Best Fiction of 2012: Mysteries

by Joy Castro

Castro’s first mystery is fierce and intense, with both harrowing depictions of New Orleans after Katrina and psychological... Full review >

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by Anna Dean

The third in Dean’s series is another delight, complete with perfect regency prose and an excellent mystery. Full review >

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by Connie Dial

A veteran cop herself, Dial (The Broken Blue Line, 2010, etc.) does authenticity to the max, and readers will like that. But... Full review >

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by Kathleen George

George’s all-too-familiar story is so richly observed, subtly characterized, precisely written—her syncopated paragraphs are... Full review >

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by Alan Glynn

His prose spare but spirited, Glynn (Winterland, 2011, etc.) spins an all-too-likely tale of secrets, lies and power... Full review >

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by Peter Guttridge

Guttridge’s third Brighton thriller is so well-written that it would be well worth your time even if it were not such a... Full review >

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by Chris Knopf

An absorbing update of the classic film, D.O.A., that finds its author so completely in the zone that not a word is wasted,... Full review >

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by Joe R. Lansdale

The river, the raft, a stash of money coveted by bad guys, nonstop adventures that edify, terrify and deepen the bond... Full review >

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by Laura Lippman

Like Mary Cassatt, Lippman studies families with a different eye than her male contemporaries, showing the heartbreaking... Full review >

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by Lou Manfredo

Good cops, bent cops, tormented and demented cops, cops of every description inhabit Rizzo’s world, all of them utterly... Full review >

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by Margaret Maron

Maron (Three-Day Town, 2011, etc.) adroitly melds ugly American (open) government secrets with classic whodunit intrigue and... Full review >

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by Brad Parks

With his third featuring brash, breezy, unflappable Carter (Eyes of the Innocent, 2011, etc.), Parks propels himself to a... Full review >

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by Thomas Perry

Jane has so little trouble breaking James Shelby, framed for murdering his wife, out of police custody at the Clara... Full review >

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by Lynn Shepherd

Shepherd offers an intricate plot and a thousand details of the least-admirable side of Victorian life. A must-read. Full review >

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by Wallace Stroby

Once again Stroby demonstrates how adept he is at making readers empathize with the essentially unworthy. Full review >

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by Stephen Gallagher

Gallagher loves character development but respects plotting enough to give it full measure. The result is that rare beast, a... Full review >

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