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Crime by the Book

A girl investigates crime fiction from around the world, by the book.
  • Blog
  • Quick Reviews
  • Nordic Noir
    • Introduction
    • Background
    • Book Recommendations
    • By Country
    • Interviews
    • Reviews
    • Features
  • #ReadWithCBTB
  • Features
  • Reading Lists
  • Events
  • Go-to Book Recs
  • As Seen In
  • About
  • Connect

the cbtb blog

One girl's ongoing investigation of the crime fiction genre.

The House Across the Lake Riley Sager (2).jpg
You're Invited Amanda Jayatissa (2).jpg
Run Time Catherine Ryan Howard (2).jpg
Things We Do in the Dark Jennifer Hillier.jpg

CBTB's Top 10 Crime Books of 2022

December 31, 2022

I can hardly believe we’ve come to the end of 2022—and what a year it’s been! I’m pretty sure I say this every year, but 2022 has truly been another outstanding year for crime fiction readers. As I reflected on my year in books while writing this blog post, it felt nearly impossible to narrow down my picks. I genuinely think we might be in the golden age of crime writing; the books crime writers had in store for us this year were nothing short of superb. From the return of fan-favorite authors to thrilling new voices being published for the first time, the crime fiction genre was in top form in 2022—making it all the more challenging to pick just 10 books from the year to highlight here! But tough choices had to be made, and made they were. Without further ado, I’m so excited to share with you my personal picks for the Top 10 Crime Books of 2022 in today’s blog post! More than any other criteria, the key thing these books have in common is simple: they are all books I’ve continued to think about since I finished reading them. These are stories that entertained me, challenged me, thrilled me, and kept me on the edge of my seat; in this list you’ll find Gothic horror, Nordic Noir, psychological suspense, and much more; a wide array of crime fiction subgenres, but all excellent books that stood out from the pack for me in 2022.

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In 2022 Crime Books, Best Crime Books 2022 Tags reptile memoirs, Silje Ulstein, The House Across the Lake, Riley Sager, Daisy Darker, Alice Feeney, Run Time, Catherine Ryan Howard, The Mirror Man, Lars Kepler, Things We Do in the Dark, Jennifer Hillier, The Hacienda, Isabel Canas, The It Girl, Ruth Ware, The Last Housewife, Ashley Winstead, You're Invited, Amanda Jayatissa
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RECOMMENDED READING: HALLOWEEN 2022

October 7, 2022

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Halloween season is upon us! I firmly believe that you can read thrillers any time of year, but there’s something undeniably perfect about digging into a dark, creepy crime novel in the lead-up to Halloween. Honestly, every year I have a little bit of a hard time coming up with a list of Halloween reading recommendations, not because I don’t have enough books to recommend—quite the opposite! Just about every single book I’ve ever talked about here on Crime by the Book could be a great Halloween read, and that can make narrowing down my lists of Halloween reading recommendations really tricky. But I’m up for the challenge—and I’m thrilled with how this year’s reading list turned out! For this year’s Halloween reading list, I’m focusing on new (or new-ish!) releases—primarily books that have been published in 2022, with a few slightly older releases in the mix, too. Happy reading, and happy haunting!

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In Halloween Books, Reading List Tags Halloween, Halloween Books, Halloween Reading, Thriller Books, Simone St. James, Riley Sager, Kiersten White, Tara Laskowski, Gabino Iglesias, Isabel Canas, Lars Kepler, C.J. Cooke, Rachel Harrison
6 Comments
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CBTB'S MUST-READ SUMMER 2022 CRIME BOOKS

July 4, 2022

I have a confession to make: this blog post was originally supposed to be my “Most-Anticipated” summer books list…but then life got really busy! Before I knew it, I looked up and it was July, and not only had a bunch of the books on the list already been published, but I realized that I had actually already read all of the books I wanted to include in this list anyway. So instead of making this a “most-anticipated” list, I’ve culled my initial list a little bit and converted it into a “must-read” list, highlighting my picks for the best new crime fiction that Summer 2022 has to offer. In a way, I hope that this new format might actually be even more helpful for you; these aren’t just books I’m anticipating, they’re all books I’ve read and loved and highly recommend! From returning favorites to new-to-me voices, from twisty psychological thrillers to “book within a book”-style stories and more, Summer 2022 has some absolutely incredible new crime fiction releases in store for us. Whether your idea of a perfect “beach read” is a page-turning domestic suspense novel or a dark, visceral horror story, I’m betting (and hoping!) you’ll be able to find it on this list. Without further ado, let’s dive on in to my picks for Summer 2022’s Must-Read Crime Books!

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In Reading List, Summer Reading List Tags Summer 2022 Crime Books, New Crime Books, Riley Sager, Julie Clark, Ragnar Jonasson, Will Dean, Ruth ware, Rachel Howzell Hall, Jennifer Hillier, Sarah Pearse, Gabino Iglesias, Gillian McAllister, Amanda Jayatissa, Lisa Jewell, Catherine Ryan Howard, Ashley Winstead, Cate Holahan, Catherine McKenzie, Alice Feeney
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Halloween Reads with Riley Sager and Jennifer Hillier

October 1, 2021

This evening, I had the absolute pleasure of chatting over Instagram Live with two of my favorite authors—Riley Sager and Jennifer Hillier—about Halloween reads!! Riley and Jennifer joined me for an IG Live where we all took turns recommending books that we think are perfect for your to-read list during this, the spookiest time of year. From horror novels to thrillers to mysteries and more, we covered a lot of ground during this chat, and had so much fun doing so! If you’re interested in watching a recording of our conversation, you can do so on my IGTV, here. In this blog post, I wanted to provide a one-stop shopping list for all of the books we recommended in tonight’s Instagram Live. Read on for a recap of the books that Riley, Jennifer, and I recommended, and get ready for a month of spooky reading ahead!

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In Halloween Reading List Tags Halloween Books, Halloween Reading, Riley Sager, Jennifer Hillier
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CBTB's Top 10 Crime Books of 2021 (So Far)

July 12, 2021

It’s hard to believe we are already more than halfway through 2021! This year has already delivered truly outstanding crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense books for us to devour, and today I wanted to round up a list of my favorite crime books published in the first half of the year! Whether you’re in the market for a chilling suspense story, a clever locked room mystery, or an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller, this list has a little something for you. From new releases by returning favorites (Riley Sager, C.J. Tudor, Ragnar Jonasson, and more!) to thrilling debuts and new-to-me authors, 2021 has given me some absolutely incredible crime books to sink my teeth into - and I hope that this list will help you find a new favorite crime book or two for yourself, too! As you can imagine it was very difficult to narrow this list down. When making my selections here, I focused on books that I haven’t been able to stop recommending to others and thinking about myself—books that have had the kind of staying power for me that we all look for in favorite reads. The books included on this list were published from January 1, 2021 through July 6, 2021; stay tuned, because I’ll be rounding up a list of my favorite crime books from the second half of 2021 - plus a definitive list of my favorite crime books of the whole year - when 2021 comes to a close. Without further ado, let’s dig into this rundown of my favorite crime books of 2021 so far!

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In Best Crime Books of 2021 Tags 2021 Crime Books, Best Crime Books 2021, Jess Lourey, Bloodline, Allie Reynolds, Shiver, Sarah Pearse, The Sanatorium, C.J. Tudor, The Burning Girls, Camilla Sten, The Lost Village, The Girl Who Died, Ragnar Jonasson, Bath Haus, P.J. Vernon, The Maidens, Alex Michaelides, Survive the Night, Riley Sager, Razorblade Tears, S.A. Cosby
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View fullsize My personal crime fiction collection 🕵🏻‍♀️🖤 aka my favorite corner of my apartment. 📚🙌🏻 If anyone feels so inclined, I’d love to see what YOUR bookshelves look like! Snap a pic, share in your stories, & tag me - I’d love to
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    RT @vanessalillie: I’ve had box of Blood Sister arcs unopened for two weeks waiting on tomorrow - cover reveal by @crimebythebook & IG… https://t.co/fnQ35GO1Nd
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    RT @TheMysterious: We’re making plans to head out to @HamptonsWhodun next month, Long Island’s exciting new crime fiction festival. Se… https://t.co/ra7RPgf7Fv
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    RT @TheMysterious: Love mystery fiction? We’re hiring a part-time bookseller, beginning immediately. Email info@mysteriousbookshop.com… https://t.co/AJrBLH0Q1t
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    RT @TheMysterious: BREAKING: We’re thrilled that our friend Michael Connelly is (finally) being recognized as a mystery fiction Grand… https://t.co/3QgWojXVVw
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