My Favourite Crime Novels of 2012

Last year I read 64 crime books, one under my goal, and it was extremely difficult to choose only ten. I read three books by Arnaldur Indridason, the three deserve a mention here, but I have finally decided to choose only one.

• Arctic Chill (Vintage Digital Kindle Edition, 2009) by Arnaldur Indridason. Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb, 2008.*****
• Mixed Blood (Serpent’s Tail, 2011, first published 2009), by Roger Smith*****
• Con los ojos cerrados (Books4pocket, 2011), de Gianrico Carofiglio (traducción de Maria Antonia Menini). Originally published in 2003 as Ad occhi chiusi (English title: A Walk in the Dark)*****
• Phantom (Harvill Secker, 2012), by Jo Nesbo. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett. Original published in 2011 as Gjenferd.*****
• The Caller (Vintage Digital, 2011. Kindle edition) by Karin Fossum. Translated from the Norwegian by K.E. Semmel. Originally published in 2009 as Varsleren.*****
• Hour of the Wolf (Mantle, 2012. Kindle edition) by Hakan Nesser. Translated into English by Laurie Thompson. Originally published in 1999 as Carambole.*****
• The Rage (Vintage 2012) by Gene Kerrigan.*****
• The Drop (Orion, 2011) by Michael Connelly*****
• The Cold Cold Ground (Serpent’s Tail, 2012. Kindle edition) by Adrian McKinty.*****
• Another Time, Another Life (Doubleday/Transworld 2012. Kindle edition) by Leif GW Persson. Translated by Paul Norlen. Originally published in 2003 as En annan tid, ett annat liv.

I would also like to highlight four books that merit special attention, in my view:

• The Chosen (Portnoy Publishing, 2011. Kindle Edition) by Arlene Hunt.****
• A Dark Redemption (Faber and Faber, 2012. Kindle edition) by Stav Sherez.****
• Where the Devil Can’t Go (Tadeusz Books, 2011. Kindle edition) by Anya Lipska.****
• The Nameless Dead (Macmillan, 2012. Kindle edition) by Brian McGilloway.****

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month December 2012

Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise has invited us to identify the best crime fiction book that we have read each particular month. You can find HERE the contribution of other participants. In December 2012 I read only four crime fiction books. You can find my reviews if you click on each title.  

• Trago amargo by F.G. Haghenbeck. English title: Bitter Drink.***
• Días de combate by Paco Ignacio Taibo II.***
• Bloodland by Alan Glynn.****
• Another Time, Another Life by Leif GW Persson.*****

And, without hesitation, I’ll choose Another Time, Another Life the best book I read in December 2012.

New (to me anyway) Best Authors October to December 2012

I read twelve crime books during the last quarter of this year, of which six (50%) were ‘new to me anyway’ authors: Burned, by Thomas Enger; The Chosen, by Arlene Hunt; Not Dead Yet, by Peter James; Trago amargo (English title: Bitter Drink) by F.G. Haghenbeck; Días de combate (Days of Combat), by Paco Ignacio Taibo II; and Another Time, Another Life by Leif GW Persson. I’m glad to have read them all and would like to highlight at least three: Burned, The Chosen and Another Time, Another Life.