Are You Ready for Our Own Favorites?

December hasn’t exactly worked out the way I had planned. My hope was to have all of The Rap Sheet’s “favorite crime fiction of 2024” lists, from our various contributors, edited and posted by this point in the month, and be well along in completing my catalogue of early 2025 releases. None of that has happened. Through an unfortunate collision of personal and professional responsibilities (and a wee bit of laziness on my part), I am only now ready to begin delivering our critics’ collections of “favorites.”

The first of those posts—from the always-reliable Kevin Burton Smith—will appear later today, with more to follow through the end of this year, and probably into the first chill week of January.

You will note, sadly, two fewer voices in the mix this time around. Canadian correspondent and novelist Jim Napier, who had shared his annual choices with us for many years, passed away in December 2023. And this last summer, journalist, author, and West Ham United Football Club aficionado Fraser Massey died from cancer. I did not know Fraser well, but he provided The Rap Sheet with a variety of excellent articles, including three installments in our annual “favorites” series, dating back to 2021 (see here, here, and here).

Here’s a short biographical note I wrote about Fraser for The Rap Sheet’s “Contributors” page:

Fraser Massey is a freelance journalist based in London, England. A former columnist for the Radio Times, Now, and Real People, he is also a regular contributor to The Times. His short story “Have a Cigar” appears in Coming Through in Waves: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Pink Floyd (2021), the latest entry in Gutter Books’ Rock Anthology series. An early draft of his yet-to-be published neo-noir thriller, Whitechapel Messiah, was shortlisted in the New Voices category at the inaugural Capital Crime Festival Awards in 2019.

At least for the time being, the opening segment from Whitechapel Messiah can be found on Fraser’s Web page.

Two thousand twenty-four has been a sad year for me in many respects. I lost an old and very good friend a few months ago, at age 80, and Fraser was only one of the people I knew from the crime-fiction community who went to their graves during these last dozen months. With the political situation in the United States likely to turn dark, mean, and perhaps violent in the near future, I find myself longing for the power to turn back time—even slightly. Putting up this blog’s latest “favorites” posts—late as they are—gives me the chance to think back on 2024, and to remember how many wonderful diversions fiction gave us from the turmoil and tragedies all around.