The spooky season may be coming to an end but that doesn’t mean we should stop reading mystery and thrillers when November 1 arrives. What we mystery fans love about the genre is that you can read it any time of the year. So, if you are looking for your next exciting, mysterious read for the rest of the year and beyond, I’m here to highlight 20 thrilling upcoming titles that, if you are a fan of the genre, will want to have your reading list:
Murder At The Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani
Expected Publication Date: November 4
It’s Christmas Eve at the Emporium, a bespoke gift shop hidden in the depths of London’s winding streets, where a select few shoppers are browsing its handcrafted delights.
But when they go to leave, they find the doors are locked and it isn’t long before they realize this is no innocent mix-up. The shoppers have been trapped here by someone who knows their darkest secrets, someone will stop at nothing until they have all been unwrapped—and there is a gruesome gift waiting in Santa’s grotto . . .
For those that survive the night, it will be a Christmas to remember. (Credit: Pegasus Crime)
My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney
Expected Publication Date: January 20
Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.
One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.
Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs. (Credit: Flatiron Books)
The Midnight Taxi by Yosha Gunasekera
Expected Publication Date: February 10
Siriwathi Perera doesn’t quite know where she’s going in life. She never expected to be a taxicab driver in New York City, struggling to make ends meet and still living with her parents at twenty-eight. The true-crime podcasts that keep Siri company as she drives don’t do much to make up for the legal career she imagined for herself, or the brother she’s grieving.
When public defender Amaya Fernando gets into her cab, they make a quick connection through their shared Sri Lankan roots. Siri, whose social circle is limited to her grade-school best friend, Alex, thinks things might finally be looking up with this new potential friendship. But she’s suddenly dropped into her own true crime when she discovers her next passenger murdered in the backseat, and she has to call Amaya sooner than she’d expected.
Pinned as the obvious and only suspect, and desperate to clear her name, Siri chases down leads across the boroughs of New York City with Amaya’s help. But with her court date looming, they have just five days to find out who really killed the midnight passenger—or Siri’s life will be over before she can even truly live it. (Credit: Berkley)
The Body by Bethany C. Morrow
Expected Publication Date: February 10
Mavis broke from her parents’ congregation years ago, but she still hasn’t recovered. Their impossible expectations and soul-shredding critiques have dug deep into her mind, and she’s taunted by the knowledge that even when she’s done nothing wrong, she’ll never be right.
Now Mavis is afraid she’s about to lose the only thing she has: her husband, Jerrod. The man she’s always known was too good to be true. No one thinks she deserves him—not even after surviving the serial cheater they wanted her to stick by—and soon they’ll all find out they were right.
Mavis is already unraveling when a brush with death shows her what real fear looks like. Soon, she’s under constant attack from all directions. As the assaults turn increasingly vicious and bizarre, Mavis realizes that Hell isn’t reserved for the afterlife.
And sinner or not, no one is coming to save her. (Credit: Tor Nightfire)
Adrift by Will Dean
Expected Publication Date: February 17
Peggy and Drew, both aspiring writers, move to an isolated canal boat with their fourteen-year-old son. Peggy is the glue that holds their family together, even as their son is bullied relentlessly for his physique and his family’s lack of money. But when Drew becomes frustrated by his wife’s sudden writing success, he moves their boat further and further from civilization.
With their increasing isolation, personal challenges become harder to ignore, even as they desperately try to break toxic generational patterns. But when Drew’s gaslighting becomes too much for Peggy to take, it sets off a catastrophic series of events. (Credit: Atria/Emily Bestler Books)
Dollface by Lindy Ryan
Expected Publication Date: February 24
Horror author Jill has just moved to suburban New Jersey, hoping to fit in with the new PTA moms and maybe not weird everyone out with her Final Girl coffee mug. You know. Make some real friends.
But then a plastic face-masked serial killer begins slashing their way through town, one overly made-up mom at a time. The police are incredulous. The moms are indignant. And Jill is slowly wrapped into a killer’s murderous spree, until she might just be the last woman standing.
A delightfully murderous novel that is equal parts scathing and salacious, Dollface will win you over with its gossip and gore, one body at a time. (Credit: Minotaur Books)
How to Get Away with Murder by Rebecca Philipson
Expected Publication Date: February 24
This fresh debut thriller finds a Scotland Yard detective trying to find the author of a self-help book that promises quite literally to teach readers how to get away with murder, which seems to have inspired London’s newest murderer.
Detective Inspector Samantha Hansen has been on leave for six months, recovering from a breakdown she suffered at work, but when a fourteen-year-old girl is murdered in a local park, Sam jumps at the chance to return to the job and prove that she’s still got what it takes to be the Yard’s most successful homicide detective. One of the case’s only leads is a copy of a self-help book found in the victim’s backpack called How To Get Away With Murder by a man named Denver Brady.
Brady claims to be the most successful serial killer of our time, which is why no one’s ever heard of him. Chapter by chapter, he details his methodology and his past victims, and as Sam’s investigation progresses and the details of the book go viral, Sam begins to suspect that there’s more to the author than what he’s revealed. But in order to find a killer and get justice for young Charlotte, Sam must learn to trust her instincts once again, before Denver Brady–or someone else–really does get away with murder. (Credit: Minotaur Books)
Gone For Good by Sarah Crossan
Expected Publication Date: February 26
Connie Ryder is taken from her home in the dead of night and sent to Silver Lake Academy – a remote, high-security facility for ‘troubled’ teens. At Silver Lake, the vulnerable and the violent are locked in together under a brutal regime that aims to improve their behaviour. But when Connie learns she’s been given the bed of a missing girl named Belle, she is drawn deep into a chilling web of secrets and lies…
A sensational, immersive and hugely propulsive ‘missing girl’ thriller, set against the backdrop of America’s controversial Troubled Teen industry. (Credit: Simon & Schuster)
The Shadow Carver by Nadine Matheson
Expected Publication Date: March 10
DI Henley faces her darkest challenge yet…
When a string of grisly murders begins painting the city in terror, DI Henley soon realise a vigilante killer is scalping their victims before leaving them for dead. Henley is thrust into a web of secrets, unravelling connections between the victims while battling demons from her own past. As the killer raises the stakes, the line between predator and prey begins to blur. With time slipping away and her own life in jeopardy, Henley must outwit a psychopath who views murder as an art form. Can she hunt them down before the final stroke of the scalpel closes the case forever? (Credit: Hanover Square Press)
You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado
Expected Publication Date: March 10
When Papi Ramon, the patriarch of the wealthy Abreu family dies, he gives the family one last message in the will: “One of you is el bacà, the demon that I made a deal with. Get rid of them or you will be damned.” Xiomara, the uncontested favorite of Papi Ramon (and therefore the least liked in the family), watches as everyone dismisses this as the joke of a senile old man and demands the lawyer obtain the previous will Papi wrote.
While the lawyer drives back to his office, a storm breaks out, forcing the entire family—Xiomara’s aunts and uncles and cousins—to remain in the house. And the words of Papi’s will hangs over their heads even heavier than the rain clouds. Over the course of the night, scandal after scandal is revealed to the public about the family. Suddenly a tense few hours of surviving her family turns into a vicious night of recrimination, violence, accusations…and murder.
Xiomara is faced with an impossible task: uproot a demon and somehow kill it or excise the ghosts that linger within her own family.
And the clock is ticking…(Credit: William Morrow)
The Quiet Girls by Dorothy Koomson
Expected UK & Irish Publication Date: March 13
When MJ Hudson, an old work acquaintance, shows up at Dr Kez Lanyon’s house in the middle of the night, Kez knows she has no choice but to help.
At the prestigious boarding school that MJ’s daughter attends, a teacher has been killed and a pupil is missing. And it seems that the same thing happens every few years. Only this time, the school haven’t been able to cover things up and MJ’s daughter and her group of nice, quiet friends are right at the heart of the scandal.
Undercover as the new school therapist, Kez quickly realises there are some seriously powerful, well-connected forces at play. And by continuing to investigate the mystery, perhaps even stepping outside the law to do so, Kez risks putting her own family in serious danger.
Because no one wants their secrets aired. And some will go to any length to keep them buried. (Credit: Headline Publishing)
Robbie McNeil’s Hit List by Brianna Heath
Expected Publication Date: March 24
For this hitwoman, curiosity may be killer.
Contract killer Robbie McNeil never asks questions. Her mission is simple. Do the job. Get paid. Get back to running the karaoke bar she co-owns with her queerplatonic partner and fellow contract killer, Dee. And it works… Until their ambitious new theatrical venture breaks the bank.
When a mysterious new client hires Robbie for a hit, she takes the job, even though it’s sketchy as hell he won’t tell her anything but the target’s name. But hey, she didn’t build her reputation by being curious, and she desperately needs the cash.
Except something about this new target doesn’t add up. When he disappears with no record he ever existed, she chucks her no-questions-asked policy out the window, determined to figure out who this target really is. But the price for asking questions is high and might just cost Robbie everything she holds dear. (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
It’s Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh
Expected UK & Irish Publication Date: March 26
He has a secret. She knows he’s lying…
You think you know the people you love.
Nadeeka is certain Jamie is having an affair. She knows the tell-tale signs.
She’s been here before.
You think you know who you can trust.
When Jamie claims to be at work late, she knows he’s lying. He’s with another woman, and she’s determined to catch him in the act.
You think you know how the story ends.
But when Nadeeka arrives home to confront him, Jamie can’t explain himself. The house has become a crime scene…
Jamie is dead.
It’s not what you think. (Credit: HarperCollins)
The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
Expected Publication Date: April 7
Arthur Fletch, one of the world’s bestselling novelists, is a reclusive genius known for his iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. When six struggling authors are invited to spend a weekend on his private Scottish island, they arrive to discover a shocking secret: Arthur Fletch is dead . . . and his last book is unfinished.
Desperate to publish the novel, Fletch’s agent and editor have summoned these writers in the hope that one of them will imagine a worthy ending for this final book. To sweeten the deal, they are offering an irresistible prize: in addition to ghost-writing the last chapter––for a mind-boggling sum––they will also help the lucky writer successfully re-launch their own career, guaranteeing future bestsellers. The catch: the writers have just seventy-two hours to finish Fletch’s magnum opus.
It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.
The Drop by S R Masters
Expected Publication Date: April 21
Some might say that thirtysomething Cady Ellison landed herself a strange creative career, but Cady finally feels like she’s found her footing. Now an online theme park influencer, she is invited to the opening of a brand-new park by her old friend, Danny, who wants to use her online profile to help build buzz for its flagship ride, Hysteria, a record-breaking 650 foot-tall roller coaster.
When she arrives at the half-complete theme park site in the middle of the desert, Cady is unexpectedly met with her old college friend group: Femi, an award-winning actor, Naseem, a decorated novelist, and Winston, a member of a popular rock group. Wanting them all to sing the praises of Hysteria online, Danny has arranged an exclusive private ride for them, capped off with the stunning desert sunset. But when their coaster cars get to the top of the first hill, the ride stalls 650 feet above ground. With no one due on site for days and over 100-degree heat awaiting them once the sun rises, the four friends soon realize that they must unravel the secrets from their complicated past if they are to find their way to safety. (Credit: Sourcebooks Landmark)
Five by Ilona Bannister
Expected Publication Date: May 5
Someone will die here this morning, at this suburban train station. It will happen in the next five minutes when the 7:06 to London Victoria arrives.
On a train platform, five strangers unknowingly face a chilling countdown. As the clock ticks away, we fall in love with a beautiful young man who is on the verge of gambling his life away. We pity the cantankerous old woman who has fallen to the ground yet is refusing help. We look away from the child throwing a tantrum. We judge his mother, who must surely be to blame? And we are curiously compelled by the successful and damaged businessman, orbiting around them all.
These are the candidates for this morning’s misfortune but they don’t know it. Only you know. And you, our complicit reader, will not be able to resist judging who deserves to walk away, and who deserves only five more minutes to live. Minute by minute, the train gets closer, as we delve into each of their stories to learn what brought them right here, to this moment, to this station, to the very edge of life and death.
A child, a mother, a businessman, an old woman, and a gambler—who would you choose to save? Or die? (Credit: Crown)
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
Expected Publication Date: May 5
There is nothing that Simone won’t do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together. But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their rental cabin. In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand. Don’t tell the police. Come to this location. And be prepared to do a deal…
Though Simone’s husband urges her to bring in the authorities for help, she knows she can’t take any chances. The kidnappers might kill Lucy if she tells anyone. No mother would take that risk. Instead, that night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.
What she finds there changes everything. The mysterious kidnapper doesn’t want money. They want Simone to do something. The unthinkable.
A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chilling consequences that extend beyond Simone and her family. What follows is a heart-pounding journey through the small towns and punishing deserts of remote Texas, in which Simone’s courage—and morality—is pushed to the brink as she discovers what it truly means to be a mother. (Credit: William Morrow)
Bone of the Bone by Johanna Van Veen
Expected Publication Date: May 26
The year is 1635.
Sister Ursula, a young nun fleeing the ruins of her convent, and Elsebeth, a sharp-witted peasant, escape a band of marauding soldiers and disappear into the Bavarian forest. War scorches the land, and no one survives it alone. Amid the devastation, they find something in the arms of a dying man: the gilded skull of a saint.
It is said that if you reunite the saint’s skull with her body, a wish will be granted. Desperate for salvation, and each with secret desires of their own, Ursula and Elsebeth follow a ragged map across the blighted countryside. But darkness follows them. A necromancer, drawn to the relic’s power. The saint herself, whispering at night. And as the lines between blessing and curse blur, the women must face a harrowing truth: the magic they seek comes at a cost.
At the journey’s end, they’ll face an impossible choice–one that could tear apart everything they know… or bind them to each other forever. (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
The Heirs by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Expected Publication Date: June 2
Five prodigies, one dead father, a mansion full of suspects…
Octavius the Maestro.
Fola the Brain.
Bilal the Olympian.
Perdita the Artist.
Romeo the Failure.
These are the five heirs of the illustrious billionaire Leontes Button. Adopted and viciously trained with their father’s infamous “Button Method” to prove his hypothesis for creating prodigies—child geniuses—the Button siblings have had no choice but to be brilliant according to their father’s impossibly high standards.
Until he is murdered at his annual Prodigy Ball.
Now, all who attended the ball are required to stay in the Button Manor while the police investigate. But the officers have their work cut out for them—each of the Button siblings has something to hide, but The Heirs aren’t the only ones with secrets. After all, Leontes Button was especially good at making enemies. . . (Credit: Feiwel & Friends)
Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls by Cynthia Murphy
Expected Publication Date: July 21
When aspiring crime journalist Fliss Keller attends an estate sale and uncovers a disturbing painting by a mysterious artist, she wants nothing to do with it. Unfortunately for her, her Art History professor dad buys it immediately. The portrait has been lost for decades and completes a set of four existing paintings of women by the same artist already hanging in the town’s gallery.
But when a series of gruesome crimes rock the community and her father’s gallery becomes the epicenter of a deadly game, Fliss discovers that the paintings may hold the key to a killer’s identity.
Haunted by the specter of a serial killer, Fliss races against time to solve the mystery before it claims another victim. In a world where every brushstroke hides a sinister secret, can she unravel the clues before she becomes a killer’s muse? (Credit: Delacorte Press)
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