Deadly Pleasure Mystery Magazine’s Associate Editor has provided his best of the year list.

THE HUMAN SCALE, Lawrence Wright (Knopf, $30.00, March)
WITNESS 8, Steve Cavanagh (Atria, $29.99, March)
KING OF ASHES, S. A. Cosby (Flatiron, $28.99, June)
DEATH OF US, Abigail Dean (Viking, $30.00, April)
HEARTWOOD by Amity Gaige (Simon & Schuster, $28.99, April)
THE DREAM HOTEL, Laila Lalami (Pantheon, $29.00, March)
WILD DARK SHORE, Charlotte McConaghy (Flatiron Books, $28.99, March)
THE SAVAGE, NOBLE DEATH OF BABS DIONNE, Ron Currie (Putnam, $29.00)
KILL YOUR DARLINGS, Peter Swanson (Morrow, $30.00)
STILLWATER, Tanya Scott (Atlantic Monthly, $27.00, August)