BEST CRIME STORIES OF THE YEAR VOLUME 4 edited by Anthony Horowitz and Otto Penzler (Head of Zeus, £20) should probably have the word “American” in its title since, other than a solitary Cuban, I don’t think it includes any author from outside the US. 

Apart from that slight complaint — and to be fair, the selection probably only reflects the current state of the market — this is a satisfying collection, varied in style and subject, and good value at nearly 400 pages. Each of the stories is followed by a brief afterword in which the writer discusses the origins of the piece. 

The contemporary version of the journalist-as-sleuth often features a true-crime podcaster taking up cold cases on behalf of families who feel let down by the police. In Unsound by Heather Critchlow (Canelo Crime, £9.99) the crusader with a microphone is Cal Lovett, who is going through hard days himself: his mother is frail, his daughter isn’t talking to him, his girlfriend may not be his girlfriend for much longer, and the trial of the man he believes murdered his sister when Cal was a child is approaching its climax.