Oline Cogdill, Sun Sentinel Correspondent, puts a great deal of thought and effort into her selections for Best Mysteries of the Year. She’s allowing us to share this year’s post. You can find links to the Webstore for each book.
2024 wraps up another stellar year for crime fiction. Rich plots, diverse and fully realized characters, and vivid settings punctuated these stories. The landscapes ranged from metropolitan cities to rural areas. The emphasis on family relationships were a major part of myriad mysteries.
Once again, narrowing down the favorites in crime fiction of 2024 was difficult, and devising this list truly is an act of love. Happy reading.
Cogdill’s #1 pick is one I’ve seen on a number of lists this year, including Goodreads pick as Mystery of the Year.
In The God of the Woods, a wealthy family’s sense of entitlement, troubled history, two missing children and a dark woods lead to an unpredictable path of intense suspense in this tightly coiled novel that seamlessly moves from the 1950s to 1975. Moore’s nonlinear plot follows a banking family from the time they bought land for a camp in the Adirondacks, showing how each generation used and discarded the people who worked for them. Readers will want to wander into these woods. https://bit.ly/4g1zBga.
The Waiting finely illustrates the Bosch legacy that Michael Connelly has constructed. Retired L.A.P.D. Detective Harry Bosch, his smart, tenacious daughter Maddie Bosch, now a police officer with ambitions of becoming a detective, and Renée Ballard’s cold case unit each take center stage. This valentine to Los Angeles takes readers to various neighborhoods while delving into the City of Angels’ past, including its crime history. https://bit.ly/4gnCmZ2.
An expert at solving puzzles is hired by the Imperial family of Japan to open the legendary Dragon Box, which has been sealed since it was built in 1868. No one has survived attempts to open the box loaded with lethal traps. The plot of The Puzzle Box combines Asian culture, female samurai and lots of puzzles. https://bit.ly/481u31U.
Miss Marple meets the Bad Seed in Havoc when a meddling old woman and a malicious 8-year-old boy wreak chaos in a shabby-chic Egyptian hotel. The vivid setting is matched by the fully fleshed out characters and mischievous pranks that accelerate. https://bit.ly/41llUnA.
Attica Locke wraps up her trilogy about Black Texas Ranger Darren Matthews by mining his emotional landscape in Guide Me Home. He wrestles with his inner demons as he tries to prove to himself that he’s the kind of man he believes he is. In this final outing, Darren considers the twin uncles who raised him, the Rangers who gave him a career and his manipulative mother — and why he is estranged from each. https://bit.ly/4gprYA2.
Alex Segura returns to the comic book world with Alter Ego, an evocative look at how art is created, finance, sexism and the joy of loving your profession and the pain when it doesn’t love you back. A comic book artist turned filmmaker is offered the chance to be the lead artist on the reboot of “The Legendary Lynx,” the female superhero who had a limited but vital publication during the 1970s. Questions of who actually came up with the Lynx become lethal. https://bit.ly/4g1do1K.
A Black retired cop turned private investigator has been out of the game so long people think he’s dead. Then he’s hired by a woman to find her missing executive husband in Don’t Let the Devil Ride, the launch of a new series set in Memphis. This global story sharply moves from Memphis, Turkey and Paris, involving the cult of Elvis, an antiques dealer, a scam artist, Russian and French criminals and a Southern evangelist. https://bit.ly/4cI5PuJ.
In The Hitchcock Hotel, an uber Alfred Hitchcock fan — whose name also is Alfred — has built his life and business around his obsession with the filmmaker. His eponymous hotel that bears a striking resemblance to the Bates’ house in “Psycho” is filled with trinkets and clues from Hitchcock’s films. What could go wrong when he invites his closest college friends for a four-day weekend? A unique riff on the locked-room mystery. You can check in, but checking out is another matter. https://bit.ly/4eg1wba.
In The Rivals, a private investigator obsessed with mystery fiction works for a company that verifies the identities of online dates. She’s caught up in corporate espionage and an AI conspiracy while dealing with her traditional Chinese mother. https://bit.ly/3ZC5pCu.
Land schemes and heirs’ property rights, especially those that target lower-income communities, are the foundation of What You Leave Behind. With a thought-provoking, timely plot, the novel is about racism, grief, rebuilding your life when your world has fallen apart and putting aside preconceived notions, set in the Gullah-Geechee culture. https://bit.ly/3VuC62m.
A former getaway driver is pulled out of retirement to help find a female mob boss based in L.A. in Double Barrel Bluff. Ever notice that retirement doesn’t exist in these novels? The kidnappers are clueless, thinking they have kidnapped a wealthy female tourist. They have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into. https://bit.ly/4inrewO.
A woman who wants too much from life but has achieved so little may finally have found the love of her life — a successful financial adviser who takes her on their first getaway. Their Airbnb has great views of Manhattan but they are two of the only three Black people on the block where numerous posters and flyers about the “missing white woman” are plastered throughout the charming neighborhood. The plot of Missing White Woman touches on racism, social media and true-crime fanatics. https://bit.ly/41mS1TX.
The search for a dormant serial killer drives the plot of California Bear, but the heart of this story is the loving relationship between a father and his daughter and how he will sacrifice anything to show his support of her. The plot centers on an unconventional police procedural, solid character studies including that of one bright teenager, and an emotional look at families. https://bit.ly/3HtU8ub.
A solid police procedural, Agony Hill excavates how the changing times of 1962 affect the landscape of a small Vermont town and its residents. The murder of a despised farmer jumpstarts this new series that shows how the residents are interconnected. The challenge of rural life adds to the superb tension. https://bit.ly/3ONlNJW.
Set in a chicken processing plant in northwest Arkansas, Eli Cranor’s third novel concentrates on the use and abuse of power, delving into the issues of workers’ safety and the perpetuation of poverty. Yet Broiler reveals deeper themes than pitting the haves vs. the have-nots. At the heart, two women must each find their inner strength. https://bit.ly/49sEPij.
The death of a young mother plunges her dysfunctional family into a morass of grief, guilt and an uncertain future in I Dreamed of Falling, a suspenseful family thriller. The economic decline of a small town emerges as an allegory for the characters’ ennui about their lives. https://bit.ly/3B3nOym.
Two sisters fear a dismal future if they don’t escape from their small Missouri town in Safe and Sound. Leaving will be the scariest action the sisters will ever take as they are still haunted by the disappearance six years before of their cousin Grace, who had firm plans, even a secured college scholarship. The story touches on small-town malaise, sisterly love, ambition and how some people can be threatened by another’s modest goals. https://bit.ly/4g1fXko.
Jonathan Santlofer, who is a highly respected artist, paints a broad canvas as he steeps his plot in contemporary and historical art concerns, including Nazi-looting and the efforts of Resistance fighters to smuggle valuable art out of occupied Paris. Briskly plotted, The Lost van Gogh also delves into character studies of Luke and Alexis. Each of their families were involved in high-profile art crimes. https://bit.ly/3Vs5lm6.
S.J. Rozan and debut author John Shen Yen Nee team up for The Murder of Mr. Ma, a clever homage to Holmes set in 1924 London. Well-known Judge Dee Ren Jie has come to London to investigate the murder of Mr. Ma, whom he knew during WWI while serving in the Chinese Labour Corps. Vivid details about the period include the rampant prejudice against the Chinese that affected business, housing and other aspects of life in London, including the growing interest in Chinese antiques and goods. Dee wryly observes, “The current fashion for our art does not, it seems, translate to a fashion for our persons.” https://bit.ly/3xBlSv8.
There’s a tie for Number Twenty.
Trouble Island is a historical novel inspired by a real island in the middle of Lake Erie that became a stop-off for criminals running between the U.S. and Canada in 1932. The murder of a Prohibition gangster’s wife prompts her maid to investigate. https://bit.ly/3ZmmIpH.
New York City in 1911 makes an evocative background for this portrait of early 20th Century author Edith Wharton, a close look at New York high society and publishing, precarious even then. Female authors were treated differently, their talents often underrated. The idea that a woman such as Edith Wharton dare negotiate her royalties was shocking. Above all, The Wharton Plot is a very personal look at this famous novelist, her struggles as a writer, her crumbling marriage and her rather solitude life. https://bit.ly/3ZgYZr2.
Check back tomorrow for Oline Cogdill’s picks for debuts and short story collections.
Oline Cogdill is a Raven Award winner and mystery critic. This article is used with her permission.
2023 Minotaur Competition Winner: First Crime Novel winner
