Look back at my favorite crime novels from 2023
Long-time readers might recall my first column in 2004. I covered three crime novels. Later on, the ever observant Ron Rollins, my first editor, remarked that I sure do like mystery novels. He was right, crime novels really are my guilty pleasures.
My favorite crime novels from the past year have three things in common; they were written by authors I admire tremendously, they all did radio interviews to talk to me about them, and I covered them all for this newspaper. Here they are:
‘Dark Ride; by Lou Berney
A 21-year-old slacker named Hardy “Hardly” Reed is waiting to deal with a traffic ticket when he notices two children sitting quietly. Then he saw visible indications these kids were being abused. That was none of his business but he decided to make it his business. In this amazing thriller Hardly tracks down their abusers and metes out his own version of rough justice.
‘All the Sinners Bleed’ by S.A. Cosby
As this one opens the first Black sheriff of a rural county in Virginia, Titus Crown, hears that there has been a shooting at the local high school. He rushes over there. In the aftermath of that incident he realizes he’s got a serial killer to deal with and some deeply racist uncooperative citizens keeping him from doing his job.
‘Prom Mom’ by Laura Lippman
They called her “Prom Mom” because she allegedly killed her baby then left town in shame.
Now she’s back and she cannot stay away from her former boyfriend, the father of that child, and he doesn’t even realize she’s back in town. Laura Lippman writes fiendishly clever books and this one is sure to surprise readers.
‘The Detective Up Late’ by Adrian McKinty
Adrian McKinty wrote a series of books featuring a police detective named Sean Duffy. Set in Northern Ireland during the period known as ‘The Troubles,” these novels are superb. McKinty stopped writing the series for quite a while. In this new book Duffy is older and wiser. There’s lots of action and a sizzling plot.
‘Flags on the Bayou’ by James Lee Burke
James Lee Burke just celebrated his 87th birthday. You might think he would be slowing down. He’s not. This latest book is set in Louisiana during the Civil War and
is a bookend in a way to a novel he wrote years ago; the masterwork “White Doves at Morning.” Burke has a new story collection, “Harbor Lights,” coming out next month.
‘The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder’ by Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block is now 85 years old and his output is definitely much less than it was. Of course he has written over 200 books and any new title is definitely a treat. He is best known for his Matthew Scudder series. Scudder was a private eye in New York City and he’s been aging in real time. He’s now as old as his creator and in this latest book he’s looking back at his life.