The New York Times Crime Reviewer Sarah Weinman referenced books that didn’t make it into her New York Times Best Mysteries list in a “the crime lady” email:

“As I say every year, my list cannot include some excellent novels because friends (or people I’m connected to) wrote them, they were psychological thrillers and so I didn’t cover them, or some other mysterious reasons. But in the interests of transparency, here’s my so-called Shadow Docket of favorite crime novels:”

HERE IN AVALON, Tara Isabella Burton

MISSING WHITE WOMAN, Kellye Garrett

THE LOST BOY OF SANTA CHIONIA, Juliet Grames

ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS, Araminta Hall

WHERE YOU END, Abbott Kahler

BLACK RIVER, Nilanjana Roy

ALTER EGO, Alex Segura