The CrimeReads editors select the best month’s new novels in crime fiction, mystery, and thrillers.
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Peter Swanson, The Kind Worth Saving
(William Morrow)
High school English teacher turned private investigator Henry Kimball is plying his trade in the suburbs when a new case comes through his door: a woman from his past with a husband who may be cheating, a case that seems determined to drag Kimball back through his own past tragedies. Swanson is bringing the keen pacing and insights of psychological thrillers to the private eye genre, and with remarkable results: The Kind Worth Saving is a pitch perfect mystery with all the humanity and depth we’ve come to expect from this master of suspense. –DM
Leopoldo Gout, Piñata
(Tor Nightfire)
This stunningly crafted possession novel is rooted in Aztec history and Nahua religious practice, with an ancient Aztec vessel as the conduit for a powerful spirit seeking to avenge the victims of colonialism. Piñata follows an architect and her two daughters, first in Mexico City, then in New York City, pursued by the spirit all the while, as Gout examines the classic possession tale—an adolescent girl, given powers through her liminal state—and reframes it as a response to racism and the erasure of history and culture. –MO
Alma Katsu, Red London
(Putnam)
In this follow-up to Red Widow, Katsu brings back CIA Agent Lyndsey Duncan, this time putting her many skills to use in London, working an operation to sidle up to the wife of a Russian billionaire. Katsu paints a vivid picture of modern London at the intersection of a vast geopolitical game between Russia, its monied exiles, the British upper classes, and American intelligence. –DM
Josh Weiss, Sunset Empire
(Grand Central)
I loved Josh Weiss’s speculative alternative history noir Beat the Devils, and his follow-up, Sunset Empire, looks to be just as compelling and imaginative. The setting is fascinating, and explored with a seriousness towards in-world logic: an alternate timeline where McCarthy wins the presidential election, the war in Korea continues after years with no signs of ending, and anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia are at an all-time high. In the second in this series, a young Korean-American man blows up a department store in a suicide bombing probably caused by hypnosis for what I’m speculating is going to be a reverse Manchurian Candidate plotline. Meanwhile, Weiss’ policeman hero is under suspicion for the death of his ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth Short, and needs to solve both the bombing and Short’s murder before his time runs out to make a difference or clear his own name. –MO
Joyce Carol Oates, 48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister
(Mysterious Press)
Joyce Carol Oates’s crime novels really rip into the despair and dread that appear when a loved one seems to disappear. This novel is about a girl named Gigi whose beautiful older sister Marguerite vanishes one night. Gigi doesn’t know where, or why, her sister has left—but suddenly, every single thing her sister has left behind is a potential clue towards a reality that might be anywhere or anything. –OR
Christopher Bollen, The Lost Americans
(Harper)
Cate Castle is shocked with her weapons technician brother is found dead of an apparent suicide in Egypt, but Egyptian authorities and her brother’s bosses are sure that Eric Castle died by his own hand. Cate heads out to Cairo to find out the truth with the help of a young local named Omar, but the two run into plenty of roadblocks on their way to the unpleasant truth. Complicated, thrilling, but sensitive, Bollen’s latest is another elegant new entry from a leading voice in the field. –MO
Cynthia Pelayo, The Shoemaker’s Magician
(Agora)
In the second book of Pelayo’s Chicago Saga, an old movie palace and an icon of horror film culture may be the keys to solving a gruesome new homicide. Pelayo brings out the city’s gothic culture with loving care and plots an invigorating mystery with compelling characters. –DM
Owen King, The Curator
(Scribner, March 7)
In Owen King’s delightful new fantasy, The Curator, a revolution has upended a fantastical city in which cats are gods, conjurers are criminals, and the aristocracy uses fiendish means to hold on to their place in society. Meanwhile, a young woman seeks answers in her brother’s demise, and may find them in the ruins of a museum dedicated to investigating the most esoteric secrets. King’s novel feels like the heir to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, particularly one of my favorites, Night Watch. –MO
Harlan Coben, I Will Find You
(Grand Central)
Coben’s latest explores a scenario some parents will find almost impossible to contemplate: a father finds his toddler son murdered and is wrongfully convicted of the crime. While in jail, he’s brought a photograph that appears to show his son is alive; now, he has to escape and find his child by whatever means possible. Coben plays out the suspense with a master craftsman’s impeccable technique. –DM
Mark Oshiro, Into The Light
(Tor Teen, March 28)
Manny has been on the road for a year after his adoptive, ultra-religious family kicked him out, and now he’s found shelter with a family that’s also living on the road, gathering their scattered flock together after their religious community was torn apart by intolerance. Manny suspects the same folks who kicked him out have murdered his sister, and he takes his new found family back to the compound to face his fears and find out what’s happened to the person he loves the most—and who betrayed him the most. –MO
