Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books every YA crime junkie should read - right now. Not kidding.

top ten tuesday                crime

Hosted by The Broke and Bookish.  


I won't sacrifice quality for symmetry, so you get eight. 

c.j.'s selections                         ten ten ten

one     The Darkest Corners - Kara Thomas 

I just finished this and wow.  Lady knows how to spin a web.  There are some slow bits, but it's worth sticking with.  There are so many  twists, so many threads that weave in surprising ways, and a lot of fun investigative stuff for the procedural lovers. 
If You Find Me - Emily Murdoch 

This book does not get enough credit.  It's the story of two sisters in the deep woods, an abduction, a murder, a daring rescue.  It's raw and shocking and tense.  
Pretty Girl-13 - Liz Coley 

A crime after the fact.  A kidnapping.  Three years of amnesia.  Angie is left broken, scattered into multiple personalities, and sorting through their secrets may be the only way to solve what happened to her.  
Dead Girls Don't Lie - Jennifer Shaw Wolf 

It begins with a murder.  A gang hit, the police say.  Easy to pin it on the migrant workers. But Jaycee doesn't believe it.  Her investigation pits her against the darkest of enemies--the ones you never suspect.  

five       Far From You - Tess Sharpe 

Sophie's a junkie.  An addict.  So no one believes her that her best friend's murder was more than a drug deal gone wrong.  And Sophie will face her own deepest secrets to reveal the truth.  Such awesome friendship and romance, too.  

A Madness So Discreet - Mindy McGinnis 

A historical crime thriller with Sherlock-inspired deduction, the genesis of criminal profiling, and asylums.  Who doesn't love asylums?  It's a chilling murder mystery that blurs the lines between justice and crime.  
seven      These Shallow Graves - Jennifer Donnelly 

A little trite, but still a satisfying historical mystery, this time in the shinier part of the Victorian era.  Jo can't believe that her father killed himself--literally. Her search for the truth leads her down a crooked pathway of shameful family secrets, alleyway gangsters, and the greatest adventure of her life. 
eight     The Steep and Thorny Way - Cat Winters 

Murder most foul meets 1900s Oregon, where racial tensions are high and the murder of a black man is easy to pawn off as an accident. But Hanalee won't let her father's killer run free--even if it means exposing a whole town's evil underpinnings and jeopardizing her own life.  


  1. Almost all of these are on my tbr list but I still haven't gotten my hands on a copy (local bookstores suck. ugh.). I've seen These Shallow Graves around but when I came back for it in the bookstore, it was gone.. but soon. definitely soon..

    czai @ the Blacksheep Project

  2. I love a good crime story and while I haven't read any of these, I've heard great things about A Madness So Discreet and These Shallow Graves especially so I'll likely start there but thanks for ALL of these recs CJ ♥

  3. I hear peopel talk about Cat Winters ALL THE TIME and I so want to try one of her books!! And omg If You Find Me is spectacular and disturbing and so beautifully written and ajfdkalsd THOSE POOR SISTERS. I LOVE THAT BOOK. My favourite crime book is probably How To Lead a Life of Crime. Very evil. Very helpful. (I'm just kidding. XD It's not actually a "how to" book but STILLLLLL.) Here's my TTT!