Yep, I realise people were doing this months ago (even before December, as if the last month had nothing of quality), but hey, I've been super busy getting a novel ready (can you say published in just over a week?). In 2022, I set myself a goal to read at least 1 book per week. In 2023, I read ~80 books, so definitely crushing that goal (the number was made higher by the fact that I helped judge the AHWA Shadows Awards).
I also started working in libraries, which for my reading was a blessing and a curse. It meant I tried a lot more books than I would have, usually - though admittedly, most still in the crime genre. I was swayed a little by the 'what's hot now' books. I could feast on everything coming through our library system. Which resulted in me becoming less tolerant of some novels - if they didn't please me, or suit my reading needs at the time, I just moved on to the next title (rather than giving it some time, thinking of the money I would have spent on it). It also made me realise that a lot of 'what's hot now' books are just overhyped titles in the publishing world.
It also meant I missed reading a lot of my favourite authors. I've bought a whole pile of books and they are my 2024 target. Authors such as Stuart MacBride, SA Cosby, Nick Petrie, Lee Child, Benjamin Stevenson, Michael Koryta. They all had great books out in 2023 and I'm yet to crack them open. I will get to you asap, that's my 2024 promise to myself.
So, my favourite reads in 2023, in no particular order, are:
Richmard Osman's Thursday Murder Club. I started the first title on New Years day and have read all 4 in the series since. A welcome diversion from the darker side of crime.
Akimisu Takagi - The Tattoo Murder - I've read a lot of Japanese crime this year. There will be more on the list. Many were published years ago to great fame, but were only recently translated.
Holden Sheppard - The Brink - this needs to replace Lord of the Flies in all WA high school curriculums.
Alan Baxter - The Roo - 'Straya, mate! Just... a crazy, fun read.
CJ Tudor - The Drift - great use of 3 connecting narratives.
Mary Kubica - Just The Nicest Couple
Gregg Hurwitz - The Last Orphan - not as strong as other Orphan X stories but still riveting - just shows how good the series is.
Keigo Higashino - The Devotion of Suspect X - probably my favourite book of the year. Read it on a flight from Japan to Perth, couldn't put it down. Have since read all 4 titles (so far) in the Detective Galileo series (I recommend them all).
Kimi Cunningham Grant - These Silent Woods - a real emotional punch. Loved it.
Jesse Sutanto - Vera Wong's Advice for Murderers - was expecting another Dial A for Aunties but this was its own story, and it just got better as it went along. Great use of humour with its quirky characters.
Kanae Minato - Confessions - great twists from each character's POV
Stephen Leather - The Eight Curious Cases of Inspector Zhang - Singapore's Poirot.
Peter Swanson - The Kind Worth Saving
David Baldacci - The 6:20 Man and The Edge - yet another Baldacci series I've got to invest time in, now.
M.W. Craven - Fearless - tried to be a Reacher clone at the start, then found its own footing. Great series to look out for.
Clare Mackintosh - A Game of Lies - great sequel with lots of possible suspects.
Jane Harper - Exiles - hadn't read this before it won the Ned Kelly award for best fiction. I can say, it thoroughly deserved the nod. The 90% flashback-style frustrated me at times, and resorting to Kim & Rohan's POV at the end seemed a cop-out, but the way the book had you on the edge was amazing.
David Whish-Wilson - I Am Already Dead - really captures Freo (and Perth) and the Aussie larrikins. I want to meet this author, he's a local and brilliant.
Nita Prose - The Mystery Guest - pretty good sequel to a book I never expected to like so much
S.G Browne - Less Than Hero - humourous way to look into our prescription dependencies
So, what did you enjoy in 2023? Bury Our Secrets? Of course. I knew that. Here's hoping its sequel, Pay For Your Mistakes, makes it onto your 2024 list.