A December 21, 2021 article in the Los Angeles Times caught my eye. It is entitled, “America’s Top Mystery Book Critics Break Down The Year in Crime.” It is written from a rolling series of e-mails between Steph Cha (author and critic), Oline Cogdill (a member of our Barry Award nominating committee and nationally-syndicated reviewer), Sarah Weinman (a former reviewer for Deadly Pleasures – now for The New York Times), Maureen Corrigan (NPR), and Molly Odintz (CrimeReads). I found it interesting — but a bit too much emphasis was placed on politically correctness in crime fiction. For my interests, I would have preferred more discussion about the praiseworthy books mentioned instead of how they fit into the current social and political scene (Oline, to her credit, tried). Alas, to each his (or in this case – her) own.
Larry Gandle wonders why no male critics were invited to participate? Are there no “top” American male mystery book critics?