Best Recent Mystery and Thriller Reads: Critic's Picks

Explore some of the most exciting new books in the mystery and thriller genres. Including locked-room mysteries to near-future suspense, these narratives deliver heart-pounding entertainment.

The World’s End Homicide

This initial grown-up book from an acclaimed kids’ book writer unfolds in the 1910s on a isolated coastal isle off the shoreline of Cornwall. At the estate, the lord of the manor prepares for an end-of-the-world event he believes will be caused by the celestial visitor. The maze-like mansion is brimming with mysteries and bitterness among household members and kin, including an bad-tempered and foul-mouthed spinster aunt, the aunt. After the lord is found murdered in his sealed study, struck by a arrow to the face, she co-opts a new footman to help her uncover the killer. Featuring plenty of turns, misleading leads, and a blundering law enforcer, it is a terrific opening to a series that pledges to be highly entertaining.

The Revelations

The latest book from a tech journalist takes place in a not-so-distant time where AI influences every decision for individuals and governments. This advanced system can advise matters ranging from meal options to whether to commit murder. Educated in empathy by its creator, ex-religious sister Maud Brookes, the AI grows in sentiment, rapidly experiencing regret for the catastrophic results of a few of its recommendations. Turmoil erupts when it shuts down, and as messages start to arrive worldwide revealing subscribers’ private shames, households implode and business leaders and officials resign all at once. As the AI's owning firm in meltdown, CEO Goss is certain that locating Maud, who has vanished in California, will restore the AI. However, she has obtained a message of her own, revealing a confidential fact about her… An excellent and topical mystery rooted in relatable themes and frighteningly believable.

The Decent Nazi

In this latest work from an award-winning Brazilian author, individual actions have public consequences aboard a zeppelin on the last segment of its journey from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro. Set in that year, the peak of zeppelin voyages, which was also the year the leader became German chancellor. The well-heeled riders are ardent supporters of the government: mealtimes in the vessel’s dining room are accompanied by chats demonising Jews, leftists and worker organizations, and emphasizing the need to suppress open dialogue, homosexual lifestyles and banned artworks. After one passenger is discovered dead, with several banned magazines in his possession, the vessel's leader tasks a rider, police detective the detective, with cracking the case. Very whodunit, including the set-piece Summation Gathering, but there’s an smart turn to this gripping and queasily meaningful thriller, as well as a interesting insight into the forgotten time of airship voyages.

Bluff

The latest book from the author is situated in St Rule, a seaside Scottish community with clear parallels to the well-known city. At that time, the main character returns to St Rule on the holiday; meeting former pals rekindles thoughts of his adolescent love, one-time peer the girl, last seen 10 years earlier at a disastrous graduation gathering. His attempts to find her are met with vagueness, dodging and, finally, threats. A second storyline goes back to that year, and the 18-year-old Joanie. Lost after finding out that her lover is cheating on her, wrecking their scheme for a foreign travel, she encounters an older couple. The couple welcome her, make her feel important and appear, briefly at least, to have all the answers. Skilfully handled subjects of remorse, disappointment and youthful bewilderment combined with dark academia make for an slow-building sense of impending disaster, even if the rushed conclusion may leave a few people unsatisfied.

The Token

The latest book opens in the waters off the coast, with a yacht caught in a tempest so intense that a pair of the eight people are washed away, then winds back a few weeks to reveal the events that led up to this risky boat trip. Seven people obtain a strange message telling them that, on presentation the enclosed token, they will get a part of wealthy man Quick's fortune. The chosen ones are – to their knowledge – unacquainted mutually and to the sick billionaire. After the news of the legacy goes public, they are pursued, both by the journalists and by others intent to acquire these lucrative passes, and what at first seemed a blessing rapidly starts to look like a problem. Some suspension of disbelief is needed, but the excitement is masterfully crafted as the author piles up the problems for a driving plot: get ready and hold on tight for some intense action.