CRITIC’S TOP PICKS from the BEST LISTS of 2021
by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

44 Mentions
RAZORBLADE TEARS, S.A. Cosby – Crime Novel of the Year

17 Mentions
BILLY SUMMERS, Stephen King
HARLEM SHUFFLE, Colson Whitehead

14 Mentions
FIVE DECEMBERS, James Kestrel
THE DARK HOURS, Michael Connelly

13 Mentions
DREAM GIRL, Laura Lippman
THE OTHER BLACK GIRL, Zakiya Dalila Harris

12 Mentions
THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE, Richard Osman
CLARK AND DIVISION, Naomi Hirahara
THE TURNOUT, Megan Abbott
THE PLOT, Jean Hanff Korelitz

11 Mentions
VELVET WAS THE NIGHT, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME, Laura Dave
SILVERVIEW, John le Carre’

10 Mentions
THE SURVIVORS, Jane Harper
THE PUSH, Ashley Audrain

9 Mentions
SLOUGH HOUSE, Mick Herron
WE BEGIN AT THE END, Chris Whitaker
GIRL A, Abigail Dean
WHO IS MAUDE DIXON?, Alexandra Andrews
ARSENIC AND ADOBO, Mia P. Manansala
THE DARK REMAINS, William McIlvanney & Ian Rankin

How this list of the Best of the Best 2021 Came About

It started in November, 2020. I got the idea to catalogue all of the Best of the Year lists of mysteries, crime novels and thrillers as they came out to see what they tell us. I found 50 lists by experts (including our own DP staff members). Most of the lists originated in the U.S., but there were also lists from the U.K. and Australia. Then I correlated the lists to see which books had the most mentions on those lists. The most-mentioned novel was BLACKTOP WASTELAND by S. A. Cosby and it went on to win several awards including our Barry Award for Best Novel. Other most-mentioned novels also went on to be nominated and/or win awards, such as WINTER COUNTS by David Heska Wanbli Weiden, which was also a Barry-Award winner.

I was very pleased with how last year’s experiment turned out, so it was with great anticipation in early November of 2021 that I embarked on collecting the 2021’s round of best lists. I spent an embarrassing amount of time to find 85 lists (I enjoyed every minute of my quest), which resulted in a master list containing each book from each of the 85 lists. After each title on the master list there was an abbreviation of the list or lists upon which it was found. This process illustrated to me how diverse opinions are about individual books. That shouldn’t have come as any surprise because each year I seem to read at least one book that I really liked, but I seem to be in alone in that opinion – either because others didn’t read that book – or did and didn’t think highly of it. Now multiply that same experience with those who came up with the 85 lists and you see why there were so many titles on the master list that appeared on only 1 or 2 lists. This Master List will be published in the next issue of Deadly Pleasures coming out in early February, 2022. I may post it on the website as well.

Now to the 2021 results. If you have been a visitor to our website during the last two months, you will have noticed that I have posted the 85 “best” lists on the site as I became aware of them. I often worked in tandem with J. Kingston Pierce and his incomparable website The Rap Sheet in finding these lists. He’d find some that I hadn’t noticed and visa versa. A big “thank you” goes out to Jeff. Also Assistant Editor Larry Gandle found a few of the lists for me. The lists from major newspapers here and abroad were the hardest to get information out of because of their firewalls that required subscriptions to see the information. Fortunately I was able to find ways to get around the firewalls and get the information I was after.

The system for compiling this list isn’t perfect because some lists are clearly better than others, but it seems to me the best way to find some consensus of opinion before the award nominations come out. This list will be a great help to our Barry Award Nominating Committees.

It should be noted that 17 of the 21 titles on this list appeared on The DP List 2021. Two of the titles we missed on The DP List got negative or lackluster reviews from DP reviewers (SILVERVIEW by John le Carre’ and THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper). One of the other two that didn’t make the list didn’t receive any starred reviews (THE LAST THING YOU TOLD ME by Laura Dave) and the other one only received one starred review (THE DARK REMAINS by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin). We simply missed those last two. All and all I think we did a good job with The DP List in alerting folks to what books are the best of the best.


Personal note: I read 131 mysteries, crime novels and thrillers in 2021. Of those mentioned above, I read 10 of them. I started 2 others and didn’t finish them. Of the remaining novels, there is only one that I will try. A book can be on a best list and still not interest me. Different strokes for different folks. My 6 favorite novels of the year made the list, so I’m feeling quite validated in my opinion and the work we do at Deadly Pleasures to find the best to recommend to all of you.
One other benefit of this process for me, as an anglophile, is that I get to see what the British critics really liked and notice books yet unpublished in the U.S. — such as VINE STREET by Dominic Nolan and EDGE OF THE GRAVE by Robbie Morrison, that I’m now anxious to read. I’m already reading and enjoying THE WAITER by Ajay Chowdhury.
My thanks to all who created best lists of 2021, especially the contributors to Deadly Pleasures, who came up with some terrific “best” lists.

Note from Larry Gandle: This was a brilliant idea George came up with last year. I helped in finding a few lists he was unaware of but he was relentless in discovering lists of his own. I often questioned the lists as being too focused on a particular subgenre such as domestic suspense, but he wouldn’t hear of ignoring any list.
This year the end result is so perfect! These really are the best books of the year. I didn’t necessarily like all of them but admired every one of them. What I am curious about is how much the Edgar Award nominations will agree with this list. I have often said that the Edgar Committees work in a vacuum and have often, shamelessly, overlooked the best of the best. Last year, the absence of S.A. Cosby’s BLACKTOP WASTELAND from Edgar-Award nomination was glaring.
This list is not our opinion. It is truly the result of dozens of opinions by some of the most respected critics of crime fiction in the world.
One other thing I will mention. I read RAZORBLADE TEARS pretty much before anybody else. I could not believe how good the book was for me. I gave it an A+ which means its one of my favorites of the decade. I frantically called others, asking them to read it, to see if I was way off on my exuberant praise. I now can pat myself on the back that I was right on!
I encourage you to read the books on this list. You really can’t go wrong!