Top 10 Mystery Novels of 2009

Some may say that mystery, crime and thriller novels have suffered in the last few years. However 2009 proved a turnaround, with names big and small contributing with rivetting novels. Sit back this summer and enjoy! Below are what we think are the top 10 must-reads of 2009. 10. Clockers - Richard Price Rocco Klein, veteran homicide detective, has had enough of life on the edge. When a warm summer night brings yet another drug-related murder, he has no sense that the case is anything special. A young black man steps forward to confess but a little digging reveals that he's never been in any kind of trouble, whereas his half-brother, Strike, runs a crew of street-corner coke dealers 'clockers' in a nearby housing project. Soon Rocco is sure that Strike is the real killer and suddenly Rocco's appetite for the job is back. With a vengeance. 9. The Price of Love - Peter Robinson When DCI Alan Banks arrived in Eastvale his life was every bit as much of a mess as it is now. But he is holding an envelope that could change everything he understood about the events that sent him north twenty years ago. Walking again the narrow alleys and backstreets of his mind, he remembers the seedy Soho nights of his last case - dubious businessmen in dodgy clubs, young girls on the game. And a killer on the loose. The Eastvale Ladies' Poker Circle finds that murder may be just another game of risk. Is a suitcase of cash worth a man's head on a plate? And tragedy leads a young boy to learn the price of love ... 8. The Calling - Inger Ash Wolfe Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef has lived all her days in the small town of Port Dundas, Ontario and is now making her way toward retirement with something less than grace. Hobbled by a bad back and a dependence on painkillers, and feeling blindsided by divorce after nearly four decades of marriage, sixty-one-year-old Hazel has only the constructive criticism of her mother (the former mayor) and her own sharp tongue to buoy her. But when a terminally ill woman is gruesomely murdered in her own home, Hazel and her understaffed department must spring to life. And as one terminally ill victim after another is found, Hazel finds herself tracking a truly terrifying serial killer while everything around her spins out of control. 7. The Scarecrow - Michael Connelly Jack McEvoy , a crime reporter who's job is coming to an end, has a few days left on the job. He wants to write one last, great story in hopes of winning an award. Jack focuses on a subject that claims to have murdered someone. He decides that this is the subject that he is going to center his last story around. Jack later comes to find out that his subject is not the killer and the actual killer is much closer to home... 6. The Associate - John Grisham The associate is vintage Grisham. If you're a Grisham fan, prepare for another great read. I found this novel exciting to read, but it is number six in this list for a reason. The plot twists are exciting, but predictable, and Grisham does occasionally stretch the limits of credibility almost to the breaking point. Nevertheless, the Associate is still a great way to pass one of those hot summer days. 5. Medusa: A Novel from the NUMA Files - Clive Cussler The world is in danger again, and only N.U.M.A.'s Kurt Austin can save the day. Kurt and team must thwart Chinese gangs, save a rare Jellyfish, and stop a deadly virus. Clive Cussler fans will certainly recognize most plot elements, but he does manage a couple new twists with this action packed thriller. While the novel is not likely to win any awards, it does provide very entertaining reading. 4. The Lovers - John Connolly John Connolly is one of our favourite authors and the reason we like him so much is that he injects his crime novels with a fair old dose of supernatural adrenalin. His writing has an edge, a darkness, it's on the borderlands but with The Lovers Connolly has crossed over to the darkside. The supernatural elements don't remain in the background here they are at the forefront, indeed without the spectre of the occult this book could not exist. 3. The Bourne Deception - Eric Van Lustbader Based on Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne series, this summer mystery novel stays true to Ludlum's vision with an action packed mystery complete with the intrigue, deception, and action that made the series so famous. Jason Bourne must survive an assassination attempt and track down who ordered the hit, all while overcoming his personal demons and trying to prevent a world war. Be careful reading this one on the beach, as it's hard to put down and can result in some serious sunburn! 2. Gone Tomorrow - Lee Child Jack Reacher is back, spying a potential terrorist on a subway train and tries to stop the detonation of a bomb -- if only it was that simple. In true Lee Child style on come the twists and turns and red herrings to keep your eyes bolted. Overall an excellent thriller which lands it second place. 1. The Girl Who Played with Fire - Stieg Larrson The second chapter of the Millennium trilogy looks more in depth into the character of the hacker Lisbeth Salander. The plot is as intricate and captivating as in the previous Millennium book ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"); Mikael ("Kalle") Blomkvist and Salander join forces again to uncover a story of sex trafficking, which will shed light on Salander's past. We're not overly excited by sequels in general - but this one beats the previous chapter of the trilogy! That's why this one takes the top spot as the best thriller of 2009.