“Best of The Strand Magazine,” edited by Andrew F. Gulli and Lamia J. Gulli (Blackstone)

What a treat this book is: the best of Strand Magazine’s mysteries published over the past 25 years by the genre’s best writers. Among them: Michael Connelly, Walter Mosley, Tennessee Williams, Alexander McCall Smith, Shirley Jackson, James Lee Burke, P.G. Wodehouse and many others.

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but mine is Burke’s “Deportees,” set at the beginning of World War II, but with relevance to today. In it, an old Texas Ranger shields a group of Mexican illegals on a Texas ranch, while a group of bullies wants to cart them back across the border. Told by the ranger’s grandson, the story is filled with pathos, nostalgia and wisdom.

“Robert B. Parker’s Showdown,” by Mike Lupica (Putnam)

Spe

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