Christmas is around the corner, and if youβre a reader who likes to theme your reads to the season, todayβs blog post is for you! I honestly never used to read crime novels specifically themed to particular holidays, but last year (for I think the first time in my reading life?!) I intentionally read a couple of Christmas mysteries during the Christmas seasonβ¦ and I absolutely loved it. Today I wanted to round up 5 mysteries I personally love that all involve Christmasβbut this blog post has a little twist! Todayβs recommendations are organized by how much Christmas actually factors into the bookβs plot. Ranked from Christmas level 1 - 5 (with Level 1 being Christmas in the background of the story, and Level 5 being a full-on, 100% Christmas-y plot!), this list will help you find your perfect Christmas season mystery read!
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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 βMost-Anticipatedβ summer books listβ¦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 βmost-anticipatedβ list, Iβve culled my initial list a little bit and converted it into a βmust-readβ 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 arenβt just books Iβm anticipating, theyβre all books Iβve read and loved and highly recommend! From returning favorites to new-to-me voices, from twisty psychological thrillers to βbook within a bookβ-style stories and more, Summer 2022 has some absolutely incredible new crime fiction releases in store for us. Whether your idea of a perfect βbeach readβ is a page-turning domestic suspense novel or a dark, visceral horror story, Iβm betting (and hoping!) youβll be able to find it on this list. Without further ado, letβs dive on in to my picks for Summer 2022βs Must-Read Crime Books!
Read More5 Nordic Thrillers to Read This Halloween
Itβs the best time of year: spooky season!! The stretch of the year from Halloween through Christmas is always my favorite, and, coincidentally, I also think itβs the perfect time of year to dig into a great Scandinavian crime novel. While we may gravitate towards the chilling, snowy atmosphere of Scandinavian crime fiction during the winter months, the genre also has a lot to offer when it comes to sinister, supernatural-ish books that make for great Halloween reading! In todayβs blog post, I wanted to combine two of my favorite thingsβNordic Noir and Halloweenβinto one reading list perfect for spooky season. All the books featured in todayβs blog post have an element of supernatural-ish chills to them, whether hints of ghosts and hauntings or elements of the occult and more. If youβre a fan of dark, brooding, slow-burning crime fiction and are looking for a book that ups the chill factor for your Halloween reading list, these books will be right up your alley. Read on for my picks for Nordic thrillers perfect for your spooky season to-read pile!
Read MoreCrime Fiction Festival Preview: Iceland Noir 2021
I canβt even tell you how excited I am to be writing this blog post right now. After three long years since the last Iceland Noir in 2018, my favorite crime fiction festival is back!!! In less than two months, Iβll be heading to Reykjavik to attend my third Iceland Noir crime fiction festivalβand this year, Iβm going to be moderating some amazing panels as well as attending as a fan!! In this blog post, you can learn more about Iceland Noir, check out a preview of some of the authors who will be attending, and more!
Read MoreCBTB's Top 10 Crime Books of 2021 (So Far)
Itβs 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 youβre 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 havenβt been able to stop recommending to others and thinking about myselfβbooks 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 Iβll 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, letβs dig into this rundown of my favorite crime books of 2021 so far!
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