Meg Gardiner’s bestselling thrillers are a great fusion of strong character and big story. Her novels are as addictive as the prose listed below. She’s as good at storytelling as her characters are at killing (and they are very good at killing). Gardiner lives in Austin, writes about California, and travels all over the world. Her Top 20 list reflects her style and influences, providing a pantheon of thrilling tales, classic and new.
- A Stained White Radiance by James Lee Burke
- Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
- The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
- Without Fail by Lee Child
- Tell No One by Harlan Coben
- The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
- The Coffin Dancer by Jeffery Deaver
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- F is for Fugitive by Sue Grafton
- Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen
- Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard
- Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
- Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith
- Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
- The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow
- Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Meg will be joining the 3PM “Our Life In Crime” Panel preceding MysteryPeople’s 5th Anniversary celebrations, this Saturday, November 7th. The volumes listed above can be found on our shelves or via bookpeople.com. All volumes of our final top 100 list will be available either on our shelves or via special order.
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