Book List

Best Mysteries & Thrillers of 2014

THRILLER & SUSPENSE

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT

by David Shafer

An edgy, darkly comedic debut novel whose characters and premise are as up-to-the-minute as an online news feed but as... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

THE BONES BENEATH

by Mark Billingham

Thorne’s 12th is a tour de force of suspense that dares you to guess the secrets of a magician who’s made his intentions... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

THRILLER & SUSPENSE

NIGHT HERON

by Adam Brookes

One of the best and most compulsively readable spy-fiction debuts in years. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

THE SILKWORM

by Robert Galbraith

Rowling proves once again that she’s a master of plotting over the course of a series; you can see her planting seeds,... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

THE SECRET PLACE

by Tana French

Everyone is this meticulously crafted novel might be playing—or being played by—everyone else. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

ONE KICK

by Chelsea Cain

An unsettling, near-perfect effort by Cain (Let Me Go, 2013, etc.) that leaves you eagerly awaiting the next installment. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

BROADCHURCH

by Erin Kelly

Kelly (The Burning Air, 2013, etc.) folds a loving portrait of rural Dorset and a well-made whodunit into a painstaking... Full review >

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THRILLER & SUSPENSE

BIRD BOX

by Josh Malerman

An unsettling thriller, this earns comparisons to Hitchcock's The Birds, as well as the finer efforts of Stephen King and... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

THRILLER & SUSPENSE

THE KILLER NEXT DOOR

by Alex Marwood

Marwood—whose first novel, The Wicked Girls (2013), won an Edgar Award—proves she’s got staying power in this addictive tale. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

THE RED ROAD

by Denise Mina

In addition to the usual indelible character studies, Mina provides the most compelling plot of Alex’s four cases to date,... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

THE SON

by Jo Nesbø ; translated by Charlotte Barslund

One of Nesbø’s best, deepest and richest novels, even without Harry Hole. Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

THE LONG WAY HOME

by Louise Penny

Gamache’s 10th outing (How the Light Gets In, 2013, etc.) culminates in one breathless encounter, and readers may feel they... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION

by Peter Robinson

Robinson has won many awards for his Detective Banks novels (Watching the Dark, 2013, etc.), and with this latest, he... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

FICTION

RECKLESS DISREGARD

by Robert Rotstein

Endless novelties, endless twists, endless complications, endless surprises in and out of the courtroom. Whatever you read... Full review >

FULL REVIEW >

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