What’s more fun than having one crime-fiction critic choose his or her favorite books of 2024? Well, having six of them do so at once! In late November, the Web site Crime Time gathered together half a dozen of Britain’s foremost crime, mystery, and thriller reviewers—Maxim Jakubowski, Jake Kerridge, Ayo Onatade, Victoria Selman, Paul Burke, and Barry Forshaw—for an hour-long “debate” about which novel, published in this genre over the last 12 months, was the most enjoyable. They agreed that Best of the Year accolades belong to The Peacock and the Sparrow (No Exit Press), by ex-CIA operations ..read more

Part of a series honoring the late author and blogger Bill Crider. Running Scared, by Gregory Mcdonald (Signet, 1973). Mcdonald, of course, wrote the very popular Fletch series, three books from which have been adapted for film and TV. Running Scared (published originally in 1964) was his first novel, and also served as the basis for a movie, a 1972 feature starring Robert Powell and Gayle Hunnicutt. Cover art by Stanley Borack ..read more

It was only this past September that we learned Iowa author Max Allan Collins was writing a sequel to Dashiell Hammett’s only Sam Spade private-eye novel, 1929’s The Maltese Falcon. But already, he says he’s done with that project. Collins explains in a new blog post: I have delivered Return of the Maltese Falcon to Hard Case Crime and sister company Titan Books. Publisher/editor Charles Ardai got back to me lightning fast, as is his habit, so the book has largely been put to bed—though not due out till January 2026. My Mike Hammer editor Andrew Sumner, at Titan, will be giving it an editoria ..read more

Let’s add another two contributions to our growing quantity of nominees for the “best crime, mystery, and thriller fiction of 2024.” This first list comes from Britain’s Guardian newspaper, in which author-reviewer Laura Wilson’s selections today appear: • What a Way to Go, by Bella Mackie (Borough) • The Kellerby Code, by Jonny Sweet (Faber & Faber) • The List of Suspicious Things, by Jennie Godfrey (Hutchinson Heinemann) • Nightwatching, by Tracy Sierra (Viking) • The Peacock and the Sparrow, by I.S. Berry (No Exit) • Karla’s Choice, by Nick Harkaway (Penguin) • Bonehead, by Mo Hayder ..read more

Why should everyone else have all the fun? Our friend Ayo Onatade, an editor at the UK-based e-zine Shots and the principal author of its Shotsmag Confidential blog, has finally weighed in with her own list of favorite crime-fiction reads from 2024: • The Peacock and the Sparrow, by I.S. Berry (No Exit Press) • The Waiting, by Michael Connelly (Orion) • Karla’s Choice, by Nick Harkaway (Penguin) • Hotel Lucky Seven, by Kotaro Isaka (Vintage) • Imposter Syndrome, by Joseph Knox (Transworld) • Guide Me Home, by Attica Locke (Profile) • Moscow X, by David McCloskey (Swift Press) • Hunted, by Abi ..read more

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more ..read more

If the pattern of previous years holds true for 2024, we can look forward to several lists of subgenre “bests” coming from the Aunt Agatha’s blog. Today brings us the opening installment, which I believe was written by Robin Agnew (there’s no byline at the end, as is typically the case). The first two thirds of that post look back at some of her favorite cozy mysteries and historical whodunits from the last 11 months, with the final third devoted to her “Best of 2024” write-ups. Those final 10 top picks are: • A Collection of Lies, by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane) • It’s Elementary, by Elise Br ..read more

So this happened: Yesterday, I put up my 9,000th post in The Rap Sheet! Nine thousand! I knew this milestone was in the offing, and had been trying to keep a fairly close track, to ensure that I didn’t accidentally zip past 9,000 without proper fanfare. I had no idea, when I launched this blog in May 2006, that I’d still be working on it 18 years later. Or that I would see it now approaching 10 million pageviews. Or that I could publish 9,000 posts here (not every one of them written by me, of course). It all rather astounds me. But I’m still having fun—and that’s the most important part. Tha ..read more

Following up on her recent YouTube discussion with Sara DiVello about distinctive works published in this genre over the last 11 months, longtime South Florida Sun Sentinel book critic Oline H. Cogdill has posted an official “Best Mystery Fiction Books of 2024” list. Her 31 choices are split between general releases, debut novels, and compilations of short mystery and crime fiction. • The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore (Riverhead) • The Waiting, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown) • The Puzzle Box, by Danielle Trussoni (Random House) • Havoc, by Christopher Bollen (Harper) • Guide Me Home, by ..read more

A Stranger in the Family (Hemlock Press), by Irish-born London author Jane Casey, has won the 2024 Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year prize. That announcement was made this week in Dublin during a ceremony honoring the recipients of this year’s An Post Irish Book Awards competition. Stranger is the 11th title in Casey’s series starring ambitious London police detective Maeve Kerrigan. Competing against Casey’s novel for Crime Fiction Book of the Year were Witness 8, by Steve Cavanagh (Headline); Where They Lie, by Claire Coughlan (Simon & Schuster); Someone in the Attic, by ..read more