Skip to main content

He said, She said, We said, What Up with That?

As The Hungry Detective begins to look forward to the end of year I have planned a somewhat busy slate of offerings. I will have a small handful of reviews, and  the Winter '09-'10 book preview to deliver. I am also working on another 'The Very Best of' list this time featuring Robert Crais. But the biggest news is that December means it is a time to readdress the year. I will provide not only a 'Best of 2009' list but a 'Best of the Decade' list. And yes, I realize the decade ends next year, but last time I checked this was a Crime Fiction blog, not a calendar blog.

The 'Best of the Decade' list will be 10 books delivered in two posts. Six through ten and then One through five a few days after that. I am 99% sure of what number one is going to be and if you have paid attention at all to this blog I really don't think it is that hard to figure out . In fact, I may have referred to this book as the best book of decade already. Maybe I should disable the search function for the blog. In any case I'll put up the first part of the list during the week of December 14th.

The 'Best of 2009' post will came much closer to the end of the year, particularly as I try to cram in as many 2009 books as I can. I'll keep to a top 3 as I did last year, as well as, a pick for the best non-2009 release. As of this moment. I have read 49 books. Not too shabby for me, and of those, 24 are 2009 releases.  I am aiming to read four books, beside the intriguing THE MANUAL OF DETECTION, before the end of the year. I wish it could be more, but holidays, ya know.

The Fury + The Darkness - Jason Pinter - Pending
Dark Mirror - Barry Maitland - Pending
Level 26 - Anthony E. Zuiker + Duane Swierczynski - Pending
The Manual of Detection - Jedediah Berry - Current
The Crack in the Lens - Steve Hockensmith
The Long Division - Derek Nikitas
9 Dragons - Michael Connelly
The Violet Hour - Daniel Judson
The Cold Dish - Craig Johnson
Double Exposure - Michael Lister
The Dead of Winter - Rennie Airth
Loot the Moon - Mark Arsenault
Bloods A Rover - James Ellroy
Trust Me - Peter Leonard
Safer - Sean Doolittle
The Amateurs - Marcus Sakey
Palos Verdes Blue - John Shannon
The Silent Hour - Michael Koryta
Mind Scrambler - Chris Grabenstein
The Scarecrow - Michael Connelly
The Chalk Circle Man - Fred Vargas
Queenpin - Megan Abbott
Where the Dead Lay - Davie Levien
Boundary Waters - William Kent Krueger
Road Dogs - Elmore Leonard
Killer Summer - Ridley Pearson
Dust and Shadow - Lyndsay Faye
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
Treasure of Khan - Clive Cussler
Still Life - Louise Penny
1974 - David Peace
Fifty Grand - Adrian McKinty
Scared to Live - Stephen Booth
A Simple Act of Violence - R.J. Ellory
Sins of the Assassin - Robert Ferrigno
Blue Heaven - C.J. Box
Revenge of the Spellmans - Lisa Lutz
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death - Charlie Huston
The King of Lies - John Hart
White Shadow - Ace Atkins
On the Grind - Stephen J. Cannell
The Curse of the Spellmans - Lisa Lutz
The Clean Up - Sean Doolittle
In the Woods - Tana French
A Cure For Night - Justin Peacock
What the Dead Know - Laura Lippman
The Spellman Files - Lisa Lutz
Summer of Fear - T. Jefferson Parker
Cheshire Moon - Robert Ferrigno
Pacific Beat - T. Jefferson Parker - ABANDONED
The Horse Latitudes - Robert Ferrigno
The Barbarous Coast - Ross Macdonald
Hell Hole - Chris Grabenstein

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Very Best of Mr. Dennis Lehane

I thought this post would appear in October. Ya, know when SHUTTER ISLAND: THE MOVIE was supposed to be released. And then it wasn't. Something about Leo not being able to do 'press' for the movie. Doesn't really matter the reason, a February release date has one of those fancy Hollywood meanings: Not Good. Look I'll be honest, I didn't connect with SHUTTER ISLAND. I loved the fifties setting, the haunted house atmosphere, and impending doom of the Hurricane. Even the set-up of the story was intriguing but how it played out just didn't work for me. Some interesting characters, a bunch of great set pieces, but the ending announces itself with an expected, thud that went nowhere. Am I still going to the movie? Its Lehane, Scorsese, Leo, and Ruffalo of course I am. Anyway the list. 8. Prayers for Rain - 1999 The last Kenzie-Gennaro book follows our heroes as they investigate a guy who is terrorizing women into committing suicide. The book played like an episo

A Fogotten Post: A Remembrance

[Editor's Note: Started this missive, never came back to it. Still relevant, I suppose.] I am reading MURDER IN OLD BOMBAY by Nev Marsh. This was... technically still is... on my to buy pile. In the before time... the overwhelming to be read pile time... I would have bought this and thrown it on the shelf to read in the near or more likely distant future. I hope I like it enough to buy the second in the series. Buying a book is fun, buying a book that is good is better. [Editor's Note: Abandoned this book, unfinished.] BLACKTOP WASTELAND - S.A. COSBY So glad I didn't buy this last summer. Good decision to put off buying and reading what would have certainly been one of the best books of the year. New goal for the remaining 2021 calendar. Don't be dumb. Buy Mr. Cosby's follow up and read day one! [Editor's Note: I did buy a signed copy of RAZORBLADE  TEARS, meanwhile B.W. won every award, except the Edgar where it wasn't even nominated!? Also Signed firsts of

Small Mercies - The Return of Dennis Lehane

 A time honored tradition at The Hungry Detective HQ is to perform the twice annual, and largely ceremonial, 'Dennis Lehane New book 20XX" Google search. Nothing comes up on his long abandoned Website, except notification of the script work for his television and film projects.  Grousing aside, 2022 was a big year for Mr. Lehane. BLACK BIRD, a show he created, played on Apple+ to solid acclaim. The show's star, Paul Walter Hauser, won a Golden Globe. But despite that I have yet to watch it. Not for any other reason than I am a movie person more than a TV person. The TV I do watch is watched in an arcane order that is difficult to decipher and even more baffling to explain. Short story, I need to watch ANDOR [Editor's Note: Slow going on ANDOR despite everyone telling me it is amazing.] And then BLACK BIRD, or maybe SLOW HORSES. I'll get there...  Anyway at the dead end of 2022, I did the search. Found out he wrote a book. SMALL MERCIES . I was excited to hear it. I