Coming Out on Top

2013 has produced scores of excellent crime, mystery, and thriller novels--everything from George Pelecanos’ The Double and Louise Penny’s How the Light Gets In to Charles McCarry’s The Shanghai Factor, Jassy MacKenzie’s Pale Horses, J. Robert Janes’ Tapestry, Lyndsay Faye’s Seven for a Secret, Richard Helms’ The Mojito Coast, and Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland, by Ace Atkins. So when I sat down to assemble a list of my 10 favorites for Kirkus Reviews, it was no easy exercise. My final selections--posted this morning on the Kirkus Web site--are sure to delight some readers and disappoint others. Feel free to express your opinions in the Comments section below, or on the Kirkus page featuring this week’s column.