Tertulia’s

Best Crime and Thriller Novels of 2023
tertulia.com

This is a very long list (I can hear Larry Gandle griping about it as I type this). But I have to admit that it contains a lot of wheat among what possibly could be chaff. A lot of these titles have also appeared on other best lists that I have seen so far.

HAPPINESS FALLS, Angie Kim
NONE OF THIS IS TRUE, Lisa Jewell
HOT SPRINGS DRIVE, Lindsay Hunter
PENANCE, Eliza Clark
WEST HEART KILL, Dann McDorman
BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN, Jessica Knoll
THE ENCHANTERS, James Ellroy
REYKJAVIK, Ragnar Jonasson & Katrin Jakobsdottir
BROOKLYN CRIME NOVEL, Jonathan Lethem
THE BERRY PICKERS, Amanda Peters
DEVIL MAKES THREE, Ben Fountain
THE PROFESSOR, Lauren Nossett
THE HELSINKI AFFAIR, Anna Pitoniak
THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN EIGHT, Nalini Singh
GOOD GIRLS DON’T DIE, Christina Henry
THE WATCHMAKER’S HAND, Jeffrey Deaver
BEWARE THE WOMAN, Megan Abbott
ALL THE SINNERS BLEED, S. A. Cosby
CROOK MANIFESTO, Colson Whitehead
THE EDEN TEST, Adam Sternbergh
SMALL MERCIES, Dennis Lehane
SING HER DOWN, Ivy Pochoda
THE STOLEN COAST, Dwyer Murphy
CITY OF DREAMS, Don Winslow
THE SPARE ROOM, Andrea Bartz
BIRNAM WOOD, Eleanor Catton
YOU KNOW HER, Meagan Jennett
THE WRITING RETREAT, Julia Bartz
PANTHER GAP, James A. McLaughlin
OZARK DOGS, Eli Cranor
RED QUEEN, Juan Gomez-Jurado
THE KIND WORTH SAVING, Peter Swanson
STONE COLD FOX, Rachel Koller Croft
48 CLUES INTO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY SISTER, Joyce Carol Oates
THE SOULMATE, Sally Hepworth
DECENT PEOPLE, De’shawn Charles Winslow
THE VILLA, Rachel Hawkins
UP WITH THE SUN, Thomas Mallon
THE HOUSE OF PINES, Ana Reyes
EVERYBODY KNOWS, Jordan Harper
WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS, Kate Alice Marshall
EXILES, Jane Harper
THE SHARDS, Bret Easton Ellis
THE THING IN THE SNOW, Sean Adams
CITY UNDER ONE ROOF, Iris Yamashita