This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic asks me to list my top 10 new-to-me authors in 2024. I was only able to come up with eight, and I think that’s because I was not in a particularly adventurous reading headspace last year. Instead, I gravitated to familiar authors and deliberately focused a lot on series and rereads. Still, I’m excited to have found these eight authors and am eager to try more from them!

1. Delano Ames — After really enjoying the witty narrative style of She Shall Have Murder, I can’t wait to read more of the Jane and Dagobert Brown series!

2. Sheila Simonson — I’m always on the hunt for well-written, steamless historical romance authors, so I was delighted to discover Simonson via Lady Elizabeth’s Comet. I’ve already read the sequel, which I didn’t love quite as much, but I’m happy that I still have one more of her books (A Cousinly Connexion) on my shelves to try.

3. Christianna Brand — I love a good Golden Age mystery novel, and Green for Danger combines a clever plot with a vivid wartime setting and well-drawn characters. I’ll definitely be seeking out more by Brand!

4. Kirsty Greenwood — A friend gave me The Love of My Afterlife for my birthday last year, and I really enjoyed it! This was Greenwood’s first traditionally published novel, but apparently she’s also self-published a few, so I will have to dive into her backlist!

5. Cornell Woolrich — Noir isn’t normally my genre, but I really liked The Bride Wore Black, a stylish thriller in which everything is resolved in the end, but nobody gets what they want. Not cheerful reading, but compelling nonetheless.

6. Sally Nicholls — I was totally charmed by Yours from the Tower, an epistolary novel following three young women in the 19th century who pursue their purpose and find love. I really need to try something else by Nicholls, though so far the plot synopses of her other books haven’t really grabbed me.

7. Charlotte Stein — I liked When Grumpy Met Sunshine so much more than I was expecting to! Alfie Harding, the grumpy half of the title, is a unique hero with a hilarious voice, and he more than made up for my complaints about the book (too much steam, too many one-sentence paragraphs). I’ve already got Stein’s next novel, My Big Fat Fake Marriage (coming out in March), on my TBR list!

8. Jill Bearup — Just Stab Me Now was another unexpected delight that gleefully skewers fantasy romance tropes even while embracing the genre. I’m not sure if Bearup is planning to write more, but I really hope she does because I will read it!