This is an interesting list and Tom Nolan is an acknowledged expert in the mystery fiction world so I have very little to complain about. Opinions will differ as to what are the 25 Best Mystery Novel of the Past 25 Years. His list is an informed opinion and contains books by many of the most respected authors of our age. A few of the titles or authors (in bold) would appear on my list if I were to compile one (perhaps in the future). See my commentary after the list.
ALL THINGS CEASE TO APPEAR (2016)
by Elizabeth Brundage
BIG SKY (2019)
by Kate Atkinson
BIRNAM WOOD (2023)
by Eleanor Catton
BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD (2017)
by Attica Locke
BURY YOUR DEAD (2010)
by Louise Penny
DARK SACRED NIGHT (2018)
by Michael Connelly
DEATH OF A RED HEROINE (2000)
by Qiu Xiaolong
ELEGY FOR APRIL (2010)
by Benjamin Black (John Banville)
FIND YOU FIRST (2021)
by Linwood Barclay
THE HUNTER (2024)
by Tana French
IQ (2016)
by Joe Ide
THE IT GIRL (2022)
by Ruth Ware
THE LAST EQUATION OF ISAAC SEVERY (2018)
by Nova Jacobs
THE LONG DROP (2017)
by Denise Mina
MAGPIE MURDERS (2016)
by Anthony Horowitz
ONE-SHOT HARRY (2022)
by Gary Phillips
THE PLOT (2021)
by Jean Hanff Korelitz
RAZORBLADE TEARS (2021)
by S. A. Cosby
SMALL MERCIES (2023)
by Dennis Lehane
A TALENT FOR MURDER (2024)
by Peter Swanson
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB (2020)
by Richard Osman
THE TURNOUT (2021)
by Megan Abbott
THE TWENTY-YEAR DEATH (2012)
Ariel S. Winter
WHAT THE DEAD KNOW (2007)
by Laura Lippman
YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY (2019)
by Steph Cha
Here is what one critic, J. Kingston Pierce (The Rap Sheet) says about Tom Nolan’s list and I largely concur:
“As with any such selections, arguments are bound to be aroused. I’ve read about half of the works Nolan cites. Some of those I found disappointing, and a couple I very much disliked (due to their violent content). Yet his choices of Magpie Murders, One-Shot Harry, and The Twenty-Year Death, for instance, win my enthusiastic approval. Had I been choosing, I might have included Peter May’s The Blackhouse (2011), Chris Whitaker’s We Begin at the End (2021), Derek B. Miller’s Norwegian by Night (2013), Jane Harper’s The Dry (2016), Martin Cruz Smith’s Wolves Eat Dogs (2004), Oriana Ramunno’s Ashes in the Snow (2022), Max Allan Collins’ Angel in Black (2001), Philip Kerr’s The Other Side of Silence (2016), Steven Price’s By Gaslight (2016), Dervla McTiernan’s The Ruin (2018), Thomas Mullen’s Darktown (2015), and … well, let’s just say it would be a very different list. But every reader has his or her own tastes, and I shan’t begrudge Nolan’s his.”
I agree with Jeff as far as Peter May’s THE BLACKHOUSE, Chris Whitaker’s WE BEGIN AT THE END or last year’s ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, Jane Harper’s THE DRY or THE LOST MAN, and Dervla McTiernan’s THE RUIN.
Others I would consider for my own personal list would be:
THE GUARDS, Ken Bruen
TELL NO ONE, Harlan Coben
DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD, Reginald Hill
THE SHADOW OF THE WIND, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
LOST or LIFE OR DEATH, Michael Robotham
THE LINCOLN LAWYER, Michael Connelly
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Stieg Larsson
THE GRAY MAN, Mark Greaney
SLOW HORSES, Mick Herron
THE LOCK ARTIST, Steve Hamilton
THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES, Jussi Adler-Olsen
GONE GIRL, Gillian Flynn
SUSPECT, Robert Crais
ORDINARY GRACE, William Kent Krueger
MR. MERCEDES, Stephen King
THE LIFE WE BURY, Allen Eskens
THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER, Karen Dionne
FIVE DECEMBERS, James Kestrel
If you have any opinions or a list of your own, please email me at george@deadlypleasures.com
A special thanks to Meredith Anthony and Mike Dillman for alerting me to this list. Thanks guys.