The best American mystery and suspense 2023 - Lisa Unger

A collection of the year's best mystery and suspense short fiction selected byNew York Timesbestselling 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--RuthM. Bernier
William Boyle
S.A. Cosby
Jacqueline Freimor
JamesA. 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
JosephS. Walker
Thaai Walker
Jess Walter