9 January 2010

Our best reads in 2009 - the books

Readers of MYSTERIES in PARADISE were invited to submit their best 10 crime fiction reads in 2009.

The rules were simple - the books could be published in any year, they just had to be crime fiction.

In the long run 56 contributors suggested 541 titles.
Of course there were many duplicates both in titles and in authors.
The resultant lists read like a reading syllabus - you might like to check how many of the following you have read.

So the list below gives you the top 26 titles
This is topped by #2 in Stieg Larsson's Millenium series which was listed a staggering 12 times, that is, it appeared in about one list in 4.

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE Stieg Larsson 12
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Stieg Larsson 5
A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE Malla Nunn 4
ARCTIC CHILL Arnaldur Indridason 4
BURY ME DEEP Megan Abbott 4
ECHOES FROM THE DEAD Johann Theorin 4
HYPOTHERMIA Arnaldur Indridason 4
SILENT IN THE GRAVE Deanna Raybourn 4
SKELETON HILL Peter Lovesey 4
ALONE IN BERLIN Hans Fallada 3
AMONG THE MAD Jacqueline Winspear 3
CHILD 44 Tom Rob Smith 3
DOG ON IT Spencer Quinn 3
FIFTY GRAND Adrian McKinty 3
IN THE WOODS Tana French 3
NEMESIS Jo Nesbo 3
SHADOW Karin Alvtegen 3
SLAMMER Allan Guthrie 3
STILL LIFE Louise Penny 3
THE BRASS VERDICT Michael Connelly 3
THE CITY AND THE CITY China Mieville 3
THE COMPLAINTS Ian Rankin 3
THE CRUELLEST MONTH Louise Penny 3
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS' NEST Stieg Larsson 3
THE REDEEMER Jo Nesbo 3
THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE Alan Bradley 3

Next week I will list the authors who were mentioned multiple times together with the titles. And then later in the week I'll give you the whole list (all 420+ of them).

I'm very grateful to the following contributors: without you the lists would not be possible.
AmandaB, AmandaG, Arthur, Barbara, Bernadette, BooksPlease, Bullwinkle, Chris, Corey, Cynthia, Deb, Donna, Doreen, Felicity, Gavin, Geoff, Janet, John, Jose Ignacio, Joyfully Retired, Karen, Kay, Kerrie, Laura, Lesa, Linda, Literary Feline, Mack, Margot, Maria, Martin, Maxine, Meg, Michael, Michelle, Miss Lemon, Nan, Nicole, Norman, Pattinase, Paul Beech, Paul D. Brazill, PeterBB, raidergirl3, Rik, Rob, Roberta, Sally, Sarah, Sunnie, Susan, Terry, Trish, Vicki, Wendy, Xavier.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kerrie - Thanks for doing this work and sharing it with us. Nice to know that at least a couple of my top choices were here : ).

Bernadette said...

Excellent work Kerrie. There are 4 of my top reads for last year in that list...and only one of the list is in my 'books I wish they hadn't wasted trees for' list :)

Several of these are already in my TBR pile and a few more are on the wishlist.

It's nice to see transplanted Aussie Malla Nunn on a list with such an international flavour

Jose Ignacio Escribano said...

It's a long way to go from my side.
I've only read 4 out of 26. Altough 5 more are on my TBR list.
Good job Kerrie. Thank you for your blog and excellent ideas.
Have fun.

Dorte H said...

I have read nine of them, and a handful of them are on my TBR or my list.

Maxine Clarke said...

I've read eleven of these, so plenty to aim for among the rest.

Does this list include all the Euro Crime reviewers' choices? If not, my own list is now up on my blog here:
http://petrona.typepad.com/petrona/2010/01/my_review_highlights_2009.html

Kerrie said...

Karen sent me the Euro crime complete listing thanks Maxine. I've added your link to the Mr Linky back on the original post though.

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