The best mysteries and thrillers of 2011
Margaret Cannon's favourite books of the year
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT By Louise Penny, Minotaur This tightly plotted story takes Quebec’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache to new heights. Penny’s best ever.
A DEATH IN SUMMER By Benjamin Black, Henry Holt This Dublin-based novel (by John Banville writing as Black) is a master class on how to construct a mystery and create characters.
TURN OF MIND By Alice LaPlante, Bond Street A top surgeon, victim of dementia, may be a murderer. A marvellous debut.
AN UNCERTAIN PLACE By Fred Vargas, Vintage Commissaire Adamsberg goes to London and back in this brilliantly constructed mystery. The best Vargas.
THE TROUBLED MAN By Henning Mankell, Knopf Canada The final novel in the great Kurt Wallander series is unforgettable.
THE OCTOBER KILLINGS By Wessel Ebersohn, Minotaur Psychiatrist Yudel Gordon returns after 20 years. A terrific novel of the new South Africa.
THE AFFAIR By Lee Child, Delacorte The backstory from Jack Reacher’s days in the U.S. Army’s military police, and the very best Reacher novel.
FIELD GREY By Philip Kerr, Quercus Bernie Gunther fills in the gaps in his Berlin life. A superb historical novel, with edge.