Getting the Nod from Nolan

I’ve known Tom Nolan for more than two decades (ever since he contributed stories to January Magazine), but have never actually met that Los Angeles journalist. Over the years, I have learned to trust his judgment about crime fiction—and I’m not the only one who boasts such faith. He has written about this popular genre for The Wall Street Journal since 1990, and currently produces, among other stories, an annual list of his favorite crime novels for that paper.

Earlier this afternoon, the Journal posted Nolan’s 2021 “best of the year in mystery and crime fiction” selections on its Web site. Not being a Journal subscriber, however, I am firmly blocked from accessing it. So I e-mailed Nolan, asking for his 10-strong slate of picks, and he was kind enough to send along those titles. They are:

• The Dark Hours, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• Find You First, by Linwood Barclay (Morrow)
• The Judge’s List, by John Grisham (Doubleday)
• The Man Who Died Twice, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman)
• Mother May I, by Joshilyn Jackson (Morrow)
• The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon)
• Rizzio, by Denise Mina (Pegasus)
• Smoke, by Joe Ide (Mulholland)
• The Turnout, by Megan Abbott (Putnam)
• The Vanishing Point, by Elizabeth Brundage (Little, Brown)

There aren’t any great surprises here, though Find You First, Mother May I, Rizzio, and The Vanishing Point have not been frequently mentioned on other publications’ “best” rosters. Bottom line: These are solid choices, and you shouldn’t go wrong if you refer to them while holiday shopping for mystery lovers among your giftees.