15 April 2011

My top crime fiction reads so far for 2011

It would be nice to say this is my "top 10" or "top 15" or top "20", but numbers don't always work out so simply do they?

I do try, as I record my ratings, to put the books in a sort of ranked list but the truth is that these are all good reads, some just a little better than others.
They are, pretty well, all fairly recently published books except for THE MAN WHO WENT UP IN SMOKE.
But they also include quite a number of translated books and there's a mixture of Canadian, English, American, and Australian authors. There are police procedurals, amateur sleuths, and a couple with historical settings.
What I'm finding don't rate so highly with me at present are the cozies. They do come high in the next batch though. See all I've read this year at 2011 Reviews
There really are few duds amongst the lot.

How many of the list below have you read?

5.0, BURY YOUR DEAD, Louise Penny
5.0, A THOUSAND CUTS, Simon Lelic 
5.0, THE RULE BOOK, Rob Kitchin
4.9, THE BRUTAL TELLING, Louise Penny
4.9, BAD INTENTIONS, Karin Fossum
4.8, COLD JUSTICE, Katherine Howell
4.8, CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, Tom Franklin
4.8, BOUND, Vanda Symon
4.8, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE, Alan Bradley
4.7, DYING GASP, Leighton Gage 
4.7, PRIME CUT, Alan Carter 
4.7, WYATT, Garry Disher 
4.7, THE MAN WHO WENT UP IN SMOKE, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo
4.7, WHERE MEMORIES LIE, Deborah Crombie
4.6, RELICS OF THE DEAD, Ariana Franklin  
4.6, STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG, Kate Atkinson 
4.6, THREE SECONDS, Roslund & Hellstrom
4.6, SARAH'S KEY, Tatiana de Rosnay
4.6, THE JANUS STONE, Elly Griffiths

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kerrie - Some excellent reads here!! Thanks for this list; it's very helpful as I poke around "tweaking" my TBR list...

Marce said...

Great list, I want to read LouiseP series and I have Bad Intentions on my Wishlist.

I have only read Alan Bradley's and look forward to continuing that series.

Have a great weekend.

Margaret @ BooksPlease said...

I haven't read any of those! I have The Janus Stone, that's all.

kathy d. said...

I have read The Janus Stone and The Man who went up in Smoke, however, I am reading the Kate Atkinson book.

While it's a bit tough to read in the beginning when the story is set up, and the various characters are being introduced, and it seems disorganized, it comes together beautifully -- and gets exciting.

And Atkinson even weaves in philosophical discussions in the midst of action. It actually turns into a brilliant read, worth reading all of it or one may miss some of the thoughts or dialogue that marks this as an intelligently written book -- and funny. I'm smiling and laughing out loud at various spots.

Many of your other top reads this year are on my TBR list. Unfortunately, my library doesn't have many newer global books in yet, so I have to wait or tilt the budget.

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