Top of the Line

I’ve known Wall Street Journal book critic Tom Nolan for many years now. We have a mutual appreciation for the work of American detective novelist Ross Macdonald. Although I don’t usually read the Journal, I have gotten into the habit of e-mailing Tom every December, asking that he please send me his picks of the year’s best mystery and crime novels as soon as they appear on the newspaper’s Web site. (They are otherwise hidden behind a paywall.) He is typically quick to respond with a scan of the page on which said titles appear.

Tom’s favorite mysteries of 2024 won’t be revealed in the physical broadsheet until tomorrow. But here’s an advance peek:

• The Drowned, by John Banville (Hanover Square Press)
• The Alaska Sanders Affair, by Joël Dicker (HarperVia)
• The Hunter, by Tana French (Viking)
• Close to Death, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)
• The Stars Turned Inside Out, by Nova Jacobs (Atria)
• The Sequel, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon)
• Tell Me Who You Are, by Louisa Luna (MCD)
• The Hollow Tree, by Philip Miller (Soho Crime)
• The Devil Raises His Own, Scott Phillips (Soho Crime)
• A Talent for Murder, by Peter Swanson (Morrow)

* * *

Boston-based critic Steve Donoghue, whose book reviews have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor and The Washington Post, presents two rolls of recommendations for 2024. The first choices are of mystery fiction and are rated according to preference:

1. The Wharton Plot, by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
2. A Chain of Pearls, by Raemi Ray (Tule)
3. The Last Hope, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)
4. Under the Paper Moon, by Shaina Steinberg (Kensington)
5. The River We Remember, by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
6. Peking Duck and Cover, by Vivien Chen (Minotaur)
7. The Saint, by Carin Gerhardsen (Mysterious Press)
8. Death by Misadventure, by Tasha Alexander (Minotaur)
9. The Phantom Patrol, by James Benn (Soho Crime)
10. Tooth and Claw, by Craig Johnson (Viking)

While his second list covers the thrillers field:

1. Arctdotus, by L.J. Vitanza (L.J. Vitanza)
2. An Honorable Assassin, by Steve Hamilton (Blackstone)
3. The Heiress, by Rachel Hawkins (St. Martin’s Press)
4. Night Sweats, by Beau Savage (Grim Heart)
5. Shadow Game, by Vin Strong (Kindle only)
6. The Sicilian Inheritance, by Joe Piazza (Dutton)
7. Code of Arms, by Jack Slater (Independently published)
8. W.E.B. Griffin: Zero Option, by Peter Kirsanow (Putnam)
9. Safe Enough, by Lee Child (Mysterious Press)
10. The Chaos Agent, by Mark Greaney (Berkley)