Most Highly Rated Debut Mystery & Thriller Fiction 2023

On December 11, 2024 I posted the CrimeReads Best Debut Crime Novels of 2023 and noted that the list left off many good debut crime/thriller debuts. To fill the gap I have consulted the 98 “best” lists that I have posted so far over the last several weeks and come up with this more comprehensive list. The numbers following the titles indicate how many “best” lists the particular title was found on. The *** indicates titles that appeared on the CrimeReads list. I’m pretty confident that all of the nominations for the Barry Award Best First Mystery Award will come from this list. I’ve read eight of them and am reading two more right now. It was a good year for new blood.

Deepti Kapoor, AGE OF VICE (21)
Iris Yamashita, CITY UNDER ONE ROOF (11)
Amy Chua, THE GOLDEN GATE (10)
***Clemence Michallon, THE QUIET TENANT (10)
***Nina Simon, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT (9)
Anthony McCarten, GOING ZERO (8)
I.S. Berry, THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW (6)
Vanessa Lillie, BLOOD SISTERS (5)
Rachel Koller Croft, STONE COLD FOX (4)
***Margot Douaihy, SCORCHED GRACE (4)
***Michael Bennett, BETTER THE BLOOD (4)
Nilima Rao, A DISAPPEARANCE IN FIJI (4)
Parini Shroff, THE BANDIT QUEENS (4)
Danielle Arceneaux, GLORY BE (3)
Bruce Borgos, THE BITTER PAST (3)
Dann McDorman, WEST HEART KILL (3)
***Ana Reyes, THE HOUSE IN THE PINES (3)
Jo Callaghan, BLINK OF AN EYE (2)
Ren DeStefano, HOW I’LL KILL YOU (2)
Julia Bartz, THE WRITING RETREAT (2)