Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. As you can see by the title of this blog post, today I will be sharing with you all the books I rate in my top ten of the crime fiction books that I have read so far this year. It will be interesting to come back to this list in December and see how things have changed, or maybe it won’t have we shall have to see.
As you may or may not know, I enjoy a good crime fiction book, so much so I am doing my thesis on it, but I am very picky with what I like. So, I can tell you that so far this year I have read 28 books that fall into the category of crime fiction. That’s quite a lot, isn’t it. Anyway, from those I’d say there’s only four that I really have not liked at all. Most of them I would say were just okay, maybe nothing special but today I am sharing my top ten with you.
At number 10:
Murder at the Village Fair by Helena Dixon. This is somewhere in the middle of the Miss Underhay mystery series, I have so far this year read seven or eight of this series so for this list I tried to limit myself to only choosing one and this one was it. It was reminiscent of old Agatha Christie stories, set in a village fair on a sunny day, very nostalgic, and the mystery was clever too which is always a bonus. I love revisiting these characters, Matthew and Kitty with each new book, if you’re looking for a quick and easy read then this series could work for you.
At number 9:
In Want of A Suspect by Tirzah Price. This is part of the Jane Austen style murder mystery novels, starting with Pride and Premeditation, but it is also sort of a spin off of that series. It follows Lizzie and Darcy, who we meet in Pride and Premeditation, and we see a continuation of their story which is not really connected but also it connected to the rest of the series. That is probably a bit confusing but it makes sense if you read the books. I enjoyed that this had a regency feel to it and I loved continuing Darcy and Lizzie’s story, they were my favourite characters from the series so far.
At number 8:
The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro. As you can see by these three books on this list so far, I am quite partial to a historical mystery. 1920s/1930s and victorian are definitely the sweet spot for me though. This one is set in victorian london and you follow two characters: Inspector Bell of the police and Gemma Tate who was a nurse in Crimea but returned home to negative opinions. I loved seeing the relationship forming between these two main characters, it worked alongside the mystery brilliantly. I will say this series is a lot darker than I first thought it would be, you might need to check the trigger warnings for it but safe to say I love it, I bought the series about two months ago and I have read books 1-3 already.
At number 7:
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano. I had put off reading this book for ages. Honestly, I read the first book in the series, about a woman who writes novels and is overheard while talking to her agent and winds up being hired as a hitwoman, and loved it and then book two wasn’t that good in my opinion but I already owned book three – this one – so I wanted to give it a go but I was worried I’d hate it so it took me ages to read it. But I am glad I did, it is one of my favourite books of the year so far. It was the perfect blend of fun and danger.
At number 6;
A Deadly Night at the Theatre by Katy Watson. I won’t say too much here because I am doing a full book review for this novel but as part of the Three Dahlias series, I think it could be my favoruite so far. I loved the setting of the theatre and the way everything played out.
At number 5:
Dog Sitter Detective Plays Dead by Antony Johnston. This series follows Gwinny, an older woman who used to be an actress but has been out of work for a while. While getting back into it she encounters a bunch of murders. Again the books in this series are hit or miss for me but this one, book three I believe, was really good. It takes place on a film set which was great for including red herrings and disguises and fun things like that.
At number 4:
The Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis. And back to the historical mystery. This series, that starts with the vanished bride, follows the Bronte sisters as they solve different mysteries. The first book in the series is very classical, a manor house mystery, this second book got a lot darker. The mystery they have to solve is a set of bones, of a child, being found hidden away in a house and they find out what happened and whose bones they might have been. This book literally gave me chills.
At number 3:
The Last Word is Death by Faith Martin. I think I will probably do these two together because number 3 and number 2 are the first and second books in the same series. A Murder by Candlelight and The Last Word is Death by Faith Martin. This series follows Arbie, he travels around writing books about places that are supposedly haunted even though he doesn’t actually believe in ghosts, and his friend Val as they end up in different places together and in the process of ghost hunting end up solving murders too. This was the biggest surprise of the year for me. I ended up in hospital in February and all I could find on ebook was Murder by Candlelight and I remember thinking I’ll give it a go but not hoping too much, and I ended up loving it and reading the second book immediately after.
At number 1:
The Protest by Rob Rinder. This is the third book in his series following a young, newly qualified, lawyer as he gets caught up in different cases. It took a little while to warm to the character who seemed not very confident to begin with, but now I’m on book three and I am loving it. I read these books as soon as I get them and I just cannot get enough. Can’t wait for book four.
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