Here are 15 of the best novels to come out in paperback over the past month, as selected by the CrimeReads editors.
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Lucy Clarke, The Surf House
(Atlantic Crime)
“This daring novel sets the warm and comforting refuge of The Surf House, a sanctuary for traveling surfers, and flips it on its head when it starts to feel more like a house of mirrors.”–Criminal Element
James Lee Burke, Don’t Forget Me Little Bessie
(Atlantic Crime)
“A special treat for all the readers who’ve longed to see Burke place one of his strong women at the center of a story.”–Kirkus
Katia Lief, Women Like Us
(Atlantic Crime)
“A darkly clever thriller about women’s thwarted ambitions, celebrity, the Time’s Up movement and revenge.”–People
Andrea Bartz, The Last Ferry Out
(Ballantine)
“Grabs the reader with a killer premise and keeps the reader flipping the pages with a combination of intricately rendered characters and impossible-to-predict twists and turns. . . . A first-rate thriller.”—Booklist
Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores, Happy Wife
(Bantam)
“A twisty, dual timeline story about marriage, rich people behaving badly, and an unreliable narrator.”—Paste
Liv Constantine, Don’t Open Your Eyes
(Bantam)
“The complex characters plus the hint of supernatural prophecy put anew spin on domestic thriller tropes. Women, Constantine roars, believe your instincts! . . . A tension-ramping nail-biter of a novel.”–Kirkus Reviews
Elle Berman, L.A. Woman
(Berkley)
“Touching on themes of ambition, ambivalent motherhood, and life in the L.A. fishbowl, Berman’s novel is ultimately about the importance of owning your own story—and the possibility of rewriting it.”–Elle
Catherine Chidgey, The Book of Guilt
(Cardinal)
“[A] grand and devastating work … Seems poised to be her breakout: Epically imagined, intricately constructed, conceptually engaging and packed with perfectly timed revelations … [An] involving, humane novel.” –New York Times Book Review
Thomas R. Weaver, Artificial Wisdom
(Del Rey)
“Thomas R. Weaver’s imaginative, impressive debut grapples with some weighty issues, thankfully without forgetting that it’s telling a story.”–The Times
Harlan Coben, Reese Witherspoon, Gone Before Goodbye
(Grand Central Publishing)
“A glitzy, global romp through private surgery rooms and high-security mansions…. Witherspoon and Coben were a match made in literary heaven.”–USA Today
Julia Spiro, Such a Good Mom
(Minotaur)
“Such a Good Mom is a suspenseful, multilayered beach read with grit and meaning.” –The Martha’s Vineyard Times
Kelsey Cox, Party of Liars
(Minotaur)
“Party of Liars is a true whodunit in its brilliant setup and delivery, and Cox has cemented herself as an author to watch in the thriller genre with a novel that navigates multiple points of views, secrets, lies, twists, and a complicated web of relationships and motives.” –Texas Highway Magazine
Linda Castillo, Rage
(Minotaur)
“A gripping, shocking story—fortunately with some lighter moment to offset the violence and tension—from a gifted, award-winning writer who knows how to grab readers and keep them riveted from first page to last.”–Booklist
Dwyer Murphy, The House on Buzzards Bay
(Penguin Books)
“[The House on Buzzards Bay] inserts a David Lynchian dreaminess into a whodunit about a tight group of college friends reuniting on Cape Cod.”
–The Chicago Tribune
Shari Lapena, She Didn’t See It Coming
(Penguin Books)
“[T’his dynamic novel will remind you exactly why we love thrillers like this in the first place.” –BookReporter.com
Camilla Trinchieri, Murder in Pitigliano
(Soho Crime)
“Delicious food, heartfelt romance, and intriguing mystery abound . . . Dazzling.” –Gumshoe Review
Clémence Michallon, Our Last Resort
(Vintage)
“Though she’s written only two novels, Clémence Michallon has already made a distinct impression with characters who exist on a different plane from the rest of us. . . . Michallon’s commitment to these characters is powerful and her plotting is elegant.” –Air Mail
Peter Swanson, Kill Your Darlings
(William Morrow Paperbacks)
“Swanson’s clever, twisty novel is a meditation on memory, marriage, and the dark side of storytelling.” –Oprah Daily
