Honorable Mention 2022
With over 500,000 books published each year (not all are mysteries, obviously), there’s no way I can even read a solid sample of what’s out there. I do gravitate toward historicals, cozies and traditional detective fiction, and out of the 80 plus books I read this past year (all but two were mysteries) these are the (additional) ones I found remarkable and worthy of a look. Happy reading!
The Rising Tide, Ann Cleeves (Vera Stanhope #10 ). Cleeves always provides a spectacularly thoughtful read, and this one is no different. Set on “Holy Island”, an island cut off by the tides every night, a group of high school friends have been meeting up for 50 years. When one of them commits suicide, Vera is sure it’s murder, and of course she’s right. As expected from Cleeves, there are complex characterizations and a spectacular setting that assumes its own part in the story.