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A Mystery Master Picks Her Favorite Reads of 2022
Kellye Garrett is the acclaimed author of the new Like a Sister suspense novel, in which no one bats an eye when a disgraced reality-TV star is found dead in the Bronx—except her estranged half-sister, whose refusal to believe the official story leads her on an increasingly dangerous search for the truth.
Garrett is also the author of the Detective by Day mysteries, about a semi-famous, mega-broke Black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life: private detective. The first, Hollywood Homicide, won the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Independent Publisher “IPPY” awards for best first novel and was named one of BookBub’s Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. Garrett serves on the board of directors for Sisters in Crime and is a cofounder of Crime Writers of Color.
We asked her to share her 2022 year in reading. Check out what she loved this year and what she's looking forward to in 2023!
Garrett is also the author of the Detective by Day mysteries, about a semi-famous, mega-broke Black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life: private detective. The first, Hollywood Homicide, won the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Independent Publisher “IPPY” awards for best first novel and was named one of BookBub’s Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. Garrett serves on the board of directors for Sisters in Crime and is a cofounder of Crime Writers of Color.
We asked her to share her 2022 year in reading. Check out what she loved this year and what she's looking forward to in 2023!
Goodreads: What are some trends or themes you are noticing in mysteries and thrillers this year?
Kellye Garrett: “Locked room” mysteries set in fabulous locations are still going strong. I’m also still enjoying thrillers that cross over into Gothic or horror, like Jackal by Erin E. Adams and Isabel Cañas The Hacienda.
The Hacienda leads me to another theme I love: more diversity in historical crime fiction, including Wanda M. Morris amazing Anywhere You Run and Alex Segura’s terrific Secret Identity.
GR: Who are some new and exciting authors you discovered in 2022?
KG: With more established authors coming over to crime fiction, my bookshelves are about to collapse. A few I picked up for the first time include Alma Katsu’s The Fervor, which is a supernatural twist on the atrocious Japanese internment camps. She worked for the CIA in a past life, so I also couldn’t wait to dive into her CIA-set spy thriller Red Widow. YA author Lev AC Rosen also published a historical queer adult novel, Lavender House, in which a family investigates the mysterious murder of their matriarch.
Another new fave is Sandra SG Wong, an indie author who jumped over to being traditionally published with In the Dark We Forget. It's a captivating character study a about a Chinese-Canadian woman who wakes up to find her parents are missing and her memories are gone.
I also discovered Erica Katz this year. I was surprised Fake was only her second novel. It’s a fun story about an art forger who gets in over her head when she meets a mysterious art collector.
GR: Looking ahead, what predictions do you have for fiction in 2023? And are there any 2023 titles you can’t wait to read?
KG: It feels weird to call it a trend because series will never go away, but I’m noticing we’re getting introduced to new detectives. One that I’m looking forward to is Hide by award-winning author Tracy Clark. I loved her Cass Raines series, so I’m excited to meet Harriet Foster as she hunts down a serial killer targeting redheads. Another I already read is Death of a Dancing Queen by Kimberly G. Giarratano. Both the Jersey girl and the Veronica Mars fan in me couldn’t put it down because it’s about a Gen Z detective in Northern New Jersey who has taken over her grandfather’s PI business.
Five others I’m excited to read or have read:
The Golden Spoon by Jess Maxwell: It’s The Great British Bake Off with murder and a New England setting.
Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head: A dual timeline story about a reporter looking into the mysterious death of her grandfather that draws parallels with today’s Black Lives Matter movement and 1920s racism.
Killing Me by Michelle Gagnon: It somehow manages to make being stalked by a serial killer funny.
Play the Fool by Lina Chern: Probably the only thing I love more than murder (on the page!) is tarot cards, and this has both.
Final Cut by Marjorie McCown: Haven’t read this one yet, but the Hollywood vet in me is eager for anything Hollywood-related, and this one’s about a movie costumer.
I’m also super excited for new books by Megan Abbott (Beware the Woman about a family outing from hell) and Alafair Burke (Where Are the Children Now?, her continuation of Mary Higgins Clark’s iconic Where Are the Children?).
GR: What were some of your favorite 2022 books?
With such a great title, how could I not pick this up? Four strangers happen to be stuck together in the reading room of a Boston Library during a lockdown—and one happens to be a murderer.
This is the third book in Rendon's historical series, which keeps getting better and better. In this installment, Ojibwe teenager Cash Blackbear heads back to the White Earth Reservation while looking into a mysterious pastor and church.
This Mumbai-set story is simply gripping. It’s about a detective who realizes his lover—who went missing over a decade ago wearing a blue sequined dress—might be the victim of a serial killer. I read it in one day.
With so much going on in both the world and my world, it was comforting to read two new entries in Manansala’s award-winning Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series. My only criticism is that the descriptions of the food will make you ravenous, but you’ll be too engrossed in the books to go get anything to eat.
It’s hard to believe this one is a debut. It weaves historical context of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums into an engrossing page-turner.
GR: And what are some backlist books you think readers should pick up now?
KG: I’ve gone on record with my intense love for series. Last year I focused on my favorite protagonists from the 1990s. This go-round, I want to focus on some of my favorite professional detectives.
Favorite detective series:
(5 books) Pete is a Cuban American journalist turned private detective in Miami. What makes these books so perfect is Pete’s imperfectness. Come for the mystery, stay to watch Pete’s intense struggles battling alcoholism, daddy issues, and much more.
(12 books) When it comes to why you should read this series, I could just write “Laura Lippman” and that should be enough. This series about another journalist turned investigator was Lippman’s entry into crime fiction, and it has all her trademarks: memorable stories, strong characters, and just lovely prose. I read Baltimore Blues when it first came out and can still quote lines.
(4 books) There’s always talk about the “next Walter Mosley,” and you must include Howzell Hall in that conversation. This is a series where Los Angeles is as much a character as police detective Elouise Norton. They’re the type of books you want to read again and again.
(7 books) You also can’t mention Walter Mosley without discussing Gar Anthony Haywood, whose Los Angeles–based detective Aaron Gunner made his debut in 1988 and won a Shamus Award for Best First Private Eye novel for its look at politics and race.
(4 books) This is the newest series on my list, but its flawed heroine quickly became one of my favorite private eyes. Roxane would be right at home next to Kinsey Millhone and Spenser. A modern take on my favorite noir detectives.
Tell us about your mystery and thriller reading in 2022. What books did you love best? Share them with us in the comments below!
Check out more of our year-in-review coverage:
Check out more of our year-in-review coverage:
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Tyler
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Dec 09, 2022 06:44AM
Thank you Cybil for putting this list together.
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I like to read mystery books from non (USA, UK, Norway, Australia) countries. Couldn't you make list of such books (I found a novel from Saudi Arabia, that one was great: I could'nt see who my mother was because everyone were wearing black clothes.." something like this.But, by the way, even if novels are from "foreign" countries, they are written by English or US authors. Do they have to be?
