Steph Cha

The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, edited by Lisa Unger and series editor Steph Cha, is an excellent collection of the past year's short stories.

Every story is strong, though like any anthology some will appeal to you more than others. Some readers who think of more involved or complex stories as simply being a particularly difficult crime to solve may be less engaged, these stories for the most part have their complexity in the display of human nature and what drives some of us. In other words, these tend toward deeper rather than simple characters solving complex mysteries. Though there are still some wonderful mysteries along those lines, you just have to deal with a more rounded character.

Because I don't read a lot of contemporary short stories unless they're in a book, whether a single author or multiple, I particularly enjoy this series. I also approach them from two compatible but slightly different perspectives. First, like any reader, I am reading for enjoyment of the story itself. I think this is what most readers mean when they say a story is strong or weak, they mean it did or did not appeal to them. My second perspective is one that, unfortunately, is less common (though not uncommon) which is enjoyment of the form, of the elements that make a short story a short story. This allows me to find enjoyment in stories where the plot might appeal to me less even though the story is well written.

If you like mysteries and suspense stories that rely as much, or more, on looking within a character, you will find a lot here to appreciate. If you like good stories and aren't put off by too much character development (I can't understand why, but some people genuinely fall into this group: "just give me the story, don't make me work to also understand the character") you will also find a lot to like here. If you want the facts, just the facts, well, you might be a little disappointed.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)