Mystery and Thriller Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2023

Stephen Amidon’s Locust Lane is a “compulsively readable, richly plotted crime novel” (Booklist, starred review) about a shocking murder and the search for justice in an affluent Massachusetts suburb. Eden Perry’s mysterious death stuns the wealthy residents of Emerson. As the police launch their investigation, families close ranks and neighbors turn on one another. Both investigators and neighbors focus their scrutiny on the three teenagers who were with Eden on her final night alive, as well as the teens’ parents, who have plenty of secrets to hide and are willing to do anything to protect their children. Told from multiple perspectives, Locust Lane is a propulsive new crime drama that’s perfect for fans of Dennis Lehane or books like Little Fires Everywhere.

Publication date: January 17, 2023

International bestselling author Alex North is a master of the psychological thriller. Case in point: North’s two previous dark suspense books, The Whisper Man and The Shadows. So we’re counting down the days to the release of his next book, The Angel Maker. In the novel, Katie Shaw — still haunted by a brutal attack on her brother Christopher that occurred when they were just teenagers — receives a call that her brother is now missing. She races to her sibling’s aid. But how exactly does Christopher’s disappearance intersect with the gruesome murder of a distinguished professor, or with the nightmarish crimes of a serial killer rumored to see into the future? A twisting, turning mystery that plumbs the depths of fate, The Angel Maker is not to be missed.

Publication date: February 28, 2023

The Wall Street Journal hailed M. T. Edvardsson’s 2019 American debut, A Nearly Normal Family, as “a compulsively readable tour de force.” In his new novel, The Woman Inside, Edvardsson turns once again to the dark side of relationships and charged family secrets. The upcoming domestic thriller explores the murder of a wealthy couple and the web of mystery that surrounds the case. Widower Bill Olsson has taken on a lodger to make ends meet: Karla, an aspiring law student and judge who works as a housekeeper for extra income. Karla’s clients are the Rytters, an incredibly wealthy couple with plenty of secrets to hide: The wife is seemingly sick and hasn’t been outside in months, the husband is controlling and obsessive. When the Rytters turn up dead, Karla is brought in for questioning. As Bill struggles to keep his life together, Karla must reckon with the murder and dark details from her past that she’d prefer to keep hidden.

Publication date: June 13, 2023

Rachel Hawkins’s The Villa is a gothic suspense book set in a villa in Italy where childhood friends Emily and Chess are reconnecting. Now named Villa Aestas, the luxury vacation spot was once known as Villa Rosato, and it was the scene of a terrible 1974 murder. As Emily explores the sinister history of her idyllic environs, she begins to question past events as well as present-day dynamics between her and Chess. Apparently Hawkins drew inspiration from Fleetwood Mac, the Manson Murders, and the Lake Geneva castle where Mary Shelley created Frankenstein for this mysterious premise, and we couldn’t be more excited to dive in.

Publication date: January 3, 2023

Age of Vice is a cinematic thriller and compelling family drama by debut author Deepti Kapoor. The acclaimed new narrative, set in present-day India, weaves different timelines and perspectives to tell its explosive tale. At 3 a.m. one night, a speeding Mercedes crashes in New Delhi, leaving five people dead. A man named Ajay is the sole survivor, but it’s not his luxury vehicle; in fact, he’s a servant who can’t remember how he got there or what led up to the deadly crash. Ajay works for the dangerous, ultra-wealthy Wadia family, and his search for answers intersects with the lives of Sunny Wadia, a playboy heir with boundless ambition, and a journalist named Neda, who’s dealing with her own moral dilemma.

Publication date: January 3, 2023

New York Times bestselling author Jane Harper’s new book Exiles should definitely earn a place on your 2023 TBR list. The compelling new mystery centers on the unexplained disappearance of Kim Gillespie, a young mother who vanished from a town festival. A year later, investigator Aaron Falk travels to a small town in South Australia for the christening of his friend’s newborn baby, and that’s where he learns about Gillespie’s disappearance. Falk’s interest in the cold case quickly tips into obsession, and as the novel progresses, he begins to question everything, including the truth about his old friend and the vanished woman.

Publication date: January 31, 2023

Julia Bartz’s debut novel, The Writing Retreat, blends psychological thrills with shots of dark satire to create a delicious tale of suspense. Writer Alex attends a month-long writing retreat at the home of feminist horror author Roza Vallo. So, too, does Alex’s rival, former friend Wren. The ambitious writers soon learn the stakes of the retreat: Attendees must pen a novel from scratch, and the best manuscript will receive a seven-figure publishing deal. The pair are instantly locked in an intense battle for the prize. But when one of the other writers vanishes, Alex realizes there may be more menacing forces at play than a rivalry between old friends and the eccentric behavior of their horror author host.

Publication date: February 21, 2023

Alex Finlay’s What Have We Done will be released on March 7, and we’re sure it will be just as delectable as his last psychological thriller, The Night Shift. Finlay’s nerve-jangling new novel focuses on three childhood friends who are reunited as adults because someone is trying to kill them. The trio — Jenna, Donnie, and Nico — first bonded as residents of Savior House, a home for orphaned teens that was rife with neglect and abuse. Now, 25 years later, the survivors must revisit their past trauma to figure out who wants them dead — and why.

Publication date: March 7, 2023

From New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben, I Will Find You is a gripping crime drama about a man wrongly convicted of murdering his child and the shocking revelation that leads to a daring escape. David Burroughs is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison for killing his three-year-old son, Matthew. David knew he was innocent, but wracked with grief and guilt over the murder of his child, he didn’t have the heart to fight. Years later, David’s sister-in-law Rachel visits him in prison with a photograph in her hand: It’s of a boy resembling Matthew, convincing David that his son’s alive. Now David must break free from prison to save his child and clear his name. But will he expose the truth before the FBI catches up with him?

Publication date: March 14, 2023

Dennis Lehane is the New York Times bestselling author of acclaimed crime novels like Shutter Island and Mystic River. Stephen King calls Lehane’s newest novel, Small Mercies, “thought-provoking, engaging, enraging, and can’t-put-it-down entertainment.” The narrative is set in 1970s Boston, amidst a summer heatwave and simmering racial tensions that threaten to boil over as the city desegregates its public schools. Mary Pat Fennessey lives in subsidized housing in South Boston, the city’s Irish American neighborhood. Drama unfolds when two seemingly disconnected events occur on the same evening: Mary Pat’s teenage daughter vanishes, and a young Black man is mysteriously found dead. As Mary Pat races to find her child, she begins pushing up against forces that don’t like to be bothered.

Publication date: April 25, 2023

An absorbing modern-day Western with a feminist bent, Ivy Pochoda’s Sing Her Down is a bold new thriller that we can’t wait to read. The novel centers on two female inmates at an Arizona prison. One of the women, Florence “Florida” Baum, claims to be a victim of circumstance, but Diosmary Sandoval, her ex–cell mate, knows the truth about Florida’s crimes and her inner darkness. Diosmary’s obsession with exposing Florida engulfs her. When both women are freed, their rivalry spills out across the Arizona desert and culminates in an epic showdown on the streets of Los Angeles.

Publication date: May 23, 2023

Beware the Woman, the newest literary thriller from Edgar Award–winning author Megan Abbott, is about a family get-together that goes horribly awry. The book focuses on Jacy and her husband, Jed, newlyweds who embark on a road trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to visit Jed’s father, Dr. Ash, and his house manager, the enigmatic Mrs. Brandt. Dr. Ash’s cottage is idyllic, but the dream vacation takes a turn for the terrifying when pregnant Jacy has a health scare. As she recuperates, Jacy begins to feel increasingly trapped inside the home and under an unsettling amount of surveillance. Is she suffering from an acute case of cabin fever, or is something sinister really going on?

Publication date: May 30, 2023