A running tally of the books that I have reviewed this year, updated and reranked after each book that I finish.

★★★★☆ When her husband goes off the rails, taking three people hostage, his wife tries to save him while unraveling the why behind his act.

★★★★☆ Author Raybourn runs it back with everyone's favorite female assassins in their 60s in a sequel that's just as good as the original.

★★★★★ Kerr's mature and tightly-plotted debut follows the murder investigation of the founder of a fictitious tech company in San Francisco.

★★★★☆ A woman tries to break a curse which causes the women in her family to transform into a tree forever if they stay in a place too long.

★★★☆☆ A novel about true-crime aficionados that uses the recent University of Idaho murders as its source material, an ill-conceived choice.

★★★☆☆ Set in 1981, a 14-year-old girl—whose hobbies happen to include studying roadkill—helps police investigate several murders in England.

★★★★★ Set in 1999, a coming-of-age story about a high schooler who finds himself embroiled in a supernatural missing persons investigation.

★★★★★ Whitaker delivers another masterpiece of character development while tackling several tough topics -- a challenging but uplifting read

★★★★★ Skillful dialogue and prose adorn this debut that combines a love story with the search for a mysterious gangster in 1920s Chicago.

★★★★★ Set in 1975, the search for a missing child acts as the foundation for Moore's tactful exploration of societal themes of the time.

★★★★★ A woman returns to the small town where she grew up, despite being the prime suspect in the 5-year-old murder of her best friend.

★★★★★ Another great spy thriller from Hayes after 10 long years. Despite some questionable supernatural plot choices, it's still a winner.

★★★★★ Part mystery, part odyssey, the story follows a sardonic pony as he seeks to reunite with his human, on trial for a 25-year-old murder

★☆☆☆☆ A forensic linguistics student begins helping police solve crimes, while engaging in the most unrealistic dialogue I read all year.

★★★★☆ A quick bubblegum thriller from the queen of the twist which will keep you guessing even when you know the misdirection is coming.

★★★★☆ A new setting and cast of characters, but the same humor, heart, and layered mystery that readers have come to expect from Osman.

★★★★☆ Lenny Marks lives a carefully crafted and ordered life for herself until her stepfather's parole sparks memories of childhood trauma.

★★★☆☆ An unfortunately average mystery about a father and his growing concerns that his daughter's fiancé could have a dark and sordid past.

Inspired by an underwhelming list from Goodreads, this counts down a far superior list of the Top 50 books of the last 5 years (2020-2024).