The BSC website has posted a top ten Mystery/Crime Fiction of 2009 list from the three wise-guy reviewers, Keith Rawson, The Nerd of Noir and Brian Lindenmuth -- the triple-pillar of new noir.
These boys know what they're talking about and I was very pleased to see a good Northern Irish representation. Stuart Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast (AKA The Twelve) and Adrian McKinty's Fifty Grand made the cut.
Also mentioned were three adopted sons of CSNI (ie, not Northern Irish writers, but with enough of an Irish connection to have been interviewed here in the past). Dave Zeltserman's Pariah, Jason Starr's Fake ID and Allan Guthrie's Slammer got their much deserved big-ups.
Jump over to BSC to see who placed where for whom (grammar?). I'll be referring to it for some reading recommendations in 2010. You should too.
3 comments:
Thanks for the head's up, Gerard. Lot of crossover on those lists. I was glad to see George Dawes Green's Ravens get a nod as I thought it was very well done. Aside from that, though, the NI crime writers are the only ones I've read, and both well worth the time.
I recently heard an interview with Jeff Vandermeer, and his Finch sounds quite intriguing. I would have pegged him more as a sci/fi fantasy writer, though. Probably wasn't paying enough attention.
VanderMeer IS primarily a fantasy writer. Finch is a fantasy crime mix. A hardboiled detective story set in a secondary word (a city under seige). A lifelong mystery/crime reader/reviewer VanderMeer knows his stuff and it shows here.
Thanks for the link btw
Happy New Year old sport.
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