I found 113 best mystery, crime fiction and thriller lists this year (mostly from the U.S., but some from the U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia and India). From those I tallied the number of times certain titles were mentioned on those lists. This is an attempt to find some consensus on what exactly are the best mysteries, crime novels and thrillers of the year 2023. The numbers on the list refer to how many best lists a particular title appeared on.
The following is the result of my efforts – the Best of the Best of 2023.
Once again S. A. Cosby was the clear winner of the best mystery of the year (third time out of the last four years). My choice for best mystery of the year, SMALL MERCIES by Dennis Lehane, came in second.
There are 71 titles listed below. I’ve read 33 of them, including 16 of the top 25. 17 of these titles appeared on my personal best of 2023 list. In my opinion 2023 was a banner year for excellence in crime/thriller fiction. There are a few titles on the list that I still intend to read. How many have you read?
In my opinion the two biggest factors for a book getting on a best list are: 1. the critic read the book, and 2. the critic considered the book to be excellent. Unfortunately all the critics posting best of the year lists of crime fiction and thrillers have not read all of the 71 books below (myself included). In many cases, I suspect that the critic has only read a handful of them. If they had read all 71, I expect that the order of books mentioned on best lists would be different than it is. But it is not a perfect world and one works with what one has.
There were a lot of mainstream fiction titles with crime fiction elements this year so I also compiled a list of these crossover novels for those who like literary crime fiction. Look at the end of the post for that list. — George Easter
Interesting fact: The top ten titles were all amazon editors’ monthly picks.
Crime/Thriller Fiction Best of the Best 2023
51
S. A. Cosby, ALL THE SINNERS BLEED (Flatiron)
35
Dennis Lehane, SMALL MERCIES (Harper)
29
Mick Herron, THE SECRET HOURS (Soho Crime)
27
Jessica Knoll, BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN (Simon & Schuster)
24
Richard Osman, THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE (Viking)
24
Deepti Kapoor, AGE OF VICE (Riverhead) — Debut
22
Lisa Jewell, NONE OF THIS IS TRUE (Atria)
20
Stephen King, HOLLY (Scribner)
18
Jordan Harper, EVERYBODY KNOWS (Mulholland)
Jesse Sutanto, VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS (Berkley)
16
Michael Connelly, RESURRECTION WALK (Little,Brown)
William Kent Krueger, THE RIVER WE REMEMBER (Atria)
14
Riley Sager, THE ONLY ONE LEFT (Dutton)
13
Cara Hunter, MURDER IN THE FAMILY (Morrow)
Liz Nugent, STRANGE SALLY DIAMOND (Gallery/Scout Press)
Jane Harper, EXILES (Flatiron)
12
Matthew Richardson, THE SCARLET PAPERS (U.S. in 2024, Penguin)
Clemence Michallon, THE QUIET TENANT (Knopf) — Debut
11
Robert Galbraith, THE RUNNING GRAVE (Mulholland)
Iris Yamashita, CITY UNDER ONE ROOF (Berkley) — Debut
T. J. Newman, DROWNING (Avid Reader Press)
Amy Chua, GOLDEN GATE (Minotaur) — Debut
Eli Cranor, OZARK DOGS (Soho Crime)
Denise Mina, THE SECOND MURDERER (Mulholland)
Juan Gomez-Jurado, RED QUEEN (Minotaur)
10
Lou Berney, DARK RIDE (Morrow)
Brendan Slocumb, SYMPHONY OF SECRETS (Anchor)
9
Nina Simon, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT (Morrow) — Debut
Anthony McCarten, GOING ZERO (Harper) — Debut
Megan Abbott, BEWARE THE WOMAN (Putnam)
Laura Shepherd-Robinson, THE SQUARE OF SEVENS (Atria)
8
John Lawton, MOSCOW EXILE (Atlantic Monthly)
Joseph O’Connor, MY FATHER’S HOUSE (Europa)
Kate Morton, HOMECOMING (Mariner)
Shari Lapena, EVERYONE HERE IS LYING (Viking)
7
Michael Robotham, LYING BESIDE YOU (Scribner)
Adrian McKinty, THE DETECTIVE UP LATE (Blackstone)
Lee & Andrew Child, THE SECRET (Delacorte)
Terry Hayes, THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST (U.S. in 2024)(Atria)
Rupert Holmes, THE MCMASTER’S GUIDE TO HOMICIDE (Avid Reader Press)
Val McDermid, PAST LYING (Atlantic Monthly)
Ivy Pochoda, SING HER DOWN (MCD)
Margot Douaihy, SCORCHED GRACE (Gillian Flynn Books) — Debut
Nita Prose, THE MYSTERY GUEST (Ballantine)
Benjamin Stevenson, EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE (Mariner)
Adrian Sternbergh, THE EDEN TEST (Flatiron)
6
I. S. Berry, THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW (Atria) — Debut
Laura Lippman, PROM MOM (Morrow)
Rob Rinder, THE TRIAL (U.K. only) — Debut
John Banville, THE LOCK-UP (Hanover Square)
Steve Cavanagh,. KILL FOR ME KILL FOR YOU (U.S. in 2024, Atria)
Ann Cleeves, THE RAGING STORM (Minotaur)
Stacy Willingham, ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS (Minotaur)
Kevin Powers, A LINE IN THE SAND (Little, Brown)
Karin Slaughter, AFTER THAT NIGHT (Morrow)
Jean Kwok, THE LEFTOVER WOMAN (Morrow)
Catherine Ryan Howard, THE TRAP (Blackstone)
Vanessa Lillie, BLOOD SISTERS (Berkley) — Debut
Rachel Hawkins, THE VILLA (St. Martin’s)
Dwyer Murphy, THE STOLEN COAST (Viking)
Ruth Ware, ZERO DAYS (Gallery/Scout Press)
Don Winslow, CITY OF DREAMS (Morrow)
5
Elly Griffiths, THE LAST REMAINS (Mariner)
Ragnar Jonasson, REYKJAVIK (Minotaur)
Jacqueline Winspear, THE WHITE LADY (Harper)
James Ellroy, THE ENCHANTERS (Knopf)
Nilima Rao, A DISAPPEARANCE IN FIJI (Soho Crime)
Emma Rosenblum, BAD SUMMER PEOPLE (Flatiron)
Mark Billingham, THE LAST DANCE (Grove Atlantic)
Max Allan Collins, TOO MANY BULLETS (Hard Case Crime)
Charles Cumming, KENNEDY 35 (Mysterious Press)
Best of the Best Literary/Crime Fiction 2023
These tiltles appeared on both Best Fiction and Best Crime Fiction lists
19
Eleanor Catton, BIRNAM WOOD (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
18
R. F. Kuang, YELLOWFACE (Morrow)
17
Rebecca Makkai, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU (Viking)
16
Colson Whitehead, CROOK MANIFESTO (Doubleday)
10
James McBride, THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE (Riverhead)
Angie Kim, HAPPINESS FALLS (Hogarth)
8
Emma Cline, THE GUEST (Random House)
7
Lauren Groff, THE VASTER WILDS (Riverhead)
6
Tananarive Due, THE REFORMATORY (Gallery/Scout Press)
Catherine Chidgey, PET (Europa)