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Welcome to a new month filled with new mystery and thriller releases! I like to imagine November as the month that publishing puts out all the books that pair well with leftovers and pie — and maybe Halloween candy if you stocked up on the November 1st leftover Halloween candy sale. And, whether you’re a reader on the cozy side of the mystery spectrum or enjoy a crime novel, there is a brand new mystery or thriller publishing this month that is happy to join your TBR pile.
You can solve a mystery with Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy, there’s a YA missing person mystery with the no-memory trope, an amateur sleuth on the hunt for stolen artifacts, a crime novel for neo-noir fans, the final book in a duology centering a heist competition, a puzzle mystery centering gaming, an Australian crime novel with a serial killer, a spy-turned-teacher with a murder mystery, a cozy food mystery with an autumn festival, and a Japanese crime novel with assassins! It’s a great month to be a mystery and thriller reader so get your sleuthing cap on!
When Mimi Went Missing by Suja Sukumar
For fans of YA, missing-person mysteries, and the “no memory” trope!
Tanvi and Mimi are cousins and were best friends until Tanvi’s dad was killed by her mom and Mimi became part of the “it” crowd. While spying on a party, Tanvi took an incriminating photo of Mimi, then Mimi went missing and Tanvi woke up with no memory of how her body got so many bruises…
In Want of a Suspect (A Lizzie and Darcy Mystery #1) by Tirzah Price
For fans of fun spins on Pride & Prejudice, and murder mysteries!
Lizzie Bennet is London’s first woman solicitor and she’s currently working at her father’s law firm. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is a Pemberley solicitor. Their relationship will be put to the test when Lizzie gets a warehouse fire case that puts her life in danger after a witness is murdered — and there’s the pesky issue of speculation about how much unchaperoned time Lizzie and Darcy are spending together!
This starts a series, so it is a great place to begin, but if you want even more delightful mysteries in this world, it’s a spinoff from Pride and Premeditation (Jane Austen Murder Mystery #1).
Silent Are the Dead (Mud Sawpole #2 ) by D. M. Rowell
For fans of amateur sleuths, returning home, a community in danger, and stolen artifacts!
When her grandfather had left her a distressed voicemail, Mud Sawpole returned to her Kiowa Tribe in Oklahoma after years of working in Silicon Valley. Now, settling in, her tribe is under threat from illegal fracking and the two Kiowa thieves who are stealing tribal artifacts have turned on each other. As Mud and her cousin attempt to retrieve the stolen items, there’s a murder and the danger only escalates…
You can start here, but if you want to read the first book in the series, pick up Never Name the Dead!
The Last King of California by Jordan Harper
For fans of crime novels, neo-noir, and shows like The Ozarks!
Luke Crosswhite escaped his family’s compound, still traumatized from the crime his father committed in front of him, only to find himself having to return. He doesn’t want to be there, has never felt he fit in with his violent and criminal family, but he feels he has no options or place to go. What starts with Luke sleeping in a trailer on the compound, trying to figure out what to do and who he is —while ignoring his uncle trying to take power and a mounting danger escalation with rival gangs — eventually leads to Luke getting pulled into the life he swears he never belonged in…
Harper is one of my automatic-buy crime authors, with a chef’s kiss backlist, so if you’ve yet to read She Rides Shotgun or Everybody Knows, be sure to also pick those up!
Heist Royale (Thieves’ Gambit #2 ) by Kayvion Lewis
For fans of heists, competitions, and YA duologies!
This starts six months after the end of the first book, Thieves’ Gambit, so pick that one up if you’ve yet to! Ross Quest was raised to be a thief by her mother, a life she wanted out of until her mother was kidnapped and she was forced into Thieves’ Gambit: an international heists competition that pits thieves against each other. Now, added to her problems is the threat of her family’s execution, a power struggle she’s caught in, and a new Gambit — with deadly consequences!
Darkly by Marisha Pessl
For fans of reading about a past mysterious death, gaming, and puzzle mysteries!
Louisiana Veda was known for her game-making business, Darkly, until her mysterious death. Now, Darkly has opened up a summer internship program where Arcadia “Dia” Gannon and six other teens from around the world have won a slot. Quickly, the coveted spots lead to questions without answers, starting with “What is truly behind this summer internship program?”
Backlist readers should definitely pick up Pessl’s Neverworld Wake and Special Topics in Calamity Physics!
Murder Town (PI Lane Holland #2 ) by Shelley Burr
For fans of Australian crime novels, fictional serial killers, multiple POVs, and PIs!
Rainer is a small town that almost 20 years ago had brutal murders. Now, some want to bring tourism and money into the town by creating a murder tour. When the tour guide is found dead, the town is full of questions: was it someone opposed to the murder tour, or is it related to the original murders?
If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Wake, which starts the series with a missing-person case!
Two Times Murder (Quiet Teacher Mystery #2 ) by Adam Oyebanji
For fans of spies-turned-teachers, asked to consult by a detective, and murder mysteries!
Former Russian agent Gregory Abimbola is now living in Pittsburgh, working as a private school teacher and in hiding after an attempt on his life. He’s also full up on solving mysteries, which includes a spy from his past life threatening him into solving an agent’s murder, and a case where a woman wants her ex-husband’s “suicide” proved a murder. The present offers plenty of mysteries to solve, and the past offers plenty of danger as it comes for him!
If you want to start at the beginning of the series, pick up A Quiet Teacher, and for sci-fi mystery fans, pick up Braking Day!
Guilt and Ginataan (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery #5 ) by Mia P. Manansala
For fans of cozy food mysteries and autumn festival settings!
Lila Macapagal owns the Brew-ha Café and is, of course, excited about the Shady Palms Corn Festival for the revenue it can bring in. But the festival also has Illinois’s second-largest corn maze, so she and her employees are excited to have fun and even have a wager on who will get through the maze the fastest. That is, until, her employee is found knocked out beside a dead body in the maze…
If you want to start at the beginning of this mouth-watering mystery series, pick up Arsenic and Adobo!
Hotel Lucky Seven (Assassins #4) by Kōtarō Isaka, Brian Bergstrom (Translator)
For fans of Japanese crime novels, dark humor, and assassins!
Handler Maria Beetle once again has an easy job for assassin Ladybird: deliver a painting. But when the recipient is clearly not the intended person, the job quickly goes sideways. Now, there’s a dead guest in a luxury Tokyo hotel, and a cat-and-mouse game begins. You decide if Ladybird is, in fact, the unluckiest assassin ever!
If you want to start at the beginning of the series in the order it was published in Japan, pick up Three Assassins; for the order it was published in the US, start with Bullet Train!
If you’re looking for even more mysteries and thrillers — from new to backlist — we’ve got you covered with all the moods and tropes!
