Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




2011 Best of Fiction: Mysteries


Showing

Cover art for THE STRANGER YOU SEEK
FICTION
Released: Aug. 30, 2011

"Think Mary Higgins Clark with an edge."
A suspenseful tale of a clever crime-solver who gets a little too close to the action. Read full book review >
Cover art for STEALING MONA LISA
FICTION
Released: Aug. 2, 2011

"Like La Joconde, Carson's debut novel is set in an elegant frame--a newspaper reporter wrests the amazing story from a dying Valfierno--that still isn't as finely crafted as what lies inside."
A world-class art thief snatches a world-famous masterpiece from under the noses of its guardians in 1911 Paris. Read full book review >
Cover art for BACK OF BEYOND
FICTION
Released: Aug. 2, 2011

"Once again, Box provides the complete suspense package: unobtrusively slick detection, buckets of surprises and mounting thrills, all amid his trademark settings in the majestic high country."
A second standalone from the chronicler of Twelve Sleep County Game Warden Joe Pickett (Cold Wind, 2011, etc.) takes a Montana cop deep into the wilds of Yellowstone National Park in the hope of protecting his teenaged son from a determined killer. Read full book review >
Cover art for DEAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN
FICTION
Released: July 1, 2011

"Buzzelli will have you packing your bags for a move to northern Michigan in the hope that you'll find a friend as appealing as Emily and a dog as lovable as Sorrow."
Whatever it is that women want, it's probably not a Noel Coward ditty. Read full book review >
Cover art for MISTERIOSO
FICTION
Released: July 1, 2011
by Arne Dahl, translated by Tiina Nunnally

"Thoughtfully haunting and sometimes beautifully written, the first of Hjelm's cases to be translated into English is likely to resonate with readers of the Stieg Larsson trilogy."
An elite team of misfit police officers band together to stop a serial killer. Read full book review >
Cover art for NOW YOU SEE ME
FICTION
Released: June 7, 2011

"Bolton (Blood Harvest, 2010, etc.) provides excruciating tension and much else. Romantics can drool over Jonesbury's turquoise eyes; amateur psychologists can mull Lacey's one-nighters; and Ripperologists can ponder theories of Jack's real identity, one of which helps tie up the plot."
A Jack the Ripper aficionado is on the loose. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE ROCK HOLE
FICTION
Released: June 1, 2011

"Not just scary but funny too, as Wortham nails time and place in a sure-handed, captivating way. There's a lot of good stuff in this unpretentious gem. Don't miss it."
An accomplished first novel about life and murder in a small Texas town. Read full book review >
Cover art for DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
FICTION
Released: April 1, 2011

"As languid in its movement as a gondola ride. Yet none of Brunetti's earlier cases (About Face, 2009, etc.) is as remorselessly clear in connecting the delicately comic anti-authoritarian gestures Brunetti winks at to the miasma of corruption that hangs over his beloved Venice."
Perhaps the quietest of all Commissario Guido Brunetti's cases concerns a murder that may not even be a murder. Read full book review >
Cover art for ECHOES OF THE DEAD
FICTION
Released: April 1, 2011

"Shifting seamlessly between past and present versions of the case, Spencer produces a tour de force readers won't quickly forget."
A convicted murderer's dying declaration prompts an unexpected investigation for DCI Monika Paniatowski (The Ring of Death, 2010, etc.) and a world of trouble for her beloved Charlie Woodend. Read full book review >
Cover art for LUCIFER'S TEARS
FICTION
Released: March 17, 2011

"Nazi collaboration, government cover-ups, kinky sex, a baby daughter waiting impatiently to be born and a vigilante-minded hero who talks back to his boss more irreverently than Dirty Harry. What more could you want?"
Inspector Kari Vaara's success in cracking the Sufia Elmi murder (Snow Angels, 2010) wins him a transfer from the sticks to Helsinki, below the Arctic Circle but just as hospitable to cold-blooded murder. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE KING OF DIAMONDS
FICTION
Released: March 15, 2011

"A thick web of family tensions and psychological dysfunction with a whodunit chaser, Tolkien's third novel (The Inheritance, 2010, etc.) is elegantly written, with Masterpiece Theatre pacing and embellishments. "
A prisoner escapes on the very night that his ex-girlfriend is murdered. Could it possibly be a coincidence? Read full book review >
Cover art for RIZZO'S FIRE
FICTION
Released: March 1, 2011

"Bar none, Joe Rizzo is the most authentic cop in contemporary crime fiction."
In the gripping sequel to Rizzo's War (2009), maverick Detective Sergeant Joe Rizzo investigates the murder of a man too unimportant to murder. Read full book review >