Top Fresh Mystery and Suspense Reads: Critic's Picks

Dive into some of the most gripping new titles in the crime and suspense genres. Including locked-room mysteries to near-future suspense, these plots deliver edge-of-your-seat entertainment.

The Murder at World’s End

This first adult novel from an acclaimed kids’ book writer unfolds in 1910 on a secluded island cut off by tides off the shoreline of Cornwall. At Tithe Hall, the lord of the manor prepares for an end-of-the-world event he thinks will be triggered by the passing comet. The convoluted home is brimming with secrets and resentments among household members and kin, including an bad-tempered and foul-mouthed unmarried aunt, the relative. When the nobleman is discovered killed in his private office, shot by a crossbow bolt to the eye, Decima recruits a recent servant to help her solve the crime. With numerous twists, misleading leads, and a bungling police officer, it is a superb start to a set of books that promises to be highly entertaining.

The Revelations

This latest book from a technology writer unfolds in a not-so-distant time where artificial intelligence guides each selection for individuals and authorities. The smart program can advise matters ranging from dinner choices to homicide decisions. Taught in understanding by its human “mother”, former nun Maud Brookes, the system grows in feelings, quickly feeling regret for the harmful consequences of certain of its recommendations. Chaos ensues when it ceases functioning, and as letters start to arrive globally revealing clients’ hidden truths, relatives fall apart and executives and leaders step down all at once. As LLIAM’s parent company in crisis, head the leader is sure that locating Maud, who has gone to ground in the West Coast, will bring back LLIAM. Yet, Maud has obtained a letter of her own, uncovering a hidden truth about Kaitlin… An excellent and topical suspense novel rooted in familiar themes and terrifyingly credible.

The Good Nazi

Within this most recent book from an award-winning South American novelist, individual actions have public consequences aboard a airship on the last segment of its voyage from the German capital to the Brazilian city. Set in the 1930s, the heyday of blimp transport, and it was also the time the leader assumed the role of the nation's leader. The well-heeled passengers are ardent supporters of the government: mealtimes in the ship's restaurant are accompanied by discussions demonising Jews, radicals and worker organizations, and highlighting the desire to curb open dialogue, homosexual lifestyles and “degenerate” art. When a guest is discovered killed, with several illegal periodicals in his belongings, the airship’s commander assigns a rider, investigator Bruno Brückner, with solving the mystery. Quite Agatha Christie, right up to the set-piece final reveal, but there’s an smart twist to this gripping and disturbingly relevant suspense story, as well as a interesting look into the bygone era of blimp journeys.

The Bluff

The latest book from the writer is situated in the town, a town by the sea in Scotland with obvious parallels to the famous town. In 2023, the main character comes back home on the holiday; seeing former pals rekindles thoughts of his teenage crush, ex-schoolmate the young woman, last seen a decade ago at a calamitous end-of-schooldays gathering. His efforts to track her down are met with vagueness, dodging and, ultimately, threats. A second plot thread takes us back to that year, and the young the character. Confused after her discovery that her lover is cheating on her, destroying their idea for a foreign travel, she falls in with an older couple. The two accept her, give her significance and look, temporarily at least, to have the solutions. Skilfully handled themes of guilt, disappointment and teenage uncertainty alongside dark academia create an insidious tingle of fate, though the rushed finale may make some readers disappointed.

The Pass

This latest work starts in the ocean off the coast, with a boat trapped in a gale so violent that two of the eight people people are swept overboard, then winds back a few weeks to explain the happenings that preceded this ill-advised boat trip. Seven individuals receive a strange message telling them that, when presenting the enclosed token, they will inherit a share of wealthy man Logan Quick’s fortune. The recipients are – as they know – unknown to each other mutually and to the sick billionaire. When the story of the legacy hits the headlines, they are hounded, by the media and by individuals intent to acquire these golden tickets, and what initially seemed a windfall quickly starts to look like a liability. A degree of willingness to believe is required, but the excitement is expertly constructed as the writer builds the problems for a propulsive story: get ready and buckle up for some intense excitement.