Happy New Year, everyone!
2024 sure was a great year for fans of thrillers and mysteries, but fear not, 2025 is shaping up to be another special twelve months for readers. We’ll have a bigger look at what’s in store for this year soon, but for now, check out our January 2025 reading guide to see everything hitting bookstores this month.
As always, we’ve highlighted a few titles that we’re especially excited about, and this month’s Featured Selections are The Note by Alafair Burke, The Big Empty by Robert Crais, and The Oligarch’s Daughter by Joseph Finder. Read more about those titles, along with all the other books coming out in January, below.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, January 7th
Close Your Eyes by Teresa Driscoll
Thomas & Mercer
Finding missing children is Matthew’s job—but this time it’s his own daughter who’s disappeared.
When private investigator Matthew Hill picks up the call from his wife, Sally, his world comes crashing down. Their eight-year-old daughter, Amelie, is missing. One second, she was there, the next, she was gone.
It’s the very nightmare they’ve been dreading. Long ago, Matthew left the force after a woman blamed him for her son’s death, promising that he too would one day feel her pain. It’s a threat that’s hung over his family ever since, and now it’s Amelie’s picture on the news.
Matthew knows how these things go—the longer their daughter is missing, the less hope there is of finding her alive.
As the clock ticks and a canal is searched, he and Sally must reckon with their greatest fear…
Holmes Is Missing by James Patterson and Brian Sitts
Little, Brown, and Company
“Best-selling author James Patterson populates his murder-mystery novels with cold-blooded killers and smart detectives” (USA Today). In Holmes is Missing, PI Brendan Holmes has committed the perfect crime—he’s made himself disappear.
Success has come quickly to Holmes, Marple & Poe Investigations. The New York City agency led by three detectives—Brendan Holmes, “the brain,” Margaret Marple, “the eyes,” and Auguste Poe, the “muscle”—with famous names and mysterious pasts is one major case away from cementing its professional reputation.
But as a series of child abductions tests the PIs’ legendary skills, the cerebral Holmes’s absence leaves a gaping hole in the agency roster.
Only by closing ranks and solving the mystery within can they recover all that’s been lost.
See How They Hide by Allison Brennan
MIRA
No matter how far you run, some pasts never let you go…
Two people were murdered—at the exact same time, in the same gruesome manner, bodies covered in the same red poppies…but on opposite sides of the country.
With Detective Kara Quinn investigating in Oregon and Special Agent Matt Costa in Virginia, the Mobile Response Team digs deep to uncover more about each victim. What is the link between the two, and why were they targeted?
Yet their search unearths more questions than answers—until they meet Riley Pierce, the only person still alive who might be able to help them find the killers.
Soon, it becomes clear this case is nothing like they’ve seen before as their investigation leads them to the hallowed grounds of Havenwood—an eerily beautiful place rooted in a terrifying past.
As more bodies turn up, all tied to the same community, Kara and Matt are desperate to piece the puzzle together before Havenwood’s leader sacrifices everything to keep her secrets buried.
The Note by Alafair Burke (Featured Selection)
Knopf
A vacation in the Hamptons goes terribly wrong for three friends with a complicated history.
“I absolutely loved The Note. Trust no one in this irresistible page-turner.” —Ashley Elston, #1 New York Times best-selling author of First Lie Wins
It was meant to be a harmless prank.
Growing up, May Hanover was a good girl, always. Well-behaved, top of her class, a compulsive rule-follower. Raised by a first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations, May didn’t have room to slip up, let alone fail. Her friends didn’t call her the Little Sheriff for nothing.
But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she’s had her fair share of both. Their bond—forged when May was just twelve years old—has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly awry.
When she finds herself at the center of an urgent police investigation, May begins to wonder whether Lauren and Kelsey are keeping secrets from her, testing the limits of her loyalty to lifelong friends.
What had they gone and done?
The Note is a page-turner of the highest order from one of our greatest contemporary suspense writers.
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
Dutton
From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back.
Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. That is until an unbearable tragedy strikes.
New York City, 1978: Nineteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.”
Meanwhile, Charlotte is now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art. She’s consumed by her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.
The night of the gala: One of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing, and there are signs Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening. Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, and a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return: Egypt. But if they have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.
Tuesday, January 14th
The Big Empty by Robert Crais (Featured Selection)
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow
Grand Central Publishing
Read Scott Turow’s new “unputdownable” courtroom drama from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent, the phenomenon that redefined the legal thriller and is the basis for Apple TV+’s most-watched drama series ever (Kristin Hannah, #1 NYT bestselling author).
Rusty is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea, with whom he shares both a restful home on an idyllic lake in the rural Midwest and a plaintive hope that this marriage will be his best, and his last. But the peace that’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail.
Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron, and when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first-degree murder.
Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness. For Rusty, the question is not whether to defend Aaron, or whether the boy is in fact innocent—it’s whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.
Cross My Heart by Megan Collins
Atria Books
She has his wife’s heart; the one she wants is his. The author of The Family Plot brings her signature “taut, emotionally charged, and propulsive” (Jeneva Rose, New York Times bestselling author) prose to a twisty novel about a heart transplant patient who becomes romantically obsessed with her donor’s husband.
Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One.
A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together.
As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears, even if Rosie’s keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death? And can Rosie’s heart sustain another break—or is she next?
The Texas Murders by James Patterson and Andrew Bourelle
Little, Brown, and Company
In this thrilling novel from a #1 New York Times bestselling author, the great Texas Rangers go on a no-holds-barred pursuit of the most dangerous killer ever to terrorize Texas.
Texas Ranger Rory Yates protects his home state wearing a five-pointed silver badge and carrying a Sig Sauer.
When a native woman disappears on the summer solstice, clues point to a cold case.
Yates, a quick-draw champion, partners with expert archer Ava Cruz of the Tigua Tribal police.
The investigation leads to the edges of Texas’s most unforgiving landscape, where the officers take dead aim with every shot in their arsenals.
Grave Danger by James Grippando
Harper
Bestselling author James Grippando’s legendary criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck is back to defend a single mother accused of kidnapping her own child in a perilous case involving politics and international diplomacy that will test his legal expertise and his marriage.
Jack Swyteck’s new client fled Iran to Miami with her daughter, and has been accused of kidnapping by her husband. The seasoned attorney must not only plan a winning defense. To stop the father from taking the girl back to Tehran, Jack must build a case under international law and prove that returning the child would put her at risk.
But everything in this case isn’t what it seems, and Jack quickly learns that his client is really the child’s aunt and that the biological mother may have been killed by Iran’s morality police. But what role did the father play in his wife’s death, and why is Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, being pressured by her bosses to persuade Jack to drop the case?
Plunging into an investigation unlike any other, Jack must discover who is behind the legal maneuvering and what their interest is. As politics threatens to derail the case and compromise the best interests of the child, Jack and Andie find themselves on opposite sides—with their marriage hanging in the balance. For their relationship to survive, the couple must navigate a treacherous web of deceit that extends from a Miami courthouse to the highest echelons of Washington DC, and spells grave danger at every turn.
The Lost House by Melissa Larsen
Minotaur Books
In Melissa Larsen’s The Lost House comes the mesmerizing story of a young woman with a haunting past who returns to her ancestral home in Iceland to investigate a gruesome murder in her family.
Forty years ago, a young woman and her infant daughter were found buried in the cold Icelandic snow, lying together as peacefully as though sleeping. Except the mother’s throat had been slashed and the infant drowned. The case was never solved. There were no arrests, no conviction. Just a suspicion turned into a certainty: the husband did it. When he took his son and fled halfway across the world to California, it was proof enough of his guilt.
Now, nearly half a century later and a year after his death, his granddaughter, Agnes, is ready to clear her grandfather’s name once and for all. Still recovering from his death and a devastating injury, Agnes wants nothing more than an excuse to escape the shambles of her once-stable life—which is why she so readily accepts true crime expert Nora Carver’s invitation to be interviewed for her popular podcast. Agnes packs a bag and hops on a last-minute flight to the remote town of Bifröst, Iceland, where Nora is staying, where Agnes’s father grew up, and where, supposedly, her grandfather slaughtered his wife and infant daughter.
Is it merely coincidence that a local girl goes missing the very same weekend Agnes arrives? Suddenly, Agnes and Nora’s investigation is turned upside down, and everyone in the small Icelandic town is once again a suspect. Seeking to unearth old and new truths alike, Agnes finds herself drawn into a web of secrets that threaten the redemption she is hell-bent on delivering, and even her life—discovering how far a person will go to protect their family, their safety, and their secrets.
Set against an unforgiving Icelandic winter landscape, The Lost House is a chilling and razor-sharp mystery packed with jaw-dropping twists that will leave you breathless.
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
Flatiron Books
“Her best book yet.” —Harlan Coben
The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.
Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.
Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.
A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible – a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.
Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.
“Magnetic and jaw-dropping.” —Mary Kubica, bestselling author
“Unforgettable.” —Chris Whitaker, bestselling author
Clever Little Thing by Helena Echlin
Pamela Dorman Books
“Clever Little Thing taps into the heart of maternal fear and will shock you in the best way. This one will give you goose bumps.” —Ashley Elston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of First Lie Wins
“Sharp and unflinching—a perfectly unnerving story.” —Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push
A taut, powerful psychological thriller following a mother who must confront a sudden and terrifying change in her daughter after the abrupt death of their babysitter
Charlotte’s daughter Stella is sensitive and brilliant, perhaps even a genius, but a recent change in her behavior has alarmed her mother. Following the sudden death of Stella’s babysitter, Blanka, the once disruptive and anti-social child has become docile and agreeable. But what’s unsettling is that she has begun to mirror Blanka’s personality, from Blanka’s repetitive phrases to her accent, to fierce cravings for Armenian meat stew after being raised a vegetarian.
Charlotte is pregnant with her second child, and depleted and sick with the pregnancy. She is convinced that Blanka herself is somehow responsible for Stella’s transformation. But how could Blanka, dead, still be entwined in their lives? Has Blanka somehow possessed Stella? Has Stella become Blanka? As Charlotte becomes increasingly obsessed, she is sure that only she can save her daughter. . . even though it’s soon clear that her husband believes this is all in Charlotte’s head.
Helena Echlin’s singular, chilling voice holds light to the blurred lines of diagnosis in children and to the vital power of maternal instinct. Kaleidoscopic and tense, pulse-pounding and genuinely creepy, and infused with shades of the supernatural, Clever Little Thing is an ode to motherhood and a nuanced critique of the caretaking industry, a page-turner that will haunt readers long after its epic, surprising finale.
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Vendetta by Brian Freeman
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
The dynamic new thriller in the Jason Bourne series from the world of Robert Ludlum. A lover from Bourne’s past seeks his help when assassins threaten her husband, but only treachery burns hotter than true love.
Two years ago, and with assassins after his head, Bourne knew he had to let Abbey Laurent walk away from his dangerous world.
Now Abbey is back — and she’s married to a top government official. But she’s convinced someone is trying to kill her husband, and she wants Bourne’s help.
Bourne follows the plot into a deadly web of conspiracy that puts them all at risk. But the deeper he descends into the violence and duplicity, the more he believes that Abbey may not know who her husband really is…
Caribbean Harvest by Steve Stratton
Pratton Media
On the run from Mexican law enforcement and the military, notorious El Chapo is determined to expand his criminal empire. He has his sights on the tropical paradise of Cuba. The demand for heroin is growing, and El Chapo is adapting to the market.
When he is spotted in the south of Cuba, Wolf and Parker fear the worst. There are more questions than answers. Could Cuba become the next Afghanistan, generating millions of dollars in opium. The president sees the capture of El Chapo as critical to his party’s mid-term elections.
Wolf and Parker must race against the president’s deadline and use their unique style of law enforcement to stop El Chapo and ensure that he faces justice in a Cuban prison. Fans of international crime thrillers won’t be able to put down this high-stakes game of cat and mouse.
The Dragon, The Eagle And The Jaguar by Rodger Carlyle
Verity Books
“This is more than just a thriller—it’s a compelling exploration of loyalty, power, and the cost of standing up against impossible odds. Fans of Tom Clancy and W.E.B. Griffin will be riveted by this unputdownable novel.” — Ryan Steck, The Real Book Spy and Author of Ted Bell’s Monarch
WHEN MEXICO FINDS ITSELF AT WAR AGAINST DRUG CARTELS armed with weapons even the military doesn’t possess, the risk to its government rocks President Lupita Martinez. Not only is she in danger, but the cartels’ newfound power is crushing the drug interdiction defenses of their northern neighbor, threatening a third invasion of the country.
Ex-CIA operative Thadius Walker and his team—a covert cadre of analytical masterminds and misfits—is Mexico’s only hope. Crossing borders and dangerous thresholds, Walker uncovers a nexus of betrayal that leads to the heart of China. As secrets unravel, it becomes a race against time to dismantle a cunning weapons pipeline that could bring both Mexico and the United States to its knees.
Flatiron Books
From the New York Times bestselling authors of The Nazi Conspiracy and The Lincoln Conspiracy comes a true, little-known story about the first assassination attempt on John F. Kennedy, right before his inauguration.
Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president of the United States, is often ranked among Americans’ most well-liked presidents. Yet what most Americans don’t know is that JFK’s historic presidency almost ended before it began—at the hands of a disgruntled sociopathic loner armed with dynamite.
On December 11, 1960, shortly after Kennedy’s election and before his inauguration, a retired postal worker named Richard Pavlick waited in his car—a parked Buick—on a quiet street in Palm Beach, Florida. Pavlick knew the president-elect’s schedule. He knew when Kennedy would leave his house. He knew where Kennedy was going. From there, Pavlick had a simple plan—one that could’ve changed the course of history.
Written in the gripping, page-turning style that is the hallmark of Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch’s bestselling series, this is a slice of history vividly brought to life. Meltzer and Mensch are at the top of their game with this brilliant exploration of what could’ve been for one of the most compelling leaders of the 20th century.
The Last Room on the Left by Leah Konen
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Kerry’s life is in shambles: Her husband has left her, her drinking habit has officially become a problem, and though the deadline for her big book deal—the one that was supposed to change everything—is looming, she can’t write a word. When she sees an ad for a caretaker position at a revitalized roadside motel in the Catskills, she jumps at the chance. It’s the perfect getaway to finish her book and start fresh.
But as she hunkers down in a blizzard, she spots something through the window: a pale arm peeking out from a heap of snow. Trapped in the mountains and alone with a dead, frozen body, Kerry must keep her head and make it out before the killer comes for her too. But is the deadly game of cat-and-mouse all in her mind? The body count begs to differ . . .
Bookouture
May Day should mark the start of spring. But this year, it means murder… Fortunately antique store owner and amateur detective Bella Winter is on the case!
Everyone in Hope Eaton climbs the hill to Sweet Agnes’ Spring on May Day, to greet the dawn and leave tokens among the flowers. Antique store owner Bella Winter grumbles about the early start, but she has to admit that watching the sun rise over the flower-strewn grove is worth it. And her interest deepens when she sees that one of the offerings this year is a little doll stuck all over with pins… a perfect replica of Mary Roberts, who lives nearby.
Determined to find out what lies behind this bizarre threat, Bella dives into a murky mess of strange events. Mary’s house is up for sale, but someone’s trying to wreck the deal, leaving rotting weeds on her front step. And Mary claims she’s seen a cloaked figure watching her from the woods…
Bella’s half convinced this is all nonsense, but then Mary is found dead, her prized carving of the spring stolen from her dresser. The police say it was a heart attack, but was she literally scared to death?
Soon Bella has uncovered a string of further mysteries. Why is Mary’s nearest neighbour missing? Who graffitied her boss’s house with a warning the night she died? And why would anyone want Mary’s carving?
All paths lead back to the spring itself… but does it hold answers or more danger? And can Bella track the killer down before she’s cut off at the source?
A completely delightful English mystery, full of cozy charm and cunning clues. Fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands will love The May Day Murder!
Tuesday, January 21st
Murder in Bloom by Rosie Sandler
Embla Books
Murder is in full bloom, but can Steph and her sidekick Mouse weed out the killer?
It’s an invitation Steph can’t refuse when she’s handpicked to compete at the prestigious National Trust property Coleton Fishacre. With the country’s top garden designers as rivals and a stunning historic estate for inspiration, it feels like a dream come true.
But things quickly turn thorny when the youngest competitor falls mysteriously ill and Steph suspects foul play. Her fears are confirmed when a scream echoes through the gardens, leading her to the horrific sight of a dead body at the foot of the cliff.
With her trusty dog Mouse by her side, Steph’s determined not to let the culprit slip through the cracks. Uncovering the truth in a garden full of suspects is no easy task, but Steph must trim away the lies before the murderer prunes the competition – for good!
A Killer’s Code by Isabella Maldonado
Thomas & Mercer
A dead man’s riddles—and secrets—thrust an FBI codebreaker into a deadly cross-country race for justice in a propulsive thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.
During a recent undercover sting gone bad, hit man Gustavo Toro died in the arms of FBI Special Agent Daniela “Dani” Vega. But Toro had secrets he refused to take to the grave.
In the event of his death, Toro left behind a video that promises to expose a mysterious mastermind who has been operating with impunity for decades. But there’s a catch. Dani’s team must follow Toro’s cryptic clues on a cross-country hunt for justice, and piecing together his past is more twisted than Dani could have imagined.
But as Dani and her team race to gather the evidence, it’s clear this powerful adversary will stop at nothing to keep their secrets—including eliminating those who threaten to reveal them.
A John Scognamiglio Book
Knives Out meets high seas intrigue on a literary cruise to nowhere in this intelligent, wildly funny locked room mystery for fans of Richard Osman, Anthony Horowitz, Nita Prose, and Agatha Christie!
The USA Today bestselling host of the “All About Agatha” podcast injects the spark and fizz of a Golden Age murder mystery into the present-day, as the ghostwriter’s skills are put to the test aboard a bestselling author’s decidedly insalubrious cruise.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. So goes the adage, but sometimes, even a first-rate ghostwriter and successful mystery author needs to make a buck. Even if that means setting foot on a cruise ship, something she vowed she’d never do. To top it off, the “Get Lit Cruise” is being organized by Payton Garrett, a very popular, bestselling author—and the ghostwriter’s long-time frenemy from back in their MFA days.
Over the years, Payton has reinvented herself. She gained a wife while ditching her journalist husband—who is also on board. And she’s acquired a rabid following who eagerly snapped up the invitations sent to a select few of her newsletter subscribers. The guests, all female, will receive personalized instruction from experts in five different writing genres, while basking in Payton’s reflected glow.
Between mentoring guests, flirting with Payton’s ex, and taking bets on how long before someone performs a reenactment of Titanic’s “I’m flying!” scene (answer: not long enough), there’s plenty to keep a ghostwriter occupied. But there’s one activity nobody expected: solving a murder.
When an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances and several others suffer symptoms of poisoning, there are numerous motives and suspects to choose from. But could it be that the victim wasn’t even the intended target? As the body count rises along with onboard tensions, no one is safe—except, perhaps, for a killer whose scruples have long abandoned ship. And of course, like every well-plotted mystery, this one has an extra twist . . .
Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove
Berkley
To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself.
At rock bottom following her daughter’s death, ex–Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation where he was raised, but the tribe needs a new marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home.
In the past decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some have ended up dead, others just…gone. Now local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save.
Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can’t shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her.
What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.
The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay
Graydon House
Nothing is quite as it seems in Victorian high society in this clever novel set against the most magnificent wedding of the season, as a mysterious heiress sets her sights on an illustrious London family
“A thrilling and multi-layered story of trickery and deception, truth and lies, poverty and riches, that is sheer delight from start to finish. Absolutely enthralling!”
—Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal
A confidence scheme, when properly executed, will follow five movements in close and inviolable order: I. The Mark II. The Intrusion. III. The Ballyhoo. IV. The Knot. V. All In. There may be many counter-strikes along the way, for such is the nature of the game; it contains so many sides, so many endless possibilities…
1898. Quinn le Blanc, London’s most talented con woman, has five days to pull off her most ambitious plot yet: trap a highly eligible duke into marriage and lift a fortune from the richest family in England.
Masquerading as the season’s most enviable debutante, Quinn puts on a brilliant act that earns her entrance into the grand drawing rooms and lavish balls of high society—and propels her straight into the inner circle of her target: the charismatic Kendals. Among those she must convince are the handsome bachelor heir, the rebellious younger sister, and the esteemed duchess eager to see her son married.
But the deeper she forges into their world, the more Quinn finds herself tangled in a complicated web of love, lies, and loyalty. The Kendals all have secrets of their own, and she may not be the only one playing a game of high deception …
Tuesday, January 28th
The Sister-in-Law by Joanne Ryan
Boldwood Books
Would you invite a stranger in?
When Megan loses her beloved husband, Rick, in a tragic car accident, she feels like it’s her own life that has ended. She feels too young to be a widow. Walking around the house that had been their home – so quiet without him – nothing feels the same.
But at his funeral, she sees a face she doesn’t recognise. A heavily-pregnant young woman, with a sweet heart-shaped face that is somehow a little familiar. This stranger introduces herself as Emily, Rick’s estranged sister. She explains how she’s been searching for her brother for years, but – as she bursts into noisy sobs – she knows she’s too late now.
Megan finds herself taking pity on the sister-in-law she’d never met. And quickly Emily becomes more and more a part of her life, even moving into the spare room of her house.
It feels less empty than before. And at first it’s comforting to Megan. But – even when it’s a relative of the man you loved more than anyone – can you trust a stranger?
The Oligarch’s Daughter by Joseph Finder (Featured Selection)
Harper
“This is Finder at his finest—a perfect everyman-in-peril story, first building an ominous drumbeat of menace, then exploding in action and intrigue and triumph. As good as it gets.”—Lee Child
“Joseph Finder has written some of the finest spy novels of our time, and he just keeps getting better. . . . I highly, highly recommend this unrelenting thriller!”—Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor, with Lincoln Child, of the Pendergast novels
From the New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire, a breakneck thriller that marries the dynastic opulence of Succession with the tense and disorienting spycraft of The Americans.
Paul Brightman is a man on the run, living under an assumed name in a small New England town with a million-dollar bounty on his head. When his security is breached, Paul is forced to flee into the New Hampshire wilderness to evade Russian operatives who can seemingly predict his every move.
Six years ago, Paul was a rising star on Wall Street who fell in love with a beautiful photographer named Tatyana—unaware that her father was a Russian oligarch and the object of considerable interest from several U.S. intelligence agencies. Now, to save his own life, Paul must unravel a decades-old conspiracy that extends to the highest reaches of the government.
Rivaling the classic spy novels of the Cold War, The Oligarch’s Daughter is built for the frightening world we live in now.
Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson
Poisoned Pen Press
“Carter Wilson’s next brilliant thriller, TELL ME WHAT YOU DID, where secrets are deadly and the truth scarier yet.” — Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling suspense author.
“The perfect book for readers who love their thrillers gripping and utterly original.”
—Kimberly Belle, internationally bestselling author of The Paris Widow
She gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she’s hiding a terrible secret. It’s time for the truth to come out…
Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they’ve committed to her audience. She can’t guarantee the police won’t come after her “guests,” but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that’s proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.
But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother’s murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother’s murderer is dead.
Poe killed him.
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and The New Neighbor comes a chilling new thriller that forces the question: are murderers always the bad guys?
We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin
William Morrow
From USA Today bestselling and Edgar and Shamus Award–winning author Alison Gaylin comes a slick, riveting, and all-too-plausible tale of psychological suspense where a mother is desperate to protect her family as they become targets of a group of violent conspiracy theorists.
Sometimes the world is out to get you.
Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car swerved up beside them, the young men inside it behaving bizarrely—and Meg lost control of her own vehicle. The family road trip turned into a tragedy. Justin didn’t survive the accident.
Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief and guilt, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after she returns to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and Lily in increasingly terrifying ways. They are obsessed with a young adult novel titled The Prophesy, which was published thirty years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced that it heralds the apocalypse, and social media posts link the book—and Meg’s reclusive musician father—to Satanism. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on The Prophesy’s author…Meg.
As the threats turn violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin’s death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save her daughter, her father, and herself, Meg must get to the root of these dangerous lies—and find a way to face the believers head-on…before it’s too late.
Minotaur Books
Dez Limerick, a man of many skills and a murky past, faces the impossible-a skilled, deadly opponent who anticipates his every move in James Byrne’s Chain Reaction.
Desmond Aloysius Limerick (“Dez” to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. He was trained as a “gatekeeper”—he can open any door, keep it open as long as necessary, and control who does—and does not—go through. Now retired from his previous life, Dez still tries to keep his skills up to date.
Knocking around the country, picking up the occasional gig as a guitarist, Dez is contacted by a friend in urgent need of his musical skills. At his behest, Dez flies to the East Coast to a gig at the brand new massive complex, the Liberty Center. But he’s barely landed before he finds himself in the midst of a terrorist attack, a group has taken over the whole center and thousands of hostage lives are in danger. With the semi-willing help of a talented thief, Dez takes on the impossible task of outfighting and outwitting a literal army. But that’s just the beginning, as Dez learns he was actually lured there under false pretenses, by someone who knows more about Dez, his past and his skills than any living person should.
Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right by Walter Mosley
Mulholland Books
In the latest from “mystery master” Walter Mosley, a family member’s terminal illness leads P.I. Joe King Oliver to the investigation of his life: tracking down his long-lost father, and meanwhile, a new case pits King’s professional responsibility against his own moral code. (TheWashington Post)
Joe King Oliver’s beloved Grandma B has found a tumor, and at her age, treatment is high-risk. She’s lived life fully and without regrets, and now has only a single, dying wish: to see her long-lost son. King has been estranged from his father, Chief Odin Oliver, since he was a young boy. He swore to never speak to the man again when he was taken away in handcuffs. But now, Grandma B’s pure ask has opened King’s heart, and through his hunt, he gains a deeper understanding of his father as a complicated, righteous man—a man defined by women, a man protected by women, a man he wants to know. Although Chief was released from prison years ago, he’s been living underground ever since. Now, King must not only find his father, but prove his innocence, and protect the future of his entire family.
Simultaneously, King finds himself in a moral bind. Marigold Hart, the wife of a powerful Californian billionaire, has gone missing, along with their seven-year-old daughter. Orr is brutish and dangerous, and King realizes after locating her that it’s in her best interest to stay hidden. But are his motives pure? There is something magnetic about Marigold; he can’t help but want her near.
In the latest installment in the Joe King Oliver series, no good deed goes unpunished. Emotionally stirring, pulse-pounding, and undeniably sexy, Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right shows Walter Mosley at his best.
Trust Issues by Elizabeth McCullough Keenan and Greg Wands
Dutton
A fresh take on the classic conman chase novel following two adult siblings forced to play nice in hopes of tracking down the man they believe killed their mother and ran off with their sizable inheritance.
Siblings Hazel and Kagan Bailey haven’t been close for a long time, but when their mother passes under mysterious circumstances an investigation quickly follows, and the siblings are high on the list of possible suspects. As they deal with the emotional tragedy of losing their only living parent, brother and sister are forced to team up against a master con man—someone they once called “family”.
After the silver-tongued trickster disappears with the family fortune, Hazel and Kagan must put aside their differences to track him down. Along the way, they encounter a host of secrets, lies, and double-crosses as they dive into the murky waters of their family’s past. With an unlikely ally by their side, the siblings race against time, unraveling a web of deceit that’s more tangled than they ever imagined.
Packed with pulse-pounding suspense and sharp insights into the complexities of family, Trust Issues delivers shocking twists at every turn.
Thomas & Mercer
In this foreboding journey into the depths of friendship, three women spend a trip together covering up the secrets between them—but when one lie unravels, there’s no going back.
Jocelyn is ready to get married—and more ready to have fun. She plans a bachelorette trip to North Wales, where she can forget about her strained relationship and focus on the tension among friends instead. It’s a welcome distraction.
Her friend Rowan used to be the wild child. But after having a kid of her own and losing the father in a tragic accident, she’s now the ever-responsible single mother, cautious in every way. Except one.
Cadence doesn’t want to be there. For as long as she’s known her friends, she’s always felt disparate. Maybe it’s because those two share a special bond: Jocelyn’s brother was Rowan’s boyfriend, and they still feel his loss. Or maybe it’s because Cadence has secrets they can never know.
As the trip goes on, their friendship begins to crack under the pressure of all the things they leave unsaid…but those might be the only things that can save them.
Murder at the Opera House by Dawn Brookes
Storm Publishing
Four feisty octogenarians. One deadly aria. A symphony of secrets.
Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe and her irrepressible cousin-in-law, Edna, arrive in Romania for what should be a tranquil escape, starting with a night at the opera. However, their evening of culture strikes a fatal note when a demanding opera diva is found dead. Who wanted the temperamental star to take her final bow?
When suspicion falls on their fellow traveller Frederick – the victim’s ex-fiancé who she abandoned at the altar decades ago – Marjorie and Edna, alongside companions Horace and Frederick himself, are forced to investigate. Between feuding family members and the unexpected arrival of a vengeful best friend, the unlikely quartet finds themselves chasing a killer who’s orchestrating a deadly encore.
When a second body is discovered, they realise this murderer’s show is far from over… Can Marjorie and her fellow sleuths unmask the killer before the final curtain falls – on them?
Perfect for fans of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, Murder at the Opera House is a pitch-perfect blend of wit and suspense that will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Bantam
“A stone-cold banger of a novel—a twisty journey through Silicon Valley’s dark side, wrapped in a stunning mystery package with some wild surprises along the way.”—Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter
Don’t call me a fixer. This isn’t HBO.
In her job as unofficial “problem solver” for Silicon Valley’s most ruthless venture capitalist, Mackenzie Clyde’s gotten used to playing for high stakes. Even if none of those tech-bro millions she’s so good at wrangling ever make it into her pockets.
But this time, she’s in way over her head—or so it seems.
The lightning-rod CEO of tech’s hottest startup has just been murdered, leaving behind billions in “dead money” frozen in his will. As the company’s chief investor, Mackenzie’s boss has a fortune on the line—and with the police treading water, it’s up to Mackenzie to step up and resolve things, fast.
Mackenzie’s a lawyer, not a detective. Cracking this fiendishly clever killing, with its list of suspects that reads like a who’s-who of Valley power players, should be way out of her league.
Except that Mackenzie’s used to being underestimated. In fact, she’s counting on it.
Because the way she sees it, this isn’t an investigation. It’s an opportunity. And she’ll do anything it takes to seize it.
Anything at all.
Featuring jaw-dropping twists and a wily, outsider heroine you can’t help rooting for, Dead Money is a brilliant sleight-of-hand mystery. Written by a longtime insider, it is also a dead-on snapshot of the Valley’s rich and famous—and a glimpse at the darkness lurking behind the tech world’s cheery facade.
The Family Inside by Katie Garner
MIRA
“Part Ready or Not and part Knives Out, I was glued to the page and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.” —Samantha Downing, USA TODAY bestselling author
It takes a special family to turn a home into a nightmare.
Since her husband’s unsolved murder three years ago, Iris Blodgett’s life has unraveled. Awash in grief and buried in debt, she can’t pay her mortgage—and now that she’s lost her job, she has no idea how she’ll provide for her unruly teenage daughter, Ellory.
Facing eviction, Iris turns to her new beau, prominent architect Hugh Smoll, for a shoulder to cry on. But the seemingly perfect Hugh offers her something more: an invitation to move in to his mother’s centuries-old mansion while he renovates the property.
It seems like the perfect solution, but when Iris and Ellory arrive at Ravencliff, the family inside isn’t quite what they expected. Iris didn’t even know Hugh had siblings, much less that they’d all be living together.
With repairs underway, the house gives up its dark secrets one by one. Before long, Iris unearths a chilling family history—and the terrifying reason she and Ellory were invited in the first place…
MIRA
“This suspenseful story will appeal to readers of contemporary police procedurals like Tana French’s Dublin Murder series and Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk series.” —Jane Harper, Booklist
Her worst nightmare just returned—but this time she’s ready
1994: When Gardas Julia Harte and Adrian Clancy are called out to a sleepy housing estate in Cork to investigate a noise complaint, they are entirely unprepared for what they find. What happens next will haunt Julia for the rest of her career, leaving her plagued with nightmares and terrified of the dark. There is a serial killer at work in Cork, one as clever as he is deadly. Julia may not be a detective yet, but after the harrowing events of that night, she is determined to be the one to catch him…
2024: Julia Harte has chosen just the right place to disappear. Now retired, with an illustrious career behind her, she has moved to a tiny cottage in a remote part of Ireland, where she hopes to find peace. But then she receives a phone call from her old superintendent—two women have been murdered, their bodies marked and staged, just like in ’94.
It’s happening again. Only this time, the stakes are even higher. Julia must return to Cork to face a vicious killer and the memories that haunt her. Yet Julia is no longer a naive junior officer but a seasoned, tough professional who proves more than a match for any murderer . . .
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.