HOMICIDE AT A CLOWN COLLEGE sets police detective Rock Cobbler on a hunt for a killer, and on a deep dive into clowndom’s deadly secrets. Great combo of quirky comedy and a tightly plotted mystery. B PLUS

MURDER IN GREASEPAINT: A ROCK COBBLER CASE
Whiskey Leavins
2022

AN EXTENDED KIOWA/COMANCHE/MEXICAN FAMILY finds ways to mend its rifts and build a future in this extraordinary, engrossing novel. Told in a chorus of unforgettable voices, it spins a powerful story of Indigenous life in Oklahoma. SOLID A

CALLING FOR A BLANKET DANCE
Algonquin Books
2022

POWERFUL NEAR-FUTURE NOIR thriller works both as a tightly paced mystery and an absorbing vision of a 2040s world where, after an inexplicable pandemic, a quarter of the population never sleeps. You won’t want to put this one down! A MINUS

THE SLEEPLESS
Erewhon
2022

A STRING OF MOB-RELATED MURDERS brings a private investigator and a police detective together to seek justice for the victims and untangle a web of violence and betrayal. Interesting premise, a bit unpolished. B MINUS

TREACHERY
Bernie Ziegner
2022

A WILDLY ORIGINAL, EPIC novel takes on the biggest questions—love and faith and science and art and technology and power—in an intricate blend of science fiction, magic realism, and psychological thriller. B PLUS

BROTHER ALIVE
Grove Press
2022

ALWAYS OPEN-HEARTED, SOMETIMES UNCOMFORTABLE, generously candid memoir in essays of a life lived in stories—from a hardscrabble Massachusetts childhood, years of wandering (literally and metaphorically), to a deep home in the literary community. A MINUS

DIRTBAG, MASSACHUSETTS
Bloomsbury Publishing
2022

STUNNING DEBUT THRILLER mixes police procedural and the paranormal. Evocative settings in New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation add even more depth to a powerful story. A MINUS

SHUTTER
Soho Crime
2022

A FIERCE WORKPLACE BATTLE at a high-profile magazine is no place for a brand new assistant like aspiring writer Noora, but here she is propping up her brilliant hot mess of a boss. Fun novel is journalism’s The Devil Wears Prada! B PLUS

A HUNDRED OTHER GIRLS
Sourcebooks Landmark
2022

ATMOSPHERIC HISTORICAL THRILLER follows currents of greed, corruption, and vice in a far-north mining community at the tail end of the gold rush. Rich in detail, and in subtle characterization. SOLID B

THE ICE BARN
Anywhere Books
2022

A FATHER’S UNEXPECTED DEATH sends a young woman on a journey to understand him—and herself—better. Pitch-perfect evocation of an overachieving twenty-something life of share houses, late nights at work, and reckless choices. A MINUS

THE CATCH
Random House
2022