{"id":849,"date":"2012-11-23T18:01:21","date_gmt":"2012-11-24T00:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=849"},"modified":"2012-11-23T18:01:21","modified_gmt":"2012-11-24T00:01:21","slug":"best-of-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/best-of-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, one of my favorite tasks is assembling my Top 10 List, which usually (actually always) involves winnowing and eliminating –\u00a0 at the end of the list, there are even more titles I really enjoyed.\u00a0 This year I\u2019m moving two perennials to the \u201cEmeritus\u201d category – Louise Penny and William Kent Krueger – they are almost always on the list so, while including the wonderful book each of them wrote this year, I\u2019ve left room for 10 other titles as well.\u00a0 Happy reading!<\/em><\/p>\n

Now You See Me, <\/em>S.J. Bolton, Minotaur, $25.99.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/form>\n

\u201cWe lie to dying people, I realized that evening, just as the first sirens sounded in the distance.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Bolton goes from strength to strength, delivering an original read every time.\u00a0 While her first three books were set in remote British locations, this one takes place in London, and is a straight up police procedural – or is it?\u00a0 As the cops working what quickly become obvious are copies of Jack the Ripper\u2019s killings, it\u2019s also obvious that the killer is fixated on one of the policewomen, who the rest of the squad keeps under close watch.\u00a0 What isn\u2019t clear is – is she being watched because they think she\u2019s connected to the killer, or because they\u2019re worried about her?\u00a0 Or both?\u00a0 Bolton keeps you guessing, and this is a wonderfully twisty thriller with her trademark wonderful use of setting.\u00a0 What also sets this book apart is her look at the crimes, and at the work of the policewomen involved, through a gender lens.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a polemic, but it gives the reader a female-centric view of crime, not only the murder cases, but also some rape cases in a correlated thread.\u00a0 You could also just read this book because it\u2019s a terrific thriller.\u00a0 Either way, this is not an author to be missed.<\/p>\n

Killed at the Whim of a Hat, <\/em>Colin Cotterill, Minotaur, $24.99.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cA number of lands around the globe have what they refer to as a southern temperament.\u00a0 Thailand is no exception.\u00a0 Old Mel could surely have gone running off screaming for help…But he was a southerner.\u00a0 He broke off a stem of sweet grass to chew while he sat on the concrete segment and gazed into the abyss.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Colin Cotterill has transplanted the charm and humor of his Dr. Siri series to his now native Thailand, and created an entirely new family of eccentrics for readers to love.\u00a0 His gentle and ironic touch is unchanged, though his new central character, Jimm Juree, is a young woman instead of a 70-something man like Dr. Siri. Jimm lives with her family in crowded Chang Mai, and as the story opens she discovers her mother has sold the family business and bought a resort in the middle of nowhere.\u00a0 The photos of the Gulf Bay Lovely Resort and Restaurant made it look beautiful; the reality is slightly different.\u00a0 A former crime beat reporter, Jimm is bored by the tiny fishing village where the resort is located.\u00a0 However, she is delighted when two skeletons are discovered buried in a VW bus, and as she explores the mystery, she also begins to love her new town.\u00a0 She shares the stage with her eccentric and strong willed mother, her grandfather, who rarely speaks, and her brother, Arny, a sensitive 31 year old virgin and bodybuilder.\u00a0 The story is clever and surprisingly complicated, tied together with chapter epigraphs taken directly from the lips of George W. Bush, whose malapropisms are somehow wildly appropriate to Jimm\u2019s new life in the provinces.\u00a0 The gentle interplay of the family \u2013 the grandfather who starts to speak; the mother who appears to be getting forgetful and is sneaking around in some kind of Ninja costume, and the changing love fortunes of the shy and awkward Arny – are the true heart of the book.\u00a0 This is one of the reads of the year.<\/p>\n

Murder Season, <\/em>Robert Ellis, Minotaur, $25.99.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cShe could smell it in the pillow as she pulled it closer.\u00a0 On the sheets as she rolled over in the darkness and searched out cool spots that were not there.\u00a0 Murder Season.\u00a0 She was floating, drifting.\u00a0 Cruising through an open seam between sleep and consciousness.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>If there is a writer to resemble, it might be a good idea to resemble Michael Connelly. It is no disrespect to say that Robert Ellis\u2019 tightly plotted police procedurals set in LA and featuring homicide detective Lena Gamble resemble Connelly\u2019s Harrry Bosch novels. However, the gender change up makes the whole enterprise fresh. Ellis happily also shares Connelly\u2019s sharp plotting and ability to give the reader a twist that has been fairly laid out for the reader, yet is still a surprise.\u00a0 I think police novels are the modern equivalent of the private eye novel \u2013 the police in contemporary mysteries often think and operate somewhat outside the box, much like an old school private eye \u2013 so using the old P.I. tropes are a natural fit. Ellis embellishes the tropes and makes them his own, and one of the ways he does this is with evocative prose.\u00a0 In this tricky story involving a notorious Hollywood murder case, Lena has much territory to navigate, with the help\/hindrance of an old cop on the way down.\u00a0 In true noir fashion, she\u2019s never sure who to trust, but the reader can easily trust Lena, whose smarts never lead her in the wrong direction.\u00a0 Beautifully written and plotted, it would truly be a shame to miss this wonderful novel.<\/p>\n

The Janus Stone, <\/em>Elly Griffiths, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25.00.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cLove is always a force for good…Your love for your wife and daughters, for this woman and her unborn baby.\u00a0 Even your wife\u2019s kindness toward her.\u00a0 These are all good things…love is always a blessing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So many people I respected told me to check out Elly Griffiths I finally did, and boy, am I hooked on Ruth Galloway.\u00a0 She\u2019s fabulous.\u00a0 Unapologetically overweight, with no interest in clothes, Ruth instead focuses on her fascinating job as an archaeologist.\u00a0 Set on the coast of England, Ruth lives in a remote location, and she\u2019s a convenient expert whenever bones are discovered – in this novel, some are Roman, some are more recent.\u00a0 When I read the first book, The Crossing Places, <\/em>I liked it so much that I ordered 25 copies right away and proceeded to hand sell them.\u00a0 I can safely say every reader I\u2019ve introduced to Ruth is looking forward to the January publication of The House by the Sea. <\/em>These books, aside from featuring a great character – in fact many great characters – also have a good, complex story and a lovely setting and background.\u00a0 I think I\u2019m a life time fan.<\/p>\n

Buffalo West Wing, <\/em>Julie Hyzy, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99 (paperback original).<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cTwo hours later, I had rehashed every moment of the kids\u2019 disastrous first visit to the kitchen a hundred times.\u00a0 No matter how you cut the cheesecake, there was no way I could have served those wings.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I always like to include a book on this list that\u2019s simply the most fun I had \u201cbetween the covers\u201d all year.\u00a0 For me, it was this book, the 4th in Hyzy\u2019s wildly entertaining series set in the White House Kitchen.\u00a0 In this one, executive Chef Olivia Paras gets a new boss in the form of a new first family, and the new first lady is skeptical, as are her children.\u00a0 Olivia tries her hardest to please her new bosses, big and small,\u00a0 but an incident early on sours things, and it takes a kidnaping toward the end of the book to get the first family on Olivia\u2019s side.\u00a0 I found this entry as funny and fast paced as the others but also surprisingly moving. Hyzy really seems to have hit her storytelling stride.<\/p>\n

Season of Darkness, <\/em>Maureen Jennings, McClelland & Stewart, $22.95.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cDawn was starting to seep through the trees and the exercise was getting the blood flowing.\u00a0 She kicked her feet off the pedals and did a little swoop from side to side just for fun.\u00a0 Whoopee!\u00a0 There was something to be said about this war.\u00a0 She\u2019d never have this experience stuck in the filthy London back-to-back housing where she\u2019d grown up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Maureen Jennings hits the ball out of the park with this first book in a planned trilogy set during WWII England, and helmed by local policeman Tom Tyler.\u00a0 This tiny Shropshire town is populated not only by an interment camp for Germans – mainly intellectuals, one of them a student of Freud – but it\u2019s also full of Land Girls, the young women who helped to bring the crops in all over Britain during the war.\u00a0 When a body of a Land Girl is found with a mysterious bunch of white poppies, it takes all of Tom Tyler\u2019s instincts and some help from the Freudian to help unravel what becomes a series of killings.\u00a0 The killing are tied in a complex way to the town, with emotional repercussions for many of its citizens.\u00a0 A master at complex plotting, wonderful characters, and a vibrant setting, it\u2019s wonderful to see the talented Jennings at work on a new series.<\/p>\n

Northwest Angle, <\/em>William Kent Krueger, Atria, $24.99.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cHe woke long before it was necessary, had wakened in this way for weeks, troubled and afraid.\u00a0 A dull illumination came through the houseboat window into the cabin he shared with his son.\u00a0 Not light exactly.\u00a0 More the promise of light.\u00a0 False dawn…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Krueger uses one of his trademarks – a high drama weather event, tied to an emotional one – to great effect here.\u00a0 As Cork O\u2019Connor\u2019s family is enjoying a vacation in a secluded area called the Northwest Angle, a storm comes up and Cork and his daughter Jenny are separated from the rest of the group, and for a time, from each other.\u00a0 While alone, Jenny finds both a dead body and a baby, and the first half of the novel is a bravura chase sequence, with Cork and Jenny\u2019s main goal keeping the foundling safe.\u00a0 Skillfully balancing a complex story, some deep emotional threads, and a beautiful rendering of the north woods and waters, Krueger\u2019s book is also simply a wonderful, well written thriller.\u00a0 It\u2019s another great read from one of our top notch contemporary crime writers.<\/p>\n

The Girl in the Green Raincoat, <\/em>Laura Lippman, William Morrow, $11.99.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cOverdo a slow waddle to the bathroom!\u00a0 This made no sense to Tess.\u00a0 Raucous fun could be overdone.\u00a0 Drinking could be overdone.\u00a0 High-fat food could be overdone, even exercise.\u00a0 But a ten-foot walk to the bathroom?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This slender paperback, culled from a serial that appeared first in the New York Times, <\/em>is such a perfect book in its own way that I had to include it.\u00a0 In this book Tess is pregnant and on forced bed rest (something she\u2019s not taking well), and with a bravura nod to Hitchcock\u2019s Rear Window, <\/em>the bedridden Tess uncovers a mystery as she watches the action unfold outside her front window.\u00a0 At the same time it allows Lippman to have almost every important-to-Tess character come through the door, and she gives them each their own chapter, so as a reader you learn more about series stalwarts like Mrs. Blossom, Whitney, Lloyd, her Dad, and Crow. While Lippman works with very familiar tropes, she makes them fresh, sometimes through originality of character, sometimes through humor, and always with a snap of her crisp plotting skills. Moving, fast paced, and clever, this is a purely delightful read, and if you are a Tess Monaghan fan, one not to be missed.<\/p>\n

A Trick of the Light, <\/em>Louise Penny, Minotaur, $25.99.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cWas this how dreadful things started? Peter wondered.\u00a0 Not with a thunder clap.\u00a0 Not with a shriek.\u00a0 Not with sirens, but with a smile?\u00a0 Something horrible come calling, wrapped in civility and good manners.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Penny\u2019s latest novel is a long awaited look at the marriage and careers of series characters Peter and Clara, both artists.\u00a0 As the book opens, most of Three Pines is headed to Clara\u2019s gallery opening in Montreal.\u00a0 When one of Clara\u2019s old frenemies (and former art critic) Lillian Dyson turned up dead in Clara\u2019s garden the day after the art opening, all hell breaks loose.\u00a0 While Penny hews to almost golden age conventions in some ways (her story set ups) her emotional truths and revelations are far more contemporary, and this novel is a mediation on jealousy and it\u2019s destructiveness in any kind of relationship.\u00a0 The mystery part is as skillful as ever, but here is also the trademark beautiful prose and memorable characterizations Penny\u2019s readers have come to expect, as well as her ultimately optimistic viewpoint. Long may she write.<\/p>\n

Children of the Street, <\/em>Kwei Quartey, Random House, $15.00.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cEvery time he came home, Dawson felt a surge of thankfulness, like the swell of a wave. The little house was a sanctuary, armor against the wickedness of the crime he dealt with every day.\u00a0 A bit of a fortress too.\u00a0 His police sense had led him to burglarproof the house to the extreme.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I hear Kwei\u2019s series hasn\u2019t been picked up, and that\u2019s a real shame because both his novels, set in Ghana and featuring Detective Darko, are knockouts.\u00a0 This book moves him to the head of the class as Darko is in his home city of Accra, dealing with the deaths of the some of the incredible number of street children there.\u00a0 While giving the reader a heartbreaking picture of the city, he also gives a balanced one, as Darko\u2019s own family life, while not uncomplicated, is far from bleak, and he loves his wife and son.\u00a0 Darko is one of my favorite new mystery characters, as he\u2019s not uncomplicated himself – he has anger issues, a little problem with pot, a bit of a wandering eye, and he can \u201chear\u201d a lie in someone\u2019s voice – and at the same time he\u2019s a very smart and capable policeman.\u00a0 The novel moves at a fast pace with lots of clues scattered throughout, as Quartey is also a devotee of the classic mystery.\u00a0 I\u2019m truly hoping Detective Darko and his creator find a new publishing home, as I was looking forward to many more outings.<\/p>\n

The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes, <\/em>Marcus Sakey, Dutton, $25.95.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cA blurry week ago he had woken on one coast.\u00a0 It had been cold and gray and lonely, beautiful in a desolate sort of way.\u00a0 It had nearly killed him, and maybe he had wanted it to.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This book, like all of Sakey\u2019s novels, was impossible to put down, and like the best of them, it also carries some emotional heft.\u00a0 Daniel Hayes wakes up on one side of the country with no memory (or clothes) – but finds a convenient BMW nearby, with clothes that fit – and he drives the car back to Los Angeles, which feels like home to him.\u00a0 As his memory comes back to him in bits and pieces he starts to remember that he was married to a fairly well known television star, she\u2019s dead, and he\u2019s the main suspect.\u00a0 As Sakey teases out Daniel\u2019s memories, as a reader, you\u2019re working as hard as Daniel, since what you\u2019re working with is no different from what Daniel is working with.\u00a0 Daniel is a writer, and Sakey uses that skill to help him figure out what\u2019s going on. The thoughtfulness that Sakey brings to his explication of memory, desire, love and loyalty as a part of Daniel\u2019s quest adds to the book\u2019s depth. Sakey is also a gifted prose stylist.\u00a0 He makes his prose simple but it\u2019s crisp and memorable, with never a misplaced word.\u00a0 A Sakey novel is always something worth celebrating, especially when it\u2019s as good as this one.<\/p>\n

One Was a Soldier, <\/em>Julia Spencer-Fleming, Minotaur, $24.99<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/form>\n

\u201cAre you kidding?\u201d\u00a0 She looked around with lively interest.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve never been in the Dew Drop Inn before.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFor a very good reason.\u00a0 This piss-hole is no place for a- a – \u201c \u201dOfficer?\u00a0 Lady? Priest?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cA nice Episcopalian.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I think I can safely say there was no more anticipated return to the mystery reading community than that of Clare Fergusson and her creator, Julia Spencer-Fleming.\u00a0 Happily, this book is not a disappointment, but a great, sprawling, complex read, one that finds Clare back from Iraq, planning her wedding to Russ.\u00a0 Her return is complicated by her struggles with addiction. Her membership in a returning vets support group illuminates different folks in town as Spencer-Fleming skillfully weaves her story to include a wide swath of Miller\u2019s Kill, New York.\u00a0 The emotional wallop of this novel is huge, as Spencer-Fleming spares heartbreak neither in her stories of the veterans, nor in her depiction of Clare\u2019s struggle.\u00a0 When there\u2019s a murder in town, with ties to the vet\u2019s group, Clare of course gets involved, more or less shutting Russ out, in classic addict behavior.\u00a0 Things are coming right by the end of the novel, but not before a lot of emotional struggle and heartbreak.\u00a0 The narrative is complex and tricky, as Spencer-Fleming continues to proves that she\u2019s also a devotee of the traditional mystery structure.\u00a0 I\u2019m already looking forward to Clare\u2019s next appearance.<\/p>\n

Also recommended:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wicked Autumn <\/em>(Minotaur), G.M. Malliett\u2019s sly take on the village cozy; Dogs Don\u2019t Lie <\/em>(Poisoned Pen), Clea Simon\u2019s original story about a woman who \u201chears\u201d what animals are thinking; Motor City Shakedown <\/em>(Minotaur), D.E. Johnson\u2019s sophomore effort set in 1911 Detroit; Winged Obsession <\/em>(William Morrow), Jessica Speart\u2019s compulsive read about the world of butterfly collecting; and Killing Kate <\/em>(Atria), Julie Kramer\u2019s latest and scariest Riley Spartz outing.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Customer & Staff Picks<\/strong><\/p>\n

A few commonalities here – Alan Bradley, Louise Penny, Jacqueline Winspear, and Elly Griffiths.<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Linda Kimmel<\/strong>, Ann Arbor: Alan Bradley, I am Half-Sick of Shadows; <\/em>Jacqueline Winspear, A Lesson in Secrets; <\/em>Tasha Alexander, A Crimson Warning; <\/em>Deanna Raybourn, The Dark Enquiry; <\/em>Rhys Bowen, Naughty in Nice; <\/em>Louise Penny, A Trick of the Light; <\/em>Elly Griffiths, The Janus Stone.<\/em><\/p>\n

Vicki Kondelik<\/strong>, Ann Arbor: Susanne Allyen, The Cavalier of the Apocalypse<\/em>, Alan Bradley, A Red Herring Without Mustard; <\/em>Casey Donis, Crying Blood; <\/em>Elly Griffiths, The Crossing Places; <\/em>David Hewson, The Fallen Angel; <\/em>Camilla Lackburg, The Ice Princess; <\/em>Elizabeth Loupas, The Second Duchess; <\/em>Louise Penny, A Trick of the Light; <\/em>Judith Rock, The Rhetoric of Death; <\/em>Jeri Westerson, Troubled Bones.<\/em><\/p>\n

David Andrew Speer<\/strong>, via facebook: Starvation Lake, <\/em>Bryan Gruley.<\/p>\n

Becky Felan Frieseman<\/strong>, via facebook: Now You See Me, <\/em>S.J. Bolton.<\/p>\n

Mary Treusch<\/strong>, via facebook: Cypress House, <\/em>Michael Koryta.<\/p>\n

Lisa Arnsdorf<\/strong>, Ann Arbor: The Weed that Strings the Hangman\u2019s Bag, <\/em>Alan Bradley; The Janus Stone, <\/em>Elly Griffiths.<\/p>\n

Tori Booker<\/strong>, Ann Arbor: The Brutal Telling, <\/em>Louise Penny; Still Missing, <\/em>C. Stevens; Hellhound on His Trail, <\/em>Hampton Sides.<\/p>\n

Maria Parker<\/strong>, North Carolina: Alastair Sim, The Unbelievers;<\/em> Ruth Rendell, Portobello<\/em>; Reginald Hill, Midnight Fugue & The Woodcutter;<\/em> Jacqueline Winspear, A Lesson in Secrets; <\/em>Kate Atkinson, When Will There be Good News; <\/em>Mark Billingham, Death Message;<\/em> Ruth Rendell, Tigerlily’s Orchids<\/em>; Anne Perry, Treason at Lisson Grove<\/em>; Peter Lovesey, Stage Struck<\/em>; Anne Perry, Acceptable Loss; <\/em>Kate Atkinson, Case Histories.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year, one of my favorite tasks is assembling my Top 10 List, which usually (actually always) involves winnowing and eliminating –\u00a0 at the end of the list, there are even more titles I really enjoyed.\u00a0 This year I\u2019m moving two perennials to the \u201cEmeritus\u201d category – Louise Penny and William Kent Krueger – they … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849\/revisions\/850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}