I am so thrilled to announce a new partnership between Crime by the Book and the amazing Murder by the Book, a crime fiction-focused independent bookstore here in Houston, TX. Starting this October, I am going to be teaming up with the bookstore to curate a book subscription service! Crime by the Box will deliver a hand-selected, newly-released hardcover mystery, thriller, or suspense novel right to your door on a monthly basis. Read on for all the details!
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CBTB's Top 10 Crime Books of 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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CBTB'S MUST-READ SUMMER 2022 CRIME BOOKS
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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August 2021 Most-Anticipated Crime Books
Summer is here, and it’s bringing with it some incredible new crime fiction releases for us to devour! Summer 2021 is jam-packed with amazing crime books, some of which I’ve been lucky enough to read already and others that are still on my personal TBR pile. To help you plan your own reading lists, each month this summer I’ll be sharing monthly lists of my personal most-anticipated new crime fiction releases for that respective month. I can’t wait to share these books with you, and I hope they will catch your eye as much as they’ve caught mine! In case you missed it, you can check out my list of Most-Anticipated June 2021 Crime Books here, and Most-Anticipated July 2021 Crime Books here. August 2021 brings with it a number of suspense novels that look perfect for a late-summer vacation, including one of my top favorite books of the year, a returning “popcorn thriller” writer, a highly-anticipated new release by an acclaimed crime writer who hasn’t had a new book in a few years now, and more. August’s new crime fiction lineup looks twisty, binge-worthy, and thrilling, and I can’t wait to share these books with you. Read on for my picks for most-anticipated August 2021 crime fiction!
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Book Review: IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE by Ashley Winstead
Welcome to Duquette University, where a 10-year college reunion is about to take a dangerous turn in Ashley Winstead’s dark academia debut, IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE. Ten years ago, Jessica Miller and her friends—a clique known as the “East House Seven”—suffered a horrific tragedy when one of their own was brutally murdered in her dorm room, stabbed to death while she was sleeping. Now, Jessica is planning what is supposed to be her triumphant return to Duquette for her college reunion—an opportunity for her to prove to her college classmates once and for all that she has achieved the kind of success and status she always dreamed of. But an individual with close ties to the group has plans for Jess and her friends, and this college reunion is going to be about much more than reliving glory days gone by. Mystery and intrigue are on the weekend agenda, and Jess and her friends might just be walking unwittingly into a trap. Ashley Winstead’s immersive debut suspense novel IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE weaves an engrossing tale of murder, love, and obsession set against the backdrop of an elite southern university. Delve into the dark secrets and ever-shifting allegiances of the East House Seven in IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE, but watch your back—everyone in this friend group has something to hide, and some of their secrets are deadly. This page-turning debut suspense novel is perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars and J.T. Ellison’s Good Girls Lie.
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