Welcome to the third annual list of my favorite mystery and thriller novels!
It’s been a very interesting year for me as pertains to my love of reading. I had aimed towards the goal of reading 52 books this year, thinking that a book a week was an admirable and achievable goal. Sadly, I didn’t quite reach that mark, but the good faith attempt was there at least. In all, I read 45 books during the calendar year. While not all of them were of the mystery genre, the majority of what I read (regardless of the genre) was well worth the time invested. Oh, and my sister, who read 86 books this year, refers to my total number of books read as “a good start.”
Since the point of this article is to highlight my picks for the best mystery and thrillers of the year, I should point out that Mystery Scene Magazine remains my go-to bible for new books to add to my “to be read” pile. But I also have a few other outlets from which to help me decide what I might be interested in reading. There is Suspense Magazine and the International Thriller Writers newsletter/magazine The Big Thrill. The latter two are online only enterprises, but they are well worth checking out for articles, interviews, writing tips and a bevy of reviews each month. I also joined up with the Good Reads website during the latter half of the year.
In the past two years when writing this article, I’ve tried to spotlight an author that was a new discovery for me. The writer I chose this time around was one that I’ve actually had a passing familiarity with already, when you consider that he was on last year’s Top Ten List. The writer in question is Ace Atkins. He has written 4 books in the continuation of the Robert B. Parker Spenser novels and the first three have been outstanding. Oddly, I hadn’t read any of his original works and I decided to branch out and sample his Quinn Colson series. The books are about an Army ranger turned sheriff as he deals with ingrained local corruption, questionable family issues, drug cartels and much more. The first book is called The Ranger and I found it to be a deeply involving read. It was followed by The Lost Ones, The Broken Places and The Forsaken. The fifth book in the series came out this year in hardcover and it is called The Redeemers. Judging by the back cover synopsis, I know that I’ll enjoy that one as well.
While any book published in 2015 in either hardcover or paperback is eligible for my list, this year if an author has multiple books that could be included, I’m putting them into one single entry so as to not clutter up the list with the same author over and over.
This year’s list features trips to Wyoming, Boston, three different California cities (one of them completely fictional), Minnesota, Vermont, New Jersey and two different international hopscotch itineraries featuring very hard men doing work in impossible situations.
10. The Survivor by Vince Flynn / Kyle Mills
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book as an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher/publicity department, Atria Books, and I wrote a review of the book which you can see HERE.
The Survivor picks up right where the previous book The Last Man left off, with Mitch Rapp hunting for the secret files kept by a lunatic CIA traitor so they don’t fall into enemy hands. He’s racing the clock as secrets will be revealed at predetermined release times and the chief rival to Rapp for the full file of secrets is a Pakistani military man. Unbeknownst to all, he’s also the chief terrorist behind a plot to destroy the United States.
I’ve loved the Mitch Rapp series from the beginning so it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that I enjoyed this latest installment in the series. The thing that made this book even more interesting to me was the fact that Kyle Mills did such a fantastic job of creating this story almost entirely on his own. Vince Flynn’s death saw him leave behind just 2 1/2 pages of story for this title.
It isn’t really that much to work with, so Mills pretty much had to weave the story tapestry alone. You may not consider that such an Olympian sized feat considering he’s a pretty darn good writer in his own right. But when you are reading the book, you don’t know where Flynn ends and Mills begins. There’s no question that this is a Mitch Rapp story and fans of the character and the entire international thriller genre can rest assured that the franchise is in good shape and good hands with Kyle Mills at the helm.
9. The Company She Kept by Archer Mayor
The latest Joe Gunther story from Archer Mayor kicks off with the discovery of the body of a state senator. Her body is gruesomely displayed in such a manner that it looks like it was a hate crime because the woman was a lesbian. But as Gunther and his VBI team (Vermont Bureau of Investigation) investigate the case, they are led down a path that leads to a startling revelation that ties to Gunther himself and his former lover, who is the governor of Vermont.
The drama I’ve come to expect from Mayor’s books in this series is fully intact and there is action to be seen, but not so as it overwhelms a simply fantastic example of storytelling. I have heard Mayor speak in person and how he doesn’t particularly see his books as being lumped into the mystery genre but regardless of how he may see things, he’s crafted a thrilling tale of mysterious goings on cloaked in the trappings of Vermont life from their main cities to their smallest towns. He’s also created one of the more enduring cranky characters in fiction with Willy Kunkle. He’s a character you can’t help but love even if knowing someone like that in real life would likely make you run for the hills.
The funny thing for me is that I would never have even read Mayor’s books if it hadn’t been for the passing of my father. I bought him Mayor’s St. Alban’s Fire for Christmas the year it came out, but he was never able to read it. I was determined that someone in my house would read the book before it was passed on to some neighbors who love all things Vermont. I ended up reading it and became hooked on the story and the characters.
Archer Mayor and his Joe Gunther character are part and parcel of what makes reading so enjoyable.
8. Innocent Damage by Robert K. Lewis
After reading the first two books in the Mark Mallen series – Untold Damage and Critical Damage – I was really grabbed by the stories Robert K. Lewis was telling. He crafted a series protagonist that was hard to root for because of his own self-induced fall from grace. But Lewis turned things upside down by making you want to see him turn things around despite your initial distaste for the now ex-junkie/ex-cop Mark Mallen.
I liked the first two books in the series, but with Innocent Damage, Lewis outdid himself with a truly dark tale that finds Mallen searching for the child of an old running buddy from his drug using days. The case starts off badly and only seems to get worse as he finds himself stymied by a couple of police detectives who are WAY too interested in what Mallen is up to.
Meanwhile, Mallen’s new friend Gato is searching for his missing sister and tracks her to Las Vegas, but things don’t go any better for him than they do for Mallen. I like how Lewis casts his story in the darkest manner possible and then manages to allow a little peak of sunshine to come through, but manages to not make it feel forced. There’s an ending to the stories, but they don’t always end with a happily ever after and Lewis crafts one hell of an ending.
Also, the relationship between Mallen and Gato may not quite equal the verbosity of Spenser and Hawk but it does have its own special kind of magic as the two find themselves intertwined in each others lives and quests.
All in all, I think the Mark Mallen series is one of the best “new” mystery series out there and Robert K. Lewis is one of my favorite new authors.
7. Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot by Ace Atkins
Speaking of Spenser and Hawk, the literary detective dynamic duo make another appearance on this year’s list. I know I mentioned Ace Atkins once already in this article but he made more magic happen with this installment in the Spenser series.
Boston’s favorite detective gets called in to work on a child kidnapping case involving a player for the New England Patriots. I guess you can never accuse Atkins of trying to make things easy for himself. It must be quite a trick to balance introducing a fictional character into a very real and very successful pro sports team like the Patriots. You need the character to help serve the needs of the story but still have to make the atmosphere of the actual team feel authentic. Luckily, both Atkins and Spenser are up to the task.
The criminal underworld tie to the story necessitates back up for Spenser in the form of both Hawk and their protégé Zebulon Sixkill. The dialogue is snappy (and witty, of course) and the pacing of the story is lightning quick. Despite the shady dealings in the story, things never get bogged down in the actual storytelling.
I know these books are continuing Robert B. Parker’s Spenser legacy, but they don’t feel like just a way to keep the gravy train rolling. Rather, Atkins has quietly and impressively made Spenser his own while honoring the creator of the character at the same time. For someone like me who is notoriously finicky about continuing an author’s work after their death, I couldn’t ask for a better torchbearer for future Spenser stories than Ace Atkins.
6. Field of Prey by John Sandford
The latest paperback in Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series finds our hero in Red Wing, Minnesota after the discovery of a killer’s dumping ground yields at least 15 bodies. Once it is determined that the bodies were killed over the course of years, the hunt for the latest serial killer is on. But if that isn’t enough, Davenport has to deal with a reporter out to get him for past questionable behavior and his home life as well. When his own team is caught in the crossfire and injured, that only sharpens his focus to catch one of the more lunatic killers that has appeared the “Prey” series.
The thing with this novel that made it so compelling was you could feel how oppressive things were from the discovery of the bodies, to the tragic shootings of law enforcement investigators, to the detailed capture and hostage situation with a female cop. Sandford’s writing manages to draw you in time after time yet feels fresh with each tale to be told. He’s created a fascinating, yet realistic, universe and populated it with compelling characters and then puts them through a hellfire trial in each successive book in the series.
I’ve been hooked since the first book in the series, Rules of Prey, and each time, I find myself eagerly anticipating a new installment. This feeling is only increased after reading Field of Prey.
5. The English Spy by Daniel Silva
While I doubt that Israeli spy Gabriel Allon is trying to keep in contact with the country of England, he does seem to find himself quite regularly hip deep in the quagmire of English political intrigue.
When a member of the British Royal Family is killed by a bomb aboard her yacht, the Brits end up asking for Allon’s help to track down a former IRA terrorist they suspect, or rather, are sure, is behind the bombing. While the new job as the head of Israeli intelligence and a wife about to give birth await him back in Israel, Allon can’t help but get involved when a tragic event in his past ties the bomber to him personally.
Along for the ride is Christopher Keller, a former British agent thought dead, but in reality he’s been working as an assassin for a number of years. Allon has worked with him in past novels so when he’s told by the head of MI-6 that British intelligence knows Keller is alive, neither Allon or Keller are left with much choice in the matter anyway.
This sets the duo off to Ireland, Switzerland, Portugal and other various ports of call as they track down the bomber. But things are far from easy as they are confronted with long held and never forgotten grudges, betrayals and eventually there is a need to employ a massive worldwide deception in order to draw out their prey.
The English Spy once again reinforces the belief that Daniel Silva is one of the finest writers working in the thriller genre today. In each successive book he crafts stories that launch the reader into a world filled with tenuous and ever shifting loyalties but gives you a main character you can lay odds on being the one paragon of forthrightness in a world where that isn’t always a quality people want to see or deal with. This is a story well told by a master of the art form at the height of his powers.
4. The Burning Room & The Crossing by Michael Connelly
I’ve said in the past numerous times, but it bears repeating: Michael Connelly is probably the best crime fiction writer working today. His Harry Bosch novels are like a little master class in writing each time out. They feature a relentlessly driven main character on a twisting wild ride of a crime investigation that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
This year, thanks to good timing (and fortuitous sale prices), I was able to read both the new paperback and his latest hardcover Bosch stories. Neither of them were anything less than fantastic.
In The Burning Room, Bosch and his rookie partner Lucia Soto get a new lead on a decade old cold case after a current victim of a shooting ends up passing away. The stray bullet pulled from his body during the autopsy gives the old case a new life. Bosch is nearing the end of his time with the LAPD and wants to finish off the case before that comes to pass. But the detectives find themselves stonewalled by an opportunistic politician looking to make the leap to the governor’s mansion, a ruthless political operator determined to see that happen and a police hierarchy not all that interested in exposing dirty laundry that could blow back on them. If that isn’t enough for you, the ending is something you don’t see coming and changes the course of the series in a huge fundamental way.
As for the follow up book The Crossing, Bosch ends up getting drawn into working for his defense lawyer brother, Mickey Haller (from Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer series) on a case where he claims the defendant is completely innocent. Bosch scoffs at this idea and is reluctant to help because of his beliefs about cops “crossing” the aisle to work for defendants. But due to a promise by his brother to turn over evidence if it convicts his client, Bosch begins to investigate and comes to believe that the client is actually innocent. This comes with a cost both personally and professionally. His cop friends freeze him out for working for the defense and his own daughter won’t talk to him. And helping to make matters worse, the actual criminals behind the case are now tracking Bosch to see what he knows and to shut him out permanently if need be.
You’ve heard that phrase “You can’t put this book down” many a time, but with both of these novels, it totally rang true. The two novels were fantastic stories that kept the juices flowing and showed the cost of following your own code against the lesser principled but more highly placed people above you in the food chain.
Michael Connelly does it so well, that there are barely any writers who you can say do it nearly as well as he does, much less better than him.
As an aside, if you get the chance to check out the first season of the Bosch series on Amazon’s streaming service, you will be in for a treat. It is a superb adaptation of the series with a standout performance by Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch.
3. Identity and Brutality by Ingrid Thoft
The 2nd book in the Fina Ludlow series by Ingrid Thoft, Identity, gives rise to one of the least sympathetic clients in detective fiction that I can ever recall. Despite her own daughter’s wishes, Renata Sanchez wants to know the identity of the sperm donor she used to conceive the child. Fina’s father, the ever opportunistic lawyer Carl Ludlow, jumps at the chance to represent Sanchez because of the future revenue stream he sees this particular area of the law providing. But when the donor is identified and later turns up dead, a simple case of identity turns into a homicide investigation and all hell breaks loose.
And if that isn’t enough to keep Fina busy, she still has to navigate the difficult family waters and deal with her traumatized niece. She has to do this while keeping the news that one of her brothers is a pervert from her divorced-from-reality-mother.
When it came time for the hardcover release of book 3 in the series, Brutality, I was thrilled to see that Thoft’s book tour would bring her to a store within driving distance for me and I made plans to attend. You can read about that excursion HERE.
As for the story involved with Brutality, Fina is hired to investigate after a former collegiate sports star is attacked in her home and left in a coma. The woman’s mother wants to know what happened and if it was tied to her daughter’s lawsuit against the school for concussion injuries suffered while she was a player.
While the investigation ends up uncovering some salacious and unseemly evidence that makes you question pretty much everyone involved with college sports, the seemingly aloof husband doesn’t help his own cause when Fina uncovers some details about his own possible motive for his wife’s attack.
After listening to Thoft’s talk at the book signing event about her research into the topic of concussions in sports, the story was that much more informative to me. Perhaps more so because I’m such a big sports fan. But as much as I liked the investigatory nature of the A plot, I was driven to like how the continuing subplot about Fina’s niece and predatory brother affected the Ludlow clan. The explosive ending to that part of the story in this book set things up for what I think can be a huge showdown for all parties.
Thoft may have just three books on the market, but she’s managed to quickly become one of my favorite authors to read because of quick wit storytelling combined with the detail necessary to set a book in Boston and the surrounding areas. I finished Brutality and immediately felt aggrieved that I couldn’t immediately start another Fina adventure. Yes, that next adventure has yet to be written, but little details like a finished product didn’t enter into my mind at the time. The more Fina, the better!
2. Veronica Mars – Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
I know that there is probably a bit of a schism amongst readers, critics and other authors about the value of a TV tie-in novel. But in the case of this second follow up to the Veronica Mars TV show and film, series creator Rob Thomas and co-author Jennifer Graham did indeed come up with a very worthy detective novel on its own, aside from tying into the mythology of a much missed TV show.
Set in the fictional California town of Neptune, the ritzy Neptune Grand hotel hires Veronica to investigate when a woman claims she was assaulted in one of their rooms. Her claims that after the attack she was smuggled out of the hotel to help avoid a scandal only serve to make the case more juicy.
But with a history of scandals covered up, whose story is to be believed? Veronica is hired to disprove what the woman is saying, but from the start the case gets messy. You’ve got disappearing witnesses, contradictory video evidence and the victim is someone known to Veronica – and not necessarily for the better. Aided by her computer expert Mac, her dad Keith and more of her supporting cast, Veronica is determined to find out the truth.
With a killer on the loose, will she find it before the killer finds her?
I haven’t seen any news about future installments in this book series, but if Thomas and Graham can come up with more stories that manage to both serve as a touchstone to the TV show and stand on its own as a fun, breezy and entertaining mystery, I’ll be in line waiting to buy that book.
1. Stone Cold and Endangered by C. J. Box
2015 was a hell of a year for author C. J. Box. In all, he had four books that came out during the year and they were all pretty interesting reads. There was the paperback edition of the anthology Shots Fired – Stories from Joe Pickett Country. It had a couple of new Joe Pickett short stories plus a couple other ones that had been written for other publications. Interwoven with those stories was a number of other mini tales that Box has written for various other outings. Some were better than others but taken as a whole, the book was quite a look at the author’s take on topics other than his main series hero.
His other book was the 2nd Cassie Dewell thriller Badlands. The story follows up on the previous novel The Highway. I liked how Box didn’t waste time tying up (for the moment anyway) the loose thread from the first book but then moved things forward as Dewell takes a new job as the lead investigator in a oil boomtown called Grimstad. Once she arrives, she learns that the sheriff suspects someone in his department of helping the criminal element in town. But that’s not all, she ends up with a case involving a mysterious 12 year old boy and a drug cartel’s search for lost money and product. I enjoyed the story more than I did in The Highway and I hope to read more Cassie Dewell adventures in the future.
Now, as for the books I consider my #1 and #2 overall best reads of the year, Stone Cold was a thrill ride from beginning to end as Joe Pickett is tasked with finding out the truth about a powerful and wealthy man who is reputed to be a contract killer. But complications arise for Pickett from the start when he is confronted by a man who is easy to see as inherently evil. Worse yet, a well known acquaintance of Pickett’s is on site as well. Joe’s recalcitrant nature won’t allow him to just cut and run so his investigation proceeds despite the danger it places he and his family in. Worse yet, he’s still dealing with his troublesome and troubled daughter April. The late story inclusion of another vicious calculating and thoroughly amoral character known to Pickett ups the stakes dramatically.
The very end of Stone Cold sets up the main story in Endangered as Joe and his wife Marybeth are desperate to find their daughter April. But they couldn’t be prepared when her battered and beaten body is found on the road as if she had been headed back home to Saddlestring, Wyoming. The man Joe thinks is responsible, Dallas Cates, swears he didn’t hurt April, that she had run off from him weeks prior. There’s another suspect, but Pickett doesn’t believe it.
As he investigates to find out the truth, Cates’ family stonewalls him at every turn. They are essentially a crime family, albeit on a far smaller scale and won’t let anything harmful befall their golden boy Dallas.
What made this book so interesting is how Box ended up showing Pickett, for all his straightforwardness, can be blind to things when it comes to affecting his family. He’s not perfect despite his successes in the past and this case demonstrates that fact. The flawed hero aspect of Pickett’s makeup is a nice touch. The subplot involving Picket family friend Nate was well done as it started out as a separate thing entirely before nicely dovetailing to a tie into the main plot.
It’s only been a couple of years since I got started reading C. J. Box but in that time he has risen to become one of my all-time favorite writers and for the calendar year of 2015, he’s simply the best!
And with that, you have my take on the most outstanding reads of the year. What did you read this year that set your heart aflutter with an adrenaline surge? And what are you looking forward to reading in 2016?
I know that I’m looking forward to catching up on some of the books that I didn’t have time for this year like the Kareem Abdul Jabbar / Anna Waterhouse mystery Mycroft Holmes. As for books coming out in 2016, I already have the ARC for the debut thriller Over Watch by Matthew Betley. I’m also interested in the Cold War era spy thriller An Honorable Man by Paul Vidich that is due out in April. And I’m sure that I will also find a number of new or new to me authors to start reading as well.
I know that I’ll have my hands full of an assortment of great thrillers and mysteries throughout 2016 regardless. It will certainly keep me busy and out of trouble in trying to reach that mark. Happy Reading!
