From a boozy Hitchcock-inspired debut to the first standalone novel from Dublin Murder Squad author Tana French to a former U.S. president's White House-themed thriller, 2018 has given readers many reasons to get lost in a good mystery.
As we've read our way through the year's biggest thrills and chills, we have detected a few trends in the genre. Take a look at what we've uncovered. And let us know what 2019 trends you predict in mysteries and thrillers!
All the popular "girls."
Trend #1: Women dominate the genre (as men try to blend in).
It's hard to overstate how much 2012's Gone Girl changed the mystery and thriller landscape. In short: Gone is most of the boys' club that once ruled this genre, and the "girls" are here to stay. In fact, among the 15 most popular mysteries and thrillers on Goodreads this year, only three novels were written by men. And in the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards, seven of the final ten nominees were written by women.
Meanwhile, new male authors in this space have been adopting gender-neutral bylines and are writing female characters—most notably the debut The Woman in the Window (the most popular book on Goodreads this year), written under Daniel Mallory's pseudonym, A.J. Finn, and The Last Time I Lied, the second book published under the pseudonym Riley Sager.
Everyone's a thrill seeker.
Trend #2: Mysteries go mainstream.
Forget about genre. Mysteries and thrillers are mainstream fare now.
This spring The Guardian reported that the sales of crime novels in the U.K. have soared, outselling general fiction for the first time ever.
Meanwhile in the U.S., a study found that mysteries and thrillers were the most represented books on The New York Times' bestseller list, the Pacific Standard wrote.
Which naturally leads to the next love-it-or-hate-it publishing phenomena: the adaptation. This year saw Hollywood remake several high-profile thrillers—a trend that shows no sign of slowing down, as we've noticed that film rights to new mysteries are often sold before the books even hit the shelves!
The new British invasion.
Trend #3: U.K. mystery writers stake a claim.
From Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle to Ruth Rendell and P.D. James, U.K. writers have always been the who's who of the whodunit.
We're starting to see a new class of British mystery writers emerge, with smash debuts from Catherine Steadman, Alice Feeney, C.J. Tudor, as well as Ruth Ware returning with her fourth book in as many years. In fact, for the opening round of the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards, eight of the 15 nominated authors hailed from England, including B.A. Paris, Lisa Jewell, and Sujata Massey.
What are your favorite trends in mysteries and thrillers this year? Tell us in the comments!
Check out more recent blogs:
The YA Trends of 2018
Catch Up Now: These Big Series All Have Books Coming Out in 2019
Celebrate Your 2018 Year in Books!
posted by Cybil on December, 10
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