Deadly Animals, Marie Tierney’s brilliantly plotted debut mystery, introduces readers to Ava Bonney: a 14-year-old English girl obsessed with decomposing bodies.
Deadly Animals, Marie Tierney’s brilliantly plotted debut mystery, introduces readers to Ava Bonney: a 14-year-old English girl obsessed with decomposing bodies.
Conflicting memories of the past converge like a fever dream in Flora Collins’ riveting debut thriller, Nanny Dearest.
Though only in her mid-20s, Sue Keller is an orphan. Her mother died when she was a child, and after the loss of her father, Sue descends into a depressive funk. She struggles to leave the house, relying on delivery and work from home options. On a rare outing she meets a woman named Annie, who recognizes Sue and claims to have been her childhood nanny—but Sue has no memory of her at all. Craving a connection to her lost parents, Sue continues to meet with Annie, desperate for stories about a period of her childhood her mind has mysteriously blacked out.
Toggling between Sue’s present and Annie’s past, Nanny Dearest explores how the need for family and connection can become toxic, even deadly. Annie longs to escape her abusive father, so a live-in nanny position with the Keller family seems like the perfect escape. Mr. Keller is a successful novelist, sequestered away as he works on his latest book, and Mrs. Keller is focused on a career of her own, as well as her position as a socialite. So Annie and young Sue are left largely to themselves, leading Annie to bond immediately with her young charge, to the extent that she will do anything to remain with the Kellers indefinitely.
Decades later, Sue can’t figure out why she has no memory of Annie. Her former nanny’s photographs and stories confirm she was Sue’s caregiver, but Sue obviously can’t ask her late parents why Annie left almost immediately after Mrs. Keller’s death or why her father never talked about Annie in the years after her mother’s death. When Annie’s grasp on Sue’s life begins to feel suffocating, Sue launches to research her past in a desperate search for answers.Collins, a lifelong New Yorker who based her story partially on her own experience with a childhood babysitter, leans on the intense psychological drama of the caregiver-child relationship to keep the reader turning pages, never depicting violence on the page. The perfect choice for those who want thrills without the gore, Nanny Dearest is as compelling as it is unnerving.
Conflicting memories of the past converge like a fever dream in Flora Collins’ riveting debut thriller, Nanny Dearest.
“Don’t stare too long at the Witching Tree / Defile it not, or cursed you will be.” So goes the saying behind the spookiest landmark in Burning Lake, New York, a small town with a dark past and an even darker present. Alice Blanchard’s The Witching Tree follows detective and lifelong Burning Lake resident Natalie Lockhart through a murder mystery that deftly addresses what happens when personal trauma and professional responsibility collide in a town steeped in complicated history.
The third book in Blanchard’s award-winning series begins with a horrific awakening. Beloved local Wiccan priestess Veronica Manes awakens from a drugged sleep, dressed in a Halloween-esque witch costume and chained to a railroad track with a freight train quickly approaching—a train she is unable to escape in time. At the same time, Natalie is enjoying a cozy morning with her wealthy boyfriend, Hunter Rose. She’s ready to leave cop life behind after working two disturbing cases, including one that involved her own family. When Natalie learns of Veronica’s murder, she’s as baffled as the rest of Burning Lake, but she knows she can’t quit the force until the mystery is solved.
Natalie is a smart, believable heroine. She’s a skilled detective with an admirable sense of duty to the place that has raised her, even though it spectacularly failed her family. Indeed, Blanchard’s writing shines the brightest when depicting all her characters’ gray areas. Despite the macabre elements of the murder and setting, the people who populate The Witching Tree are realistically drawn: No townsperson is all good or all bad. Could eccentric Marigold Hutchins, who runs the town’s Wiccan shop, be gunning for Veronica’s leadership position in the local historic coven? What about the young couple Veronica befriended, who were dealing with drug addiction and dabbling in dark magic before they disappeared completely? Natalie also can’t forget the legacy of the town, whose the citizens burned three accused witches at the stake in the 18th century. Blanchard crafts a spectacular sense of place, and though readers may fear Burning Lake, they also won’t want to leave.
While it’s the third in a series, The Witching Treeoffers sufficient background information for new readers and a town full of complex, dynamic characters, making it an enjoyable novel that stands easily on its own.
Though readers may fear Burning Lake, the creepy small-town setting of Alice Blanchard’s mystery, they also won’t want to leave.
In late ’90s Brooklyn, simple actions have a long-lasting impact, and not always for the better. The dynamic cast of characters in William Boyle’s turbulent crime thriller Shoot the Moonlight Out learn that the hard way.
Consider teenager Bobby Santovasco. Along with his friend Zeke, the pair do what kids do: They wreak havoc for fun. In their case, it’s throwing objects off a bridge at passing cars on the Belt Parkway. First, it’s harmless. Aluminum cans. Water balloons. But it’s not enough. So, the boys up the stakes—with rocks.
The result is the death of a young woman, Amelia Cornacchia.
Flash forward five years to 2001, where we find Charlie French. A brutish debt collector, he steals a horde of cash from a reluctant client, and stashes it with his friend Max Berry for safekeeping. Bobby, who now works for Max, falls for Francesca Clarke, who inspires him to rob Max’s safe so they can escape the oppressive confines of the neighborhood.
Unbeknownst to Bobby, his stepsister, Lily, has fallen for Jack Cornacchia, a student in her writing class. Jack is a self-styled neighborhood vigilante, who just so happens to be Amelia’s father.
Boyle (A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself) slowly introduces each of his players in chapters from their perspective, deepening the reader’s empathy for each member of the large cast as he digs into their individual losses, hopes and loves. Hailing from Brooklyn himself, Boyle imbues the setting with an air of authenticity and stark realism as his characters leap from the page. Readers can only grasp at the slimmest of hopes in this grim, modern-day noir, but the determination of Boyle’s characters defies expectations. He increases the suspense and intrigue of the story across alternating chapters, seemingly checking in with characters at random as Shoot the Moonlight Out subtly builds towards a collision of lives intertwined and fates inextricably linked.
William Boyle’s stark and turbulent crime thriller boasts an endlessly fascinating and empathetic cast of characters.
Dashiell Hammett wrote fiction for only 12 years, but in addition to four novels he produced hundreds of short stories for pulp magazines such as Black Mask and mainstream periodicals like Collier’s and The American. Twenty of these stories, long unavailable, are collected in Nightmare Town.
Overall these are not Hammett’s best stories, but there is much to recommend them, not least of all Hammett’s often imitated but rarely equaled prose style, marked by its oddly poetic cynicism. Crisp dialogue, peppered with the street argot of the ’20s, keep the stories moving along at a good clip. Corruption, duplicity, and deception are rife.
Some of the more enjoyable selections are novella-length, a form that was common to the pulps and at which Hammett excelled. Zigzags of Treachery has all of the ingenious plot twists that a fan of The Maltese Falcon might crave. In the crafty whodunit The Assistant Murderer, Hammett breaks with tradition by substituting a conspicuously ugly detective for the usually rakish hero we expect in the genre. The title novella, Nightmare Town, is pure pulp fiction, a hyperbolic yarn about a town in which every single citizen is corrupt.
Three of the shorter stories feature Sam Spade, the consummate hard-boiled detective from The Maltese Falcon. One of Hammett’s enduring protagonists, the Continental Op, appears in seven. Among the more interesting pieces is The First Thin Man, an early, unfinished draft of Hammett’s final masterwork. Written in 1930, before he moved to Hollywood and met Lillian Hellman, this version of the story bears little resemblance to the published 1934 novel. The plot is substantially different, most significantly in the absence of Nick and Nora Charles, the hard-drinking, clever-talking crime solvers modeled on Hammett and Hellman.
There are also a few less typical stories in the book that stray a bit from Hammett’s usual turf. For example, in A Man Named Thin, the clever detective moonlights as a poet, of all things. But maybe that’s not really so strange. Hammett, after all, had been a detective before becoming a poet of sorts a poet of the gritty, rogue-filled, crooked streets he knew and wrote about so well.
Robert Weibezahl’s compilation of mystery-related recipes, A Taste of Murder, has just been published by Dell.
Dashiell Hammett wrote fiction for only 12 years, but in addition to four novels he produced hundreds of short stories for pulp magazines such as Black Mask and mainstream periodicals like Collier's and The American. Twenty of these stories, long unavailable, are collected in Nightmare…
Perhaps no one is more well known or respected as a modern day master of crime fiction than Robert B. Parker. Like Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett, Parker has mastered the art of the hardboiled detective novel. He is best known for his tough but sensitive Boston private investigator Spenser. He has written over 20 Spenser novels, which spawned the 1980s television show Spenser: For Hire. With his latest book, Family Honor, Parker introduces an entirely new character a female P.
I. named Sunny Randall.
Sunny is a complex character: a former cop, college graduate, divorcee, and aspiring painter. Sunny is hired by a wealthy family to discreetly locate their daughter, who has run away. Tracking down the runaway Millicent does not prove to be difficult, but deciding what to do with her does. It appears that Millie’s problems are far greater than running away, and Sunny is now caught in the middle.
Unsure of what to do with Millie, Sunny finds herself acting as both bodyguard and surrogate mother, and occasionally as a moving target. It seems that a certain group of mobsters is also looking for Millie, and they have no problem taking out one female detective to get her. Fortunately Sunny is not without resources. Her ex-husband, Richie, is himself the son of a mobster, and her best friend, Spike, is an ominously dangerous gay man. With their help, Sunny delves into the mystery of why everyone wants Millie, all the while trying to teach her how to be a strong, independent woman.
Family Honor introduces what may be an ongoing series. Parker has created a number of engaging and well-thought-out characters in Sunny, Richie, and Spike. His writing style is short and to the point with very little extraneous exposition. And as with his other novels, the true joy of reading Parker is the stellar dialog. He writes the way people speak. There are no long speeches, no overly emotional outbursts; he writes it like it is. So intelligent and cutting are Sunny’s comments and come-backs, you’ll find yourself wishing you were as quick on your feet.
Family Honor is an enjoyable book that focuses more on the characters and their development than it does on the mystery surrounding them. While the mystery is interesting, it serves merely as a catalyst to propel the characters through the story. You may begin Family Honor for the story line, but you’ll finish it for Sunny Randall.
Wes Breazeale grew up in Robert B. Parker’s turf and now does research for a college in Oregon.
Perhaps no one is more well known or respected as a modern day master of crime fiction than Robert B. Parker. Like Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett, Parker has mastered the art of the hardboiled detective novel. He is best known for his tough but…
Tom Corcoran knows Key West intimately, from its unforgettable sunsets to the smell of conch stew. He writes in the manner of the Keys’ laid-back generation and with the realism of its low-tide smells. He surely belongs on the must read list of those who like a good mystery excellently told.
In Corcoran’s new novel, Gumbo Limbo, Alex Rutledge is a smooth-talking freelance photographer who sometimes does crime scene work for the police in Key West, just to keep abreast of local matters. Rutledge owns a home there and has settled in for a short vacation when he is jolted by a telephone call from an old Navy friend, Zack Cahill, demanding that Alex join him at a neighborhood bar. When Alex shows up minutes later, Zack is gone. He left his Rolex watch with the waitress to guarantee payment on a few drinks, but he is nowhere to be found. He is not listed at any of the hotels or on the passenger list of any recently docked cruise ship.
While Alex searches, there is a murder in the tourist district, a ransacked apartment in the residential sector, and some very strange happenings elsewhere. Alex has a chance encounter with Abby Womack, Zack’s ex-mistress, which leads him to wonder if Zack’s disappearance is linked to these unusual happenings.
Soon Abby is shot and slightly wounded. To complicate matters even more, Zack’s wife Claire shows up. She has no clue to Zack’s whereabouts, but then throws Alex a curve ball by having a sunbathing session with the bandaged Abby at his house. In the next two days Alex will be severely tested in courage and loyalty as he attempts to follow the leads to the disappearance of Zack. One lead takes him to New Orleans and the meeting with some sinister hoodlums. While there he is badly beaten and can barely walk when he returns to Key West. He has a back ache but is not much closer to the truth about Zack.
Gradually, with the help of a cast of characters not seen this side of the Florida Keys, Alex unravels a 20-year-old mystery of a smuggling deal gone wrong and its bloody effect on so many people. Lloyd Armour is a retired newspaper editor.
Tom Corcoran knows Key West intimately, from its unforgettable sunsets to the smell of conch stew. He writes in the manner of the Keys' laid-back generation and with the realism of its low-tide smells. He surely belongs on the must read list of those who…
In Greg Iles’s new book, the title explains the wall of silence and resistance confronted by Houston prosecutor Penn Cage upon his return to his Mississippi hometown. He has returned to his roots with his young daughter after the agonizing cancer death of his wife. Penn reluctantly takes on a controversial 30-year-old civil rights case involving the bombing death of a black man, a thorny matter which the conservative Old South community would rather forget.
While residents attempt to convince Penn to let sleeping dogs lie and stonewall his push to re-open the Del Payton case, a visit by the victim’s family only bolsters Penn’s resolve to do something about the situation.
Moreover, Penn’s father, Tom, is being blackmailed by a dying jailbird who has a gun tying the older man to a murder, and the sinister demands for more money increase as Tom’s health declines. Penn’s friends and business associates advise him to leave, but he cannot because of his father’s predicament.
The doomed convict plans to take Tom down with him, claiming the murder weapon was a gun borrowed from the physician, that they were partners in the crime. The only solution to end the blackmailing may require Penn to break his strict ethical code.
Meanwhile, the pressure to stop Penn from bringing the Payton case to trial mounts, especially after a press interview given to Caitlin Masters, a newspaper publisher. Once Penn and Caitlin team up, the fireworks start with a host of obstacles thrown between them and the truth including the FBI, a tyrannical judge, the Natchez community, and an old flame with a score to settle. The action reaches a peak in the courtroom, when the resourceful Penn takes on the opposition for a bitter fight in which the truth cannot be denied.
Robert Fleming is a journalist in New York City.
In Greg Iles's new book, the title explains the wall of silence and resistance confronted by Houston prosecutor Penn Cage upon his return to his Mississippi hometown. He has returned to his roots with his young daughter after the agonizing cancer death of his wife.…
Alan M. Dershowitz’s new novel Just Revenge confronts one of the most difficult questions of legal and moral theory: Is revenge ever justified? Although it never conclusively decides this question, the novel does take the reader through a labyrinth of horror, obsession, legal wrangling and ultimately reconciliation.
Just Revenge features a Holocaust survivor and professor of religion, Max Menuchen, who has discovered the man who, half a century before in war-torn Lithuania, killed his family as he watched. The mild-mannered professor has never before broken a law, but his discovery of Marcellus Prandus, the Lithuanian militia captain who carried out the anti-Jewish orders of the Nazis, leads him to seek proportional justice.
Rather than simply killing Prandus, who is dying of cancer anyway, Menuchen wants to make him feel what it is like to see his whole family die before his eyes. Menuchen’s revenge is gruesome but, as the result of several twists and turns, not quite what you may expect.
The first half of the novel follows Menuchen’s enactment of revenge, and the second half deals with the legal repercussions and the courtroom drama which follow this act. Menuchen is defended in court by Abe Ringel, a defense lawyer who is known for defending controversial accused criminals. The courtroom scenes have a few of their own twists, including a surprise witness and a dramatic and unexpected turn at the end of the long trial.
A professor at Harvard Law School and one of the most famous criminal defense lawyers in the country, Dershowitz demonstrates in this, his second novel, a broad intellectual scope and a deep understanding of legal and ethical complexity.
Vivian Wagner is a freelance writer in New Concord, Ohio.
Alan M. Dershowitz's new novel Just Revenge confronts one of the most difficult questions of legal and moral theory: Is revenge ever justified? Although it never conclusively decides this question, the novel does take the reader through a labyrinth of horror, obsession, legal wrangling and…
2021 has been quite the ride, but books have been there for us at every twist and turn, offering comfort, escape and even illumination. As the year comes to a close, it’s time to look back on the titles BookPage readers have enjoyed the most.
In her exhilarating third novel, Maggie Shipstead offers a marvelous pastiche of adventure and emotion as she explores what it means (and what it takes) to live an unusual life.
Two lexicographers employed by the same company and separated by a century are at the heart of this imaginative, funny, intriguing novel by Eley Williams.
Though Billy Summers includes many classic King touchstones, its dedication to realism and intense, almost meditative focus on the titular main character make it a standout among his works.
Killing off the main character just a few pages into a book is somewhat unorthodox, but it’s just the first of many interesting choices Elin Hilderbrand makes.
We begin each new reading year with high hopes, and sometimes, when we’re very lucky, we find our expectations rewarded. So it was with 2021.
It must be said that a lot of these books are really, really long. Apparently this was the year for total commitment, for taking a plunge and allowing ourselves to be swallowed up.
Also, it should come as no surprise that books-within-books frequently appear on this list. For all our attempts at objectivity within our roles as critics, we just can’t help but love a book that loves books. Amor Towles, Ruth Ozeki, Jason Mott, Maggie Shipstead and Anthony Doerr all tapped into the most comforting yet complex parts of our book-loving selves.
But most of the books on this list hit home in ways we never could’ve prepared for, even when we had the highest expectations, such as in Will McPhail’s graphic novel, which made us laugh till we cried, and Colson Whitehead’s heist novel, which no one could’ve expected would be such a gorgeous ode to sofas.
And at the top of our list, a book that accomplishes what feels like the impossible: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ epic debut novel, which challenges our relationship to the land beneath us in a way we’ve never experienced but long hoped for.
Read on for our 20 best works of literary fiction from 2021.
To those disinclined to question the role that economic exploitation plays in supporting our modern lifestyle, reading this novel may prove an unsettling experience.
In his collection of short stories set in the ag-industrial maw of central California, Jaime Cortez artfully captures the daily lives of his characters in the freeze-frame flash of a master at work.
Francis Spufford’s graceful novel reminds us that tragedy deprives the world of not only noble people but also scoundrels, both of whom are part of the fabric of history.
Jonathan Franzen is one of our best chroniclers of suburban family life, and his incisive new novel, the first in a planned trilogy, is by turns funny and terrifying.
With hints of Jami Attenberg’s sense of mishpucha and spiced with Jennifer Weiner’s chutzpah, Melissa Broder’s novel is graphic, tender and poetic, a delicious rom-com that turns serious.
Robert Jones Jr.’s first novel accomplishes the exceptional literary feat of being at once an intimate, poetic love story and a sweeping, excruciating portrait of life on a Mississippi plantation.
“There are few things more beautiful to an author’s eye . . . than a well-read copy of one of his books,” says a character in Amor Towles’ novel. Undoubtedly, the pages of this cross-country saga are destined to be turned—and occasionally tattered—by numerous gratified readers.
Devastating, hilarious and touching, Torrey Peters’ acutely intelligent first novel explores womanhood, parenthood and all the possibilities that lie therein.
What does it mean to listen? What can you hear if you pay close attention, especially in a moment of grief? Ruth Ozeki explores these questions in her novel, a meditation on objects, compassion and everyday beauty.
Lauren Groff aims to create a sense of wonder and awe in her novels, and in her boldly original fourth novel, set in a small convent in 12th-century England, the awe-filled moments are too many to count.
A surrealist feast of imagination that’s brimming with very real horrors, frustrations and sorrows, Jason Mott’s fourth novel is an achievement of American fiction that rises to meet this particular moment with charm, wisdom and truth.
Like Dante leading us through the levels of hell, Colson Whitehead exposes the layers of rottenness in New York City with characters who follow an ethical code that may be strange to those of us who aren’t crooks or cynics.
In her exhilarating third novel, Maggie Shipstead offers a marvelous pastiche of adventure and emotion as she explores what it means (and what it takes) to live an unusual life.
From slavery to freedom, discrimination to justice, tradition to unorthodoxy, celebrated poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers weaves an epic ancestral story that encompasses not only a young Black woman’s family heritage but also that of the American land where their history unfolded.
Most of the books on this list hit home in ways we never could’ve prepared for, even when we had the highest expectations. Read on for the 20 best literary fiction titles of 2021.
Nonfiction is the broadest publishing category, with books that delve into the past, present and future of every aspect of our world. There are books that rifle through our innermost emotions and books that search the outer universe. Books that strike while the iron is hot and books that are cool and classic. You’ll find a little bit of everything on our list of our most highly recommended nonfiction books of 2021—from timeless instant classics to breathlessly of-the-moment reports.
With interesting characters, new historical insights and dramatic yet accessible writing, Ada Ferrer’s epic history of Cuba will grab and hold your attention.
Pulitzer Prize winner Alan Taylor’s latest American history, covering the United States’ expansion from 1783 to 1850, is sweeping, beautifully written, prodigiously researched and myth-busting.
Unbound is Tarana Burke’s unflinching, beautifully told account of founding the #MeToo movement and becoming one of the most consequential activists in America.
For readers seeking to understand the twists, turns and amazing potential of gene-editing CRISPR technology, there’s no better place to turn than The Code Breaker.
This heart-rending yet exhilarating memoir by a world-famous artist gives a rare look into how war and revolution affect innocent bystanders who are just trying to live.
This epic, transformative book covers 400 years of Black history with the help of a choir of exceptional poets, critics, essayists, novelists and scholars.
Gorgeously written and sophisticated, Jonathan Meiburg’s book about a wickedly clever falcon will move readers to protect this truly remarkable creature.
From surviving a lynching to discovering the transformative power of art while imprisoned in a chain gang, Winfred Rembert recounts his life story in his distinct and unforgettable voice.
Most of the Japanese American patriots who formed the 442nd Infantry Regiment are gone, but their stories live on in this empathetic tribute to their courage.
Clint Smith’s gifts as both a poet and a scholar make this a richly provocative read about the ways America does (and doesn’t) acknowledge its history of slavery.
In jaw-dropping detail, Patrick Radden Keefe recounts the greed and corruption at the heart of the Sackler family’s quest for wealth and social status.
In her debut memoir, Michelle Zauner perfectly distills the palpable ache for her late mother, wrapping her grief in an aromatic conjuring of her mother’s presence.
Hanif Abdurraqib’s brilliant commentary shuffles forward, steps sideways, leaps diagonally and waltzes gracefully throughout this survey of Black creative performance in America.
You’ll find a little bit of everything on our list of our most highly recommended nonfiction books of 2021—from timeless instant classics to breathlessly of-the-moment reports.
We’re calling it now: The mystery and suspense genre is on the cusp of a golden age. From psychological thrillers to procedurals to cozies, these books reached new heights and brought new perspectives to the forefront in 2021.
Mango, Mambo, and Murder has everything readers look for in a cozy mystery but also feels like a breath of fresh air thanks to its funny, grounded characters and lovingly detailed setting.
John Galligan’s trademark dark humor and clear-sighted social commentary are in fine form as he follows Sheriff Heidi Kick, one of the most complex yet lovable heroes in current crime fiction, on her latest investigation.
Having reached a pinnacle of critical and commercial success that most authors only dream of, Louise Penny still somehow manages to top herself with the latest Inspector Gamache mystery.
The genre-hopping Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic) moves into pulp adventure territory with a novel set in 1970s Mexico City that evokes the best conspiracy thrillers.
Master of espionage John le Carré’s final novel is one of his most impressive accomplishments. A gift for the devoted readers mourning his loss, it looks back and comments on his unparalleled body of work.
The rom-com revival shows no signs of stopping, and some truly impressive follow-ups defied the sophomore slump in 2021. But one of the biggest takeaways from this year is quite unexpected: Is paranormal romance about to make a comeback in a big way? All we know for sure is that writers like Suleikha Snyder are using the subgenre to craft poignant political statements, and witchy romances are popping up like toadstools.
Beneath Sally Thorne’s charming prose and irresistible characters lies a tender, deeply felt story of two overlooked people seeing the beauty in each other.
This supernatural romance is hilarious, moving and glue-you-to-the-page engrossing, and it has one of the most enviably cozy small-town settings you’ll ever find.
Bursting with heart, banter and a respect for queer history and community, One Last Stop proves that Casey McQuiston has no intention of resting on her laurels after the unprecedented success of Red, White & Royal Blue.
This warm, inventive take on You’ve Got Mail swaps bookstores for dueling halal restaurants, using the beloved rom-com as a starting point rather than a template.
In her final Brown Sisters novel, Talia Hibbert exhibits masterful control of plot and character, as well as a wonderful blend of escapist tropes and more difficult truths.
This inspired and achingly romantic reimagining of the beloved rom-com When Harry Met Sally firmly establishes Emily Henry as the millennial heir to Nora Ephron.
To find the most structurally daring, format-breaking novels of 2021, turn to the far-flung worlds of science-fiction and fantasy. From story collections to novellas to sprawling epics, these books perfectly match form and function in their creation of universes both big and small.
With a magic system that’s two parts enchantment and one part pseudoscience, The Helm of Midnight is one of the most well-executed and original fantasy novels in recent memory.
Genevieve Gornichec’s beautiful, delicately executed debut shifts the focus of Norse mythology to one of Loki’s lovers, the witch Angrboda, with stunning and heartbreaking results.
This astonishing, haunting short story collection overflows with vivid characters and relatable themes as Marjorie Liu puts her own spin on traditional archetypes.
This novella is the perfect distillation of Becky Chambers’ ability to use science fiction to tell smaller, more personal stories infused with beauty and optimism.
Boasting immersive settings, delightful characters and all-the-feels poignancy, Light From Uncommon Stars is also very, very funny, lightening its sweeping supernatural and intergalactic symphony with notes that are all-too human.
Black Water Sister terrifyingly depicts the otherworldly and uncanny horrors of the spirit world, but it is also funny and poignant, full of the angst and irony of a recent graduate living with her parents.
An instant classic, Zoraida Córdova’s magical family saga is complex but ceaselessly compelling, and features some of the most beautiful writing to be found in any genre this year.
Shelley Parker-Chan’s gorgeous writing accompanies a vibrantly rendered world full of imperfect, fascinating characters. Fans of epic fantasy and historical fiction will thrill to this reimagining of the founding of China’s Ming dynasty.
Edgar Award-winning author Thomas Perry returns with The Left-Handed Twin, his ninth novel featuring guide Jane Whitefield, a member of the Wolf clan of the Seneca Nation of Indians. The term guide does not entirely describe Whitefield’s job; she serves as a one-woman witness protection program, spiriting people out of life-threatening situations and into new and safer existences. This time out, she assists a young woman who testified against her boyfriend in a murder trial only to see him acquitted and bent on revenge. The first part of the task is fairly straightforward, utilizing the obfuscation skills Jane has honed over the years, but it all starts to go sideways when the ex-boyfriend enlists the help of the Russian mob, a group with an agenda of its own in locating Jane: extracting information from her about past clients who ran afoul of the mob. Suddenly, she finds herself on the run, and the safest places for her are the forests and fields of Maine’s Hundred-Mile Wilderness, one of the ancestral Seneca territories where she holds the home-court advantage over lifetime city dwellers. Still, her Russian adversaries are nothing if not determined, and there are at least a couple of times when readers will wonder if this is the book where Jane’s story comes to an untimely end.
Bryant & May: London Bridge Is Falling Down
Spoiler alert: London Bridge Is Falling Down marks the final installment of Christopher Fowler’s beloved Bryant and May series. With each passing book, the Peculiar Crimes Unit, which solves murders that stump other branches of law enforcement, finds itself more critically threatened with closure. Both protagonists, cranky Arthur Bryant and the urbane and charming John May, are getting rather long in the tooth (in Bryant’s case, long in the dentures), and cases don’t present quite as frequently as they once did. So in hopes of postponing the inevitable, Bryant goes in search of a case and turns one up: Amelia Hoffman, age 91, whose death does not entirely fall into the catch-all of natural causes. Hoffman had something of a chequered (the English spelling must be used here) past, as it turns out, and before long the case develops into a full-blown conspiracy investigation. The narrative neatly straddles the blurry line separating espionage fiction from straight-up suspense, and adds for good measure a mean streets of London travelogue and more than a little laugh-out-loud but still dry British humor. Lovers of this series need not despair (well, not yet). Next year, we will see Bryant and May’s Peculiar London, a companion travelogue of sorts in which fan-favorite characters will hilariously dish on their home city while ambling about its streets, and there will be no dead bodies to be found anywhere.
So Far and Good
For the better part of 30 years, I have counted myself as a major fan of John Straley’s sporadic series featuring Alaska-based PI Cecil Younger. From the outset, 1992’s Shamus Award-winning The Woman Who Married a Bear, the books have combined grittiness, social issues and introspection with whimsy and slapstick, as the hapless investigator moves from crisis to crisis, both business and personal. So Far and Good, the latest adventure, finds Cecil serving seven-plus years in prison for homicide, arguably a necessary one. His daughter, Blossom, visits him regularly, and this time she has an interesting tale to tell: Her best friend took a DNA test to surprise her mom with an ancestry-related gift and discovered that she and her “mom” were not in any way related. As it turns out, this friend was abducted as an infant, and the case has remained unsolved for the past 16 years. Should be a happy ending, right? Instead, it serves as the catalyst for a suspicious suicide, a near-homicide and assorted disappearances. And Blossom joins the missing, it will take all of his considerable savvy, not to mention a reversal of his inherent unluckiness, to set his world back in order (more or less) once again.
★ War Women
The year that John Straley’s first Cecil Younger book appeared, 1992, also marked the debut of Martin Limón’s excellent series featuring George Sueño and Ernie Bascom, military police partners stationed in Itaewon, Korea, in the 1970s. Several plot lines wind around one another in the pair’s latest outing, War Women. First off, there is the disappearance of their best confidential informant, along with some particularly sensitive classified documents about impending military exercises. Then there is the nosy reporter who has acquired explicit, potentially career-ending photos of an Army general and the hasty cover-up attempts that spiral speedily out of control, the suspense building until the final, nerve-shredding shootout. But these events are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. A culture of abuse targeting female service members has permeated every level of the military hierarchy, and there are those who will kill to keep that culture thriving. Bascom and Sueño, while still their customarily smart-aleck selves, are more thoughtful this time around. They’re not overcome by the gravity of the situation, but they’re certainly affected by it. War Women is the most sobering of the series to date, while still being a book readers will want to devour in one sitting.
Thomas Perry gives fans the gift of another Jane Whitefield thriller and a beloved series comes to an end in this month’s Whodunit column.
We’re calling it now: The mystery and suspense genre is on the cusp of a golden age. From psychological thrillers to procedurals to cozies, these books reached new heights and brought new perspectives to the forefront in 2021.
Mango, Mambo, and Murder has everything readers look for in a cozy mystery but also feels like a breath of fresh air thanks to its funny, grounded characters and lovingly detailed setting.
John Galligan’s trademark dark humor and clear-sighted social commentary are in fine form as he follows Sheriff Heidi Kick, one of the most complex yet lovable heroes in current crime fiction, on her latest investigation.
Having reached a pinnacle of critical and commercial success that most authors only dream of, Louise Penny still somehow manages to top herself with the latest Inspector Gamache mystery.
The genre-hopping Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic) moves into pulp adventure territory with a novel set in 1970s Mexico City that evokes the best conspiracy thrillers.
Master of espionage John le Carré’s final novel is one of his most impressive accomplishments. A gift for the devoted readers mourning his loss, it looks back and comments on his unparalleled body of work.
The world of Colin Harrison’s new novel, Afterburn, is a world of dark extremes. Unrelentingly corrupt, its characters oscillate between cynicism and melancholy. Their violent acts are dispassionate; their passionate couplings verge on violence. The tangled plot begins with the capture and torture of fighter pilot Charlie Ravich by the Viet Cong in 1972. Charlie withstands starvation, beatings, and incoherence, only to be riddled with friendly fire just prior to his rescue. But he survives, and the narrative leaps ahead to 1999, where Charlie has become a successful international businessman. On a trip to Hong Kong, he witnesses a death that makes him a very wealthy man. But wealth only assuages Charlie’s physical and emotional pain. His wife seems to be slipping away to what may be Alzheimer’s, his only son died years before. So, when Charlie learns that his daughter is unable to bear a child, he takes steps to assure his own genetic immortality by advertising for a woman to bear his child. At the same time, a mathematical whiz named Christina Welles is freed unexpectedly from prison, where she has been serving a sentence for trafficking stolen goods. Christina suspects that her early release has been orchestrated by Tony Verducci, the mobster she has betrayed. Sure that Tony wants to exact some form of revenge, Christina lays low in Manhattan, assuming the name of another woman. Her old boyfriend, Rick Bocca, is warned by the cops that Christina is out of prison and the target of Tony’s vendetta. Still in love with her, and feeling guilty for her incarceration, he goes in search of her, not realizing that his hunt is endangering Christina as well as himself.
When Christina hooks up with Charlie Ravich in the bar of the Pierre, Charlie is fascinated by this clever, attractive woman. They become lovers, and Charlie, knowing nothing of her past, speculates that she might be the ideal woman to bear his child. But once his and Christina’s worlds collide, Charlie quickly becomes the unwitting target of Tony’s pitiless wrath. With ingenious plot turns reminiscent of Jim Thompson’s The Grifters, the truth is slowly revealed about Christina’s inventive deception of Tony. With its muscular prose and graphic depictions of a nefarious world, Afterburn is clearly not a book for faint-hearted readers. But for those who can steer through the raging sex and violence, Colin Harrison will reward them with a compelling story fueled by lots of surprises, including two kickers at the end. ¦ Robert Weibezahl is the co-author of A Taste of Murder (Dell).
The world of Colin Harrison's new novel, Afterburn, is a world of dark extremes. Unrelentingly corrupt, its characters oscillate between cynicism and melancholy. Their violent acts are dispassionate; their passionate couplings verge on violence. The tangled plot begins with the capture and torture of fighter…
I picked up my review copy of Void Moon expecting another installment in the fine police procedural novels featuring world-weary detective Harry Bosch. Instead, I found that author Michael Connelly has returned with a hero working on the other side of the law a scam artist extraordinaire.
Cassie Black has been clean for some time now; she sells Porsches in a trendy Los Angeles dealership, a far cry from her previous profession as a hotel thief. In her previous incarnation, Cassie worked Vegas, in particular the hotels along Las Vegas Boulevard, the Strip. It had been an exciting and lucrative profession until the inevitable intrusion of the law . . . Murphy’s Law. In the space of a few minutes, the perfect heist went south in a big way, culminating in the death of her partner and Cassie’s subsequent arrest.
Now, nearly six years later, Cassie is living the straight life, albeit somewhat reluctantly. She shows up on time for her parole appointments, and she keeps her nose clean. She also monitors the progress of a five-year-old girl the daughter she gave up for adoption while in jail. One afternoon, on a routine reconnaissance mission to catch a glimpse of her daughter at play, Cassie is brought up short by the presence of a For Sale sign on the front lawn of the hillside bungalow where the girl lives. A little judicious probing reveals that the occupants will soon be moving to Paris for an indefinite stay. Fear grips Cassie as she realizes that she may never see her daughter again; she hasn’t the resources to go to Paris, nor is she allowed by condition of her parole to leave the county, let alone the country. Cassie needs a big score, and she needs it fast. She needs enough cash to get a pair of fake passports, a couple of plane tickets, and seed money to start a new life. Reluctantly, she places the call that will close the chapter on the straight life once and for all.
ÊVoid Moon is a terrific change of pace for Connelly’s readers, even those who are anxiously awaiting the next Harry Bosch novel.
I picked up my review copy of Void Moon expecting another installment in the fine police procedural novels featuring world-weary detective Harry Bosch. Instead, I found that author Michael Connelly has returned with a hero working on the other side of the law a scam…
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Praised by horrormeister Stephen King, Paul Tremblay’s shocking new novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, is an often graphic account of one family’s ordeal when their vacation is shattered in a cult-like home invasion. We asked Tremblay about the book’s origins, its dark path and his inner fears that helped forge the novel.
