Critic picks: The best mystery books of 2022

Oline H. Cogdill | South Florida Sun Sentinel

It was another banner year for crime fiction with gripping stories that allowed us to examine our lives and the issues that drive society in 2022. A number of authors brought their diverse voices to the mystery genre as Black, Asian, Native American, Hispanic and gay/lesbian writers showcased their culture, backgrounds and concerns. More authors also mix other genres into mystery plots, including supernatural, horror, science fiction and others. Mysteries are, perhaps, the most moral of genres offering us justice and hope for our society and our future, no matter how dire the current situation

Here are my picks for favorite mysteries of 2022 — stories and characters who stay with us long after the novel has ended.

1. ‘The Cartographers’ by Peng Shepherd. Morrow 

This ode to paper maps that promise places to be discovered merges with modern technology for a labyrinthine plot that surprises at every turn. A young woman delves into the pasts of her parents and several of their old friends who are all talented cartographers. Mystery melds with bits of fantasy and the supernatural.

2. ‘Back to the Garden’ by Laurie R. King. Bantam

King, best known for her Mary Russell novels, launches a new series with the socially awkward, but insightful Insp. Raquel Laing, of the San Francisco Police Department’s Cold Case Unit. Raquel investigates a young woman’s skeletal remains found beneath a massive statue on the grounds of a mansion-turned-commune-turned-art-museum. The tight plot smoothly moves from contemporary times to the 1970s, combining a solid police procedural, a story of obsession and a look at how work shapes a personality, all steeped in California lore and history.

3. ‘Anywhere You Run’ by Wanda M. Morris. Morrow

Set against the background of the 1964 murder of three Civil Rights activists in Mississippi, Morris’ second novel explores the relationship between two sisters in an absorbing plot revolving around racism, history, small-town sensibilities and family.

4. ‘Secret Identity’ by Alex Segura. Flatiron

Finding the male-dominated comic book world of the 1970s closed to her talents, a young woman agrees to ghost-write a series about the first female superhero under a male colleague’s name until they can publicly acknowledge her involvement. A scintillating look at the history of comic books, New York during the mid-1970s and a woman’s quest for her own identity and sexuality.

5. ‘We Lie Here’ by Rachel Howzell Hall. Thomas & Mercer

Tensions begin early when a young screenwriter returns home to celebrate her parents’ wedding anniversary. She argues with her younger sister, moody father and dominating mother. Then a second cousin she barely knows shows up. A clever plot unfolds about uncovering wrenching secrets, the lengths people go for the unconditional love that should be a given and how people sometimes destroy those they should love. Hall also looks at what so many of us find surprising — that our parents had lives before they had children.

6. ‘Desert Star’ by Michael Connelly. Little, Brown

Retired detective Harry Bosch is invited by his colleague, Renée Ballard, to volunteer for the L.A.P.D.’s newly relaunched Open-Unsolved Unit, which she heads. Ballard sweetens the deal by giving Harry the chance to solve a case that has haunted him: finding the man who murdered the entire Gallagher family, including two children, back in 2013. Each of Connelly’s novels about Bosch shows us a different side of this popular character, and this 24th superb installment finds Bosch aging — by his own admission “an old man” — and in poor health, which he is trying to keep to himself. But Bosch refuses to go gently into that good night.

7. ‘Things We Do in the Dark’ by Jennifer Hillier. Minotaur

Two seemingly unrelated storylines brilliantly merge. In one, a woman who suffered a childhood of abuse is accused of murdering her much-older, famous husband about the same time that another woman is paroled after serving 25 years of a life sentence for the murder of her rich married lover.

8. ‘Like a Sister’ by Kellye Garrett. Mulholland

A tightly coiled plot examines racism, sexism and complicated family relationships as a graduate student investigates the murder of her half-sister from whom she was estranged for years. The brisk story centers on the appealing heroine, whose often sarcastic personality erupts when others underestimate her because she is a young Black woman.

9. ‘Killers of a Certain Age’ by Deanna Raybourn. Berkley

Four women in their 60s may have bad knees and gray hair but underestimate them at your own peril as they are trained assassins who for 40 years have targeted very bad people. Now they want to retire but their bosses have other ideas. An astute exploration of how older people, especially women, often are overlooked, and the power of female friendship, with a bit of sophisticated humor.

10. ‘Her Last Affair’ by John Searles. Custom House

Love and revenge mingle in the personal stories of three characters, each tenuously connected, as the low-boil plot slowly, but forcefully, builds suspense hinging on the characters’ psychological makeup. A decaying movie drive-in provides a solid metaphor as the characters come together.

11. ‘Forsaken Country’ by Allen Eskens. Mulholland

An ex-Minneapolis homicide detective’s self-imposed exile ends when he tries to help a former sheriff find his missing daughter and grandson. The character-driven plot spins on redemption and self-analysis as the former detective comes to terms with the darkness inside him. Vivid scenery, especially the Boundary Waters, complement the plot.

12. ‘The Fields’ by Erin Young. Flatiron

The first female sergeant in a sheriff’s department near Cedar Falls, Iowa, handles her first major case when the body of a childhood friend is found in a cornfield. A perceptive look at the vanishing family farms being gobbled up by agricultural conglomerates, destroying jobs and small towns.

13. ‘The Drowning Sea’ by Sarah Stewart Taylor. Minotaur

Irish history, expansive development of several mini-mansions in a small Irish seaside town and xenophobia merge when a former Long Island detective is embroiled in an investigation into the death of a Polish construction worker.

14. ‘Two Nights in Lisbon’ by Chris Pavone. MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux

A newlywed insists her husband has been kidnapped, but both the Lisbon police and CIA agents are suspicious that any crime occurred.

15, tie. ‘Racing the Light’ by Robert Crais. Putnam

It’s enough to know that Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are back after three years. Hired to find a controversial podcaster, the two are up against a vicious business cartel, Chinese operatives and the man’s own mother.

15, tie. ‘Counterfeit’ by Kirstin Chen. Morrow

A clever, somewhat light plot that’s more a heist story than a mystery about a complicated friendship and a scam involving luxury handbags.

BEST DEBUTS

‘Jackal’ by Erin E. Adams. Bantam

A Haitian-American woman returns to her hometown where she and her mother were one of the few Black families living in the more upscale, largely white neighborhoods. She’s there for her best friend’s wedding, but during the reception a child goes missing. She discovers that other Black girls have gone missing during the past two decades with the police doing little to help find them.

‘Pay Dirt Road’ by Samantha Jayne Allen. Minotaur

A young woman adrift after college returns to her small hometown, trying to decide her future. “If growing up in a town like this made you a dreamer, coming back made you aware of wanting too much,” she says in this latest winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize.

‘Before You Knew My Name’ by Jacqueline Bublitz. Atria/Bestler

Fresh starts, exploitation and the need to connect with other people are the themes of this poignant story that echoes “The Lovely Bones” as two women seek refuge and a new life in New York City. Bublitz wisely keeps the killer in the background making this a story about women finding their power.

‘Shutter’ by Ramona Emerson. Soho Crime

Navajo culture, coming of age, mysticism, family ties and crime detection combine to introduce Rita Todacheene, a self-taught photographer with the Albuquerque police department. Rita’s extremely detailed photographs often expose clues others have missed. Rita relies on her self-taught technique and on her sixth sense. Rita sees dead people and is often visited by crime victims’ ghosts.

‘The Marsh Queen’ by Virginia Hartman. Gallery

Family issues, reconciling with one’s past, the beauty of birds amid the lushness of Florida backroads, swamps and waterways provide a solid background as an artist comes to terms with her father’s death, her mother’s looming dementia and her ongoing ennui at being back in her small hometown.

‘All That’s Left Unsaid’ by Tracey Lien. Morrow

A young journalist’s investigation into the murder of her popular brother morphs into a look at a small Vietnamese community in Australia wracked by violence and drugs. An emotional, outstanding story that deftly incorporates cultural concerns with a tightly focused mystery set in 1996, Lien skillfully blends xenophobia and the Vietnamese residents’ suspicions of outsiders in a scintillating plot.

‘The Verifiers’ by Jane Pek. Vintage

A young Asian woman’s lifelong love of mystery fiction helps her ferret information for clients who are worried that suitors met on digital dating platforms may be lying. A look at modern matchmaking, a paean to crime fiction, and a story of a tightly knit family enhanced by Pek’s strong, snarky voice and deep dive into a character who thinks of herself as “some latter-day love child of Jane Austen and Sherlock Holmes.”

‘Dirt Creek’ by Hayley Scrivenor. Flatiron

A 12-year-old girl’s disappearance from an economically depressed Australian town reveals the fragilities of families, friendships and innocence as a psychological thriller melds with a police procedural.

‘A Flicker in the Dark’ by Stacy Willingham. Minotaur

A solid psychological look at unconditional love, family bonds and the effects of a horrid crime as a woman tries to hide the devastating history about her father in this tightly coiled story that is equally domestic suspense and hard-edged police procedural. Actress Emma Stone’s production company is adapting “A Flicker in the Dark” for an HBO Max limited series.

NONFICTION

‘American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper’ by Daniel Stashower. Minotaur

The Edgar winner delivers a meticulously researched, unflinching look at Eliot Ness, his failure to catch a serial killer in Cleveland during the1930s and his exaggerated reputation in taking down Al Capone. Yet, Stashower shows empathy for Ness, who wasn’t quite the hero portrayed on TV and movies and was often overwhelmed by his attempts at sleuthing and by his own legend.

SHORT STORIES

‘Marple: Twelve New Mysteries’ by various authors. Morrow

A wickedly fun anthology in which 12 authors’ short stories show a different side of Jane Marple, Agatha Christie’s perennial sleuth. Authors include Ruth Ware, Val McDermid, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths. Short biographies of the authors in “Marple” will, no doubt, inspire readers to seek out the writers’ other works. “Marple” is a solid anthology that pays tribute to Christie whose work endures.

‘Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022′ edited by Jess Walter, with series editor Steph Cha. Mariner/HarperCollins

These outstanding stories by new and established authors were culled from myriad anthologies and other publications. Each author offers a bio and tips on writing the short story.

‘Hotel California: An Anthology of New Mystery Short Stories’ edited by Don Bruns. Blackstone

The Eagles’ haunting song “Hotel California” certainly lends plenty of fodder for this tidy collection that follows the trend to wrap an anthology around the works of a musician, a movie or a specific album. After all, the lyrics that proclaim “This could be Heaven or this could be Hell” and “Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)/ Such a lovely face” immediately deliver a mysterious atmosphere. The eight writers include Sarasota editor Don Bruns, Miamian Heather Graham, Andrew Child now writing the Jack Reacher series started by his brother Lee Child, and screenwriter Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.

REISSUE

‘The New Annotated Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson,’ edited by Leslie S. Klinger. Mysterious

Readers will find a new appreciation for this classic as this beautiful book puts the story in context of the era’s social, cultural and political events; illustrated with Victorian London, playbills, and film images.

Oline H. Cogdill, an award-winning critic of mystery fiction whose honors include the Raven Award from Mystery Writers of America, writes for several media outlets including the Sun Sentinel, Publishers Weekly and Shelf Awareness. She is in her fifth year as a judge for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She can be reached at olinecog@aol.com.