Top New Crime and Thriller Reads: Critic's Picks

Discover some of the most compelling new titles in the crime and suspense types. Including isolated setting whodunits to near-future suspense, these stories offer heart-pounding excitement.

A Killing at World’s End

The initial grown-up book from an prize-winning young readers’ writer takes place in 1910 on a secluded island cut off by tides off the shoreline of Cornwall. In the manor house, Lord Conrad Stockingham-Welt prepares for an cataclysmic event he is convinced will be triggered by the passing comet. The maze-like mansion is brimming with hidden truths and grudges among servants and relatives, including an irascible and vulgar spinster aunt, the relative. After the nobleman is found murdered in his private office, hit by a crossbow bolt to the face, she enlists a recent servant to aid her solve the crime. With numerous surprises, red herrings, and a inept law enforcer, this is a superb beginning to a series that promises to be immensely enjoyable.

The Confessions

The latest book from a tech journalist is set in a near future where artificial intelligence directs each selection for individuals and governments. The LLIAM algorithm can suggest everything from dinner choices to homicide decisions. Educated in compassion by its human “mother”, ex-religious sister Brookes, the AI develops in sentiment, quickly experiencing remorse for the disastrous outcomes of some of its choices. Disorder ensues when it shuts down, and as notes begin appearing around the planet exposing users’ darkest secrets, families fall apart and business leaders and leaders resign en masse. With LLIAM’s parent company in disarray, head the leader is sure that locating Maud, who has gone to ground in California, will restore the AI. Yet, she has received a message of her own, exposing a hidden truth about the CEO… A superb and current thriller based on relatable themes and terrifyingly credible.

The Noble Nazi

In this most recent book from an acclaimed Brazilian author, private lives reflect public issues within a zeppelin on the last segment of its trip from the German capital to the Brazilian city. Set in the 1930s, the peak of zeppelin voyages, and it was also the time the leader rose to German chancellor. The affluent riders are devotees of the party: meal services in the vessel’s dining room are including chats condemning the Jewish community, communists and worker organizations, and stressing the wish to curb open dialogue, LGBTQ+ communities and unacceptable creativity. After a guest is found dead, with a number of prohibited publications in his belongings, the ship's captain assigns a traveler, police detective Brückner, with finding the killer. Quite whodunit, including the set-piece concluding assembly, but there’s an smart surprise to this compelling and queasily resonant suspense story, as well as a interesting insight into the forgotten time of blimp journeys.

Deception

This newest work from the novelist is located in the town, a seaside Scottish community with clear similarities to St Andrews. During that year, the protagonist returns home on Christmas Eve; meeting old friends revives thoughts of his youthful infatuation, former classmate Joanie, last seen previously at a disastrous graduation party. His efforts to locate her are met with uncertainty, avoidance and, ultimately, deterrents. Another narrative strand goes back to the past, and the young Joanie. Confused after finding out that her boyfriend is cheating on her, ruining their idea for a overseas trip, she encounters an older couple. David and Erin accept her, give her significance and look, temporarily at least, to have all the answers. Skilfully handled topics of guilt, sorrow and teenage uncertainty coupled with gothic education themes create an insidious feeling of doom, even if the hurried ending may leave certain audiences disappointed.

The Key

The latest book starts in the ocean off the shoreline, with a vessel caught in a gale so fierce that two individuals of the group of eight people are washed away, then flashes back a couple of weeks to explain the happenings that preceded this ill-advised voyage. A group of seven receive a mysterious note telling them that, on presentation the enclosed token, they will receive a part of billionaire Logan Quick’s estate. The people are – to their knowledge – unacquainted both to each other and to the ailing billionaire. After the tale of the bequest becomes news, they are pursued, by the press and by individuals intent to acquire these golden tickets, and what initially seemed a windfall quickly starts to look like a liability. A degree of suspension of disbelief is needed, but the tension is skillfully built as the author piles up the challenges for a propulsive plot: clear the decks and hold on tight for some high-stakes action.