newcomer, unfolds. The protagonist is introduced as Jane the Stain and the origin of her nickname comes into play in a big way.
“The Mayor of Dukes City” by S. A. Cosby: Another master at characterization, Cosby always spins a fantastic tale. An MMA fighter turned bar bouncer solves a personal mystery and delivers his own special flavor of justice.
“When We Remembered Zion” by A. J. Jacono: A pregnant woman is kidnapped, and during her captivity develops a bond with her mentally ill abductor.
“The Land of Milk and Honey” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: A woman kept homebound and forced to work for her father finds a passion in a secret affair.
“Valley of the Moon” by Leigh Newman: Set in Alaska, this story explores familial bonds and secrets that are hidden in people’s Instagrammed lives. I found myself unable to look away as each bad decision was revealed.
“The Invitation” by Margaret Randall: A woman must decide whether to accept an ex-boyfriend’s offer to join him on an all expense paid trip to Barcelona or do a dream newspaper internship.
“The Obsession of Abel Tangier” by Faye Snowden: A vote on whether or not to scrub history books comes between old friends.
“How Hope Found Chauncey” by Jervey Tervalon: A girl’s plan to save her baby brother from their addict mother goes awry.
“Flight” by Thaai Walker: This story takes a hard look at female friendship and the way young girls are preyed on by men. I loved how the protagonist’s worldview was shaped by learning about Sally Ride.
“Love Interest” by Jess Walter: A digital forensic investigator’s new client is a movie legend who has become a victim of a phishing scam. The case gives the investigator the chance to become a Hollywood hero. This fun story nicely ends the anthology on an upbeat note.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers LLC for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.
*Please note that my review is based on uncorrected text.
Steph Cha’s timely forward and Lisa Unger’s introduction, where she discusses the unique magic of the short story form, nicely set the tone for the anthology. I continue to be impressed with the direction of this series with Steph Cha as Series Editor.
My favorites are as follows:
“New York Blues Redux” by William Boyle: Boyle proves himself to be a master of characterization as drama in the summer of 1986 at a Brooklyn bar, with a group of regulars and a newcomer, unfolds. The protagonist is introduced as Jane the Stain and the origin of her nickname comes into play in a big way.
“The Mayor of Dukes City” by S. A. Cosby: Another master at characterization, Cosby always spins a fantastic tale. An MMA fighter turned bar bouncer solves a personal mystery and delivers his own special flavor of justice.
“When We Remembered Zion” by A. J. Jacono: A pregnant woman is kidnapped, and during her captivity develops a bond with her mentally ill abductor.
“The Land of Milk and Honey” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: A woman kept homebound and forced to work for her father finds a passion in a secret affair.
“Valley of the Moon” by Leigh Newman: Set in Alaska, this story explores familial bonds and secrets that are hidden in people’s Instagrammed lives. I found myself unable to look away as each bad decision was revealed.
“The Invitation” by Margaret Randall: A woman must decide whether to accept an ex-boyfriend’s offer to join him on an all expense paid trip to Barcelona or do a dream newspaper internship.
“The Obsession of Abel Tangier” by Faye Snowden: A vote on whether or not to scrub history books comes between old friends.
“How Hope Found Chauncey” by Jervey Tervalon: A girl’s plan to save her baby brother from their addict mother goes awry.
“Flight” by Thaai Walker: This story takes a hard look at female friendship and the way young girls are preyed on by men. I loved how the protagonist’s worldview was shaped by learning about Sally Ride.
“Love Interest” by Jess Walter: A digital forensic investigator’s new client is a movie legend who has become a victim of a phishing scam. The case gives the investigator the chance to become a Hollywood hero. This fun story nicely ends the anthology on an upbeat note.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers LLC for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.
*Please note that my review is based on uncorrected text.
October 25, 2023
On a "best of" kick.
This starts with a bang. "Ripen" by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier is a lesson in short story writing. A young woman comes home to St. Thomas on a visit. Her mother and father get described in a few pages. She heads into town to meet an old friend/boyfriend. She meets Coziah, an old mentor who runs a small local newspaper. A big storm has just whacked the island. A loudmouth flamboyant politician has been saved after being blown off course in the storm. The story unwinds from there. The island society unrolls from the story. Each of the characters are captured by Bernier. There is a solid plot and a satisfying ending. This is satisfying story.
The title promises mystery and suspense and some of the tails are just short of horror stories. They are not really my kind of thing.
Many of the stories are set in poor, hardscrabble tough neighborhoods. William Boyle's very good story, "New York City Blues Redux" is a brutal tough bar story.
Joseph S. Walker's "Malice in Dallas" does the very difficult task of finding a new approach to the Kennedy assassination. It is also cleverly a meta comment on the whole issue.
Joyce Carol Oates, who dabbles in mystery, suspense and horror, has a disturbing first-person story, "Clues into the Disappearance of my Sister". A beautiful, talented older sister disappears. Her younger sister tells us a stream of consciousness story of the details of the disappearance, the clues to what happened and the story of her relationship with her sister and father. The whole thing has a beautifully created creepy uneasy feeling.
Overall this is a very good collection of well written, interesting stories.
I did notice one thing, the classic mystery stories of the 1930s and 40s were frequently set in the world of the very rich. Country homes, mansions in town, luxury trains or the country club were often the scenes of the murders investigated by the clever detectives. None of the stories in this collection are set in the upper class world. Styles change, I guess, but I miss the snooty butlers and twenty room mansions.
This starts with a bang. "Ripen" by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier is a lesson in short story writing. A young woman comes home to St. Thomas on a visit. Her mother and father get described in a few pages. She heads into town to meet an old friend/boyfriend. She meets Coziah, an old mentor who runs a small local newspaper. A big storm has just whacked the island. A loudmouth flamboyant politician has been saved after being blown off course in the storm. The story unwinds from there. The island society unrolls from the story. Each of the characters are captured by Bernier. There is a solid plot and a satisfying ending. This is satisfying story.
The title promises mystery and suspense and some of the tails are just short of horror stories. They are not really my kind of thing.
Many of the stories are set in poor, hardscrabble tough neighborhoods. William Boyle's very good story, "New York City Blues Redux" is a brutal tough bar story.
Joseph S. Walker's "Malice in Dallas" does the very difficult task of finding a new approach to the Kennedy assassination. It is also cleverly a meta comment on the whole issue.
Joyce Carol Oates, who dabbles in mystery, suspense and horror, has a disturbing first-person story, "Clues into the Disappearance of my Sister". A beautiful, talented older sister disappears. Her younger sister tells us a stream of consciousness story of the details of the disappearance, the clues to what happened and the story of her relationship with her sister and father. The whole thing has a beautifully created creepy uneasy feeling.
Overall this is a very good collection of well written, interesting stories.
I did notice one thing, the classic mystery stories of the 1930s and 40s were frequently set in the world of the very rich. Country homes, mansions in town, luxury trains or the country club were often the scenes of the murders investigated by the clever detectives. None of the stories in this collection are set in the upper class world. Styles change, I guess, but I miss the snooty butlers and twenty room mansions.
November 18, 2023
A good selection of stories, although many of them leaned more toward general crime fiction than mystery or suspense.
Favorite stories:
-"Ripen" by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier: An investigation of a death off the coast of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, a location I don't often encounter in my reading.
-"Foreword" by Jacqueline Freimor: I love stories that play with form. In this one, the story of a murder is told through the foreword to a novel (with bonus footnotes).
-"Mr. Filbert's Classroom" by Adam Meyer: A fantasy-tinged mystery, in which a police officer must figure out how a teacher spirited his students away from danger.
-"The Invitation" by Margaret Randall: A journalism student must choose to spend her summer either interning at a newsroom or vacationing in Barcelona. Her choice leads to two parallel stories.
-"The Blood-Red Leaves of Autumn" by Annie Reed: A sci-fi mystery, in which a body is discovered lashed to a tree on a farming space station. Probably my favorite of the book.
Favorite stories:
-"Ripen" by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier: An investigation of a death off the coast of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, a location I don't often encounter in my reading.
-"Foreword" by Jacqueline Freimor: I love stories that play with form. In this one, the story of a murder is told through the foreword to a novel (with bonus footnotes).
-"Mr. Filbert's Classroom" by Adam Meyer: A fantasy-tinged mystery, in which a police officer must figure out how a teacher spirited his students away from danger.
-"The Invitation" by Margaret Randall: A journalism student must choose to spend her summer either interning at a newsroom or vacationing in Barcelona. Her choice leads to two parallel stories.
-"The Blood-Red Leaves of Autumn" by Annie Reed: A sci-fi mystery, in which a body is discovered lashed to a tree on a farming space station. Probably my favorite of the book.
November 21, 2023
Around this time of year, one always can look forward to a new collection of mystery short stories in “The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023”, edited by Lisa Unger, Steph Cha. As usual, the collection takes on the tone set by the guest editor; this time the stories seem rather dark, bleak, wrong-side-of-town; not your traditional mysteries, even veering into science fiction or horror at times. Some are well done, others are not my favorite.
“Ripen” by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier: a story about a local politician who may be a bit too “Lucky” set in the tropics
“New York Blues Redux” by William Boyle: A hot summer night in a crappy bar in Brooklyn, as the locals have to deal with an unexpected newcomer. Not much of a mystery, but an interesting story.
“The Mayor of Dukes City” by S. A. Cosby: a bar bouncer is trying to figure out who killed his girlfriend.
“Forward” by Jacqueline Freimor: A story in the form of a forward to a book, with an unexpected twist.
“Home Is The Hunter” by James A. Hearn: A gangster does the right thing and now is being chased by his colleagues to his old family cabin.
“Flip Lady” by Ladee Hubbard: A strange tale about an immigrant girl, a bicycle, and an old lady selling Koolaid pops to the children.
“When We Remembered Zion” by A. J. Jacono: A man kills a good Samaritan and kidnaps his pregnant girlfriend, on the run from the law.
“Mr. Filbert’s Classroom” by Adam Meyer: During a school shooting, a teacher finds a unique way to protect his children.
“The Land of Milk and Honey” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: A father who rules over his family brings a cousin in to help, leading to a secret love affair with disastrous consequences.
“Not Exit” by Walter Mosley: The story of Tom Exit, a poor man who’s only true crime was stopping a woman from getting beaten, and the secret underground world he ends up living in.
“Valley of the Moon” by Leigh Newman: Not really a mystery, a story about bad decisions set in Alaska. Depressing.
“33 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister” by Joyce Carol Oates: Another story about family, this one is 33 little snippets from a younger sister that get more chilling as she explains the disappearance of her older sister.
“The Invitation” by Margaret Randall: Two stories in one, as a woman decides how to spend her summer: a trip to Barcelona with an ex-boyfriend or accept an internship at a major newspaper. We see both sides play out.
“The Blood-Red Leaves of Autumn” by Annie Reed: A dead body found on an orbiting space station leads to an even more gruesome discovery.
“The Ticks Will Eat You Whole” by Anthony Neil Smith: Scattering ashes in the woods leads to some unexpected discoveries.
“The Obsession of Abel Tangier” by Faye Snowden: An argument about a racial incident leads to flaring tempers.
“How Hope Found Chauncey” by Jervey Tervalon: Two young girls trying to make it out of a bad situation.
"Malice in Dallas" by Joseph S. Walker: Why would someone want to stage an assassination right where Kennedy was shot?
“Flight” by Thaai Walker: Two young girls in a park have an encounter that neither will forget.
“Love Interest” by Jess Walter: Nice story about a computer nerd helping a Hollywood legend for one last moment of glory..
I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Mariner Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
“Ripen” by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier: a story about a local politician who may be a bit too “Lucky” set in the tropics
“New York Blues Redux” by William Boyle: A hot summer night in a crappy bar in Brooklyn, as the locals have to deal with an unexpected newcomer. Not much of a mystery, but an interesting story.
“The Mayor of Dukes City” by S. A. Cosby: a bar bouncer is trying to figure out who killed his girlfriend.
“Forward” by Jacqueline Freimor: A story in the form of a forward to a book, with an unexpected twist.
“Home Is The Hunter” by James A. Hearn: A gangster does the right thing and now is being chased by his colleagues to his old family cabin.
“Flip Lady” by Ladee Hubbard: A strange tale about an immigrant girl, a bicycle, and an old lady selling Koolaid pops to the children.
“When We Remembered Zion” by A. J. Jacono: A man kills a good Samaritan and kidnaps his pregnant girlfriend, on the run from the law.
“Mr. Filbert’s Classroom” by Adam Meyer: During a school shooting, a teacher finds a unique way to protect his children.
“The Land of Milk and Honey” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: A father who rules over his family brings a cousin in to help, leading to a secret love affair with disastrous consequences.
“Not Exit” by Walter Mosley: The story of Tom Exit, a poor man who’s only true crime was stopping a woman from getting beaten, and the secret underground world he ends up living in.
“Valley of the Moon” by Leigh Newman: Not really a mystery, a story about bad decisions set in Alaska. Depressing.
“33 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister” by Joyce Carol Oates: Another story about family, this one is 33 little snippets from a younger sister that get more chilling as she explains the disappearance of her older sister.
“The Invitation” by Margaret Randall: Two stories in one, as a woman decides how to spend her summer: a trip to Barcelona with an ex-boyfriend or accept an internship at a major newspaper. We see both sides play out.
“The Blood-Red Leaves of Autumn” by Annie Reed: A dead body found on an orbiting space station leads to an even more gruesome discovery.
“The Ticks Will Eat You Whole” by Anthony Neil Smith: Scattering ashes in the woods leads to some unexpected discoveries.
“The Obsession of Abel Tangier” by Faye Snowden: An argument about a racial incident leads to flaring tempers.
“How Hope Found Chauncey” by Jervey Tervalon: Two young girls trying to make it out of a bad situation.
"Malice in Dallas" by Joseph S. Walker: Why would someone want to stage an assassination right where Kennedy was shot?
“Flight” by Thaai Walker: Two young girls in a park have an encounter that neither will forget.
“Love Interest” by Jess Walter: Nice story about a computer nerd helping a Hollywood legend for one last moment of glory..
I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Mariner Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
February 6, 2025
I used to only enjoy science fiction short stories, but "The Best American Mystery and Suspense" collection has really caught my interest. The 2023 issue has some great stories, many of them different from the typical whodunit. My favorite was by Joyce Carol Oates, called "33 Clues Into the Disappearance of my Sister," which totally freaked me out, opening up some old, secret wounds in my own relationship with my sister, who, thankfully, never disappeared.
My other favorite story was "The Blood Red Leaves of Autumn." Does this story belong in this book or in a collection of weird tales or fantasy. I don't know. I liked it here.
Trigger warning: There are some frighteningly violent tales here. You deserve to be frightened. You know you do. Go ahead.
My other favorite story was "The Blood Red Leaves of Autumn." Does this story belong in this book or in a collection of weird tales or fantasy. I don't know. I liked it here.
Trigger warning: There are some frighteningly violent tales here. You deserve to be frightened. You know you do. Go ahead.
July 26, 2024
I was disappointed in most of these
January 8, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023.
Short story collections are a tough sell; some stories might be interesting but rarely do all of the stories find their mark with the reader.
Most of the stories do have a mystery component, I'm glad to say.
Someone is killed or someone is missing, and the main character solves the case.
Others are not mysteries, not even thrillers; at least I didn't find them thrilling or very suspenseful, though I understand and respect sometimes it's hard to keep the suspense momentum moving in a short story.
A handful of stories were familiar to me since I read them previously in other crime compilations.
I did like a few stories including Ripen and Mr. Filbert's Classroom.
This was a decent collection of short stories mystery and suspense fans might enjoy.
Short story collections are a tough sell; some stories might be interesting but rarely do all of the stories find their mark with the reader.
Most of the stories do have a mystery component, I'm glad to say.
Someone is killed or someone is missing, and the main character solves the case.
Others are not mysteries, not even thrillers; at least I didn't find them thrilling or very suspenseful, though I understand and respect sometimes it's hard to keep the suspense momentum moving in a short story.
A handful of stories were familiar to me since I read them previously in other crime compilations.
I did like a few stories including Ripen and Mr. Filbert's Classroom.
This was a decent collection of short stories mystery and suspense fans might enjoy.
February 16, 2024
It’s an ok collection. I do enjoy having a wider variety of contributors.
February 20, 2024
dnf at 25%
neither mysterious nor suspenseful. mostly crime thrillers
neither mysterious nor suspenseful. mostly crime thrillers
October 11, 2023
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, edited by Lisa Unger and series editor Steph Cha, is an excellent collection of the past year's short stories.
Every story is strong, though like any anthology some will appeal to you more than others. Some readers who think of more involved or complex stories as simply being a particularly difficult crime to solve may be less engaged, these stories for the most part have their complexity in the display of human nature and what drives some of us. In other words, these tend toward deeper rather than simple characters solving complex mysteries. Though there are still some wonderful mysteries along those lines, you just have to deal with a more rounded character.
Because I don't read a lot of contemporary short stories unless they're in a book, whether a single author or multiple, I particularly enjoy this series. I also approach them from two compatible but slightly different perspectives. First, like any reader, I am reading for enjoyment of the story itself. I think this is what most readers mean when they say a story is strong or weak, they mean it did or did not appeal to them. My second perspective is one that, unfortunately, is less common (though not uncommon) which is enjoyment of the form, of the elements that make a short story a short story. This allows me to find enjoyment in stories where the plot might appeal to me less even though the story is well written.
If you like mysteries and suspense stories that rely as much, or more, on looking within a character, you will find a lot here to appreciate. If you like good stories and aren't put off by too much character development (I can't understand why, but some people genuinely fall into this group: "just give me the story, don't make me work to also understand the character") you will also find a lot to like here. If you want the facts, just the facts, well, you might be a little disappointed.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Every story is strong, though like any anthology some will appeal to you more than others. Some readers who think of more involved or complex stories as simply being a particularly difficult crime to solve may be less engaged, these stories for the most part have their complexity in the display of human nature and what drives some of us. In other words, these tend toward deeper rather than simple characters solving complex mysteries. Though there are still some wonderful mysteries along those lines, you just have to deal with a more rounded character.
Because I don't read a lot of contemporary short stories unless they're in a book, whether a single author or multiple, I particularly enjoy this series. I also approach them from two compatible but slightly different perspectives. First, like any reader, I am reading for enjoyment of the story itself. I think this is what most readers mean when they say a story is strong or weak, they mean it did or did not appeal to them. My second perspective is one that, unfortunately, is less common (though not uncommon) which is enjoyment of the form, of the elements that make a short story a short story. This allows me to find enjoyment in stories where the plot might appeal to me less even though the story is well written.
If you like mysteries and suspense stories that rely as much, or more, on looking within a character, you will find a lot here to appreciate. If you like good stories and aren't put off by too much character development (I can't understand why, but some people genuinely fall into this group: "just give me the story, don't make me work to also understand the character") you will also find a lot to like here. If you want the facts, just the facts, well, you might be a little disappointed.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
November 6, 2023
This volume is described as a collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction. Twenty mystery and suspense stories were selected by the editors to represent some of the best stories of the year. The stories cover a variety of topics and have settings ranging from Brooklyn to the Virgin Islands. Most of the authors were unfamiliar to me before I read these stories, but most mystery and suspense fans will be familiar with editor Lisa Unger’s work.
I really enjoy reading short stories and collections like this are a great way to discover new authors. This collection had a couple gems but many were too dark, depressing, or slow-paced for my taste. Although I didn’t enjoy all of them, most are well-written and feature some popular authors such as S.A. Cosby, Walter Mosley, and Joyce Carol Oates.
The stories I liked the most are by authors I hadn’t heard of before. Ripen by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier is a relatable story about a food reporter who helps solve a mystery in the Virgin Islands. I would like to read more by this author.
The Invitation by Margaret Randall tells a story about a college student who has to choose between an internship at a newspaper and a trip to Europe with an ex-boyfriend in a unique way.
Crime Scene by Joseph S. Walker is an interesting take on a hired hit. The collection wraps up with another story I enjoyed, Love Interest, about a digital forensics expert who uses his skills to help his client in an unexpected way. I’m glad I was able to read these few stories that I really enjoyed, but overall I was disappointed by the grim tone of most of the stories. However, collections like this usually have something for everyone so others may like the stories that just weren’t the kind I prefer.
~ Christine
I really enjoy reading short stories and collections like this are a great way to discover new authors. This collection had a couple gems but many were too dark, depressing, or slow-paced for my taste. Although I didn’t enjoy all of them, most are well-written and feature some popular authors such as S.A. Cosby, Walter Mosley, and Joyce Carol Oates.
The stories I liked the most are by authors I hadn’t heard of before. Ripen by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier is a relatable story about a food reporter who helps solve a mystery in the Virgin Islands. I would like to read more by this author.
The Invitation by Margaret Randall tells a story about a college student who has to choose between an internship at a newspaper and a trip to Europe with an ex-boyfriend in a unique way.
Crime Scene by Joseph S. Walker is an interesting take on a hired hit. The collection wraps up with another story I enjoyed, Love Interest, about a digital forensics expert who uses his skills to help his client in an unexpected way. I’m glad I was able to read these few stories that I really enjoyed, but overall I was disappointed by the grim tone of most of the stories. However, collections like this usually have something for everyone so others may like the stories that just weren’t the kind I prefer.
~ Christine
February 19, 2024
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 is a captivating anthology of short stories that showcase the diversity and depth of the genre. Edited by bestselling thriller author Lisa Unger and acclaimed mystery writer Steph Cha, this collection features twenty stories from established and emerging voices in the field. From gritty crime dramas to psychological thrillers, from historical mysteries to speculative fiction, these stories will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you thinking long after you finish reading.
Some of the highlights include:
- "The Last Job" by James A. Hearn, a gripping tale of an assassin who breaks his own rules and gets more than he bargained for.
- "The Night Watchman" by Walter Mosley, a masterful story of a security guard who witnesses a murder and becomes entangled in a web of corruption and violence.
- "The Girl in the Green Dress" by Joyce Carol Oates, a haunting story of a young woman who disappears after a night out and the secrets that are revealed in the aftermath.
- "The House on the Hill" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, a chilling story of a couple who move into a haunted mansion and discover the dark history of the previous owners.
- "The Fighter" by S. A. Cosby, a powerful story of a former boxer who seeks revenge for the death of his girlfriend and finds himself in a deadly showdown.
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 is a must-read for fans of the genre and anyone who enjoys well-crafted stories that explore the human condition. Unger and Cha have done a superb job of selecting and introducing the stories, and the authors have delivered some of their best work. This is a collection that will satisfy your appetite for mystery and suspense and make you eager for the next installment.
Some of the highlights include:
- "The Last Job" by James A. Hearn, a gripping tale of an assassin who breaks his own rules and gets more than he bargained for.
- "The Night Watchman" by Walter Mosley, a masterful story of a security guard who witnesses a murder and becomes entangled in a web of corruption and violence.
- "The Girl in the Green Dress" by Joyce Carol Oates, a haunting story of a young woman who disappears after a night out and the secrets that are revealed in the aftermath.
- "The House on the Hill" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, a chilling story of a couple who move into a haunted mansion and discover the dark history of the previous owners.
- "The Fighter" by S. A. Cosby, a powerful story of a former boxer who seeks revenge for the death of his girlfriend and finds himself in a deadly showdown.
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 is a must-read for fans of the genre and anyone who enjoys well-crafted stories that explore the human condition. Unger and Cha have done a superb job of selecting and introducing the stories, and the authors have delivered some of their best work. This is a collection that will satisfy your appetite for mystery and suspense and make you eager for the next installment.
March 10, 2024
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 is a well curated annual collection of new short mystery & suspense fiction edited by Lisa Unger (guest editor) & Steph Cha (series editor). Released 17th Oct 2023 by HarperCollins on their Mariner imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.
There are 20 stories and they're from authors both familiar and new. The stories are varied, there were (as always) some which didn't deliver for me personally, but most were well written and competently plotted. Unusually, for this year's collection, there were no real knockout stories, including the one by Joyce Carol Oates, which should have been a given.
One reason I like collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. It didn't quite pan out here because the collection was more or less just "okay".
Three stars on average (with, sadly, a couple of real clunkers). It's honestly (admittedly subjectively) not up to the predecessor volumes in the series. Maybe next year. Worth it for completists who always buy this series, and for public library acquisition.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 is a well curated annual collection of new short mystery & suspense fiction edited by Lisa Unger (guest editor) & Steph Cha (series editor). Released 17th Oct 2023 by HarperCollins on their Mariner imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.
There are 20 stories and they're from authors both familiar and new. The stories are varied, there were (as always) some which didn't deliver for me personally, but most were well written and competently plotted. Unusually, for this year's collection, there were no real knockout stories, including the one by Joyce Carol Oates, which should have been a given.
One reason I like collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. It didn't quite pan out here because the collection was more or less just "okay".
Three stars on average (with, sadly, a couple of real clunkers). It's honestly (admittedly subjectively) not up to the predecessor volumes in the series. Maybe next year. Worth it for completists who always buy this series, and for public library acquisition.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
October 27, 2023
This year the introduction to the collection of best mysteries is written by popular author, Lisa Unger. She has a lot to say. Readers will also enjoy what Steph Cha shares as the editor of the series.
There are twenty stories in all. They evoke different moods, varying crimes and a wide variety of characters. Dip in and out to find favorites. Some of the authors were known to me so I went to those stories first. For example, there were tales by William Boyle, Joyce Carole Oates and S.A. Cosby. I then spent time with some new writers and was rewarded for that.
Don’t miss the section that shares information about the authors. It is intriguing to see who the writer of each story is.
In addition to the included stories, this title has a section titled Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2022. Get additional ideas of what to read there. Looking at the list makes me realize how difficult it must be to choose the stories to include.
This is a reliably good series. The new volume will be enjoyed for sure.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
There are twenty stories in all. They evoke different moods, varying crimes and a wide variety of characters. Dip in and out to find favorites. Some of the authors were known to me so I went to those stories first. For example, there were tales by William Boyle, Joyce Carole Oates and S.A. Cosby. I then spent time with some new writers and was rewarded for that.
Don’t miss the section that shares information about the authors. It is intriguing to see who the writer of each story is.
In addition to the included stories, this title has a section titled Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2022. Get additional ideas of what to read there. Looking at the list makes me realize how difficult it must be to choose the stories to include.
This is a reliably good series. The new volume will be enjoyed for sure.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
June 3, 2024
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023
by Lisa Unger; Steph Cha
Pub DateOct 17 2023
Mariner Books
Essays & Collections| General Fiction \(Adult\)| Mystery & Thrillers
Mariner Books and Netgalley provided me with a copy of The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 for review:
An anthology like this, featuring some of the most popular mystery writers, is harder to review than your average book:
The Best American Mystery and Suspense* features characters who have been left behind by society and want more from life. A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks revenge on his lost love. An assassin on his last job questions his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim. Described as both thrilling and enlightening, each story, according to Unger, "will have you holding your breath, flipping the pages, thinking about people and why they do what they do."
If you are a fan of the Mystery genre, Lisa Unger has compiled an excellent collection of short stories, I would highly recommend.
Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
by Lisa Unger; Steph Cha
Pub DateOct 17 2023
Mariner Books
Essays & Collections| General Fiction \(Adult\)| Mystery & Thrillers
Mariner Books and Netgalley provided me with a copy of The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 for review:
An anthology like this, featuring some of the most popular mystery writers, is harder to review than your average book:
The Best American Mystery and Suspense* features characters who have been left behind by society and want more from life. A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks revenge on his lost love. An assassin on his last job questions his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim. Described as both thrilling and enlightening, each story, according to Unger, "will have you holding your breath, flipping the pages, thinking about people and why they do what they do."
If you are a fan of the Mystery genre, Lisa Unger has compiled an excellent collection of short stories, I would highly recommend.
Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
September 12, 2023
I love short stories and anthologies. Even the best author must flex their writing skills to deliver quality short stories. In less than a usual chapter length, they must introduce us to the characters and their communities/ back stories, commit to an "event" and then solve it, all while keeping the reader engrossed and flipping pages. I often find that an author will switch genres in an anthology, which gives me an even better appreciation for their talent.
Many have a similar theme with the writers giving their story an unusual “spin” to meet the theme’s intent without copying each other. It is not unusual to find a true gem mixed in with the overall excellent stories, making anthologies a triple threat/ treat. When a book is billed as "the best" they had better deliver and this one definitely does. The authors who contributed are some of the best known in this genre. I truly enjoyed my reading time with these excellent stories.
Many have a similar theme with the writers giving their story an unusual “spin” to meet the theme’s intent without copying each other. It is not unusual to find a true gem mixed in with the overall excellent stories, making anthologies a triple threat/ treat. When a book is billed as "the best" they had better deliver and this one definitely does. The authors who contributed are some of the best known in this genre. I truly enjoyed my reading time with these excellent stories.
May 8, 2023
I’m thrilled and beyond honored to announce that I have been asked to guest edit the BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE 2023 anthology. Invited by the brilliantly talented Steph Cha to help her select twenty stories from the very best short works written last year, I have loved every minute of working on this project. There is so much talent in our community and I simply can’t wait to share our dark, twisted, funny, wildly inventive, and moving selections with you when the book releases in October.
December 27, 2023
I thought that there were a lot of great short stories in this book, however I really surprised that there was so much focus on crime in the stories as opposed to just sticking with the genres of mystery and suspense, I really liked the crashing of genres and the fantasy elements in this book. I would definitely be interested in reading this type of collection in the future. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.
March 15, 2024
I read halfway through this book in March 2024 and really enjoyed the stories. There's a good variety of approaches, from hard-boiled to speculative. Well-chosen, Ms. Unger!
I have to return the book to the library today. If I get a chance to check it out again, I need to restart with the Walter Moseley story. I also need to cull the suggestions for novel-length mysteries embedded in the Contributors' Notes.
I have to return the book to the library today. If I get a chance to check it out again, I need to restart with the Walter Moseley story. I also need to cull the suggestions for novel-length mysteries embedded in the Contributors' Notes.
September 6, 2023
A stellar collection of the best short stories in crime fiction, as selected by the inestimable Steph Cha and superstar Lisa Unger. I so love the new direction and fresh feel Cha has brought to this volume since she's become editor, and once again she and the guest editor have knocked it out of the park.
November 16, 2023
This is my first year reading The Best American Mystery and Suspense. I'm a huge fan of Lisa Unger, so her intro to the collection was a draw for me. I'm not a huge short story person, but this was fun to read and introduced me to new authors. There are 20 stories altogether, varying widely in subgenera and types of character. If you're a fan of the genre, I'd recommend picking it up!
March 19, 2024
favorites:
* New York Blues Redux, by William Boyle
* When We Remembered Zion, by A.J. Jacono
* Mr Filbert’s Classroom, by Adam Meyer
* The Land of Milk and Honey, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
* Valley of the Moon, by Leigh Newman
* The Ticks Will Eat You Whole, by Anthony Neil Smith
* Flight, by Thaai Walker
* New York Blues Redux, by William Boyle
* When We Remembered Zion, by A.J. Jacono
* Mr Filbert’s Classroom, by Adam Meyer
* The Land of Milk and Honey, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
* Valley of the Moon, by Leigh Newman
* The Ticks Will Eat You Whole, by Anthony Neil Smith
* Flight, by Thaai Walker
October 23, 2023
Lisa Unger guest edits 2023’s anthology of the top suspense and mystery short stories published in 2022. The stories are good, but some are slow moving. Not as suspenseful as I expected them to be for being her favorites.
December 8, 2023
These story collections are so important. I requested this ARC because I love the authors so much! There are 20 stories in all. I didn't love all of them but I loved a few of them and that's pretty good for a story collection. The collection is well assembled.
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