November 25, 2024 | Posted by Kelley Fitch

Wow, it can’t be a year already! It seems like only a couple of months ago we hosted CrimeScene and only a couple of weeks back that Michael Bennett author of Better the Blood, last years Beltie winner was here for an event and shocked by the turnout for an unknown author from New Zealand. Time truly flies but that means many books read and while, in some ways its been a tough year in terms of variety that means it was much easier to find those titles that stood out and passed the test of time as the year went on. So, on to the list in no particular order…

Ms. Emerson has done it again. Her first novel, Shutter, introduced us to Rita Todacheene, a forensics photographer working for the Albuquerque, NM police. She’s also a young Navajo woman who can see the spirits of the restless dead. With Exposure she’s ramped up that theme with an explosive story about a series unexplained deaths of homeless Indians living off the rez, a people seen as next to worthless so little is done to investigate their demise until Rita gets involved. A powerful story of family and culture, of history and mental illness, this is a book that will make you want to explore more into indigenous culture once you’re finished breathlessly leafing through its pages.

 

Wow, what a difference being on deadline can make. The first book in his series featuring podcaster Jess Keeler was long on developing characters, providing backstory’s, all the things the first in a new series needs to do but which can sometimes lead to a little meandering off the tracks. Now, the first time he’s ever had to work with a deadline it’s like he’s put on a pair of seven-league-boots and taken a huge step forward. Jess is back with big dreams of making it huge in the podcast world with a story about misguided justice and mistaken identity. Or was the guilty party railroaded to cover up for someone else? Jess wants to find out but her crew has other ideas, monetary ideas, even as Jess chases justice. Hurry up Eryk, we all wanted #3 in the series yesterday!

 

Eli is one of the truly gifted young guns writing today. His first novel, Don’t Know Tough, won an Edgar Award for best first mystery while his second followed, Ozark Dogs, followed in its footsteps with critical acclaim. Now, with Broiler, he has stretched out his writerly arms and crafted something wholly new and all his own. Ostensibly set in an Arkansas chicken plant it is the story of the American Dream and how hard it is to earn it and how easily it can be taken away. Nasty and brutish at times Broiler follows two families. One is the boss and his disaffected, lonely wife stuck at home taking care of their newborn. The other is a pair of undocumented workers who have their dreams pulled out from under them. What ensues is part Raising Arizona (the movie) crossed with the late, great, Florida author Harry Crews. But, no doubt about it, this is Eli Cranor’s book all the way. Comparisons can made but nothing touches his imagination and what he’s trying to tell.

 

Talk about stepping outside your comfort zone. The author of the excellent Wyndam and Banerjee series in Calcutta just after WWI now turns his pen towards the existential threat of homegrown violence. Two parents, one English the other American, are on the run chasing their children as the federal government seeks them out as pawns in a terrorist plot just days before the presidential election. Criss-crossing the country this cat and mouse game grows tauter and tauter with every page turned and what stands out is that these are real characters, with real foibles, and not some gunned-up, ex-military super hero so prevalent in novels such as this. That’s what makes it so scary. What happens if this someday comes true? Let’s hope we never find out.

 

This is one to savor! Set in a remote Italian village high in the mountains it needs to be taken slowly. Meet young American Francesca Loftfield as she arrives in Santa Chionia to open a nursery school, wander with her as she slowly acclimates to her new surroundings, the culture, the people, so different from her coddled upbringing. Then a skeleton is found after a devastating storm and Francesca finds herself in the middle of puzzling out who the bones belong too. Rich in detail, culture, and history, with characters that come alive on the page, in a town that is one for the ages, this is a story akin to a fine dessert at a 5-star restaurant. Taste it, let it melt in your mind, then come back for a few more chapters. Rinse, repeat until sated.

 

Published just after the author’s death this has been one of my surprises of the year. It’s a special book that chronicles the town of Rocksburg, PA and its inhabitants and it’s more a character study of a place than a crime novel. Crime happens, just as it happens everywhere, but it’s the mundane, everyday plodding of life and it’s wonderful. We follow the main character, Detective Ruggiero “Rugs Carlucci, as he goes about his business playing politics while bending the law to fit the (mostly petty) crimes that make up small town living. Great dialogue, people you will laugh with and care about even as the town slowly wastes away as businesses close and the young move away. Rocksburg is a place we all know, have driven through, and remember with rose colored glasses while being happy we don’t live there. I, for one, am happy that Rocksburg will always exist on my bookshelf. This is the last of a fairly sporadic series that started in the 1970’s. Out of print for awhile now books #2 and #3 have recently been re-issued with the rest, hopefully following close behind.

 

We all need a little humor in our life. Laughter lightens the psychic load and sometimes the darker the better. Such is the case with this mordantly funny and, dare I say touching novel. Clair is a bit of a psychopath. If you irritate her for some reason like cutting in line at her favorite coffee shop, she might think you’d be better off no longer in this world. Her father recognized this idiosyncrasy and tried to shield the world from her as best he could but now, he’s dead (natural causes) and the one person who loved her enough to protect her from herself is gone and she is lost. Filled with black humor, and showing a kinder (well sort of kinder) conniving side to Claire this is proof that sometimes all you can do is laugh.    

 

Rare is the author who can return to the scene of his greatest triumphs after years away and add to his/her legacy but Peter May has done just that. He returns to the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides after a ten-year absence and has crafted a story that hangs well with Blackhouse, the first, and finest, in his Lewis trilogy. Fin Macleod returns after a ten-year absence in support of his son accused of murder. No longer a policeman but still with the nose of a copper, and contacts on the force, he senses that something isn’t adding up even as his son confesses. Mr. May is a consummate storyteller and all his skills are evident here as he reintroduces us to the quirky, suspicious islanders, and secrets that have remained hidden for decades now coming to the fore to threaten friendships and livelihoods. This is a page-turner galore.

 

So, there you have it! The best of this year’s best. Take a look. Try a couple out. Buy the bundle. Tell us what you think. We’re already looking ahead to next year. There’s one about an imposter that’s looking good. Another about a mailman who always makes his deliveries. But first… who is next year’s winner?

Find out in early February.

Cheers,

Pete