Now that our shortlists across the Crime Fiction Lover Awards 2024 have been announced, let’s take a closer look at what’s up for the prize in our Book of the Year category. Every book here has been nominated by readers and there are six great novels in the running.
CLICK HERE TO VOTE ON OUR SHORTLISTS!
Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin
Over 25 novels, readers have followed Edinburgh detective John Rebus, his long running feud with gangster Big Ger Cafferty and now even his health issues as COPD blights his retirement. Ian Rankin has injected a shot of adrenaline to the series by sending Rebus to prison, banged up with the hard case villains and killers he put away himself. When there’s a murder within the walls of the jail, Rebus can’t resist investigating. He has no powers or protection and the prisoners and guards are all suspects. There’s no safety net for this trapeze act and the author is on fine form here, so it’s no wonder this novel grabbed five stars in our review and is riding high in the bestseller lists at the time of writing.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
The Mercy Chair by MW Craven
We didn’t review the latest in the Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw series by MW Craven but readers have set us straight, with large numbers nominating The Mercy Chair for this award. This time Washington Poe has a story to tell and he’s recounting it to a psychologist. It involves murder but is shrouded in opaque details – clues, perhaps – that seem to obscure past events. Why do the crows matter, why was a man tied to a tree and stoned to death? The man’s skin is tattooed with a code that even the brilliant Tilly struggles to fathom. The mystery deepens when the case intersects with one from 15 years ago, when a young girl brutally murdered her family. Drifting from crime into horror, Craven grips you like a vice with his latest twisty, shocking and utterly exhilarating read.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Guide Me Home by Attica Locke
Guide Me Home by Attica Locke rounds out the author’s Highway 59 series, set in East Texas. Three years ago Darren decided to hand in his badge. Once a proud member of the Texas Rangers, he is now jaded, disillusioned and guilty of breaking the law. Darren’s woes stem from his relationship with his errant mother, but this time she may just be his redemption by bringing him a case no one else will take seriously. Black college student Sera Fuller is nowhere to be found, her belongings turn up in a dumpster and her bloodstained shirt in nearby woods, but her sorority sisters, the college police, even the girl’s own family, deny that she has disappeared. Darren’s own family’s history comes into focus as he tries to locate the girl no one wants found, while more widely the novel reflects the worsening state of race relations in America. This is a quietly angry novel by a natural storyteller, which has inspired many of our readers. See our review here.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
The Examiner by Janice Hallett
Sometimes it feels like publishing and the wider entertainment industry railroad authors into writing series. The words licence and franchise seem to leap out these days. But readers love know a good story when they find one, and we admire Janice Hallett’s bravery with her standalone novels. The Examiner takes us to Royal Hastings University, where a group of mature students on the college’s new art course attempt to put together the final project of the year but find themselves involved in a deadly game. The course is plagued by the egos and secrets of this strange collection of creatives, with students setting fire to one another’s work, rumours of an extra-marital affair and a road trip that turns into a disaster. An external examiner thinks one of the student has been murdered but everyone seems to be behaving as if it didn’t happen. This leaves you, the reader, to examine all the evidence. Dextrously written and entertainingly playful, it’s another scintillating mystery from Hallett. See our review.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
The Death Watcher by Chris Carter
“We’ll have some more of that please Chris,” is what this author’s loyal fans say whenever they finish one of his novels – and The Death Watcher is no different. As a criminal behaviour psychologist, Chris Carter knows the mind of a serial killer well and has worked many a real case. When the police find the body of a hit-and-run victim, LA Chief Medical Examiner, Dr Carolyn Hove discovers some puzzling inconsistencies and calls in Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD Ultra Violent Crimes Unit. Maybe the real cause of death was torture? Hunter and his partner, Carlos Garcia, find themselves searching for a cunning killer hiding in plain sight. The first problem is identifying past victims in order to build a case. Serial killer thrillers can easily go over the top, but with Carter we are in safe hands as he delivers the chill with style and heart thumping pace. See our review.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
All the Colours of the Dark is another book we haven’t reviewed but it has been heavily nominated by readers. It follows on from We Begin at the End, which is also an excellent story. Late one summer in the town of Monta Clare, teenager Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley is abducted, leaving his best friend Saint Brown devastated. Patch awakens in a pitch-black room, afraid, until he feels a hand in his. There’s a girl next to him, Grace, and though they cannot see each other she is a source of comfort for him. When Patch escapes and there’s no sign anywhere that Grace even existed, he sets out on an epic quest to find his prison companion. As time moves on, an obsession takes both Patch and Saint on a darkening journey to hunt down his kidnapper. Saint tries to restore some peace to her friend – but where will the truth lead them? A poignant, beautifully told tale with exquisitely drawn characters.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
