I am very pleased – over the moon, in fact – to announce that four veteran crime fiction and thriller reviewers have consented to join our Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine staff starting with the upcoming February issue.
This all came about when I learned that Mystery Scene Magazine was ceasing publication with its last issue that came out last month. At Bouchercon, it was Robin Agnew (a Mystery Scene reviewer) who informed me about this happening and she quickly asked, “Do you need another reviewer?” To which I gleefully responded, “You bet!”
Robin writes very well and I see her filling a void that was created when our reviewers Norma Dancis (traditional mysteries) and Sally Sugarman (historical mysteries) passed away. (No, the positions are not haunted.) Robin brings a world of experience not only as a reader, fan, and reviewer but also as a bookseller as well, having run Aunt Agatha’s Mystery Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan for many years. She was a loyal customer of Deadly Pleasures before the store closed. Robin still maintains the Aunt Agatha’s website that contains interesting information about mystery fiction.
And that got me thinking about other Mystery Scene reviewers whom I have admired over the years. So I asked three of them to join us and they graciously accepted.
There’s Hank Wagner, whose primary area of expertise is thriller fiction, and since we have a thriller column in our magazine, he is a natural fit. He co-wrote/compiled with David Morrell one of my top 5 favorite reference works: THRILLERS: 100 MUST READS. Hank told me he’s working on a sequel.
Then there is Kevin Burton Smith, whose lively writing style and eclectic tastes make reading his reviews a joyful experience.
You may have encountered him on his Thrilling Detective website and blog or as a contributor to The Rap Sheet.
Last, but not least, is New Zealander/now living in London, Craig Sisterson. His focus will be on the Australian and New Zealand crime novel as well as the U.K. crime fiction scene. His latest effort is a short story anthology DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER (July, 2022) , which features works of Australian and New Zealand crime writers. He is the creator of the Ngaio Marsh Awards for the Best in New Zealand crime fiction.
Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine has a great group of reviewers right now, but these four put us into the stratosphere. I’m excited for what they will bring to the magazine and to you, the mystery reader. Stay tuned for bigger and better issues.
Robin, Hank, Kevin and Craig have kindly given us their lists of their choices for The Best Mystery, Crime, Suspense and Thrillers of 2022. By looking these lists over, you will perhaps get a sense of where their tastes lie.
Robin Agnew’s Top 10 for 2022
ALL THE QUEEN’S MEN, SJ Bennett
UNDER LOCK & SKELETON KEY, Gigi Pandian
THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY, Sulari Gentill
BACK TO THE GARDEN, Laurie R. King
THE LINDBERGH NANNY, Mariah Fredericks
THE WEDDING PLOT, Paula Munier
KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, Deanna Raybourn
A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES, Louise Penny
NO STRANGERS HERE, Carlene O’Connor
BLACKWATER FALLS, Ausma Zehanat Khan
10 Best Historical Mysteries 2022
SECRETS OF THE NILE, Tasha Alexander
BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH, Amanda Flower
A BRIDE’S GUIDE TO MARRIAGE AND MURDER, Dianne Freeman
A BEND OF LIGHT, Joy Jordan-Lasky
LIGHT ON BONE, Kathryn Lasky
MOTHER, DAUGHTER, TRAITOR, SPY, Susan Elia MacNeal
THE UNKEPT WOMAN, Allison Montclair
THE ECHOES, Jess Montgomery
THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB, Harini Nagendra
MURDER IN WESTMINSTER, Vanessa Riley
Hank Wagner’s Best of 2022
TARGETED, Stephen Hunter
THE PARADOX HOTEL, Rob Hart
DARK HORSE, Greg Hurwitz
THE LEMON MAN, Keith Bruton
MOVIELAND, Lee Goldberg
SECRET IDENTITY, Alex Segura
RX MAYHEM, Nina Abbott
THE HANDLER, M. P. Woodward
SCOURGE OF THE SCORPION, Will Murray
SHUTTER, Ramona Emerson
THE BIG BUNDLE, Max Allan Collins
QUARRY’S BLOOD, Max Allan Collins
AMOK, Barry Eisler
THE BURGLAR WHO MET FREDERIC BROWN, Lawrence Block
THE GHOST IN YOU, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
FOLLOW ME DOWN, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Kevin Burton Smith’s Best of 2022
RACING THE LIGHT, Robert Crais
THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE, Gu Byeong-mo
RANDOM, Penn Jillette
FOLLOW ME DOWN, Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
BYE BYE BABY, Ace Atkins
ONE-SHOT HARRY, Gary Phillips
BAD ACTORS, Mick Herron
Craig Sisterson’s Best of 2022
BEFORE YOU KNEW MY NAME by Jacqueline Bublitz (debut)
WAKE by Shelley Burr (debut)
THE PAIN TOURIST by Paul Cleave
DESERT STAR by Michael Connelly
DON’T KNOW TOUGH by Eli Cranor (debut)
LIKE A SISTER by Kellye Garrett
THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME by Gabino Iglesias
THE PERFECT CRIME, edited by Vaseem Khan & Maxim Jakubowski (anthology)
1989 by Val McDermid
EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE by Benjamin Stevenson (out in USA on 17 January 2023)
THOSE WHO PERISH by Emma Viskic
CITY ON FIRE by Don Winslow