The best time of year is upon us! As we head into the chillier months of the year, now is the perfect moment to start stocking up on some equally-chilling reads. In today’s blog post, I’m rounding up my personal most-anticipated releases of Fall 2020! This list by no means encompasses all of the thrilling new crime books that will be published this fall, but it does highlight the books I’m personally most excited to read, and most excited to talk about with you! For ease of reference, I’ve organized this blog post in order of publication date. Some of these books I’ve already been lucky enough to read, others are still on my fall TBR list—but all of them look poised to deliver some truly outstanding crime fiction storytelling. Dive into this blog post and start building your own Fall 2020 crime fiction reading list!
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Best Debut Crime Novels of 2018
There’s something so special about discovering a debut author whose work just clicks for you. It’s that thrill of discovering something new - a hidden gem, an author whose work you’ll want to follow for years to come. 2018 was a hugely exciting year for new crime fiction talent, but there were five debut crime writers whose work stood out to me in particular - and those are the authors whose work you will find in this list! The authors featured in this list write in very different crime fiction spaces, but their work has one very important thing in common: it’s exceptional. From a harrowing coming-of-age story to a Scandinavian domestic drama to a modern take on a classic procedural and much more, this list highlights the expansive, elastic quality of the crime fiction genre—and proves that women are leading the charge across the board. I can’t wait to see what these talented writers will do next. In no particular order (because I loved them all!), let’s dive in to my picks for Best Debut Crime Novels of 2018.
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Bouchercon Author Interview: Caz Frear
One of the very best things about attending crime conferences like Bouchercon is having the chance to learn about the books you love from their authors. While at this year’s Bouchercon, I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Caz Frear, author of SWEET LITTLE LIES - an exceptional debut that just released in August! SWEET LITTLE LIES tells the story of a young female police officer whose personal life collides with her professional life in a chilling and layered mystery. I absolutely loved this book, and was so excited to sit down with its very talented author to talk about her debut, her book’s protagonist, what comes next for her, and more.
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Crime Festival Journal: Bouchercon 2018
This past weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Bouchercon 2018! Known as the “World Mystery Convention,” Bouchercon brings together crime writers, readers, industry members, and more for a long weekend of crime fiction fun. One of my personal favorite things about Bouchercon is that it changes location every year; last year, Bouchercon was held in Toronto, Canada, and this year it was held in St. Petersburg, Florida! There’s nothing more inspiring to me than spending time with folks who are as passionate about the crime fiction genre as I am, and I left Bouchercon 2018 feeling totally energized and excited by all that I learned over the course of the conference. In my Bouchercon 2018 Crime Festival Journal, you will find a day-by-day recap of my time in St. Petersburg, including book and author recommendations from the weekend, recaps of author interviews and panels, and lots of photos!
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Book Review: SWEET LITTLE LIES by Caz Frear
There’s something about the tried-and-true police procedural that always keeps me coming back for more—and finding an author who can write a police procedural in as fresh, modern a way as can Caz Frear is a genuine treat. SWEET LITTLE LIES follows a female policewoman in London whose personal life collides with her work in a dark and dangerous way. Cat Kinsella is called to the scene of a crime: the body of a young woman has been found not far from the pub that her estranged father still runs. Things become stranger still when Cat receives a mysterious call linking this murder to the disappearance of a young woman in Ireland years prior—a young woman whom Cat and her family saw just days before she went missing. Cat had long suspected that her father knew more about the young woman’s disappearance than he admitted… and her latest work assignment will now give her a new opportunity to investigate her own past. SWEET LITTLE LIES is an astonishingly assured debut; Cat Kinsella is a fantastic protagonist, and readers will love the complexity and precision of plotting Caz Frear puts forth in this mystery. With her first suspense novel, Frear has established herself as an author to watch - I have no doubt we’ll be hearing of Frear’s work for years to come. Highly recommended for readers looking for a slow-burning, layered mystery that puts a fresh spin on classic police procedurals, and injects a male-dominated genre with a fiercely feminist protagonist.
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