It's been over five (!) years since I've done one of these, but it's a good starting pointing for the revival. I thought that I'd fallen out of reading mysteries and thrillers last year because it didn't seem like I had read that many. There is a grain of truth to that when compared to how much I read over all for that year: 65 books. It wasn't until I checked my Goodreads today that I discovered that I had read ten. Not a lot, compared to the 26 science fiction works I read, but I'm fine with it. 2024 was the year where my reading horizons expanded in other directions, so some genres were bound to suffer a decline. Hell, I only read five fantasy books last year. But, I'm planning on upping my intake this year and get back in the saddle, so to speak. I'll expound on that in another post, however.
Anyways, here's what I read last year:
Sideswipe by Charles Willeford, read by Stephen Bowley.
The Hoke Moseley series became one of my favorites over the past couple of years. I can't even remember how I came across them, but I was hooked from the start. The whole series was on Audible for free (at the time. I'm not sure they're free anymore), so that was a nice bonus.
Sideswipe is the third and penultimate book in the series, and has Hoke fleeing back home to Singer Island after reaching his limit with all of his life's troubles. Alongside this is another plot concerning a career criminal's plan to stage a robbery with a less than stellar group of compatriots.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
Zero Tolerance by James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski.
I'm almost embarrassed to say that I listened to this. Never was two hours and some change more wasted than on this dreck of an Audible Original. I could write a whole post about how bad this was and all the problems with it, but I can find better use of that time, like dropping a deuce in the toilet.
Rating: 1 out of 10, but I'm seriously considering adding a 0 to this rating system just for Zero Tolerance.
The Way We Die Now by Charles Willeford, read by Stephen Bowley.
Much to my own sadness, The Way We Die Now is the fourth and final book in the Hoke Moseley series. Charles Willeford was actually working on a fifth, but unfortunately passed before finishing it.
In this one, Hoke is sent undercover as a transient in order to investigate a farm whose owner is suspected of killing Haitian farmhands. The b-plot involves a man that Hoke sent up the river for murder being released after a decade and deciding to move in right across the street from Hoke, his two daughters, and his former police partner (and her newborn baby). Maybe it's just me, but you can tell by the way this one ends that it wasn't meant to the finale and it's a damn, crying shame that Willeford wasn't able to gift us more Hoke.
Rating: 8 out of 10, but I'm tempted to bump that up to a 9.
Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben.
My first Harlan Coben and probably not my last. The plot concerns Napoleon aka Nap Dumas, a small town police detective still haunted by the deaths of his twin brother and his girlfriend back when they were in high school. When Nap's own ex-girlfriend reemerges in connection to a cop killing after being missing for decades, he's drawn into a mystery involving the government, a decommissioned military base, and more.
I generally liked Don't Let Go, but I found the plot twists at the end to be a bit much. I'm fine with plot twists and red herrings, but not when they alter the plot so much that it feels like the time I invested in reading the book was a bit of a waste.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
Dietrich by Don Winslow, read by Ed Harris.
One of two short stories I came across on Audible. I wanted something to listen to while at work and hey, it's narrated by Ed Harris.
It was fine. The story follows a NYPD homicide detective who's trying to solve one murder, then another even as his life and mental health crumble under the weight of alcoholism and a failed career.
Rating: 6 out of 10.
The Heron by Don Winslow, read by Ed Harris.
I'll be 100% honest: I've almost completely forgotten everything about this one except the ending. The eponymous Heron was a moneyman working for a mobster or some such and is hiding out after stealing money? Out of the two, Dietrich was the better story.
Rating: 5 out of 10.
Shadow Prey by John Sandford, read by Richard Ferrone.
So funny story about this book: I originally started reading Shadow Prey a few years ago when - and I kid you not - the George Floyd Protests broke out. Needless to say, a novel where the main character is a officer in the same police department that in real life caused nationwide protests against police brutality didn't feel like an appropriate read, so I set it aside with the plan to possibly return to it later.
It just took me a few years.
This time I opted for the audiobook because it was free on Audible and that's my favorite price.
I liked it. Lucas is always a fun character to follow and there was plenty of drama and a few funny bits.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling by Lawrence Block, read by Richard Ferrone.
The Bernie Rhodenbarr series has been one of my favorites since I read Burglars Can't Be Choosers and I've been listening to them when I can ever since. In this one, Bernie is the owner of a antiquarian bookshop when he gets roped into a plot involving a long lost Rudyard Kipling poem and of course gets framed for a murder that he has to solve.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
The Last Word by Elly Griffiths, read by Nina Wadia.
The fourth book in the Harbinder Kaur series. Kaur is barely even in this one, however, with the primary focus being on the trio of Natalka, Benedict, and Edwin. I fell in with these characters when I listened to The Postscript Murders years ago, which was the second book in the series. I still have to read books one and three to complete the set, which I plan to do this year.
Anyways, the trio investigate the death of an obituary writer and the mysterious deaths of several people he wrote about. It was a fun romp.
Rating: 9 out of 10.
And that's all, folks. I'm happy with how many mysteries I read last year, even if a couple were lemons. My original plan for this year was to read five, but that was before I found out that I had read double that last year. Obviously, I'm not regressing, so I'll aim higher and try for between 12-15 mysteries this year.
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