TOP 5 BOOKS REVIEWED IN 2018

With a new year upon us and a new crop of books waiting to be enjoyed, it behooves us as readers and critics to pause for a moment to consider the pleasures bestowed upon us by the big dog publishers in 2018.

As a book critic for the New York Journal of Books, I reviewed a grand total of 40 titles last year; a nice round number. Some were bestselling duds (Chicago, City of Endless Night, Pandemic) but some were very good. And some were terrific. So ... what were the five best books I had the pleasure of reviewing in 2018?

5. Cave of Bones, by Anne Hillerman (April 3; Harper Collins)
Navaho Tribal Police officer Bernadette Manuelito discovers a lava cave with human bones while searching for a missing girl in the El Malpais badlands. Anne Hillerman's tight, clean writing style does justice to the characters and setting we know and love so much.
(Read the review.)

4. In a House of Lies, by Ian Rankin (Dec. 29; Little, Brown)
Rankin brings us another high-quality police procedural set in Scotland, as an old missing person case becomes a homicide investigation that threatens to expose possible past wrongdoing by retired detective John Rebus.
(Read the review.)

3. The Sandman, by Lars Kepler (March 6; Knopf)
When a young man is found wandering across a train bridge on a cold night, police discover that he and his sister have been missing for 13 years. By far, the best Joona Linna crime novel to date by the Swedish husband-and-wife team writing as Lars Kepler. An absolute page turner.
(Read the review.)

2. Dark Sacred Night, by Michael Connelly (Oct. 29; Little, Brown) The heavyweight champion of police procedurals delivers another knockout as Det. Renee Ballard teams up with Harry Bosch on a cold case in which a teenage girl was brutally murdered and left in a dumpster. Well written, as always, and an effective pairing.
(Read the review.)

1. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, by Michelle McNamara (Feb. 26; Harper Collins) Heartfelt, gripping true crime by the late blogger and journalist who devoted so much of her adult life to the pursuit of the notorious Golden State Killer, aka East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker, who was (allegedly) finally captured this year. An incredible tribute to a remarkable woman who passed away too soon.
(Read the review.)

Honorable mentions:

• The Boy, by Tami Hoag (Dec. 31; Dutton) (read the review);
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Jan. 8; Soho Crime) (read the review).

Best wishes to all avid readers out there, and high hopes for a rich crop of books to enjoy in 2019!

The Two Worlds of Scottish Crime Fiction Writer James Oswald

Scottish crime fiction writer and farmer James Oswald paid $80 for a cover and bought his friends a few beers to proofread his novel Natural Causes. He then self-published it as an e-book. This novel and its sequel, The Book of Souls, have sold a phenomenal 350,000 copies since they were released last year. His work was soon at the centre of a bidding war, and Penguin was the successful bidder for the rights to publish the printed version of his work. His six-figure contract with Penguin puts Oswald in the same ranks as Ian Rankin (no pun intended) and Val McDermid. Oswald has also won critical acclaim, making the shortlist for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award.

Oswald will continue to farm and write, and in fact has used some of his earnings to purchase a new tractor for his farm. He says his day job helps him write because he always has his notebook at hand and has lots of time to think while he's performing his various tasks.

For the full text of the article by Tom Rowley, see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10037259/How-a-Scottish-farmer-became-crime-fictions-next-big-thing.html. There is also a video with Oswald on his farm. He is a quiet, self-effacing man, a bit bemused by all the fuss, and his Highland cattle look singularly unimpressed b y the photographer's presence.

James Oswald's website is http://jamesoswald.co.uk/.

Crime Fiction Christmas 2012 Grab Bag

Now that the holiday season is arriving, we thought it would be fun to scan the headlines for book-buying suggestions for your favourite crime fiction aficionado. After all, what's better than a wintry evening spent in front of a fire in the fireplace, a glass of wine or hot chocolate, and a good mystery?

Margaret Cannon of the Globe and Mail shows us how we can enjoy murder at Christmas with a guide to the latest crime fiction releases, including Beware this Boy by Maureen Jennings and Eleven Pipers Piping by C.C. Benison.

Laura Wilson of the Guardian runs out her list of best crime and thriller books of 2012 for that special Christmas gift, including Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Weirdo by Cathi Unsworth, and Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin.

On books in general, Sophie Hardach of the Telegraph  looks at Liz Mohn, the woman behind Penguin Random House, and comments on the shifting landscape of publishing. For example, she notes, "on a recent New York Times bestseller list, 11 out of 15 titles were published by an imprint belonging to either Penguin or Random House. Agents often try to raise an author’s advance through a bidding war, but why would imprints owned by the same group bid against each other?"

Additionally, the Telegraph published a very nice obituary of well-known mystery author Margaret Yorke, who passed away at the age of 88.

Here's a bit of fun. No Exit Press will be publishing Philosophies of Crime Fiction by Dr Josef Hoffmann in June 2013, and have decided to seek help in choosing their final cover design. According to their press release they "thought this would be an ideal opportunity for a bit of 'crowdsourcing' and to consult the great crime reading public on the best cover to use." Follow the link and cast your vote. What's your favourite?

Finally, here's a link to the press release on my last signing at Collected Works bookstore in Ottawa, as discussed in the previous post. This might be a great place to do some of your Christmas shopping.

Crime Fiction Grab Bag No. 7

It's time for another crime fiction grab bag here at The Overnight Bestseller, as we celebrate the news and views from the past few weeks in our favorite literary genre.

Why not begin at the top, with a feature by Kevin Nance of the Chicago Tribune on Michael Connelly and The Black Box, another Harry Bosch offering. While we're on the subject, here's a review of The Black Box by Patrick Anderson of the Washington Post, and a very amusing opinion piece on Harry Bosch by Julia Keller, cultural critic for the Chicago Tribune.

If you love pulp fiction, as I do, you won't want to miss this article for CNN by Christian DuChateau explaining how editor and publisher Charles Ardai tracked down and published The Cocktail Waitress, an unpublished novel by James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity) written at the end of his life.

Margaret Cannon's recent crime fiction roundup in the Toronto Globe and Mail includes reviews of Louise Penny's The Beautiful Mystery, Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin, and The Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon.

Finally, Jack Batten of the Toronto Star offers another set of mini-reviews in his latest Whodunit column, including his takes on Port Vila Blues by Gary Disher, Cut to the Bone by Joan Boswell, Deadly Politics by Maggie Sefton, and Dare Me by Megan Abbott.

Speaking of Whodunit, you may not have caught Jack Batten's mini-review of Marcie's Murder this summer. If so, well, here it is again!

Enjoy.

Crime Fiction Grab Bag No. 3

It's the weekend, which means it's time for another crime fiction grab bag here on The Overnight Bestseller, where we're constantly beating the bushes for the best new tidbits in the world of crime fiction.

Jonathan Santlofer, Director of New York's Crime Fiction Academy, gives us a heads-up on this fall's workshops, including participation by Lawrence Block, Susan Isaacs, and Dennis Lehane, along with editors and agents to discuss the ins and outs of the publishing world. If you'd like to brush up on crime fiction writing fundamentals and you've a hankering to visit NYC, this might be for you.

"If you haven't heard of the insanely talented and clever Wolf Haas," Seattlepi.com tells us, then it's about time you did. One of the best-selling crime fiction authors in Germany, Haas features private investigator Simon Brenner in a hard-boiled series of which Brenner and God, the first translated into English, is the latest.

Ian Rankin gives us a look back at his Inspector Rebus series, and chooses some of his favourite moments, courtesy of the Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/aug/23/rebus-ian-rankin-favourite.

From the "are-you-freaking-kidding-me" category, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports on Hollywood's incredible goof in casting Tom Cruise (I'm a fan, just not right now) in the role of Jack Reacher in the upcoming film based on Lee Child's bestselling series featuring the ex-Army M.P. major: "Okay, he doesn't look exactly right," Child finally admitted.

And finally, a generous new profile of the Canadian author of the Donaghue and Stainer Crime Novel series, by Joseph Morin in the EMC News/Advance, in which he looks at the long road to publication and the development of "memorable and richly detailed characters."