The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023

By: Lisa Unger, Steph Cha

Narrated by: Sue Jean Kim, Laura Copland, Chanté McCormick, Pun Bandhu, Terrence Kidd, Ewan Chung, Jacob Patalive, Aida Reluzco

A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger and series editor Steph Cha.

“This form has a special kind of magic, the ability to transport you quickly, intensely, to capture character, time, place, and story with immediacy,” writes guest editor Lisa Unger in her introduction. The transporting stories in this year’s The Best American Mystery and Suspense are populated by those who exist on the fringe of our society and want more than what life has dealt them: A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks vengeance for his lost love. An assassin on his last job finds himself questioning his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim. By turns thrilling and enlightening, each story, according to Unger, “will have you holding your breath, flipping the pages, will leave you thinking about people and why they do the dark, dangerous, frightening things that they do.”

The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 includes Ashley-­Ruth M. Bernier • William Boyle • S. A. Cosby • Jacqueline Freimor • James A. Hearn • Ladee Hubbard • A. J. Jacono • Adam Meyer • Silvia Moreno-­Garcia • Walter Mosley • Leigh Newman • Joyce Carol Oates • Margaret Randall • Annie Reed • Anthony Neil Smith • Faye Snowden • Jervey Tervalon • Joseph S. Walker • Thaai Walker • Jess Walter

©2023 Lisa Unger and Steph Cha (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Not the best, Worst?

Disappointing. There were a few reasonable stories but most were noir and not very mysterious. I won't get other such collections although it just means that my likes are not those of editors.

It breaks my heart to say it, but this series has fallen off.

I used to live for this series, but the stories just aren’t what they used to be. I have a couple more stories to get through, but even if they’re bangers it won’t change my overall opinion. The narration left much to be desired as well. If it’s one thing I hate to do, it’s waste a credit. This was a waste.

Another Great Year of Shorts

I love short stories and the “Best American” selections seem to be the best curated collections.

This year I really liked New York Blues Redux, Crime Scene, The Mayor of Duke City, Love Inerest, 33 Clues to the Disappearance of my Sister, and Home is the Hunter, . There were three other very good stories and a dozen more that varied between good and OK.

I REALLY like a new feature of the Best American series for 2023 – at the end they have a brief narrative from each author about their story. This is a GREAT addition which I hope is continued!

The narration varies but overall good to excellent.