Odd Numbers, Even Regard

My onetime employer, Kirkus Reviews, has released its list of what editors there say are the “Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2025.” But a selection of 11 titles? It suggests insurmountable disagreements in the ranks, and a quirky compromise. Regardless, here are Kirkus’ picks:

• Marguerite by the Lake, by Mary Dixie Carter (Minotaur)
• King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Fog and Fury, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)
• Clown Town, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
• Detective Aunty, by Uzma Jalaluddin (Harper Perennial)
• Murder Takes a Vacation, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
• The Man Who Died Seven Times, by Yasuhiko Nishizawa (Pushkin Vertigo)
• Buried Above Ground, by Mike Ripley (Severn House)
• The Dark Maestro, by Brendan Slocumb (Doubleday)
• The Dentist, by Tim Sullivan (Atlantic Crime)
• The Librarians, by Sherry Thomas (Berkley)

Regrettably, I have read only a small handful of those works. And Marguerite by the Lake wasn’t even on my radar, yet Kirkus’ insistence that Carter’s Rebecca-derived tale is “not to be missed, and definitely not to be imitated” now makes me want a copy post haste.

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In the meantime, British bookstore chain Waterstones is out with its own nominations of this year’s top crime and thriller novels. Because there are 51 books mentioned (again, what’s with the 51, instead of a more typical 50?), I’m not going to list them all here. Let me say, though, that I completely endorse the inclusion of Martin Cruz Smith’s Hotel Ukraine (Simon & Schuster UK), Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s The Art of a Lie (Mantle), Anthony Horowitz’s Marble Hall Murders (Century), and Virginia Feito’s brilliantly bizarre Victorian Psycho (Fourth Estate)—all of which are at risk of winding up on my own roll of 2025 favorites. Again, Waterstones’ full list is here.