My 2008 Mystery-Thriller Favorites - Some Old Some New All Good
Explore the best 2008 mystery-thriller books in this curated favorites list, featuring gripping picks like *The Meaning of Night* by Michael Cox, *The Thirteenth Tale* by Diane Setterfield, and Val McDermid’s *A Place of Execution*. From psychological suspense to classic whodunits, discover both timeless and hidden gem novels that define the genre—perfect for your next gripping read.
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A Place of Execution
by Val McDermid
Police Inspector George Bennet, who investigated the never-solved disappearance of thirteen-year-old Alison Carter from her cloistered village decades ago, finds shattering new evidence, leading writer Catherine Heathcote to investigate further.
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The Sixth Lamentation
by William Brodrick
When a suspected Nazi war criminal demands sanctuary from his church, Father Anselm finds his subsequent investigation paralleled by a search by Lucy Aubret, whose grandmother was betrayed by the Nazi criminal when she secretly worked to rescue Jewish children. A first novel. Reprint.
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What Was She Thinking?
by Zoë Heller
When her new friend and co-worker, Sheba Hart, begins a passionate affair with a male student, schoolteacher Barbara Covett decides to defend Sheba and unknowingly reveals secrets they both hide.
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The Meaning of Night: A Confession
by Michael Cox
The atmosphere of Bleak House, the sensuous thrill of Perfume, and the mystery of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell all combine in a story of murder, deceit, love, and revenge in Victorian England. "After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn's for an oyster supper." So begins the "enthralling" (Booklist, starred review) and "ingenious" (Boston Globe) story of Edward Glyver, booklover, scholar, and murderer. As a young boy, Glyver always believed he was destined for greatness. A chance discovery convinces him that he was right: greatness does await him, along with immense wealth and influence. Overwhelmed by his discovery, he will stop at nothing to win back a prize that he knows is rightfully his. Glyver's path to reclaim his prize leads him from the depths of Victorian London, with its foggy streets, brothels, and opium dens, to Evenwood, one of England's most beautiful and enchanting country houses, and finally to a consuming love for the beautiful but enigmatic Emily Carteret. His is a story of betrayal and treachery, of death and delusion, of ruthless obsession and ambition. And at every turn, driving Glyver irresistibly onward, is his deadly rival: the poet-criminal Phoebus Rainsford Daunt. The Meaning of Night is an enthralling novel that will captivate readers right up to its final thrilling revelation.
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A Deadly Dozen
by Susan B. Casmier
The new murderous anthology featuring mysterious fiction from members of Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles. They're seedy or glamorous ... Hollywood or Malibu ... cool, enraged, or totally fed up-meet a collection of fascinating culprits plotting deadly deeds in this anthology of gripping crime fiction from a thrill-minded group of Los Angeles writers. Includes stories by Kris Neri, Cory Newman, Nathan Walpow, Ekaterine Nikas, Gay Toltl Kinman, Jamie Wallace, Phil Mann, Kate Thornton, Lisa Seidman, Gayle McGary, Joan Myers, and Dorothy Rellas. Features "Push Comes to Shove" by Nathan Walpow-selected by Otto Penzler for inclusion in Houghton Mifflin's Best American Mystery Stories 2001 and the 2001 Agatha Award-nominated "Miss Parker & the Cutter-Sanborn Tables" by Gay Toltl Kinman.
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The Thirteenth Tale
by Diane Setterfield
In this rousingly good ghost story, Setterfield's debut novel rejuvenates the genre with a closely plotted, clever foray into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths.