Another British bookseller has come up with a long list of best crime fiction and thrillers for 2022, divided into four categories: Cosy Crime, Detectives, Thrillers and Espionage. Lots of good books on the list. Also a lot of unknowns (as least for me), but this process of finding all of the best lists out there is educational to me and I hope to you about some of the lesser known best books. I’m trying to catch up with my reading — just about finished THE ACCOMPLICE by Steve Cavanagh. Then onto THE TWIST OF A KNIFE by Anthony Horowitz, A HEART FULL OF HEADSTONES by Ian Rankin and THE PARTISAN by Patrick Worrall. I’m confident that all of these will appear on multiple “best” lists in the next month or so. And I will consider them for my own “best” list.
Waterstones Best Crime and Thrillers 2022
Cosy Crime
THE SATSUMA COMPLEX, Bob Mortimer
THE BULLET THAT MISSED, Richard Osman
MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG, Reverend Richard Coles
MARPLE: Twelve New Stories
MURDER MOST ROYAL, S. J. Bennett
THE MAID, Nita Prose
BLOOD ON THE SIBERIAN SNOW, C. J. Farrington
A SONG OF COMFORTABLE CHAIRS, Alexander McCall Smith
DEVIL’S DELIGHT, M. C. Beaton
THE CAT WHO CAUGHT A KILLER, L. T. Shearer
Detectives
THE INK BLACK HEART, Robert Galbraith
A HEART FULL OF HEADSTONES, Ian Rankin
THE TWIST OF A KNIFE, Anthony Horowitz
1989, Val McDermid
LIVID, Patricia Cornwell
THE RISING TIDE, Ann Cleeves
MEANTIME, Frankie Boyle
THE ACCOMPLICE, Steve Cavanagh
DESERT STAR, Michael Connelly
DARK MUSIC, David Lagercrantz
THE FURIES, John Connolly
THE MURDERS AT FLEAT HOUSE, Lucinda Riley
BLEEDING HEART YARD, Elly Griffiths
THE LONG KNIVES, Irvine Welsh
BLACK LAKE MANOR, Guy Morpuss
THE TREES, Percival Everett
Thrillers
NO PLAN B, Lee Child & Andrew Child
THE BUTCHER AND THE WREN, Alaina Urquhart
THE SKELETON KEY, Erin Kelly
DO NO HARM, Jack Jordan
THE BOYS FROM BILOXI, John Grisham
NOTES ON AN EXECUTION, Danya Kukafka
THE IT GIRL, Ruth Ware
NEXT IN LINE, Jeffrey Archer
GENESIS, Chris Carter
THE FAMILY REMAINS, Lisa Jewell
THE ENIGMA OF ROOM 622, Joel Dicker
TWO STORM WOOD, Philip Gray
THE ISLAND, Adrian McKinty
RUN, ROSE, RUN, Dolly Parton, James Patterson
RED MIST, Ant Middleton
THE PARTY HOUSE, Lin Anderson
THE 6:20 MAN, David Baldacci
CITY ON FIRE, Don Winslow
THE CLIFF HOUSE, Chris Brookmyre
VERITY, Colleen Hoover
THE RETREAT, Sarah Pearse
TWO NIGHT IN LISBON, Chris Pavone
A TIDY ENDING, Joanna Cannon
WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME, Gillian McAllister
Espionage
THE PARTISAN, Patrick Worrall
DOUBLE OR NOTHING, Kim Sherwood
BAD ACTORS, Mick Herron
WITH A MIND TO KILL, Anthony Horowitz
EDITH AND KIM, Charlotte Philby