Tag Archives: Strand Magazine

Image from A Bit of Je Ne Sais Quoi

Its 2014 – and I have to start it with a mea culpa.  I’m starting a new job and between leaving the previous one (Bye!  I will miss you!) and starting the new one (How does this work?), buying a house, selling one, visiting family… well, the blog is taking a hit.  Not that I haven’t been reading.  I give up sleeping before I give up reading.  So despite no reviews recently, I’m moved to post because The Strand Magazine has released its list of top 20 mysteries of 2013!

Here they are: 

1) The Devil in Her Way by Bill Loehfelm (Sarah Crichton Books)
2) The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver (Grand Central)
3) The Ophelia Cut by John Lescroart (Atria)
4) White Fire by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central)
5) Twist by John Lutz (Kensington)
6) No Way Out by Alan Jacobson (Premier Digital Publishing)
7) Death’s Last Run by Robin Spano (ECW Press)
8) Murder Below Montparnasse by Cara Black (Soho)
9) Dead Man’s Time by Peter James (Macmillan)
10) Deadly Harvest by Michael Stanley (Harper)
11) The Famous and the Dead by T. Jefferson Parker (Dutton)
12) Into The Dark by Rick Mofina (Mira)
13) Sandrine’s Case by Thomas H. Cook (Mysterious Press)
14) A Dog in Water by Kazuhiro Kiuchi (Vertical)
15) Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell (Mulholland Books)
16) The Highway by C.J. Box (Minotaur)
17) The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith  (Pantheon)
18) The October List by Jeffery Deaver (Grand Central)
19) The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Company)
20) Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam)

I greet a list like this one with mixed emotions and expectations – I really expect to have read most of the books on the list, but generally my hit rate is not so high.  (I’ve highlighted the six I’ve already read, and included links to the two I reviewed.)   While my self-esteem takes a blow, I’m thrilled to have newly recommended books.  In this case, the timing may be problematic, because it’s likely the 2014 Edgar nominees will be announced shortly.  Perhaps they’ll overlap.

PS:  Point of Personal Privilege to plug The Strand Magazine.  Great reviews, original mystery short fiction, and even the ads are worth perusing.   Subscribe for less than $20.