My Own Best of 2009 List in Crime Fiction

I can list caveats until the cows come home about not having enough space to expound on all the very good books I read this year, but in the end, I whittled my “Best of 2009” list to eight books for the Los Angeles Times, in no particular order:

RAVENS, by George Dawes Green

A QUIET FLAME, by Philip Kerr

BRITTEN AND BRULIGHTLY, by Hannah Berry

BURY ME DEEP, by Megan Abbott

BLACK WATER RISING, by Attica Locke

THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST, by Stuart Neville

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson

BONE BY BONE, by Carol O’Connell (technically published around the last day of 2008, but let’s not be technical, shall we?)

I would also strongly suggest checking out Dick Adler’s fine list of his best picks at the Barnes & Noble Review, and expect Oline Cogdill, the last of the LA Times Book Prize judge trifecta, will list her top choices fairly soon. I’ll keep an eye out for other “Best of Mystery” lists coming down the pike as well…