The 2007 books we liked best: thrillers

Of the thrillers reviewed in the Monitor this year, these received the top marks.

FIELDWORK,by Mischa Berlinski (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 368 pp., $24)

A freelance journalist living in Thailand becomes obsessed as he tries to discover the truth about a Christian missionary's death in this top-notch mystery debut. (3/9/07)

Stalin's Ghost,by Martin Cruz Smith (Simon and Schuster, 332 pp., $26.95)

Russia may have changed, but Arkado Renko has not. Fans of the Slavic sleuth will not want to miss his latest outing that begins in a Moscow metro station and ends on a blood-soaked World War II battlefield. (7/3/07)

Three Bags Full,by Leonie Swann (Flying Dolphin Press, 344 pp., $22.95)

Call it "Babe: The Detective Files." Shepherd George Glenn is found dead in his pasture and his sheep are determined to investigate in this charming romp. (7/6/07)

THE EXCEPTION,by Christian Jungersen, translated by Anna Paterson (Nan A. Talese, 512 pp., $26)

Workers at a Copenhagen think tank focusing on genocide begin receiving death threats in this intelligent, empathetic, psychological thriller. (8/17/07)

Blonde Faith,by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown and Co., 320 pp., $25.99)

Mosley's 10th noir novel starring detective "Easy" Rawlins is set two years after the Watts riots in Los Angeles. and finds Rawlins sheltering a friend's daughter even as he tries to figure out who killed her father. (11/9/07)