The lists of "Best Of" crime fiction novels (and fiction in general) have been trickling in over the past few weeks, and instead of noting each and every one, I decided to wait, compile a summary of sorts, and calculate which titles were included most often. The winning vote-getters are listed at the bottom (no peeking). So here goes:
Amazon liked Tana French's novel The Likeness enough to give it the #6 spot on its listing of Top 100 Books which includes all fiction and nonfiction for 2008.
Barnes and Noble broke down their listing into categories, including two crime fiction titles in the Best Fiction Debut listing and one in Historicals. They also featured a Best Stories on the Edge section chock full of thrillers and topped by A Most Wanted Man by John le Carré.
Booklist gave The Ancient Rain by Domenic Stansberry the top nod in its Ten Best list, but also offered Best New Installment in Long-Running Series Awards (with The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter on top), and Best Crime Novel Debut Awards with Calumet City by Charlie Newton coming out the winner. You can also check out their Top Crime Fiction Audiobooks listing here.
The Christian Science Monitor's listing is for fiction in general, but they do see their way clear to include five crime fiction titles by Atkinson, Bayard, LeCarre, Lehane, and Rankin.
Stephen King compiled a best list for Entertainment Weekly and included When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson, Heartsick and Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Oline Cogdill picked 16 books for her crime fiction bests the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, as well as four standout debuts.
January Magazine's listing was so big, they had to split it into two parts, here and here, although in actuality it was more due to the fact that the list included detailed some nice reviews and summaries instead of just the usual bullet points. The only puzzle is why such a vaunted list of 40 authors only includes two women...
The Kansas City Star's best of crime fiction list includes ten works, in alphabetical order, starting with Saturday’s Child, by Ray Banks.
The Library Journal has a primary listing covering all categories and includes Dennis Lehand and Stieg Larsson. Their genre-specific list roams outside the box and includes a few titles not found elsewhere, such as Assassins at Ospreys by R.T. Raichev.
Sarah Weinman roamed even farther outside the box, including two "standout novels don't even qualify as crime fiction exactly, although each revolves around the ramifications of criminal acts."
NPR was succinct. Five Best. Read 'em here.
Writing for the New York Times, Marilyn Stasio was thrilled to see that thrillers about frothing-at-the-mouth serial killers appear to be in decline.
Publishers Weekly had a general fiction list which included three crime fiction novels and a separate listing for mysteries.
Salon's book awards were slim, but they did manage to give nods to novels by Tana French, Susan Choi, and Rivka Galchen.
The San Fran Chronicle chose 50 fiction and poetry books but only found two crime fiction novels they liked, apparently.
The list of best mysteries compiled by Seattle Times columnist Adam Woog includes bests and runners-up, with a few titles not found on other lists.
UK's Sunday Times had a refreshing European viewpoint, including the "Scandinavian discovery of the year," Matti Joensuu's To Steal her Love.
The crime fiction standouts for USA Book News had separate lists for Mystery/Suspense and Thriller/Adventure, with Blood Harvest by Brant Randall winning the top award in the former category and Stealing Trinity by Ward Larsen wining the latter.
The Village Voice had an eclectic list of anything-goes (Creepy Earth Mothers! Portuguese drag queens!) but included Exit Music by Ian Rankin and Lush Life by Richard Price.
The Washington Post weighed in with its Baker's Dozen list of 13 top mysteries and thrillers, a nice listing (politically correct, perhaps?) of male/female, domestic/international, traditional/thriller novels.
The novels listed as "best" most frequently held few surprises. In order:
1. Stieg Larsson – The girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2. Kate Atkinson – When Will There Be good News
3. Tana French – The Likeness
4. John le Carre – A Most Wanted Man
4. Michael Connelly – The Brass Verdict
4. Tom Rob Smith – Child 44
5. Chelsea Cain - Sweetheart
5. Dennis Lehane – The Given Day
5. Ian Rankin – Exit Music
6. Thomas H. Cook – Master of the Delta
6. John Harvey – Cold in Hand
6. Donna Leon – The Girl of His Dreams
6. Richard Price - Lush Life
6. Don Winslow – Dawn Patrol
Other titles receiving more than one mention were:
- Sandi Ault – Wild Inferno
- Louis Bayard – The Black Tower
- Lawrence Block – Hit and Run
- James Lee Burke – Swan Peak
- Lee Child – Nothing to Lose
- Harlan Coben – Hold Tight
- Robert Ferrigno – Sins of the Assassin
- Alan Furst – The Spies of Warsaw
- John Grisham – The Appeal
- P.D. James – The Private Patient
- T. Jefferson Parker – LA Outlaws
- George Pelecanos – The Turnaround
- James Sallis – Salt River
- Alexander McCall Smith – The Miracle at Speedy Motors
- Inger Ash Wolfe – The Calling
- Dave Zeltserman – Small Crimes
(And in case you missed it, the Crime Fiction Dossier blog also asked various authors and critics to list their favorite reads from the past year. Lots of fun reading.)
There you have it! Quite a bit of good fodder on the above lists with a total of 152 different books represented. As Publishers Weekly noted, "Regardless of your thinking on these current times, they are certainly anything but boring, and we feel the same about the books published this year."
Comments