Breaking into the crime game isn’t easy, but every month, a few brave and talented souls make a go of the mystery racket. For readers, there are few experiences so thrilling as finding a new author whose career is just beginning and whose work promises years of enjoyment to come. But it’s sometimes hard to find those debuts. That’s where we come in. We’re scouring the shelves in search of auspicious debuts and recommending the very best for your reading pleasure.
James McLaughlin, Bearskin
In McLaughlin’s debut, set deep in the old forests of Virginian Appalachia, nature is the most complex character, at once dangerous and vulnerable, inviting and vengeful. Rice Moore is a man with a secret past, chased by the cartels and hiding out as a caretaker on a nature preserve in the mountains. When poachers come on the land he’s been charged with guarding, he goes on the offensive, a move that threatens his safety, the preserve, and his sense of identity. Bearskin is an intense and deeply nuanced novel, as powerful a nature story as you’ll find anywhere this year. It’s also a truly compelling noir that will hurtle you forward toward the abyss. This is a startling debut and an author I hope to return to many times in years to come.—Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads senior editor
Sarah J. Harris, The Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder
Sarah J. Harris’ new novel of synesthesia and murder deserves all the comparisons it’s getting to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night (plus, I saw someone reading it on the subway this morning, which is always exciting with new releases). A young synesthete witnesses a murder, and we the reader are immersed in his world of dazzling color and subjective experience, even as we worry the teenage narrator will not have the ability to come to terms with the adult happenings around him.—Molly Odintz, CrimeReads associate editor
Debra Jo Immergut, The Captives
The Captives is gripping from the start, and Immergut is a subtle, assured writer who knows how to handle the explosive premise: a prison psychologist, on the heels of a scandal, recognizes his newest inmate client as his high school crush. The Captives is intimate and emotionally complex and will keep on provoking you long after you’ve put it down. Expect the traumas and the deception to run deep, but also expect Immergut to handle it all with a strong sense of empathy.—DM
Ashley Dyer, The Splinter in the Blood
A debut writing duo, “Ashley Dyer” is the new pen name for crime fiction veteran Margaret Murphy and police veteran Helen Pepper. The Splinter in the Blood is a solid serial killer mystery with gothic undertones, as the chief investigator into a string of killings is himself attacked and potentially betrayed by his partner, left in a hospital room recuperating from wounds as the investigation carries on without him. Fans of British procedurals will especially relish this one.—DM
Michelle Sacks, You Were Made For This
Merry and Sam and their infant son, Conor, have an idyllic life in the Swedish countryside. Sam is pursuing a career as an independent filmmaker while Merry tends to Conor and keeps house in a spectacular fashion: lots of cooking and baking, a spotless house, and a well-tended garden. The serpent who enters this paradise is Merry’s old friend Frank (a woman). At first, Merry especially is happy for the company, as Sam often has to drive down to the city for work-related appointments (well, that’s what he tells Merry, anyway). Gradually Frank begins to suspect all is not perfect in this picture of domestic bliss, but will she be able to stop what she thinks of as reckless behavior—the kind that could ruin lives.—Lisa Levy, CrimeReads contributing editor
Catherine Steadman, Something In The Water
Steadman may be best known here in the states for her role as Mabel Lane Fox in Downton Abbey, but she’s also got a cracking debut coming out this summer. A documentary filmmaker and an investment banker go on their dream honeymoon, only to discover something rotten at their tropical island resort. What follows would test the limits of any relationship—but especially this one. A fine addition to a year already marked by a parade of brilliant psychological thrillers. —MO
Raymond A. Villareal, A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising
Raymond Villareal started as a public defense attorney, and his experiences in the courtroom and in the state of Texas influence his take on the vampire novel. A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising takes as its premise the sudden appearance of vampires, and the civil rights issues raised therein, using vampires as stand-ins for those who experience othering by the state and as a way to explore growing xenophobia in the United States today. Perfect for anyone who enjoyed True Blood for its politics, rather than its steamy romances.—MO
Daniel Abbott, The Concrete
This hard-hitting debut follows a motley crew of the dispossessed and the justifiably angry, including two brothers—one white, one black—in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a gritty, literary work that serves as both elegy and a call to action. Daniel Abbott poured his own experiences of the economic downturn into his work, and we herald the entrance of an intense, fresh, and raw new voice in crime writing.—MO
Jeremy Finley, The Darkest Time of Night
Journalist Jeremy Finley’s debut novel, The Darkest Time of Night, is a classic mashup of the logical and the inexplicable. When a young boy vanishes in the woods, clues point to an alien abduction in this atmospheric conspiracy thriller. Years later, the boy’s grandmother and her friend decide to reopen the investigation, no matter what they uncover, and no matter who tries to hush them up.—MO
