Best Mysteries of 2023: How Many Have You Read?

It’s always interesting to see which books make the Best Mysteries lists each year. I like to check out which books appear on multiple lists and to add books I’ve missed to my ever-growing To Be Read list.

Below, I’ve copied the Best Mysteries of 2023 lists from various sources; those books featuring female protagonists are in bold. While I’ve read many on these lists, I’m most excited about these new-to-me books:

Hollow Beasts by Alisa Lynn Valdés: The first in a series featuring Jodi Luna, a Boston academic who decides to start over as a game warden in New Mexico. She soon finds herself taking on a white supremacist group.

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie: Syd Walker, a Cherokee archaeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, must return to her rural Oklahoma hometown to investigate the disappearance of two women — one of them her sister.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager: A woman takes a job caring for an elderly invalid, Lenora Hope, the only survivor of a Lizzie Borden-like family massacre many years before. But Hope may not be as incapacitated as she seems.

Roundup of Best Mysteries of 2023 Lists

Note: Some lists mix mysteries and thrillers versus traditional mysteries. Also, some lists are in alphabetical order while others are in order of “best” read.

From The Washington Post:

  1. The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman
  2. Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie
  3. The Body by the Sea by Jean-Luc Bannalec
  4. Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux
  5. Hollow Beasts by Alisa Lynn Valdés
  6. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
  7. The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths
  8. The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann
  9. Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb
  10. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

From The New York Times:

  1. All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
  2. Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
  3. Ozark Dogs by Eli Craner
  4. Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy
  5. Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux
  6. The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon
  7. My Men by Victoria Kielland
  8. Blaze Me A Sun by Christoffer Carlsson
  9. Reykjavik by Ragnar Jonasson and Katrin Jakobsdottir
  10. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

From Barnes & Nobles:

  1. The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
  2. The Only One Left by Riley Sager
  3. After That Night by Karin Slaughter (Will Trent)
  4. Small Mercies by Dennis LeHane
  5. Zero Days by Ruth Ware
  6. All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
  7. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
  8. The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves (Matthew Venn)
  9. Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes
  10. You Shouldn’t Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose

From Amazon (Top 10 Standalone):

  1. Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
  2. Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
  3. All The Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
  4. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
  5. Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb
  6. Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes
  7. Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
  8. Age of Vice by Deepit Kapoor
  9. The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
  10. Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T.J. Newman

From Amazon (Top 10 New or Continuing Series):

  1. The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (Molly the Maid)
  2. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (Thursday Murder Club)
  3. Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly (Micky Haller)
  4. City of Dreams by Don Winslow (Danny Ryan)
  5. The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen (Maggie Bird)
  6. Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie (Jodi Luna)
  7. Glory Be by Danielle Arseneaux (Glory Broussard)
  8. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally (Lady Petra Forsyth)
  9. Exiles by Jane Harper (Aaron Falk)
  10. Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado (Antonia Scott)

Do you have Best Mysteries annual lists that you always check out? Which great ones am I missing?

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