#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The End Of Everything by Megan Abbott

contributor: Martyn Waites (or Tania Carver)
The only problem I had with this was deciding if it was the best crime novel of the year or the best novel of the year.   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Black December by Scott Hunter

contributor: Tom Laurie
A very different take on murder . . . recommended   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Undertow by Desmond Cory

contributor: Richard McCarthy
A classic thriller which Ostara Publishing published this year as part of its TOP NOTCH THRILLER series.   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The Killer is Dying by James Sallis

contributor: Stav Sherez
Sepulchral prose and deep empathetic nuance mark this out as a classic   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Death on the Marais by Adrian Magson

contributor: Howard Linskey
An atmospheric crime story featuring Magson's world-weary Inspector Rocco, evocatively set in sixties rural France.   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The Death of Bro. Cosmonaut by Julius Harlande

contributor: Matt Lynn
An original idea in crime fiction is a pretty rare thing. But this is precisely that. A detective who is also a senior freemason. It's like   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Kill the General by Bogdan Hrib

contributor: Akwesi George
Should prove to be something totally different introduced to the crime fiction world. Interesting discovery and translation by publishers fr   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The Dispatcher by Ryan David Jahn

contributor: Henry Sutton
Jahn's 3rd novel consolidates his position as major creator of spare, stylish, brutal, brilliantly plotted and paced thrillers.   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The Killer Knows Why by Yannis Mitsopoulos

contributor: Yannis Mitsopoulos
Journey into the psyche of a killer, as he plans and executes his crime.   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie

contributor: Anne Thomas
An elegant well plotted novel with a vividly described setting: the professional sculling community In Henley-on-Thames. Lovely atmospheric   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Darkside by Belinda Bauer

contributor: S J Bolton
Some of the best and most beautiful descriptions of winter I've ever read. Very scary too!   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Dead End by Leigh Russell

contributor: Jeff Jameson
The characters made this book stand out for me, in particular the victim's family, so often ignored in crime novels. They made it very real,   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The Drop by Howard Linskey

contributor: Leigh Russell
A gripping fast paced debut from Northerner Howard Linskey.   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Before the Poison by Peter Robinson

contributor: Stephen Booth
A terrific standalone novel from the creator of the Inspector Banks series. Great story, and a wonderful sense of time and place.   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

contributor: Michael Carlson
I agreed with the Dagger judges for once: Crooked Letter Crooked Letter is beautifully written & says much about America, not just the South   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Before I go to Sleep by SJ Watson

contributor: Penny Hancock
Tense, disturbing, real, how it feels to be a young woman in a middle aged body with no recollection of the past...and a husband who might n   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The Sacrificial Man by Ruth Dugdall

contributor: Barbara Gooding
Ruth visited my book group earlier this year to speak about her first novel The Woman Before Me. I was hooked by her writing, with the kind   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - A Lily of the Field by John Lawton

contributor: Rhian Davies
I'm with Jessica Mann and the Daily Telegraph Top 5 Thrillers for 2011: sublime. Murder, espionage, the creation and movement of   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

contributor: R J Ellory
Sparse, impactful, emotive, hard-hitting, a superbly-crafted novel of great power. Woodrell is a masterful stylist,   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson

contributor: Jill Paton Walsh
This nail-you-to-the-page first novel is being puffed as a thriller, but it does contain clues. Chilling and original.   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler

contributor: Patrick Janson-Smith
Genuinely scary, genuinely thrilling, this Swedish debut, an international bestseller, introduces D.I. Joona Linna, of whom we will be heari   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Attack in the Library by George Arion

contributor: Carmen Campeanu
A surprise discovery from behind the Iron Curtain. The book, written during a time of censorship (1983), exposes the faults   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The Retribution by Val McDermid

contributor: N J Cooper
The Retribution reintroduces the vile Jacko Vance and has Tony Hill and Carol Jordan on top form. An intelligent, involving and moving nove   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - Face of the Devil by NJ Cooper

contributor: David Roberts
A much underrated author, NJ Cooper has written a superb, novel of betrayal. Set on the Isle of Wight it takes claustrophobia to a stifling,   (more)

#BestCrimeBooks2011 - The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

contributor: Ramona Mitrica
Anthony Horowitz takes the mantle from Arthur Conan Doyle with grace. The tone is appropriate, without sounding too Victorian. Let's hope Mr   (more)