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Crime by the Book

A girl investigates crime fiction from around the world, by the book.
  • Blog
  • Quick Reviews
  • Nordic Noir
    • Introduction
    • Background
    • Book Recommendations
    • By Country
    • Interviews
    • Reviews
    • Features
  • #ReadWithCBTB
  • Features
  • Reading Lists
  • Events
  • Go-to Book Recs
  • As Seen In
  • About
  • Connect

the cbtb blog

One girl's ongoing investigation of the crime fiction genre.

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RECOMMENDED READING: HALLOWEEN 2022

October 7, 2022

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Halloween season is upon us! I firmly believe that you can read thrillers any time of year, but there’s something undeniably perfect about digging into a dark, creepy crime novel in the lead-up to Halloween. Honestly, every year I have a little bit of a hard time coming up with a list of Halloween reading recommendations, not because I don’t have enough books to recommend—quite the opposite! Just about every single book I’ve ever talked about here on Crime by the Book could be a great Halloween read, and that can make narrowing down my lists of Halloween reading recommendations really tricky. But I’m up for the challenge—and I’m thrilled with how this year’s reading list turned out! For this year’s Halloween reading list, I’m focusing on new (or new-ish!) releases—primarily books that have been published in 2022, with a few slightly older releases in the mix, too. Happy reading, and happy haunting!

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In Halloween Books, Reading List Tags Halloween, Halloween Books, Halloween Reading, Thriller Books, Simone St. James, Riley Sager, Kiersten White, Tara Laskowski, Gabino Iglesias, Isabel Canas, Lars Kepler, C.J. Cooke, Rachel Harrison
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CBTB's Most Anticipated March 2022 Crime Books

March 2, 2022

Listen, I wasn’t planning to do any single-month “most anticipated” lists this year… but then I realized how many incredible new crime, mystery, and thriller books are publishing this March, and I changed my tune. In today’s blog post, I’ve rounded up my personal picks for most-anticipated new crime books publishing in March—aka your one-stop shopping list if you’re in the market for a great new read this month! From serial killer thrillers to Nordic Noir, from books involving snakes (!!) to books involving comics, March has an incredible variety of new crime novels for us to devour. Mark your calendars, clear your to-read list, and get ready to do some book shopping. Without further ado, let’s dive into my picks for most-anticipated new crime books of March 2022!

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In 2022 Crime Books, Most Anticipated Books Tags New Crime Books, The Night Shift, Alex Finlay, Like a Sister, Kellye Garrett, Reptile Memoirs, Silje Ulstein, The Book of Cold Cases, Simone St. James, Nine Lives, Peter Swanson, Secret Identity, Alex Segura, Sara Blaedel, A Harmless Lie, Camilla Sten, The Resting Place, The Long Weekend, Gilly Macmillan
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CBTB's Most Anticipated Early 2022 Crime Books

January 2, 2022

A new year is upon us, and there’s only one way to kick off 2022 here on CBTB: by celebrating some of the outstanding crime books that the year has in store for us!! To ring in 2022, I’m thrilled to share my picks for most-anticipated crime books releasing in January, February, and March 2022! As always, there are way too many crime books I’m excited about this year for me to put them all into one blog post, so I’ll be divvying the year up into a few different “most-anticipated” lists for you to peruse. Today I want to focus on crime books I’m particularly excited about that will be published in the first three months of this year—and boy oh boy, there are a lot of them. From the return of CBTB favorite authors (Lars Kepler! Camilla Sten! Stephanie Wrobel! and so many more!!) to the release of international crime books I’ve been online-stalking ever since I first heard of their publications overseas, from serial killer thrillers and cult stories to seafaring suspense and private investigator mysteries, there’s a little bit of something for everyone on today’s list. 2022 is already shaping up to be another outstanding year for new crime fiction, and I can’t wait to embark on a new year of crime fiction exploration with you all!

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In 2022 Crime Books, Most Anticipated Books Tags Most Anticipated Books, 2022 Books, 2022 Crime Books, Most Anticipated Crime Books, Lars Kepler, Katherine Faulkner, Helene Flood, Rachel Hawkins, Stephanie Wrobel, Katrine Engberg, Jane Pek, Alex Finlay, Kellye Garrett, Silje Ulstein, Simone St. James, Peter Swanson, Camilla Sten, Gilly Macmillan
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5 Recommended Suspense Novels Set Within the World of Academia

April 15, 2021

What is it about dark academia that is just so appealing? I can never resist a suspense novel that draws on the world of academia, and if that sounds like your cup of tea, today’s reading list is for you! I was inspired to write this list after reading one of my most-anticipated suspense novels of 2021, THE MAIDENS by Alex Michaelides, which centers around a murder at Cambridge University. While we wait for the publication of THE MAIDENS in mid-June here in the US, I thought I would round up a few of my personal favorite (and currently-available!) suspense novels that each, in one way or another, dabble in the world of dark academia. From a story of Pretty Little Liars-level drama at a boarding school to a sinister tale of two academics whose work together takes a dangerous turn, this reading list rounds up a few of my personal favorite and most-recommended suspense and mystery novels that incorporate elements of dark academia. As an added bonus, at the end of this blog post I’ve also highlighted three Summer 2021 suspense novels that also put their own unique spins on the world of academic mysteries. Happy reading!

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In Reading List Tags Dark Academia, Good Girls Lie, JT Ellison, The Broken Girls, Simone St. James, The Stranger Diaries, Elly Griffiths, Catherine House, Elisabeth Thomas, The Night Visitor, Lucy Atkins, The Maidens, Alex Michaelides, For Your Own good, Samantha Downing, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, Ashley Winstead
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CBTB's Frequently Recommended Supernatural-ish Mysteries & Chillers

March 19, 2021

If you had told me when I started this blog that I would someday be writing a blog post recommending a few of my personal favorite crime books with some supernatural elements to them, I would have never believed you. I used to be staunchly opposed to crime books with any supernatural touches, but as time has gone on, and thanks to the work of very talented authors including Yrsa Sigurdardottir, C.J. Tudor, and many more, I’ve not only become open to books in this category… I’ve actually begun actively seeking them out. While I think it will always be important to me as a reader that the crime novels I read, even the supernatural-ish ones, have an earthly, logical solution to the mysteries at their core, I’ve come to discover just how much fun a thriller with a dash of the supernatural can be. Today, I’m so excited to share a roundup of my frequently recommended supernatural-ish mysteries and thrillers! Some of these books have true supernatural elements to them, while in others, the supernatural is more of a suggestion or a question to be answered over the course of the story. No matter what, all of these books have an extra-creepy edge to them that will have you reading with all the lights on. To help you guide you through this list and narrow down which books might be of interest to you, I’ve divvied this list up into three categories: Ghosts & Haunted Houses, Folklore & The Occult, and Possessions & Inexplicable Events. The books in this list exemplify that delicious blend of earthly mystery and supernatural touches that I’ve come to love so much, and I’m so excited to share this rundown of books in this category that I recommend most frequently with you today! Grab your coziest blanket, turn on all the lights, and dive in to my frequently-recommended supernatural-ish mysteries & thrillers.

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In Book Recommendation, Reading List Tags Supernatural Thriller, Ghost Stories, Haunted House, CJ Tudor, Riley Sager, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Alex North, The Shadows, The Whisper Man, Home Before Dark, The Burning Girls, The Sun Down Motel, Simone St. James, The Lingering, SJI Holliday, Theme Music, T. Marie Vandelly, The Nesting, C.J. Cooke, The Witch Hunter, Max Seeck
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View fullsize My personal crime fiction collection 🕵🏻‍♀️🖤 aka my favorite corner of my apartment. 📚🙌🏻 If anyone feels so inclined, I’d love to see what YOUR bookshelves look like! Snap a pic, share in your stories, & tag me - I’d love to
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View fullsize Being stuck at home isn’t so bad when you’ve got a massive stack of books to read. 🕵🏻‍♀️🖤 What’s on your social-distancing TBR?! 📖
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View fullsize Early afternoon light & a large latte ☕️ & a gripping crime read 🕵🏻‍♀️🖤 aka the perfect combination 🙌🏻
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View fullsize Happy Monday, friends! 🖤 Back in NYC and back to work after an amazing (if much too short) visit to Oslo 🇳🇴 annnd currently drinking a cold brew ☕️ at my desk & hoping it keeps me awake this afternoon 😂 jet lag + not enough sleep last night =
View fullsize Last looks at beautiful Oslo 🇳🇴 for this trip. ❤️ So very sad to leave, but I’m bringing wonderful memories & a suitcase stuffed with books 📚 back to NYC with me. 😉 See you soon, Oslo... you know I can’t stay away for long. 🥰❤️
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View fullsize Spent today doing all my favorite things in Oslo, so obviously a coffee stop was included. ☕️🖤 How are you spending your Saturday?! •
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