Two of my favorite suspense and thriller authors, Steph Cha and Lisa Unger, did not disappoint here with their curation of excellent short mystery and thriller stories. The Joyce Carol Oates and SA Cosby stories were real standouts for me. I always enjoy reading this yearly edition and this year's installment was especially good. Can't wait for next year's curation!

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 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.

Lisa Unger has picked some winners for this year’s anthology. Haunting stories of crime from excellent writers like Silvia Moreno Garcia. I look forward to this antho every year and it never disappoints.

Thank you to Netgalley for this novel.
This is a collection of short stories ranging in different topics. I had a great time reading these short stories. Some of them I liked and others that I didn’t.

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.

A great collection of mysteries. These books are perfect to read your favorites and find new authors to read.

This was so good. I loved all the stories by some of my favorite mystery authors. I quickly read this story by story. I could not stop reading this! A must for all mystery readers! Every story is just as good as the previous story.
I just reviewed The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 by Lisa Unger; Steph Cha. #TheBestAmericanMysteryandSuspense2023 #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

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.

I really enjoyed this book! I didn't even know these existed and it offers something for everyone. I like that if for whatever reason a story doesn't appeal to you then you can just move on to the next chapter and read a whole new story. I love everything Lisa Unger is apart of so that just made this book even better.

Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for the sneak peak. This book was published on October 17.

I wasn't a very big fan of this anthology. I like mystery, but a lot of these were more suspense, and some seemed to be neither. A few were very good, but as all are re-prints, you might fare better to just read back editions of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, etc.

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!

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MarinerBooks for the ARC #TheBestAmericanMysteryAndSuspense2023 by #LisaUnger. This book based on 20 fiction short stories was very interesting. I recommend this book.

This collection of short stories is a great read! Though I didn't find them all that suspenseful, each of the stories had something that lingered after I finished reading. There was such a diverse range of stories with a range of settings, subjects, and styles, I never knew what to expect from one story to the next. The first story didn't really draw me in, so I jumped around a bit. I found the notes at the very end of the book confusing until I read "Foreward." In the corrected copy, I hope these appear as footnotes within the story. I have already recommended this book to a friend.

Best American Mystery Stories 2023

I often recommend short story collections to people. They are good for getting out of a reading slump. I personally use them to gather recommendations of new authors - similar to a “try before you buy”. All too often I have found mystery collections focusing on a theme, such as the perfect crime.

Unfortunately though anthologies are the main way to access short stories. Rare are the days of reading just one story in a publication. The sole exception being The New Yorker. And unfortunately none of the stories here are from The New Yorker. In fact, multiple stories in this book were originally published in one collection. That takes all the fun out of it.

Several of these stories didn’t even make the “mystery” cut for me and seem out of place. There should be a rule that any anthology can only contribute one story. I think I prefer the Ellery Queen or Alfred Hitchcock magazines as opposed to those showcased here. The lone exception is the SA Crosby selection.

I’m sorry to say this just didn’t resonate with me. Better luck next year.