The top 10 mysteries of 2022

The absolute best, most suspenseful, most edge-of-your-seat page turners of the year.

A Twist of The Knife, by Anthony Horowitz

A mystery so slick, clever and fun to read that it’s a genuine shame when you hit the end. It’s hard to believe that Horowitz could get any better than his delightful Magpie Mysteries (now on PBS) but he does.

The Bullet That Missed, by Richard Osman

Another perfectly plotted puzzle from an author who rivals Agatha Christie for devious clues and also manages to provide the perfect group of geriatric detectives to solve the case. New readers are going to want the entire series.

Nine Lives, by Peter Swanson

Yet another riff on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None but Swanson manages to keep the suspense and add depth and character to Christie’s classic. This is a perfect antidote to the holiday hangover.

All Her Little Secrets, by Wanda M. Morris

This book pops a smart Black woman into an all-white law office and has her discover a dead body. Does she call the cops? Not if she’s smart and has reasons. Let the help find the corpse. Morris explores racism, gentrification, general nastiness with a lot of wit in this clever book about people who reinvent themselves.

A World Of Curiosities, by Louise Penny

The latest (and one of the best) chapter in the Three Pines series which is already a Canadian classic. Penny doesn’t let her plot slide and she manages to keep her cast of characters fresh. Vive Armand Gamache.

Deep House, by Thomas King

The best Thumps Dreadfulwater book to date and that’s saying a lot when this series is one of the smartest I’ve seen in decades. King manages to combine culture and politics and solid mystery with wit and style.

Blackwater Falls, by Ausma Zehanat Khan

This book introduces Inaya Rahman, a Muslim detective faced with a serial killer in a Colorado town. Trouble is, the locals don’t even admit the dead women are missing until one turns up crucified on the door of the local mosque. This is a breakout book for Khan who already has a mystery series and a YA fantasy series to her credit.

Fox Creek, by William Kent Krueger

The latest in the terrific Cork O’Connor series set in northern Minnesota and it’s one of Krueger’s best. Ojibwe elder Henry Meloux is running from a contract killer and O’Connor has to figure out who is chasing him and why. This one has deft plotting and, as always with Krueger, superb writing.

The Dark Flood, by Deon Meyer

The latest Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido novel and it’s one of the best of the series. There’s a masterful plot, a mystery to solve and the gorgeous Cape Town setting gives everything lustre.

The Appeal, by Janice Hallett

This combines legal legerdemain, theatrical know-how, and cleverly hidden clues to a murder that has already been solved and the criminal jailed. But just what did happen? You get to sort the documents of the case and guess right to the end.