Predilections on Parade

The Edinburgh-based Scotsman newspaper is out with a list of what it says are “ five of the best Scottish crime books of 2023 ”:

• Past Lying , by Val McDermid (Sphere)
• Squeaky Clean , by Callum McSorley (Pushkin Vertigo)
• The Maiden , by Kate Foster (Mantle)
• The Second Murderer , by Denise Mina (Harvill Secker)
• Voices of the Dead , by Ambrose Parry (Canongate)

One other set of “best” picks deserving your attention comes from the ever-dependable Ayo Onatade, a reviewer with Shots magazine and author of its top-notch blog, Shotsmag Confidential. Ayo is also a member of the thriller-fiction nominating committee for Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine ’s annual Barry Awards. DP today revealed her favorite crime and mystery releases from the last dozen months.

Best Novels:
• All the Sinners Bleed , by S.A. Cosby (Headline)
• The Secret Hours , by Mick Herron (Baskerville)
• The Second Murderer , by Denise Mina (Harvill Secker)
• The Turnglass , by Gareth Rubin (Simon & Schuster)
• Viper’s Dream , by Jake Lamar (No Exit Press)
• Murder Your Employer: The McMaster’s Guide to Homicide , by Rupert Holmes (Avid Reader Press)
• Everybody Knows , by Jordan Harper (Faber and Faber)
• Ozark Dogs , by Eli Cranor (Headline)
• Small Mercies , by Dennis Lehane (Abacus)
• The Land of Lost Things , by John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton)
• The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys , by Jack Jewers (Moonflower)
• The Square of Sevens , by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)

Honorable Mentions:
• Moscow Exile , by John Lawton (Grove Press)
• Prom Mom , by Laura Lippman (Faber and Faber)
• Resurrection Walk , by Michael Connelly (Orion)
• Flags on the Bayou , by James Lee Burke (Orion)
• Palace of Shadows , by Ray Celestin (Mantle)
• The Mantis , by Kotaro Isaka (Harvill Secker)