BEST CRIME BOOKS OF JANUARY 2022
New Crime, Thriller, and Mystery Books I Loved This Month!
It’s hard to believe we’re already more than a month into 2022—where has the time gone?! The first month of this year may have flown by, but it brought with it some outstanding new crime novels that deserve a moment of our time before we turn our attention fully to February. To that end, in today’s blog post, I’m rounding up my personal picks for best new crime books published in January 2022! From epistolary mysteries to dark Nordic serial killer thrillers and more, this month brought with it a terrific lineup of new crime stories for us to devour—and you can learn more about my four personal favorites in this post! Without further ado, let’s dive on in. Happy reading!
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THE MIRROR MAN by Lars Kepler
Genre: Nordic Noir + Serial Killer Thriller
Why I Loved It:
No one writes a dark serial killer thriller quite like Lars Kepler. Kepler, the pen name of husband-and-wife writing duo Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril, has written some truly sinister and gripping thrillers in their day—but in my opinion, their new release THE MIRROR MAN outshines them all. (Yes, I loved this even more than Kepler’s breakout thriller The Sandman!) THE MIRROR MAN stood out to me thanks to its psychologically-complex plot. Kepler has always had a knack for writing terrifying villains, but in THE MIRROR MAN, they delivered an antagonist who got under my skin not just because of his evil actions, but perhaps even more so because of his humanity. As Kepler peels back the layers of motivation surrounding this story’s twisted serial killer, readers will be riveted, horrified, and maybe even a little bit heartbroken by the events in his past that have made him who he is today. The story twists and turns to a shocking and cinematic conclusion, and I was genuinely gripped from the book’s first pages to its last. THE MIRROR MAN is probably Kepler’s darkest story yet (proceed with caution), but for me, it was an absolute standout. This is a must-read for anyone who loves TV shows like Mindhunter and Criminal Minds, plus anyone who has enjoyed serial killer thrillers from the likes of Thomas Harris and J.D. Barker.
About the Book:
Sixteen-year-old Jenny Lind is kidnapped in broad daylight on her way home from school and thrown into the back of a truck. She’s taken to a dilapidated house, where she and other girls face horrors far beyond their worst nightmares. Though they’re desperate to escape, their captor foils everyone of their attempts.
Five years later, Jenny’s body is found hanging in a playground, strung up with a winch on a rainy night. As the police are scrambling to find a lead in the scant evidence, Detective Joona Linna recognizes an eerie connection between Jenny’s murder and a death declared a suicide years before. And when another teenage girl goes missing, it becomes clear to Joona that they’re dealing with a serial killer—and his murderous rampage may have just begun.
RECKLESS GIRLS by Rachel Hawkins
Genre: “Popcorn Thriller”
Why I Loved It:
Listen, I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s dreaming of a vacation somewhere warm and sunny right about now, and if that applies to you as well, Rachel Hawkins’ RECKLESS GIRLS is your armchair travel must-read! RECKLESS GIRLS puts its own unique spin on a classic island-paradise-turned-deadly plot. It follows a group of twentysomethings who embark on what’s supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime, but things soon take many dark and dangerous turns. If you’ve been following along with Crime by the Book for a little bit, you’ll know my term “popcorn thriller”—aka those suspense books that are lighter in content, jam-packed with entertainment value, and the kind of stories you’ll want to devour in one sitting (just like a bowl of popcorn!). Blend a “popcorn thriller” with a seafaring adventure and you’ve got RECKLESS GIRLS. I loved the way this book blends an utterly idyllic setting with sinister secrets—something about that contrast between beauty and darkness really hooked me. Anyone who loves lighter suspense focused on secrets, relationships, and drama will gobble up this escapist, wanderlust-worthy story of suspense.
About the Book:
ONE ISLAND
Beautiful, wild, and strange—Meroe Island is a desolate spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. It’s the perfect destination for the most adventurous traveler to escape everything... except the truth.
SIX VISITORS
Six stunning twentysomethings are about to embark on a blissful, free-spirited journey—one filled with sun-drenched days and intoxicating nights. But as it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in, sending them on a dangerous spiral of discovery.
COUNTLESS SECRETS
When one person goes missing and another turns up dead, the remaining friends wonder what dark currents lie beneath this impenetrable paradise—and who else will be swept under its secluded chaos. With its island gothic sensibility, sexy suspense, and spine-tingling reimagining of an Agatha Christie classic, Reckless Girls will wreck you.
THE APPEAL by Janice Hallett
Genre: Mystery
Why I Loved It:
You know that feeling when you pick up a book with very few expectations and end up loving it? That’s exactly what happened to me with Janice Hallett’s wildly inventive and entertaining mystery THE APPEAL. Centering around a community theater group and the suspicious death of one of their members, THE APPEAL puts readers in the unique position to play “armchair detective” alongside its characters, thanks to its creative and immersive plot structure. This story is told almost entirely through pieces of evidence—emails, texts, letters, and more—that two lawyers are sifting through in the wake of a crime. Through these various correspondences, the lawyers (and readers!) reconstruct the events leading up to a murder and try to puzzle together who committed the crime, and what their motivation possibly could have been. If you love to play “armchair detective” and try to solve the mysteries you’re reading before the books’ characters do, you will absolutely love THE APPEAL—and you’ll have to let me know if you manage to figure out whodunnit! This book was an absolute delight to read—it’s an undeniably longer story, but personally, I couldn’t get enough of it. This was pure pleasure reading for me, and I’m already looking forward to Hallett’s next book.
About the Book:
The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their fellow castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.
But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—nor of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material—emails, messages, letters—with a growing suspicion that a killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.
A wholly modern take on the epistolary novel, The Appeal is a “daring…clever, and funny” (The Times, London) debut for fans of Richard Osman and Lucy Foley.
GREENWICH PARK by Katherine Faulkner
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Why I Loved It:
CBTB readers already know what mixed feelings I have about the domestic thriller genre, so hopefully you’ll trust me when I tell you, Katherine Faulkner’s GREENWICH PARK stands out from the domestic suspense pack. This elegant and surprisingly dark suspense tale takes readers behind the picture-perfect facade of one woman’s life, slowly but surely revealing the terrible secrets she has been keeping hidden for years. While the premise of GREENWICH PARK might sound familiar (I’m sure we’ve all read plenty of thrillers about wealthy couples hiding dark secrets!), it’s what Katherine Faulkner does with this plot that really impressed me. The book expertly moves between multiple points of view, crafting a tense and sinister cat-and-mouse game between a seemingly unwitting protagonist and a seemingly sinister young woman hell-bent on infiltrating her life. The author moves deftly between narrators, drawing readers ever deeper into the lives, motivations, and ultimately secrets of her characters. And better yet, the whole story is wrapped up in lush, elegant writing that makes for a truly enjoyable—and at times shockingly dark—reading experience. Readers who can’t get enough of Lisa Jewell’s work will love GREENWICH PARK.
About the Book:
Helen’s idyllic life—handsome architect husband, gorgeous Victorian house, and cherished baby on the way (after years of trying)—begins to change the day she attends her first prenatal class and meets Rachel, an unpredictable single mother-to-be. Rachel doesn’t seem very maternal: she smokes, drinks, and professes little interest in parenthood. Still, Helen is drawn to her. Maybe Rachel just needs a friend. And to be honest, Helen’s a bit lonely herself. At least Rachel is fun to be with. She makes Helen laugh, invites her confidences, and distracts her from her fears.
But her increasingly erratic behavior is unsettling. And Helen’s not the only one who’s noticed. Her friends and family begin to suspect that her strange new friend may be linked to their shared history in unexpected ways. When Rachel threatens to expose a past crime that could destroy all of their lives, it becomes clear that there are more than a few secrets laying beneath the broad-leaved trees and warm lamplight of Greenwich Park.
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.