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10 January 2012

Best crime fiction reads 2011 - titles with multiple mentions


I have been collecting lists of best crime fiction reads for 2011 for a couple of weeks now. You will see the majority of the links in my post here but they also came in as comments on posts and by emails. In the long run there were 35 contributors and 364 titles.

Note that they are a mixture of mysteries and thrillers, and also include titles that have been published pre-2011: some in fact would qualify as vintage publications.

There were some titles mentioned 5 or more times - that means 1 in 7 contributors mentioned that particular book. So, if you haven't read these titles, then you need add them to your list.

CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER by Tom Franklin / 7
THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES (aka MERCY) by Jussi Adler-Olsen / 7
THE END OF EVERYTHING by Megan Abbott /    6
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny / 5
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by    S.J. Watson / 5
FIELD GRAY by Philip Kerr / 5
THE END OF THE WASP SEASON by Denise Mina / 5

Then a goodly number were mentioned 3 to 5 times

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS by Donna Leon/ 4
THE CUT by George Pelecanos/ 4
THE SNOWMAN by Jo Nesbo/ 4
UNTIL THY WRATH BE PAST by Asa Larsson/ 4
NOW YOU SEE ME by S.J. Bolton/ 3
REAMDE by Neal Stephenson/ 3
RUPTURE (aka A THOUSAND CUTS) by Simon Lelic/ 3
STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG by Kate Atkinson/ 3
STEALING MONA LISA by Carston Morton/ 3
THE LEOPARD by Jo Nesbo/ 3
THE MOST DANGEROUS THING by Laura Lippman/ 3
THICK AS THIEVES by Peter Spiegelman/ 3
THE FIFTH WITNESS by Michael Connelly/ 3

And then those mentioned twice

A LILY OF THE FIELD by John Lawton/ 2
BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny/    2
CITY OF SECRETS by Kelli Stanley/ 2
CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD by Sara Gran/ 2
DADDY'S GIRL by Margie Orford/ 2
DEAD TOMORROW by Peter James/ 2
DEATH ON A GALICIAN SHORE by Domingo Vilar/ 2
FALLEN by Karin Slaughter/ 2
FEAST DAY OF FOOLS by James Lee Burke/ 2
HURT MACHINE by Reed Farrell Coleman/ 2
MISTERIOSO by Arne Dahl/ 2
PIRATE KING by Laurie R. King/ 2
STAGESTRUCK by Peter Lovesey/ 2
THE AFFAIR by Lee Child/ 2
THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE by Lena Kaaberol & Agnete Friis/ 2
THE BROTHERHOOD by Y.A. Erskine/ 2
THE HOUSE OF SILK by Anthony Horowitz/ 2
THE QUARRY by Johan Theorin/ 2
THE RIDGE by Michael Koryta/ 2
THE SHERLOCKIAN    by Graham Moore/ 2
THE TROUBLED MAN by Henning Mankell/ 2
THE BRUTAL TELLING by Louise Penny /2
THE WRECKAGE by Michael Robotham/ 2
TRIPLE CROSSING by Sebastian Rotella/ 2
TURN OF MIND by    Alice LaPlante/ 2
WHITE HEAT by M.J. McGrath/ 2

In tomorrow's post I'll give you the remaining titles (230 of them) that were mentioned just once.
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8 comments:

  1. Puzzle Doctor10 January 2012 at 09:05

    Fascinating and it shows the wide range of reading. None of those books featured in my list, which makes me feel rather special :) and the only book there that I attempted, The Sherlockian aka The Holmes Affair, was the only book that I gave up on due to it being rather awful in my eyes. Each to their own.

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  2. Marce10 January 2012 at 12:51

    I'm so excited that you are doing this again this year.

    There are many I am not interested in and some i'm surprised not to see so most be on tomorrow's list.

    A few I have seen on list and definitely don't agree but that is what makes readers discussions interesting.

    I do have The Keeper of Lost Causes, Now You See Me and The End of the Wasp Season so i'm happy to see those so high.

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  3. Kerrie10 January 2012 at 14:00

    The various lists I used really reflected the person's reading and I suspect many of them were US-based. I was surprised that British crime fiction, and some really well known authors did not figure more highly. Not many Australian contributors and so very few Aussie reads.

    Of the first group only THE END OF THE WASP SEASON was in my top 10, and then of the next group only, none were my top 10.

    Some of the books I had rated at 4.8, and some I had read last year.
    CROOKED LETTER, RUPTURE, and WASP SEASON were all on my "pick of the month" list.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bill Selnes10 January 2012 at 14:46

    Kerrie: You have undertaken a major review of lists. You have the only truly worldwide compilation of best books of 2011. Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kerrie10 January 2012 at 15:50

    Thanks Bill, Hopefully it provides a useful list of what's hot

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sue10 January 2012 at 19:23

    Really interesting list. I hope more people will read Stagestruck which is a terrific book with a major twist in the tail.
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  7. Maxine Clarke11 January 2012 at 05:08

    Thanks, Kerrie. I've got some good ideas from reading this list.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Harvee11 January 2012 at 09:08

    I've read Mercy and now have to read the others in the top 7. Thanks for the lists!

    ReplyDelete

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