The Best Mysteries of 2010

by C.J. Box

After an uncharacteristically weak outing (Below Zero, 2009), it’s great to see the usual Box strengths—exhilarating... Full review >

by Noah Boyd

Highly formulaic—the Rube Goldberg plot makes Jeffery Deaver’s twisty thrillers seem models of realism—but irresistible red... Full review >

by James Lee Burke

Burke, whose sonorous cadences and obsession with the past have often recalled Faulkner, has never resembled the sage of... Full review >

by Lee Child

It’s hard to imagine a single white-collar wage slave who won’t thrill to this latest Robin Hood fantasy of righteous... Full review >

by Jeffery Deaver

Fans of Deaver’s fiendishly clever suspensers (The Burning Wire, 2010, etc.) won’t be surprised by the nonstop deceptions,... Full review >

by Paul Doiron

C.J. Box goes East. Like Box, Doiron will have his hands full trying to top his accomplished debut. Full review >

by Elly Griffiths

A winning debut. Aficionados may guess the killer early on, but the first-rate characters and chilling story are entrancing... Full review >

by Elly Griffiths

Ruth’s second appearance (The Crossing Places, 2009) is an enthralling page-turner that delights in complex characters. Full review >

by Bryan Gruley

Gus’s second has it all—suspense, mystery, romance, detection, clear-eyed hometown nostalgia, professional dangers along... Full review >

by Charles Kipps

Kipps (Hell’s Kitchen Homicide, 2009, etc.) pairs his genuinely original protagonist with a cheeky, charming partner. The... Full review >

by Alexander McCall Smith

A powerful demonstration of Smith’s ability to dramatize the ways everyday situations spawn the ethical dilemmas that keep... Full review >

by Louise Penny

Gamache’s excruciating grief over a wrong decision, Beauvoir’s softening toward the unconventional, a plot twist so... Full review >

by Chevy Stevens

A grueling, gripping demonstration of melodrama’s darker side. As Annie tells the cops who insist that everything’s OK... Full review >

by Wallace Stroby

A strong cast and energetic storytelling. But it’s Sara, so human and so beset, who makes this another standout for Stroby... Full review >

by Inger Ash Wolfe

Beautiful writing is just one of the pleasures of this Chinese-box puzzler. Full review >