Tell us all about your favourite new authors. Either debut authors from 2021, or new-to-you this year.
2021 was a good year for new-to-me authors (a pretty good year for old-to-me authors, too), I made the acquaintance of several authors I expect to read for a long time to come. But a Top 5 was a little tricky–four of these names jumped right to me, and then six names competed for that last slot–which means a Top 10 list would’ve been a great thing for me to do today, I guess. When it comes to these five authors, they really stood out to me this year, and I bet I’ll be reading them for years (assuming they keep producing…). Two of them have backlists for me to work off of, too.
In alphabetical order, because I’m not doing that to myself.
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 Stephen Mack Jones
I read the first book in his series, August Snow, this summer–and I just clicked with it within a couple of pages. The voice was just perfect, his characters felt like good friends already–just ones I needed to get to know better. He also had a real gift for setting–I could see some of the locations clearly, and the food? I’m getting hungry right now. I’ll be returning to Jones and Snow early next year, and I can’t wait. In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on the list, click here. |
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 Nadine Matheson
Matheson infuses her fiction with her experience and knowledge–one of the murders takes place near her home, which helps her bring that part of London to life in a way I don’t think I’ve seen before. Also, she’s a Criminal Soliciter, bringing an authenticity to the book that you don’t always get. I’m starting to get carried away and I have 3 other people to talk about so I’m going to shut up. In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put her on the list, click here. |
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 Chris McDonald
I’ve only read one of McDonald’s two series to date (I plan on changing that soon), and it certainly appears that the two are pretty different in style and tone. But you can’t read five books in a year by one author without it leaving a pretty strong impression on you. The Stonebridge Mysteries had strong charactes, clever mysteries, and a humourous touch (without being comedies), a consisten source of entertainment throughout 2021. In case you’re curious about what I said about the series that put him on the list, click here. |
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 Fabian Nicieza
In researching this post, I realized I’d actually met Nicieza in 1987 in Psi Force #9 from Marvel Comics. But I’m still counting this because: 1. I’d forgotten about him completely, and 2. I’m going with new-to-me-novelists. He’s written a lot of other comics in the meantime–including creating Deadpool. But now he’s turned to novel writing–his first novel was laugh-out-loud funny, with the kind of tension that seasoned pros struggle with, great characters, and some social commentary, too. Oh, yeah, and a great mystery! In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him/her, click here. |
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 Richard Osman
Osman has a long résumé in all sorts of fields–none of which I was exposed to here in the U.S. But his first novel was a great way to be introduced–a great mix of meditation on grief and aging, comedy, and mystery. He writes like a seasoned pro, and I can’t wait to see what he does next. In case you’re curious about what I said about the books that put him on this list, click here. |
Who were some of your new favorites of 2021?
Meeghan
Oh, I only know of Fabian Nicieza as a comic author, not a novellist, so I’m extra plesed you loved his novel!! Thanks for sharing, and I hope you had fun last week!!
HCNewton
Thanks, Meeghan! You should check it out, will almost certainly be showing up on my Best of ’21 list.