This is my favorite time of the year when it comes to my compulsion to find the best mystery, crime fiction and action thrillers published in a given year. I’m pretty well acquainted with and have read a good number of the titles that are regularly appearing on year-end “best” lists. But there are always some surprises. This year the two “surprise” books that I wasn’t expecting to see on many lists are:
MURDER IN THE FAMILY by Cara Hunter (Morrow, $19.99 paperback original, September, 2023). Mega-bestselling British crime novelist Cara Hunter makes her big American debut with a wholly immersive thriller like none you’ve seen before: written as the teleplay of a true-crime documentary, it has the reader puzzling away, reviewing photos, maps, coroner’s reports and other evidence as they read. Can you tell who’s lying? This has appeared on 7 “best” lists so far.
BLOOD SISTERS by Vanessa Lillie (Berkley, $27.00, October, 2023). A visceral and compelling mystery about a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is summoned to rural Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of two women…one of them her sister. This has appeared on 4 “best” lists so far.
I have copies of these books coming my way and I hope to read them before year’s end.
As each “best” list appears, I keep a running total of how many times certain books appear on these best lists. Let’s face it, even experts in the field (reviewers, editors, publishers and websites) don’t agree on what are the best books of the year. And some lists are clearly better (in my opinion) than others. But the only way to come up with a list that isn’t totally subjective is to give each book on each best list a vote and see which books get the most votes. That tally is what I will come up with in late December after all of the lists come out. The result is a list of the Best of the Best, which will be featured in the cover article of the next issue of Deadly Pleasures.
I gather lists from all over the English-speaking world or in other words, the United States, Canada, the U.K., South Africa and Australia, New Zealand and India.
Last year I found over 80 lists and I hope to find at least that many this year. I’ve gotten and posted on the website 36 “best” lists so far so I’m roughly 40-45% done. The remaining lists will dribble in day by day until about December 20th.
Here are some of my initial findings (which may change by the time all of the lists have been collated):
The top vote-getter so far is ALL THE SINNERS BLOOD by S. A. Cosby. It has 16 mentions so far. The Dennis Lehane (SMALL MERCIES) has 10 mentions so far, the Mick Herron (THE SECRET HOURS) and Richard Osman (THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE) titles have 9 mentions so far.
The top psychological/domestic suspense titles are:
BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN, Jessica Knoll – 13 mentions so far
NONE OF THIS IS TRUE, Lisa Jewell – 10 mentions so far
I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU, Rebecca Makkai – 10 mentions so far. This title is also popular among mainstream fiction fans
STRANGE SALLY DIAMOND, Liz Nugent – 8 mentions so far
The top vote-getter for cozy/traditional mystery fans is:
VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS, Jesse Q. Sutanto – 8 mentions so far
There are a few crossover books that some consider mainstream fiction and others crime novels. The leaders in these kind of books are:
YELLOWFACE, R. F. Kuang — 6 mentions
CROOK MANIFESTO, Colson Whitehead — 7 mentions
BIRNAM WOOD, Eleanor Catton — 7 mentions
I’ve asked all DP contributors to have their best lists to me by the December 15th so around that time I will post their best lists. You can see their “best” lists –so far by clicking on the “Year’s Best” link on the home page of this site.
We’ve been pointing you towards some of the best books by reviews and columns in DP all year long, so many of the titles on the best lists should not come as a big surprise to you.
Suggestion: Pick the lists that most reflect your reading tastes and try some of the other titles on those best lists.