The Best of 2009 Mystery Lists

As 2009 draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the Best Mysteries of 2009. Best lists are subjective, but you will certainly find some good reads in the lists below.

I'll start off with my Best of 2009. I read a lot, but the books are not necessarily new, so my list is limited to the new books I read in 2009, and also limited to my memory of those books.

Janet Rudolph

Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
The Lord God Bird by Russell Hill
Tower by Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman
The City and The City by China Mielville
Ravens by George Dawes Green
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
Skeleton Hill by Peter Lovesey
Neccesary as Blood by Deborah Crombie
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan

Sarah Weinman (Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind)

Ravens by George Dawes Green
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry
Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Bone by Bone by Carol O'Connell

Oline Codgill. Oline actually has a numbered order of favorites for the year.

1. (tie) The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly.
1. Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
2. A Darker Domain Val McDermid.
3. Life Sentences by Laura Lippman
4. The Last Child by John Hart
5. The Hidden Man by David Ellis
6. Ravens by George Dawes Green
7. The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer
8. Darling Jim by Christian Moerk
9. Devil's Garden by Ace Atkins
10. A Duty to the Dead and The Red Door by Charles Todd
11. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
12. The Way Home by George Pelecanos
13. Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger
14. The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan
15. The Long Fall by Walter Mosley
16. Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott

Lesa Holstine Lesa's Book Critiques
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks
13 1/2 by Nevada Barr
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

Lisa also sent her second tier of mysteries that consists of new discoveries -- authors she just discovered.
Alan Bradley: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Vicki Delany: Winter of Secrets
Linda Castillo: Sworn to Silence
Kathryn Casey: Blood Lines
Sophie Littlefield: A Bad Day for Sorry

Jon Jordan of CrimeSpree Magazine

The Gates by John Connolly
Filthy Rich by Brian Azzarello
Dark Mirror by Barry Maitland
Dial H for Hitchcock by Susan Kandel
The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry
Skin by Mo Hayder
Trust No One by Gregg Hurwitz
Walking Dead by Greg Rucka

Maureen Corrigan, NPR

G.I. Bones by Martin Limon.
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
Hardball by Sara Paretsky
The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville
Dial H for Hitchcock

Dick Adler: BarnesandNoblereviews.com

Stardust by Joseph Kanon
Breathing Water by Timothy Hallinan
The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville
Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley
Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott

Marilyn Stasio of the New York Times

The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault
Roadside Crosses by Jeffrey Deaver
The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston
Arctic Chill by Aranldur Indridason
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson
The Long Fall by Walter Mosely
The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Melville
Hardball by Sara Paretsky
Box 21 by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom
The Birthday Present by Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell)

Adam Woog of the Seattle Times

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
9 Dragons by Michael Connelly
Pix by Bill James
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Life Sentences y Laura Lippman
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
Skeleton Hill by Peter Lovesey
Stone's Fall by Iain Pears
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan
The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas

Publishers Weekly
Mystery:
Bryant and May on the Loose by Christopher Fowler
The Wrong Mother by Sophie Hannah
The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson
The Silent Hour by Michael Koryta
Londongrad by Reggie Nadelson
The Lord of Death by Eliot Pattison
The Cloud Pavilion by Laura Joh Rowland

Crime/Suspense/Thriller:
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Ravens by George Dawes Green
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø
Drood by Dan Simmons

Murder by the Book (Houston) Different people at the store chose a favorite.

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny (McKenna)
Shatter by Michael Robotham (David)
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (Brenda)
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Anne)
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan (Dean)
The Gates by John Connolly (Kinley)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (Michelle)

Bill at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
The Cleaner by Brett Battles
The Calling by Inger Wolfe
G. I. Bones by Martin Limon
Get Real by Donald E. Westlake
The Black Ice Score by Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark
New Tricks by David Rosenfelt
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
Boca Nights by Steven M. Forman
Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan

What great lists. There are several books I haven't read yet, and I'll add them to my TBR pile which is really about 10 piles at this point, and constantly growing.

If you're a reviewer, critic or mystery bookstore and you have a Best of 2009 Mysteries List and would like to add to this summary, post a comment or email me.

For more Best of Mysteries 2009 lists, go here.