This list was sent to me by DP Contributor Craig Sisterson (many thanks!) and is gleaned from the magazine’s best 100 list of books.

A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY by Jennifer Trevelyan (Knopf Doubleday, 24 June 2025, $28 US hardcover);
BEARTOOTH by Callan Wink (Spiegel & Grau, 11 February 2025, $28 US hardcover)
CARVED IN BLOOD by Michael Bennett (Grove Atlantic, 15 July 2025, $27 US hardcover)
CLOWN TOWN by Mick Herron (Soho Press, 9 September 2025, $29.95 US hardcover)
DUST by Michael Brissenden (Affirm Press, 26 August 2025, $39.99 NZD)
THE GOOD FATHER by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier, 17 June 2025, $36.99 NZD)
HOOKED UP by Fiona Sussman (Bateman Books, 2 September 2025, $38.99 NZD)
THE IMPOSSIBLE THING by Belinda Bauer (Grove Atlantic, 8 April 2025, $27 US hardcover)
KING OF ASHES by SA Cosby (Flatiron Books, 10 June 2025, $28.99 US hardcover)
PARIAH by Dan Fesperman (Knopf Doubleday, 22 July 2025, $30 US hardcover)
THE PREDICAMENT by William Boyd (Grove Atlantic, 2 December 2025, $28 US hardcover)
THE PROTOCOLS OF SPYING by Merle Nygate (No Exit Press, 9 October 2025, $11.95 US ebook)
SEE HOW THEY FALL by Rachel Paris (Penzler Publishers, 29 April 2025, $17.95 US paperback)
SOFTLY CALLS THE DEVIL by Chris Blake (Echo Publishing, 4 November 2025, $37.99 NZD)

Here are Craig’s comments:

A interesting list – some which I’ve really loved and a couple I haven’t read.

(Note: while traditionally I’m one of a dozen or so ‘voters’ who contribute to the 100 Best Books list, I didn’t this year due to a family matter cropping up at the relevant voting time. However, I think in lieu of that they may have included some books based on my Listener reviews during the course of 2025, eg BEARTOOTH and THE IMPOSSIBLE THING, as I’m pretty sure I was the only one there who read those and I gave them glowing reviews and pushed for them in a ‘best of the first half of 2025’ list they did mid-year, etc).