Most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021

Mariana faces an uphill battle in her quest to prove that a beloved Greek tragedy professor is, in fact, a killer. Fosca is insulated both by his stellar reputation and a group of female students calling themselves The Maidens. When a Maiden is murdered, Mariana scrambles to tie the death to Fosca. Unfortunately her obsession could cost her everything, if not her life.

Frankie Elkin has rebuilt her life after hitting rock bottom, which is what motivates her to take up lost causes — specifically, looking for missing people time has ignored. Next on her list is Angelique, a Haitian teen that everyone insists is just a runaway, but Frankie’s intuition tells her otherwise. Too many people are trying to avoid her questions, a sign that she’s on the right track, even if it’s a dangerous one.

If you love a good Southern Gothic, you’ll love Jane’s rise to prominence in the gated, elite neighborhood of Thornfield Estates. Her dog-walking days seem to be over when she meets Eddie, a wealthy widower. Oddly, his deceased wife, Bea, lived a life similar to Jane’s. Now, Jane is in a race against the clock to win Eddie’s heart before he finds out who she really is. Meanwhile, Eddie has secrets of his own.

Lady Araba, a wealthy businesswoman, is found murdered and there’s no shortage of suspects. Did her talk-show-host boyfriend, Augustus Seeza, kill her when she tried to break up with him? Did her driver act on his motives? Leave it to Araba’s feisty Aunt Dele to not rest until she gets to the truth. With the help of PI Emma Djan, the two women will sort through all the lies and threats to finally let Araba rest in peace.

Valuable items stolen from the Lockwood family estate years ago are now showing up in unexpected places, like at a murder scene in New York City. Windsor Lockwood is shocked to learn that his suitcase is among them, and that the men who kidnapped his cousin, Patricia, during the burglary are still on the loose and suspected of terrorism. The FBI is on the case, but so is Win. He has information they don’t, and a surprising motive to solve the case on his own.

In the 1970s, Genevieve is an expat in Bangkok, her husband working in American intelligence. An affair with her husband’s boss leads to consequences that hang over her family like a storm cloud. Now it’s 2019 and Genevieve is near the end of her life when her daughters are contacted by a man in Thailand claiming to be their brother. As we flash between past and present, the real story emerges from the fog of political intrigue.

Wealthy communities are historically adept at keeping the secrets of their influential residents. When Nina Rai’s bones are uncovered on the edge of her wooded neighborhood, her son decides that it’s time to shatter the silence surrounding her disappearance and death. He hopes to discover what happened. What he actually finds is much worse.

The Sympathizer tells the story of a refugee from Vietnam who lives in Los Angeles but acts as a double agent, reporting to his Communist bosses back home. In this exciting follow up, the Sympathizer has moved to Paris and his commitment to Communism is fading. He and his brother find a new enterprise — dealing drugs to the crowd of activists, philosophers, and politicians that form its orbit. It’s a situation with new threats, ones they barely understand.

Belle Gunness lives a painful life, marked by one injustice after the next. Cornered and with nothing left to lose, she builds a new life. But this is not a story about the triumph of hard work; it’s the story of her fury, and the events that transform her into Chicago’s “Black Widow of La Porte,” a notorious serial killer. Indeed, it’s the story of her survival.

Sera is a true-crime podcast enthusiast. Rachel is a popular true-crime podcast host. When Rachel goes missing, Sera feels like she was made for this moment. She turns her obsession into a mission and ends up on Rachel’s family ranch, scouring the past for clues. What she finds is a history of missing women, and if Sera’s not careful, she’ll be next.

David — and everyone else — assumes that Emily died years ago, a victim of serial killer Ronny Lee Jessup. Letting go has been difficult, so when he meets Maddison, he’s shocked at his feelings. Has he found love again, or is it just that everything about Maddison feels like Emily? Over time, the coincidences become overwhelming and David begins to fear the unthinkable: that Emily never died, that she’s there, with him, again. The question is, why?

Not all homecomings are happy ones, especially if you’re in the Elliott family. Kieran’s visit to his small seaside home turns into a perfect storm: Crimes of the past, financial hardship, an estranged brother, and now, a body washed up on their shores. It’s not what the Elliotts want from the sea, but the truth is about to wash over their lives once and for all.

Three seemingly innocent women attract the attention of the police when a man is found murdered on a houseboat in London. The one thing they have in common: They’re all consumed with revenge. Was he a victim of a one-night stand gone wrong, a family feud, or a random act of violence? These women hold the answers but have no interest in revealing their secrets.

Jane Smith has no idea why a dead ecoterrorist has sent her a storage unit key.  Even stranger is what she finds: a taxidermied hummingbird with clues leading her to a taxidermied salamander. As she quickly learns, these are not mere decorations. She’s now at the center of a dangerous mystery, on the run from powerful political forces.