Just received an email from Mike Craven in which he included this interesting Top Ten list, not all of which are 2022 books and not all mysteries. Totally agree with the Robotham, Winslow and the Offutt.
M. W. Craven’s top ten books from 2022 (in no particular order):
DARK OBJECTS by Simon Toyne. A move away from his previous supernatural books; Toyne nails the UK-set police procedural.
LYING BESIDE YOU by Michael Robotham. The third book in the Cyrus Haven series, from an author who continues to raise the bar, features everyone’s favourite human lie detector: Evie Cormac.
THE CORNISH CREAM TEA HOLIDAY by Cressida McLaughlin. I thought this would be a palate-cleanser as I’d just finished the brutal, but brilliant, RAZORBLADE TEARS. Turns out good storytelling is good storytelling, no matter the genre. Really enjoyed this and read it in two sittings.
FAIRY TALE by Stephen King. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading Stephen King. After last year’s Billy Summers, this was a return to his more familiar supernatural themes. As brilliant as you’d expect.
IQ by Joe Ide. A late entry into the list and the last book I read this year. It’s so good that after 20 pages I’d bought every book in the series.
LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus. The story of Elizabeth Zott, the chemist turned reluctant TV chef, is a superb study of one woman’s battle to reject the role mapped out for her in 1960s America.
CITY ON FIRE by Don Winslow. What can I say about Don Winslow that hasn’t been said before. A true crime writing legend. I can’t believe that after this trilogy is finished, Winslow is retiring.
THE KILLING HILLS by Chris Offutt. A beautifully painted life of rural Appalachia and the people who live, and commit crimes, there. Superb. It’s a crime Offutt isn’t better known in the UK.
THE SECOND GIRL by David Swinson. A crime series set in Washington DC with an unconventional protagonist. Frank Marr, ex-decorated cop and now gifted PI, is also an unrepentant drug addict. When raiding a drug house to steal their cocaine, Frank finds a young girl chained to a radiator. That his first thought is to leave her and take the cocaine tells you everything you need to know about this series. Not sure I’ve read anything like it before. My find of the year. 2016 title in the U.S.
RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. Cosby. My book of the year is almost everyone’s book of the year. The story of Ike and Buddy Lee, two homophobic fathers, who go on a revenge-fuelled rampage as they get to the bottom of why their gay sons were murdered, is simply sensational. This book won almost every award going this year and deservedly so (although Dead Ground did beat it to the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger). Doing a panel with Shawn at Capital Crime was the highlight of my year.