STORIES OF THE YEAR 2022 Ed. by Sara Paretsky

“A food anthropologist stirs a messy pot of murder.”

calypso, corpses, and cooking

THE MYSTERIOUS BOOKSHOP PRESENTS THE BEST MYSTERY STORIES OF THE YEAR 2022

Ed. by Paretsky, Sara Mysterious Press (500 pp.) $28.95 | Sept. 13, 2022 978-161316-348-1

The latest in publisher Otto Penzler’s long-running series presents 20 contemporary American mystery stories and one bonus story from 1917, with a brief but sharp introduction by Paretsky.

Paretsky argues that contrary to the oft-quoted dictum, “Write what you know,” mystery fiction gives authors license to use their imaginations liberally, often starting with their own emotions and then pushing the boundaries into the realm of what might have been if only they had been bolder, or more curious, or occasionally just plain sociopathic. Most of these stories have rather pedestrian settings. Doug Allyn’s “Kiss of Life” begins with a day at the beach. Sean Marciniak’s “October in Kauai” traces two youngsters’ scheme to leave Schenectady for a tropical paradise. Keith Lee Morris celebrates Christmas in Jacksonville, Florida, in “Sleigh Bells for the Hayride.” Joyce Carol Oates’ “Detour” has a familiar suburban setting, and Annie Reed’s “Little City Blues” uses Reno, Vegas’ less glamorous sister, as the background for a timeworn detective trope: A private eye gets the goods on an errant spouse. Even the two overseas adventures, Tom Larsen’s “El Cuerpo en el Barril” and Colin Barrett’s “A Shooting in Rathreedane,” are set largely in police stations. And Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Grief Spam” unfolds over the internet. But the stories take off from their humble points of origin into spaces few would have predicted as they explore the terrain most familiar and yet most mysterious of all: the geography of the human heart.

Imaginations run loose in the best ways possible.

CALYPSO, CORPSES, AND COOKING

Reyes, Raquel V. Crooked Lane (336 pp.) $26.99 | Oct. 11, 2022 978-1-63910-106-1

A food anthropologist stirs a messy pot of murder. After earning her doctorate in New York studying the foodways of the Caribbean, Miriam Quiñones is happy to be back in her hometown of Miami, though the gated enclave of Coral Shores has little in common with the Cuban community where she grew up. But much as she misses the sights, sounds, and colors of Hialeah, she enjoys the sense of security Coral Shores affords her husband, Robert, her preschooler, Manny, and the new little arrival she expects in May. So she’s more than a little disconcerted to find the words HELP MURDER scrawled on the side of her house. More disconcerting yet is finding socialite Lois Pimpkin the next day lying in Miriam’s front yard with a severe wound to the head. A few days later, Miriam has a front-row seat when Sebi Malkov, chef at the Coral Shores Country Club, takes a header off the second-floor balcony and dies. By now, Hialeah is looking pretty tame. Between prepping for her two cooking shows—Cocina Caribeña on UnMundo and Abuela Approved on YouTube—and doing advance work for the charity gala her snooty mother-in-law roped her into, Miriam has no time to investigate. But as the corpses pile up, she feels she must, if only to restore the sense of peace and security her growing family deserves. A mind-boggling combination of Byzantine motives and oddball coincidences is required to solve this one.

Reyes serves up a variety of Caribbean treats that maybe should not all be on the same plate.

CITY OF FORTUNE

Thompson, Victoria Berkley (320 pp.) $27.00 | Dec. 6, 2022 978-0-593-44057-5

A society lady’s past as a con artist helps right a wrong involving racehorses and grifting. Gideon Bates may be an attorney from a society family, but his wife, Elizabeth, comes from a family of grifters. She hasn’t put her past entirely behind her but only uses her talents to help people. When racehorse owner Sebastian Nolan hires Gideon to help him arrange a dowry for his 23-year-old daughter, Irene, in order to help her find a suitable husband, he invites Gideon and his family to watch the Belmont Stakes from his box. Irene, the driving force behind Nolan’s stable, is devastated when jockey Cal Regan, whom she loves, is first the victim of a dirty racetrack trick and then is badly injured when Irene’s favorite horse, Trench, collapses during his race. Meanwhile, the Bates family hears the story of how Daniel Livingston, another horse owner, was once engaged to Irene’s longdead mother, Mary, who left him for Nolan, creating a lifelong feud between the two. Both men are gobsmacked when they see a woman at the track who looks just like their lost love accompanied by Elizabeth’s father, a grifter known as the Old Man. Though Irene is pregnant, she hasn’t told Cal, who’s too proud to marry her without money. So the kindhearted Elizabeth, her father, and Mary Nolan’s look-alike cook up a con that will solve the young couple’s problems. Posing as a wealthy Spanish widow who’ll claim a fortune as soon as a family dispute is solved, the look-alike borrows money from quite a few wealthy men. Elizabeth plans on giving her share of the proceeds to Irene. The things she learns about the past make her even more determined to succeed.

A delightfully informative combination of racing lore and a clever con.

BREAKING THE CIRCLE

Trow, M.J. Severn House (224 pp.) $29.99 | Jan. 3, 2023 978-0-7278-5070-6

A chronically curious Egyptologist helps Scotland Yard catch a serial killer. A brief opening scene in which Muriel Fazakerly drowns in her bowl of mulligatawny soup sets the tone for this romp, a cross between a Marplesque cozy and a Holmes-ian puzzle. Elsewhere, Margaret Murray is dreading a scheduled meeting with her publisher over her upcoming book, Elementary Egyptian Grammar, while DS Andrew Crawford celebrates a criminal conviction with his boss, Inspector John Kane, before beginning to investigate the murder of Muriel, aka Madame Ankhara, who was a charismatic medium. Retired inspector Edmund Reid lures Margaret with his interest in the case; the ankh in Ankhara works on her like catnip. Murray and Crawford worked together in Four Thousand Days (2022) and have become friends, so he welcomes her involvement in the investigation. The game is barely afoot when the clever killer claims another victim, Evadne Principal, another medium killed via comestibles, in this case almonds laced with cyanide. The rambling plot is kept afloat by detours into Margaret’s Egyptian scholarship and by a huge cast of colorful supporting characters. Trow’s penchant for plummy names—Lucinda Twelvetrees, Henrietta Plinlimmon, Alexander Dunwoody, Flinders Petrie, and many more—infuses the tale with a welcome buoyancy, as does the knowledge that the daring and resourceful Margaret is based on a real person. One more medium is well done (in) on the way to a final solution.

A brisk, waggish whodunit with a veddy British flavor.

romance

HER LESSONS IN PERSUASION

Frampton, Megan Avon/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $9.99 paper | Jan. 24, 2023 978-0-06-322418-6

A young woman who dreams of being an astronomer wants nothing to do with marriage. Lady Wilhelmina Bettesford is 24 years old and firmly on the shelf—by design. She plans to move to the countryside with her widowed aunt, leaving London and the dreary demands of the aristocracy behind. One evening, while attempting to observe the stars from a bridge, she is “rescued” by barrister Bram Townsend, who thought she was planning to jump to her death. Bram and Wilhelmina feel an instant connection but assume they will never see each other again. Then, Wilhelmina’s plans go awry when her father arrives home with Alethea, his new 19-year-old bride. Although Wilhelmina expects the girl to be an evil stepmother, Alethea is a complex and interesting character, albeit one who is determined to find Wilhelmina a husband. When the family attends a fundraiser for the Devenaugh Home for Destitute Boys, Wilhelmina finds herself face to face with Bram. He and his four best friends were raised in the orphanage and support the institution, hoping to make life better for the abandoned children living there. Alethea suggests that Bram should pretend to court Wilhelmina, which will make her a more attractive prospect to the men of her own titled class. They agree, each for their own reasons: Bram hopes to be promoted to judge, and he can use the scheme to make connections to London’s

“A witch finds new love with someone entirely unexpected and has to decide who she truly wants to be.”

back in a spell

elite, while Wilhelmina hopes to keep the suitors at bay until she comes into her inheritance. The plot is a sweet, slow burn with no conflict, just two people who gradually figure out they are perfect for each other. Bram and Wilhelmina must each reevaluate their long-held beliefs about marriage and partnership with the help of friends and family who recognize they are meant to be together.

Charming and placid.

BACK IN A SPELL

Harper, Lana Berkley (336 pp.) $16.99 paper | Jan. 3, 2023 978-0-593-33610-6

Reeling from heartbreak, a witch finds new love with someone entirely unexpected and has to decide who she truly wants to be. Nineve “Nina” Blackmoore steps into the spotlight in the third installment of the Witches of Thistle Grove series. Dumped by her fiancee, Nina feels unmoored, and the winter season is adding to the blues. She is convinced by her best friend to go on a lowstakes date to get back into the groove, and bar owner Morty Gutierrez, pansexual like Nina and fluid with his gender expression, fits the bill. Although they’re attracted to each other, the date doesn’t go well. But the next day, when Morty—hitherto unaware of the existence of witches—wakes up with magical ability and Nina’s own magic is inexplicably stronger, the pair are thrown together once more. As they explore these new powers, their feelings grow, and Nina starts to evaluate other relationships in her life. The delightful lore of charming Thistle Grove continues to grow in this evocatively written story, although this tale is quieter than the previous installments, with most of the focus on internal emotions, personal growth, and response to trauma. The bond between Nina and Morty allows them to experience the other’s emotions, which amplifies their connection and also makes the bedroom scenes sublimely hot. While the romance is important, the meaningful and inspiring broader story is of Nina learning about herself and choosing what to stand up for.

Another enchanting visit to Thistle Grove.

LOATHE TO LOVE YOU

Hazelwood, Ali Berkley (384 pp.) $14.99 paper | Jan. 3, 2023 978-0-593-43780-3

A trio of contemporary romance novellas featuring engineers getting their happily-ever-afters.

Hazelwood’s STEMinist novellas, a loosely linked trilogy originally published separately over the course of 2022, now arrive packaged together with an exclusive bonus chapter that checks in on the couples as they settle into their romantic lives. In Under One Roof, environmental engineer Mara and corporate lawyer Liam are unlikely roommates, as confirmed by their frequent butting of heads. Their main point of contact: the thermostat. Helena, who was Mara’s former mentor and Liam’s aunt, left Mara half of her Washington, D.C., house upon her death, meaning Mara and Liam have to share it unless one of them agrees to let the other buy them out—and neither is prepared to do that. In Stuck With You, Sadie and Erik are two engineers who work in the same New York City building but for different companies. They previously had a fling, and their residual feelings bubble to the surface when they get stuck in an elevator together. Lastly, in Below Zero, aerospace engineer Hannah is stranded in the Arctic with Ian, the man she feels is responsible for nearly ruining her expedition. However, he seems to be the only one willing to put his life on the line to get the two of them to safety. Forced proximity and frustrating miscommunication are the unifying themes across all three stories. While the characters may blur together in a mix-and-match