My Best Reads of 2022 – Great Titles New and Old
My Best Reads of 2022
My best reads of 2022 are a mix of new and older titles. All my favourites this year are within the genres of crime, thriller or horror.
My best reads of 2022 – the titles published this year:
Favourite:
WAKE by Shelley Burr
‘No forced entry. No fingerprints. No tyre tracks. What really happened to Evie McCreery?’
There is not a word out of place in this debut thriller. Shelley Burr captures the voices of her two lead characters perfectly and conveys the atmosphere of the isolated farms and towns of the Australian Outback vividly.
See my review here.
Equal second favourites:
One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke
‘A Greek island. A tide of secrets. One killer holiday.’
Murder is afoot on a hen holiday at a cliff-top villa. It’s a slow build-up that has a page-turning quality that I really enjoyed. A summer suspense sizzler that’s perfect all year round.
See my review here.
The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
‘At midnight one of them is dead. By morning all of them are suspects.’
A brand-new Welsh/English crime-busting duo that is sure to go the distance with a long-running series. Fast-paced, sardonic and stylish.
See my review here.
Favourite older books I read this year:
Safe by S.K. Barnett
‘Your child is missing… Now, twelve years later, she’s home… And who is she?’
A really good take on this thriller sub-genre.
See my review here.
Daria’s Daughter by Linda Huber
‘Three Mothers. Two Daughters. One Girl Gone.’
Gentle, warm and heart-wrenching – not words that usually describe a thriller, but they are fitting attributes for this well-paced and tense story.
See my review here.
Halfway by B.E. Jones
‘Three women. One killer. No turning back.’
Set in a bleak and snowy December in Wales, this well-written, atmospheric and suspenseful thriller is perfect to read at this time of year.
See my review here.
Favourite Author I Discovered This Year:
Sarah Lotz
I discovered this author in August when I read The Three. I liked it so much I promptly read two more, The White Road and Day Four. All three are fantastic horror stories and in each case it’s the fear of the probable that’s far more terrifying than the paranormal. The White Road, in particular, is a standout story about an ascent of Everest.
Read my reviews here, here and here.
So those are my best reads of 2022. Please follow me on BookBub to see the other good books I’ve reviewed and to read my reviews for 2023 as I post them.
Need a last-minute Christmas present?
I suggest a copy of Cooking The Books, a terrific collection of crime stories, vignettes and recipes from the authors at Hobeck Books, including something written by my son, Harry, and me. My copy has arrived and it’s lovely. All profits go to The Trussell Trust.
Here’s the blurb:
‘If an army marches on its stomach, what do crime fiction authors do? Here’s your answer, an exclusive collection of recipes from the Hobeck Books authors team served with a dash of brilliant flash fiction too…
‘If you love a dribble of ketchup or a drizzle of raspberry jus with your fiction, then this is the cookery book for you.
‘Discover the delights of mouth-watering Maltese rabbit pasta and luscious lamb in coffee. Or dare to sample chicken wings more deadly than a game of chilli roulette.
‘Then there’s the story of how a midnight cheese, cucumber and salad cream sandwich helped launch Hobeck itself.
‘This collection guarantees stomach rumbles and belly roils, and all proceeds help others through the Trussell Trust and their network of foodbanks across the UK.’
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