Amazon Renders Its Verdict

I’m always a wee bit suspicious of “best books of the year” lists coming from mammoth American retailer Amazon. What influence do sales have on the titles editors select? Is that the reason why you rarely (ever?) see works from small presses make the cut. On the other hand, the choices made are not ridiculous; many readers I know would be interested in what Amazon’s critics recommend.

With those cautions given, here are Amazon’s “best mysteries, thrillers, and suspense books” of 2024—a total of 40 titles across two categories. First up are the standalone works:

• The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore (Riverhead)
• All the Colors of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker (Crown)
• The Last One at the Wedding, by Jason Rekulak (Flatiron)
• Lost Man’s Lane, by Scott Carson (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• The Excitements, by C.J. Wray (Morrow Paperbacks)
• Pony Confidential, by Christina Lynch (Berkley)
• Kill for Me, Kill for You, by Steve Cavanagh (Atria)
• Listen for the Lie, by Amy Tintera (Celadon)
• Black River, by Nilanjana Roy (Pushkin Vertigo)
• What You Leave Behind, by Wanda M. Morris (Morrow)
• First Lie Wins, by Ashley Elston (Pamela Dorman)
• Wordhunter, by Stella Sands (Harper Paperbacks)
• Deadly Animals, by Marie Tierney (Henry Holt)
• The Return of Ellie Black, by Emiko Jean (Simon & Schuster)
• What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan (Morrow)
• A Calamity of Souls, by David Baldacci (Grand Central)
• Broiler, by Eli Cranor (Soho Crime)
• The Unquiet Bones, by Loreth Anne White (Montlake)
• House of Glass, by Sarah Pekkanen (St. Martin’s Press)
• The Sicilian Inheritance, by Jo Piazza (Dutton)

And below are Amazon’s picks from new and continuing series:

• We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman)
• The Hunter, by Tana French (Viking)
• The Waiting, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• City in Ruins, by Don Winslow (Morrow)
• The Grey Wolf, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• Death at the Sign of the Rook, by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday)
• Guide Me Home, by Attica Locke (Mulholland)
• Spirit Crossing, by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
• This Is Why We Lied, by Karin Slaughter (Morrow)
• Exposure, by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)
• Farewell, Amethystine, by Walter Mosley (Mulholland)
• The Butcher Game, by Alaina Urquhart (Zando)
• The Instruments of Darkness, by John Connolly (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• To Die For, by David Baldacci (Grand Central)
• Westport, by James Comey (Mysterious Press)
• What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust, by Alan Bradley (Bantam)
• The Sequel, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon)
• Identity Unknown, by Patricia Cornwell (Grand Central)
• Black Wolf, by Juan Gómez-Jurado (Minotaur)
• The Treasure Hunters Club, by Tom Ryan (Atlantic Monthly Press)

So, 23 books by women, 17 by men. That’s a different balance than you would’ve seen 10 years ago, but not too far out of whack.

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As we advance deeper into the holiday gift-giving season, more and more “best books” listings will be appearing in print and online. I generally try to keep track of the new ones, but George Easter, the editor at Deadline Pleasures Mystery Magazine, has a sharper eye for catching these things. Within the last couple of days, for instance, he has pointed me toward crime, mystery, and thriller choices made by Canadian bookseller Indigo, the British Web site Dead Good, the American social-cataloging site Goodreads (a subsidiary of Amazon), and the erstwhile magazine—now e-zine—Parade.