The podium places every year on Death of the Reader have blown our minds, and it’s always encouraging how diverse the reasons for those explosions are. From metafiction to spy fiction to the Golden-Agiest of Detective Fiction, our top three for 2022 had better skip your to-read pile. This is non-negotiable.

3rd Place: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
Sulari is only four mystery novels away from Flex being able to construct his dream year on the show.

2nd Place: Traitor’s Purse by Margery Allingham
An impeccable sweet-spot between spy fiction and our beloved Golden Age, you can finally fulfil your dream of being Albert Campion.

1st Place, The Sulari Gentill Award: Blackstone Fell by Martin Edwards
I’ve read it six times now and it keeps getting better.