NYT Ranks the 50 Best Thrillers of the Century so Far (and I was honored to be one of the experts they asked)

You might have seen that the New York Times Books Section released a list of the 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century So Far. I have a gift link available for you here. 

Back in May I opened an email from the NYT inviting me to participate. It came with my own personalized survey link. It was a great honor and a lot of fun, but I am not surprised that Gone Girl came in at #1. It was my top pick too. 

Before we talk about this list more, I need to take everyone back to 2012 when Gone Girl came out. I was one of the first people to read this book. I had met Gillian through an event my library hosted with Karin Slaughter. She got me an early copy of Gone Girl and I said to her-- I loved this book, but I am not sure American readers are ready to hate everyone in a book. Thankfully I was wrong. 

Before it was released, we set up a one on one interview with her and me at the Berwyn Public Library (where I worked). You can still watch baby Gillian and baby Becky do this interview here on the Berwyn Public Library's YouTube channel. This interview is so old, it was back when YouTube limited free accounts to 15 mins per video max. Such fun memories. My kids were 10 and 7 back then! It was so long ago.

That interview ended up being on the exact day Gone Girl hit the bestseller list and changed Gillian's life and well, everything about the psychological suspense genre forever- and in ways we haven't seen since Hitchcock. 

Anyone who was working in publishing or working with readers in any way in 2012 understood what happened. The Psychological thriller changes from being driven by men and serial killer characters like Hannibal Lecter to the female driven, domestic suspense, fueled by the unreliable narrator that we have now. 

So, when I got the email and my private survey link to be a part of this NYT list, I knew immediately that Gone Girl was on my list. I also included Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, My Sister, the Serial Killer, SA Cosby ( I can't remember which title I submitted), 11/22/62, and In the Woods among others. I say among others because I really don't remember my full list. It was due around StokerCon and I figured it out on paper and then entered it before I left and threw the paper out.

When you go to the list (gift link), you will see this header:

As voted on by 291 crime novelists, editors, booksellers, librarians and other book lovers. See how their ballots stack up.

I may not have my list of books highlighted here like my pals Stephen Graham Jones, Victor LaValle, and Daniel Kraus, but I want everyone to know they did care about us librarians. They are not just saying they asked us, I know they did. I am thankful for that.

I also want to note that every title has some readalike options. 

Get this list ready for your patrons, make lists online in in your buildings. Everyone will be talking about this for at least the next few weeks. Oh and go add some more copies of Gone Girl right now. 

And thanks to the NYT for including me in the creation of this fun list.

Booklist's May 2026 Issue is a Spotlight on Mysteries & Thrillers

May is the best time of year to get up to speed on Mysteries because for years this has been the most popular issue of Booklist, the May spotlight on Mysteries and Thrillers 

Below are the links to the content you can use to get up to speed on the current state of Mysteries and Thrillers. There are best lists and a theme based lists even articles. All focused on some of your most popular books.

Please note, I have added backlist access links as well because when you look at the last few years of best lists, a fuller picture of the genre emerges-- where it has been, where it is now, and where it might be going. Not to mention, you can use the last few years of lists to make a display or post an online list of great Mysteries and Thrillers your readers may have missed.

And don't forget, every issue of Booklist Magazine is a spotlight on a genre or format or topic, making every issue an invaluable resource beyond just the reviews.

Spotlight on Mysteries & Thrillers

Essentials: Holy Whodunits!

Top 10 Mysteries & Thrillers 2026: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022

Top 10 Mystery & Thriller Debuts 2026: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022

Trend Alert: Cozies Get a Glow-Up

Manga Essentials: More Detective Manga

Writers & Readers: A Mystery Demanded by Reality

Essentials: Social Media Mysteries

Top 10 Mysteries & Thrillers on Audio 2026: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022

Features
Listen Up: Sounds Suspicious (unreliable narrators on audio)

Top 10 True Crime Books

High-Demand Hot List

Tana French Readalikes From a Variety of Humans as an Example to Help you Find Readalikes for Any Author

Tana French is one of those authors we library workers love to suggest for a variety of reasons.

First, she writes well constructed, twisty crime stories with great characters. There are so many entry points where a reader will get hooked by her storytelling. This means we have a very wide swath of potential readers to suggest her books to. Seriously, when in doubt or when I am stuck, to the FRE shelf I go.

Second, this ability to easily suggest French is also aided by the fact that except for three books in the Cal Hooper series. All of her other books do not have to be read in any order. Yes the Dublin Murder Squad books are numbered, but they are all related stories in the same world, it does not matter in which order you read them. This means, most days you can confidently go to the shelf and find a Tana French book there for a new reader to discover.

Third, not for nothing, they are also always great on audio. Again, another place where you might find a book available immediately. For example, on my Libby, there are currently 8 French titles without a wait on audio. And one is the first Cal Hooper, the rest are various Dublin Murder Squad.

Over the years, I have not been alone in going to French when I needed a sure bet title for fans of crime, literary fiction, psychological suspense, thrillers, suspense and honestly, those who had no idea what they wanted to read as long as it was a "good read," especially for those going on vacation. The success we have all had suggesting French, means that we are starting to see readers who have exhausted all her title.

It is a good problem to have, right? We have helped to make her a must read author. 

Since the last Cal Hooper is out and there are holds lists everywhere, and because many of those on hold have already read everything else, today I am sharing some HUMAN created resources for you to use to find new pathways for French readers to follow. But I also want you to understand, these specific resources are here for you to use as an example of a pathway you can take to help any reader find readalikes for their favorite authors while they are waiting for a new title.

• Love Tana French? Read These Books Next via the NYT (gift link): What I love about this extensive list is that it probes all of the different appeal entry points who why a reader might like French and then provides books that will scratch all this different itches.
• Five Reddit lists of Tana French readalikes: Click that link and a google search will run of results from different Reddit threads across various Reddit boards. What I love about these threads is that the people all write about WHY they like French. You can really narrow down a great option for a variety of different readers.
• If You Like Tana French via Seattle Public Library: anyone can access the title list, but only their card holders can place a hold. Also this is a library example. There are many. Search the largest library near you to see if they have a list you can use to build tour own.
• Goodreads Members Who Read Tana French Also Read, a list: Not as nuanced a list but it is crowdsourced info from real reader habits. One thing I have learned, readers' brains do not follow a plot-able algorithm. Sometimes they just like what they like, and this list showcases that fact with suggestions I have not seen on other lists. Sometimes we can try to match appeal factors all day, but people just like what they like and seeing some data that supports that is enough of a reason to make the match.
• Tana French herself recommends: Author recs of other authors is one of my 5 Resources you cannot live without. Here is one example (via Elle magazine) which I found via a Google search for  "Tana French recommends"
• Click here for a Literature Map for Tana French. The closer someone's name is to hers the more likely they think it is the reader will like them. These maps are created by users in a Pandora style of gathering recs and clicks. I love to try the authors on the fringes in these cases because they are your wildcard options. There was at least one reader who made this connection. Why not explore that one with your patrons. It will give them an outside the box suggestion that they never could have found without your help. In this case, I really like the Celeste Ng option. I never would have thought of that, but I know more than a few readers who which it is SPOT ON.
• And if you have NoveList access, don't just pop the author's name in and go with only the readalike authors that come up first. (I mean you should do that first, but you can do more.) You should also play around with the appeal factors, click on a few, and see what results you get. This will expand the search from the top author hits. And then you can narrow down further from that expanded list as well.

This is just a short list of options, but I made sure to pull them from completely different spaces; from resources that use a different method, but all of which rely on human input. This way you can see the range of ways you can find readalikes as well as providing you with resources for French specifically.

Apply this logic and this breadth of human created resources to help your readers find a readalike for their favorite authors. 

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: International Thriller Awards

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

International Thriller Writers released the nominees for their awards this week. Before we get their a reminder about ITW because they are unique among writers organizations. From their "About" page (which is extensive so click through and read more):

ITW represents professional thriller authors from around the world.

The International Thriller Writers is an honorary society of authors, both fiction and nonfiction, who write books broadly classified as “thrillers.” This would include (but isn’t limited to) such subjects as murder mystery, detective, suspense, horror, supernatural, action, espionage, true crime, war, adventure, and myriad similar subject areas.

What I love about ITW is that the are a group of writers focused around the appeal of their books rather than rigid genre lines. Another way to describe them is that they are focused around their readers. Readers jump between these "thrilling" genres without ever thinking about if it is a mystery, horror, suspense, psychological suspense, thriller, or whatever the publisher defines it as. 

So for that reason, you need to pay attention to who is getting nominated for their awards. All of them are titles that will appeal to a general library collection. In fact, I would bet you own most if not all already, but do you ever put these titles all on display together. Probably not.

Take advantage of this award list announcement to first, check your catalogs, and second, put up a "Thrilling Reads" display. Get all of the current nominated titles that are not currently checked out, up on display. And of course dig into the backlist of nominees, available on this page, to fill out that display, and keep it stocked, because these titles will fly off the shelf.

"Thrilling Reads" as a title for a book display both online and in the library will bring in a wide net of readers. You can start with these titles, but I would expand your reach by asking staff and patrons to share their favorite "thrilling reads." This is exactly the type of natural language conversation starter I advocate for in my training programs and here on the blog. Click here for more on how and why to do this. And here for every post tagged "Conversation Starters."

Before I post the nominees, please note, there are categories for YA and Audio here. The audio nomination also includes a list of the narrators, and as all of us who work with readers know, in these thriller genres, who is narrating matters. Some of the very best narrators work in these genres.

Below (and at this link) is the full list of nominees for this year. And here is the page to access all past nominees and winners.

Get up a "Thrilling Reads" display ASAP. Your patrons will appreciate you thinking less like a librarian who is caught up on "rules" and categories and think more like the readers you are trying to help.

(Yes that was one of my not so subtle digs at how we hurt ourselves too often. Click here for my general thoughts on that or here for my rant about how no one reads series titles in alphabetical order, and yet, we insist on shelving them that way because, well we say it is rules, but in reality, no one is enforcing said rule so get over yourself. And this specific example seems very important when we talk about thriller genres which are often in series.)

BEST STANDALONE NOVEL

Megan Collins — CROSS MY HEART (Atria)

Ruth Knafo Setton — ZIGZAG GIRL (Black Spring Press)

Gilly Macmillan — THE BURNING LIBRARY (William Morrow)

Sarah Pekkanen — THE LOCKED WARD (St. Martin’s Press)

Olivia Worley — SO HAPPY TOGETHER (Minotaur)

 

BEST SERIES NOVEL

James Byrne — CHAIN REACTION (Minotaur)

Robert Crais — THE BIG EMPTY (Penguin/Putnam)

John McMahon — HEAD CASES: A NOVEL (Minotaur)

Christopher Reich — THE TOURISTS (Thomas & Mercer)

Vincent Zandri — TERMINAL MOONLIGHT (Down & Out Books)

 

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Chris Chibnall — DEATH AT THE WHITE HART (Pamela Dorman Books)

Kelsey Cox — PARTY OF LIARS (Minotaur)

Sophie Stava — COUNT MY LIES (Gallery/Scout Press)

Zoe B. Wallbrook — HISTORY LESSONS (Soho Crime)

Liann Zhang — JULIE CHAN IS DEAD (Atria)

 

BEST AUDIOBOOK

S. A. Cosby — KING OF ASHES (Macmillan)

      Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White

Mark Edwards — THE WASP TRAP (Simon & Schuster)

      Narrated by John Hopkins, Anna Burnett

Marisa Kashino — BEST OFFER WINS (Macmillan)

      Narrated by Cia Court

Xan Kaur — WHEN DEVILS SING (Macmillan)

      Narrated by Michael Crouch, Anjali Kunapaneni,  Jennifer Pickens, Landon Woodson

CN Mabry, N’Dia Rae — THE CHEATER’S WIFE (Simon Maverick)

      Narrated by Ruffin Prentiss, Machelle Williams

Michael Robotham — THE WHITE CROW (Simon & Schuster)

      Narrated by Katy Sobey

 

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Liz Lawson — MURDER BETWEEN FRIENDS (Delacorte Press)

Margot McGovern — THIS STAYS BETWEEN US (Penguin Young Readers)

Clay McLeod Chapman — SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE (Delacorte Press)

Diana Rodriguez Wallach — THE SILENCED (Delacorte Press)

Julie Soto — THE THRASHERS (Wednesday Books)

 

BEST SHORT STORY

Katrina Carrasco — LEVEL UP (Bywater Books)

Scott William Carter — THE SEDUCTION OF DR. DIMENSION (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

Lee Child — ELEVEN NUMBERS (Amazon Original Stories)

David Lagercrantz — FALSE NOTE (Amazon Original Stories)

Jessica Van Dessel — THE VIOLENT SEASON (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)

 

ITW will announce the winners at ThrillerFest XXI on Saturday, May 9, 2026 at the New York Hilton Midtown, New York City.

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Anthony Awards Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

I forgot to post the nominees for the 2025 Anthony Awards when they were released, but over the weekend the winners were announced so for me I guess it is better late than never.

The Anthony Awards are given at each annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention with the winners selected by attendees. The award is named for the late Anthony Boucher (William Anthony Parker White), well-known writer and critic from the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times, who helped found the Mystery Writers of America.

Now, this info leads to a few other questions. What is Bouchercon for one? The answer to that common question is found on their FAQ page: 

The Bouchercon [bough’•chur•con] World Mystery Convention is a nonprofit organization which holds an annual convention in honor of Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor, and author.

​

Every year, readers, writers, publishers, editors, agents, booksellers, and other lovers of crime fiction gather for a four-day weekend of education, entertainment, and fun.

How this award works is, after the nominees are listed in the spring, votes are gathered as that year's convention is going on. The Anthony Awards committee (who are separate from that year's convention planners) will take votes in each category, tally them, and announce the winners during the event. As someone who both is part of panning and executing an entire genre conference each year AND as someone who has been on many juries for award, it all makes me tired thinking about it, but it also makes for a 100% fan selected award.

And this fan component is extremely important for those of us who help readers find their next good read. Because this award is reader driven, I often have had better luck suggesting these titles to readers at the library than with other crime focused awards. And this is exactly why I am explaining how this award is chosen and not just posting the list. How an award is picked matters in terms of who we could best suggest those titles to.  

Please make sure you own all of the nominees and pass this on to your Youth Services staff as well. Keep an eye on who is called out for their short stories and who is appearing in the table of contents for the anthologies. This a great way to be aware of up and coming crime fiction authors. And use this announcement as your chance to get out a general crime fiction display. 

Back to the award itself though...

As you can see, there is an overall website for Bouchercon in general, since it rotates location each year, there is a specific page for each year as well. This year it was in New Orleans and on this page they have a list of every nominee. 

You can also visit the Anthony Award's permanent page on the Bouchercon site or, my favorite place to see all the current and past nominees at Stop You're Killing Me here. Please use that link to access the backlist of winners and nominees, especially from the past 5 years, to make a great sure bet, crime fiction display.

Here is the full list on Nominees from Stop You're Killing Me with stars in front of the winners as they were announced 9/7/25. Please note, I kept the Stop You're Killing me links to reviews where they had them to make it easier for you to get these books into readers hands.

2025 

Best Mystery Novel
*	The God of the Woods by Liz Moore [review]
°	Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett [review]
°	The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny  [review]
°	Alter Ego by Alex Segura  [review]
°	California Bear by Duane Swierczynski  [review]

Best First Mystery
*	You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen [review]
°	The Mechanics of Memory by Audrey Lee  [review]
°	Ghosts of Waikīkī by Jennifer K. Morita
°	Good-Looking Ugly by Rob D. Smith
°	Holy City by Henry Wise [review]

Best Paperback/E-book/Audiobook
*	Echo by Tracy Clark [review]
°	The Last Few Miles of Road by Eric Beetner
°	Served Cold by James L’Etoile
°	Late Checkout by Alan Orloff
°	The Big Lie by Gabriel Valjan

Best Historical Mystery
*	The Murder of Mr. Ma by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan [review]
°	The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R. King
°	The Witching Hour by Catriona McPherson
°	The Bootlegger’s Daughter by Nadine Nettmann
°	The Courtesan’s Pirate by Nina Wachsman

Best Paranormal Mystery
*	A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke
°	Five Furry Familiars by Lynn Cahoon
°	Exposure by Ramona Emerson
°	Lights, Camera, Bone by Carolyn Haines
°	Death in Ghostly Hue by Susan Van Kirk

Best Cozy/Humorous Mystery
*	Cirque du Slay by Rob Osler
°	A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Death by Valerie Burns
°	A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron
°	ll-Fated Fortune by Jennifer J. Chow
°	Scotzilla by Catriona McPherson [review]
°	Dominoes, Danzón, and Death by Raquel V. Reyes

Best Juvenile/Young Adult
*	When Mimi Went Missing by Suja Sukumar
°	The Big Grey Man of Ben Macdhui by K.B. Jackson
°	Sasquatch of Harriman Lake by K.B. Jackson
°	First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet by Josh Proctor
°	The Sherlock Society by James Ponti

Best Critical or Nonfiction Work
*	The Serial Killer’s Apprentice by Katherine Ramsland and Tracy Ullman
°	Writing the Cozy Mystery: Authors’ Perspectives on Their Craft edited by Phyllis M. Betz
°	Some of My Best Friends Are Murderers: Critiquing the Columbo Killers by Chris Chan
°	On Edge: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett by Ashley Lawson
°	Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder by Greg Lilly

Best Anthology or Collection
*	Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem: Bouchercon Anthology 2024 edited by Heather Graham
°	Murder, Neat: A Sleuthslayer’s Anthology edited by Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman
°	Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House edited by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson
°	Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir edited by Tod Goldberg
°	Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead edited by Josh Pachter

Best Short Story
*	“Something to Hold Onto” by Curtis Ippolito   Dark Yonder, Issue 6
°	“A Matter of Trust” by Barb Goffman   Three Strikes—You’re Dead
°	“Twenty Centuries” by James D.F. Hannah   Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir
°	“Satan’s Spit” by Gabriel Valjan   Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem: Bouchercon Anthology 2024
°	“Reynisfjara” by Kristopher Zgorski   Mystery Most International

Booklist May 2025 Issue Is Their Annual Spotlight on Mysteries and Thrillers.

As I mentioned on the blog here earlier this week, this is the best time of year to get up to speed on Mysteries. Booklist knows this as well as May has always been their Spotlight on the genre.

Below is the TOC with links to the content you can use to get up to speed on the current state of Mysteries and Thrillers.

Please note, I have added backlist access links to the adult top 10 lists. Much like I said earlier this week about using the backlist of trends to get a fuller picture of where the genre has been, where it is now, and where it might be going, you need to look back at the last few years as well as be aware of the current "best" titles. 

And don't forget, every issue of Booklist Magazine is a spotlight on a genre or format or topic, making every issue an invaluable resource beyond just the reviews.

Booklist May 1&15, 2025 (click here for TOC)

FEATURE. First published May 1, 2025 (Booklist).

On the Cover
From Your Final Moments, by Jay Coles, published by Scholastic. Your Final Moments is reviewed in this issue’s Spotlight on Mysteries & Thrillers. Cover art created by Maeve Norton and directed by CJ Johnson. Used by permission of the publisher.

Spotlight on Mysteries & Thrillers
The Booklist Interview: Michael Connelly
Top 10 Mysteries & Thrillers (2024, 2023, 2022)
Top 10 Debut Mysteries & Thrillers (2024, 2023, 2022)
Essentials: Jane Austen–Inspired Mysteries
Essentials: Wealth Gap Mysteries
Top 10 Mysteries & Thrillers for Youth
Essentials: Kid Detectives
Now Hear This: Vikas Adam
Top 10 Mysteries & Thrillers on Audio (2024, 2023, 2022)

Features
Manga Essentials: Detective Manga
Talking With Kimm Topping
Booklist Backlist: Queer YA Graphic Novels