Fiction

2024 – National Book Awards

For 75 years, the National Book Foundation has honored the best publishing in the U.S.. Take a look at the 2024 winners in five categories

Fiction
James by Percival Everett

Nonfiction
Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling by Jason De Leon

Literature in Translation
Taiwan Travelogue  by Yang Shuang-zi

Poetry
Something about Living by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha

Young People’s Literature
Kareem Between  by Shifa Saltagi Safadi

 

Congratulations to all!

 

2024 – National Book Awards Read More »

Halloween Mystery List – 2024

Halloween will be here before you know it and if you’d like to pick up a fun read with a seasonal theme, here are ninety-four titles in our updated 2024 Halloween Mystery List. Some have been around for ages, but others have recently been published or re-published. There are dozens more books with a Halloween theme, so if your favorite is not on the list, please let us know the title and author in the comments.

Click on the bold titles to read more about the individual books.

Stacey Alabaster – The Pumpkin Killer
Susan Wittig Albert – Witches’ Bane
Meri Allen – Fatal Fudge Swirl
Ritter Ames and 8 others – Midnight Mysteries: Nine Cozy Tales
Donna Andrews – Lord of the Wings
Gretchen Archer – Double Jinx

Laurien Berenson – Howloween Murder
Susan Bernhardt – The Ginseng Conspiracy
Morgana Best – The Halloween Time Spell
Bethany Blake – Dial Meow for Murder
Susan Boles – Death of a Wolfman
Ginger Bolton –Boston Scream Murder
Lilian Jackson Braun – Cat Who Talked to Ghosts
Christin Brecher – 15 Minutes of Flame
Allison Brook – Death Overdue
Rita Mae Brown – The Litter of the Law
Catherine Bruns – Dessert Is the Bomb
Mollie Cox Bryan – Scrapbook of the Dead
Anna Celeste Burke – All Hallows’ Eve Heist
Jessica Burton – Death Goes Shopping
Ellen Byron – French Quarter Fright Night

Thea Cambert – Halloween at Pumpkin Hill
Nora Charles – Death with an Ocean View
Laura Childs – Frill Kill
Agatha Christie – The Hallowe’en Party
Cate Conte – Nine Lives and Alibis
Susan Rogers Cooper – Not in My Backyard
E.J. Copperman – Night of the Living Deed
Maya Corrigan – Crypt Suzette
Kathy Cranston – Pumpkins are Murder
Isis Crawford – A Catered Costume Party
James J. Cudney – Haunted House Ghost

Kathi Daley – The Inn at Holiday Bay
Kim Davis – Cake Popped Off
Krista Davis – Murder Outside the Lines
Jana Deleon – Swamp Spook
Steve Demaree – Murder on Halloween
Leighann Dobbs – Halloween Party Murder
Carole Nelson Douglas – Cat with an Emerald Eye
Kaitlyn Dunnett – Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones

J.C. Eaton – Mischief, Murder and Merlot
Janet Evanovich – Plum Spooky
Sharon Farrow – Mulberry Mischief
Connie Feddersen – Dead in the Pumpkin Patch
Vickie Fee – It’s Your Party, Die If You Want To
Honora Finkelstein – The Lawyer Who Died Trying
‘Jessica Fletcher’ & Donald Bain – Trick or Treachery

Eva Gates – The Spook in the Stacks
Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames) – Stirring the Plot
Sarah Graves – Nail Biter

Carolyn Haines – Hallowed Bones
Ellen Hart – Sweet Poison
Kelly Hashway – Halloween Homicide
Julia Henry – Digging Up the Remains
Lee Hollis – Death of a Wicked Witch
Carolyn Q. Hunter – Pumpkin Pie Waffle
Ellen Elizabeth Hunter – Murder on the Ghost Walk

Sybil Johnson – Designed for Haunting
Daniel Judson – The Violet Hour
Heather Justesen – Muffins & Murder

Jenny Kales – A Stew to A Kill
Tonya Kappes – A Halloween Homicide
Andrew Klavan – The Animal Hour
Libby Klein – Mischief Nights are Murder
Cynthia Kuhn – The Spirit in Question

Joyce & Jim Lavene – Ghastly Glass
James Lilley – Death Knocks Twice
Linda Lovely – Picked Off
Alice Loweecey The Clock Strikes Nun
Karen MacInerney – Deadly Brew
Ed McBain – Tricks: an 87th Precinct Mystery
Jenn McKinlay – Dark Chocolate Demise
G.A. McKevett – Poisoned Tarts
Leslie Meier – Wicked Witch Murder
Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross – Halloween Party Murder
Alexis Morgan – Death by Jack-O-Lantern
Lynn Morrison – Stakes and Spells
Mandy Morton – Cat Among the Pumpkins
Liz Mugavero – A Biscuit, a Casket
Julie Mulhern – Send in the Clowns

Elizabeth Penney – The Fatal Folio
Katie Penryn – The Witch Who Hated Halloween
Leigh Perry – The Skeleton Haunts a House
Summer Prescott & 7 others – A Very Cozy Halloween
Raquel V. Reyes – Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking
Barbara Ross – Scared Off

Mary Seifert – Halloween, Hound, & Housesitting
Debra Sennefelder A Corpse at the Witching Hour
Rachael Stapleton – Black Cats, Corpses and the Pumpkin Pantry
Kathleen Suzette – Gnome for Halloween

Rebecca Tope – Death in the Cotswolds
Diane Vallere – Masking for Trouble
Kirsten Weiss – Gourd to Death
Linnea West Halloween Hayride Murder

If you’ve read any books in the Halloween Mystery List for 2024, please let us know what you thought.

Halloween Mystery List – 2024 Read More »

2024 Barry Awards – Crime Fiction

Established in 1997, the Barry Awards are presented at the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, held this year in Nashville. The winners were announced at the Opening Ceremonies in August. Voted on by readers of the Deadly Pleasures mystery magazine, the award was named in honor of Barry Gardner, an American critic and lover of great crime fiction. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!

Best Mystery or Crime Novel
Lou Berney, DARK RIDE
S. A. Cosby, ALL THE SINNERS BLEED
Eli Cranor, OZARK DOGS
Jordan Harper, EVERYBODY KNOWS
Dennis Lehane, SMALL MERCIES
Adrian McKinty, THE DETECTIVE UP LATE

Best First Mystery or Crime Novel
Michael Bennett, BETTER THE BLOOD
I.S. Berry, THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW
Bruce Borgos, THE BITTER PAST
Amy Chua, THE GOLDEN GATE
Deepti Kapoor, AGE OF VICE
Nina Simon, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT
Iris Yamashita, CITY UNDER ONE ROOF

Best Paperback Original
Mystery or Crime Novel
Mia P. Manansala, MURDER AND MAMON
Rick Mofina, EVERY THING SHE FEARED
Jake Needham, WHO THE HELL IS HARRY BLACK?
Jesse Sutanto, VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS
Vanda Symon, EXPECTANT
Scott Von Doviak, LOWDOWN ROAD

Best Thriller
Mark Greaney, BURNER
Mick Herron, THE SECRET HOURS
John Lawton, MOSCOW EXILE
Anthony McCarten, GOING ZERO
T. J. Newman, DROWNING

2024 Barry Awards – Crime Fiction Read More »

Irish Fiction and Mysteries – 2024 List

Bunratty Castle Farmhouse, Ireland

St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon! For those of you that focus your reading on holiday/cultural themed books, the list below features Irish writers, mysteries/suspense set in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day murders, or titles with Irish characters central to the plot. Some are modern classics, some are newbies, but all are entertaining reads. You’re sure to find a story in the updated list of 50 Irish Fiction & Mysteries – 2024  that you will want to read again and again. (Links included for bold titles)

 

Lisa Alber: “Path into Darkness

Maeve Binchy:  “Chestnut Street
Furlong-Bollinger: “Paddy Whacked
Ellie Brannigan “Murder at an Irish Castle
Verity Bright “Murder in an Irish Castle
Declan Burke: “The Lost and the Blind


Steve Cavanagh: “Th1rt3en
Sheila Connolly: “Fatal Roots
Kathy Cranston: “Apple Seeds and Murderous Deeds

Sinead Crowley: “One Bad Turn


Kathi Daley: “Shamrock Shenanigans
Maddie Day: “Four Leaf Cleaver
Frank Delaney: “The Last Storyteller
Dicey Deere: “The Irish Village Murder

Nelson Demille: “Cathedral


Peggy Ehrhart: “Irish Knit Murder
Patricia Falvey: “The Yellow House
Tana French: “The Searcher
Alexia Gordon: “Murder in G Major
Jean Grainger: “For All the World”
Andrew Greeley: “The Bishop at the Lake


Jane Haddam: “A Great Day for the Deadly

Lyn Hamilton: “The Celtic Riddle
Lee Harris: “The St. Patrick’s Day Murder
Erin Hart: “The Book of Killowen

Jonathan Harrington: “A Great Day for Dying


Mary Anne Kelly: “Twillyweed

Amanda Lee: “The Long Stitch Good Night

Dan Mahoney: “Once in, Never Out
Caimh McDonnell: “A Man with One of Those Faces
Brian McGilloway: “The Last Crossing
Adrian McKinty: “The Chain
Ralph M. McInerny: “The Green Revolution

Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross: “Irish Coffee Murder
Catie Murphy “Dead in Dublin


Stuart Neville: “So Say the Fallen
Carlene O’Connor: “Murder at an Irish Chipper
Susanne O’Leary: “The Lost Girls of Ireland
Sister Carol Anne O’Marie: “Death Takes Up a Collection”


Helen Page: “Equal of God”
Louise Phillips: “The Doll’s House
J.M. Poole “Case of the Shady Shamrock


Janet Elaine Smith: “In St. Patrick’s Custody
Jo Spain: “Beneath the Surface

Patrick Taylor: “An Irish Country Welcome
Charles Todd: “An Irish Hostage
Peter Tremayne: “Blood in Eden
Kathy Hogan Trochek: “Irish Eyes

Eliza Watson “How to Handle an Ancestry Scandal
Traci Wilton “Mrs. Morris and the Pot of Gold

 

If your favorite Irish Fiction & Mysteries titles are not on the list, let me know and I’ll add them! Happy choosing and reading!

 

Irish Fiction and Mysteries – 2024 List Read More »

2023 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year

From the Barnes & Noble site:
“We are pleased to announce the 12 finalists for our 2023 Book of the Year. The program, now in its fifth year, asks B&N booksellers across the country to nominate a title they find truly outstanding and in which they have felt the most pride in recommending to readers over the previous year. This year, the list features six novels, four nonfiction books, one middle-grade title and one picture book. The Barnes & Noble Book of the Year is voted on by booksellers and announced the week of November 13th.”
The winner is indicated in red.

The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiMillo

The Wager by David Grann

The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Zilot & Other Important Rhymes by Bob Odenkirk

Chili Crisp by James Park

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Congratulations to all the finalists and the winner!

 

2023 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Read More »

2023 – National Book Awards

From the National Book Award site: “The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best literature published in the United States, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in our culture.” A panel of judges selects a Longlist of ten titles per category for The National Book Awards, which is then narrowed to five Finalists. Each Finalist receives a prize of $1,000, a medal, and a Judge’s citation. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture.” Click on the highlighted titles for more information about the books. The National Book Foundation announced the winners (indicated in red) of the National Book Awards at a ceremony in New York on Wednesday, November 15.

Fiction
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars (Pantheon Books)

Aaliyah Bilal, Temple Folk (Simon & Schuster)
Paul Harding, This Other Eden (Norton)
Hanna Pylväinen, The End of Drum-Time (Holt)
Justin Torres, Blackouts (FSG)

Nonfiction
Ned Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America (Yale University Press)
Cristina Rivera Garza, Liliana’s Invincible Summer (Hogarth)
Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes (FSG)
Raja Shehadeh, We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I (Other Press)
John Vaillant, Fire Weather (Knopf)

Translated Literature
Bora Chung, Cursed Bunny, Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur (Algonquin Books)
David Diop, Beyond the Door of No Return, Translated from the French by Sam Taylor (FSG)
Stênio Gardel, The Words That Remain, Translated from the Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato (New Vessel Press)
Pilar Quintana, Abyss, Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman (World Editions)
Astrid Roemer, On a Woman’s Madness, Translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott (Two Lines Press)

 

2023 – National Book Awards Read More »

NYT Top Ten – Best Fiction and Nonfiction 2022

The New York Times Book Reviews announced its 10 Best Books of the Year of 2022, with five fiction and five nonfiction titles. Books published in 2022 were eligible and were narrowed to this list by the Book Editors staff.

Fiction:

“Checkout 19” by Claire-Louise Bennett

“Trust” by Hernan Diaz

“The Candy House”  by Jennifer Egan

“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver

“The Furrows” by Namwali Serpell

 

Nonfiction

“Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us” by Rachel Aviv

“Stay True: A Memoir” by Hua Hsu

“We Don’t Know Ourselves” by Fintan O’Toole

“Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation” by Linda Villarosa

“An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us” by Ed Yong

 

 

NYT Top Ten – Best Fiction and Nonfiction 2022 Read More »

Scroll to Top