Just when it seemed we’d finally run out of “best crime fiction of the year” lists (other than those still waiting to be posted in The Rap Sheet), here comes a new slew of interesting picks. Noteworthy among those are two more sets of “bests” from Crime Fiction Lover contributors—Mike Parker and Vicki Weisfeld; the selections of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine editor George Easter and his colleague Hank Wagner; and the Toronto Star’s Steven W. Beattie.
In addition, reviewer Kevin R. Tipple surprises us with his 10 favorites of 2024 (including Harry Hunsicker’s The Life and Death of Rose Doucette and Terry Shames’ The Troubling Death of Maddy Benson). Prolific writer James Reasoner offers a dozen new and older books he particularly relished amid the 167 (!) he read this year. Reading Reality’s Marlene Harris chooses her 20 faves, fewer than half of which can be classified as mystery or crime fiction. Equally mixed are choices by blogger Michael Popple, of The Unseen Library. And Steven Barge’s year-end assessment, in In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel, features several titles (Oskar Jensen’s Helle and Death and Adam Oyebanji’s Two Times Murder, for instance) that I would like to add to my own reading stack soon. He also gives special praise to Martin Edwards’ latest Rachel Savernake yarn, Hemlock Bay.
Finally, Kate Jackson shares the results of the 2024 Reprint of the Year awards competition. (Novelists Ruth Fenisong, Seishi Yokomizo, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Ellery Queen, and Christianna Brand all come in for some level of acclaim). And we don’t want to miss mentioning Brian Lindenmuth’s picks of “Best Crime Comics of 2024.”
READ MORE: “Our Favorite Crime and Mystery Books of 2024” (Mystery Tribune); “Bill’s Best of 2024 Fiction,” by Bill Selnes (Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan); “Favorite 2024 Debut Novels,” by Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich (Stop, You’re Killing Me!).
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
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