The Best Mystery Books of 2022

This is a fantastic historical crime novel with such wonderful character voice, enhanced even more by the great audiobook narrators: Janina Edwards, Shayna Small, and Adam Lazarre-White.

Two Black sisters from Mississippi are separately on the run in 1964. Violet flees with her wealthy white boyfriend after being assaulted and killing her assaulter. But she quickly dumps her boyfriend in the form of stealing his wallet and going off on her own. His response? To hire a man in need of money to find her. Violet’s sister Marigold is already dealing with enough issues–pregnant by a man who left, in an abusive relationship, and working to secure Black residents the right to vote. When she realizes that the police search for Violet is a target on her back, too, she also flees. As each sister tries to outrun their past, neither knows someone has been hired to find Violet, because she may have accidentally taken more than just a wallet…

This is easily one of my favorite reads this year and I look forward to anything Wanda M. Morris writes next.

(TW sexual assault, not graphic/ mentions maternal mortality/ mentions child abuse/ domestic abuse/ miscarriage/ lesphobia)

This is a multi-cast narration that is a family drama, a missing person mystery, and a fictional true crime podcast, all brilliantly narrated to the point of making you forget you’re reading a book rather than a very real true crime podcast.

Ten years ago Violet Volk, a famous magician, disappeared. A podcast has decided for the ten year anniversary to focus on Violet, her disappearance, and all the speculation that has come since. Being part of the wild theory and speculations Violet’s sister Sasha wants nothing to do with the podcast, no matter how much the host hounds her. Through podcast transcripts, interviews, and Sasha’s current life, we get to know the sisters now and then.

Full cast: Brittany Pressley, Amy McFadden, Dan Bittner, Fred Berman, Hillary Huber, Johnny Heller, Katharine Chin, Ramon de Ocampo, Suzanne Toren, Alejandro Ruiz.

(TW mentions past teacher physical abuse of child/ briefly recounts groping assault/ brief mention of domestic abuse case/ brief mention of past suicide attempt, detail/ past mother with terminal illness, not graphic)