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Page Modified: December 10, 2009

Crime Fiction First Novels 2000

 

Lists featuring selected first novels (mostly hardcover) in the mystery, suspense, thriller and crime fiction genres. This list may not be comprehensive. First novel information is collected from a variety of sources. Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine - unless otherwise noted.

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• Robbers
  Author: Cook, Christopher
  Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 24.95 ISBN: 0786707763 Date: 2000
  Booklist
  This brilliant and tough debut novel follows Eddie and Ray Bob, one a sociopath and the other a talented blues guitarist, and the Texas Ranger who pursues them. As the two losers wind their way across Texas, robbing and killing with no long-range plans, readers will be able to smell the magnolias and taste the dust.
  Suggested Reading: Driven Stars
  Updated 10/27/00

• Suspension
  Author: Crabbe, Richard E.
  Publisher: St Martins $ 27.95 ISBN: 0312203713 Date: 2000
  Library Journal
  In this thrilling first novel in the tradition of The Alienist and The Great Bridge, a small group of die-hard Confederates, led by their fanatical captain, endeavors to destroy the Great East River Bridge nearly 20 years after the war.
  Suggested Reading: Historical Mystery Stars | Civil War Stars
  Updated 9/7/00

• After Life
  Author: Ellis, Rhian
  Publisher: Viking $ 23.95 ISBN: 0670892424 Date: 2000
  Kirkus
  Evocative, suspenseful, and beautifully written, this debut women's thriller is set in a town called Train Line, in western-most New York, home to a community of mediums and spiritualists. In this environment, Naomi Ash comes of age and begins to distinguish what might be her own true vision from fakery and fraud.
  Updated 5/1/00

• Bloodroot
  Author: Even, Roy Aaron
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312265611 Date: 2000
  Library Journal
  This debut novel explores the circumstances surrounding a real event in Virginia in 1936--the shooting of an aging black caretaker and his sister who were being evicted from their land. The story is told through the eyes of the 50-year-old caretaker involved in the violent standoff and a young county employee fresh out of school.
  Suggested Reading: Historical Mystery Stars
  Updated 10/11/00

• The J Factor
  Author: Kanar, Stephen
  Publisher: Bantam $ 5.99 (paper) ISBN: 0553580795 Date: 2000
  PW
  From a new author comes this debut about an America overrun and controlled by private industry. An enormous pharmaceutical company controls the majority of organ transplants around the world. A young transplant surgeon discovers the company's sinister motives and knows he must go public. But he also knows what will happen to him if he does.
  

• The Incumbent: A Washington Thriller
  Author: McGrory, Brian
  Publisher: Pocket $ 24.95 ISBN: 0743403509 Date: 2000
  PW
  In the bestselling tradition of Absolute Power and The Tenth Justice, a veteran Washington press insider delivers a timely, gripping first novel about an attempt on the president's life 12 days before the election.
  Suggested Reading: Political Fiction
  Updated 8/7/00

• Raveling
  Author: Smith, Peter Moore
  Publisher: Little Brown $ 23.95 ISBN: 0316442178 Date: 2000
  Kirkus Library Journal
  In a stunning debut novel of psychological suspense, a man must uncover the secret of his sister's disappearance 20 years earlier, or lose his mind trying.
  Suggested Reading: Cold Cases
  Updated 5/1/00

• Body of a Girl
  Author: Stewart, Leah
  Publisher: Viking $ 23.95 ISBN: 0670891649 Date: 2000
  Kirkus
  Stewart's debut novel follows a young journalist investigating a murder case. What begins as routine reporting for novice Olivia Dale takes a perilous turn as she becomes strangely obsessed with the victim. Olivia finds herself drawn into the life the young woman left behind and deeply immersed in a dangerous world where her own life could be at stake.
  Updated 7/6/00

• Brown Eyed Girl
  Author: Swift, Virginia
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24 ISBN: 00601955x Date: 2000
  Kirkus
  In this debut of an exciting new mystery series, Professor Sally Alder leaves L.A. and drives home through the Rockies to Laramie. There she revisits the scenes of her misspent youth, finds a cache of priceless diamonds, and discovers secrets hidden deep within this richly imagined Wyoming town.
  

• A Dirty Death
  Author: Tope, Rebecca
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312261446 Date: 2000
  Booklist
  In this "promising first novel" (Sunday Telegraph--England), a not-so-idyllic farm serves as a backdrop for a series of murders. No one wants to help with the investigation, and even the ubiquitous village gossip seems to know more than she will admit. "Much enjoyed . . . subversively creepy".--Susan Moody.
  Updated 5/19/00

• Street Level
  Author: Truluck, Bob
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 031226626x Date: 2000
  PW Booklist
  Duncan Sloan is a private eye who works when he feels like it. Now he's been hired to find an as-yet unborn baby in the grimy pockets of Orlando, Florida. What he discovers instead is the three murdered bodies of the mother's relatives. Now, he must find the bad guys or the killing will continue.
  Suggested Reading: Private Investigators
  Updated 8/7/00

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