It has been awhile I know. Holidays always mess me up. Also, I am going to try to do 4 entries before Christmas. Let's see if I can. This week, I am going to give you the list of 5 best Mystery titles and 5 best Thrillers title from 2016 according to the Library Journal editors. This might not be your list, but it is theirs.
Best Mystery Titles in alphabetical order by author:
E.J. Cooperman's Written Off - interesting plot by the author who came up with the asperger mysteries. Cooperman is the pseudonym for Jeffrey Cohen and writes cozy mysteries with likable, quirky characters. Here, a mystery author, Rachel Goldman, meets a man with the same name and occupation as her series detective - AND he is investigating a missing author who was her mentor. Hmmmm. How could this have happened???? Will she be next to disappear?
Laura DiSilverio's Close Call - DiSilverio tends to write gentle mysteries with humor also, although this one doesn't sound too gentle. Here Sydney Ellison has a chance encounter with an assassin and must join with her estranged sister to find the killer. Unfortunately, the assassin also saw Sydney so he is after them.
Jason Miller's Red Dog: A Slim in Little Egypt Mystery - Miller writes darkly humorous mysteries. Not cozy this time. This is the second in the series after "Down Don't Bother Me". Slim is a PI living in the impoverished southern Illinois coal country known as Little Egypt. The area is populated with drug addicts, gangs, environmental activists and regular people. Slim is hired to find a red haired pit bull. His investigation leads him to a culprit but when the culprit is found, his head is blown off by a shotgun blast. Digging further leads Slim into the dangerous world of dog fighting.
Susan Moody's The Quick and the Dead: An Alex Quick Mystery - This is the first in a series with the second title coming out in the beginning of 2017. Alex Quick is a former detective who set out on a new career after a divorce from a fellow officer. She developed a idea compiling art anthologies in collaboration with an academic friend, Dr. Helena Drummond. When Drummond disappears and Alex discovers a body at her house, Alex begins investigating as she is sure she wouldn't have committed murder. But the more she investigates the more she starts to wonder, did she?
Song Ying's Apricot's Revenge - This is a translation from a Chinese author. It is defined as a procedural mystery which is interesting as it gives a glance at how China handles their murders but it is also a look at a modern country struggling with contemporary issues. The plot has a journalist investigating the drowning death of a real estate mogul. A fascinating read on many levels - mysterious and cultural.
Best Thriller Titles in alphabetical order by author:
Harlan Coben's Fool Me Once - I love Coben so what can I say. Here, a widow spots her daughter playing with her late husband on nanny cam two weeks after he was killed. Really a must read.
Andrew Gross's The One Man - Andrew Gross got his training by co-authoring titles with James Patterson. In this one, an intelligence officer infiltrates Auschwitz to rescue a physicist. Extremely well reviewed by all. Said to be an "excellent historical mystery and one worth reading".
Steve Hamilton's The Second Life of Nick Mason - Nick Mason got an early release from prison but what did he have to do to get it? All Nick wants to do is go straight and win back a relationship with his daughter and perhaps with his ex-wife but the criminal mastermind who controls him has other plans.
M.J. Rose's The Secret Language of Stones - this one has mystery, romance and the supernatural in it. It is the second of the La Luna series. The first title focused on the mother of Opaline- the main character here. It takes place during WWI in Paris. Opaline has a mysterious relationship with stones - as a jewelry designer - that is important but it also allows her to here messages that recently dead people want her to bring back to people they left behind. One of them has a message for her.
Hank Phillippi Ryan's Say No More - This is the fifth in the Jane Ryland series. Here Jane is investigating sexual assaults on a college campus and puts her life at risk.
OK - there they are - the 5 mysteries and 5 thrillers that the Library Journal felt were the best in the year. Give them a look and see what you think! Enjoy.
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