Looking for a new mystery or thriller? We’re on the case.
We’ve got a hunch that these diverse books with thrilling voices are the perfect additions to your reading list.
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Star of the North by D. B. John
A propulsive and ambitious thriller about a woman trying to rescue her twin sister from captivity in North Korea, and the North Korean citizens with whom she forms an unlikely alliance
Star of the North opens in 1998, when a Korean American teenager is kidnapped from a South Korean beach by North Korean operatives. Twelve years later, her brilliant twin sister, Jenna, is still searching for her, and ends up on the radar of the CIA. When evidence that her sister may still be alive in North Korea comes to light, Jenna will do anything possible to rescue her—including undertaking a daring mission into the heart of the regime.
“A thrilling tale of abduction and escape in North Korea . . . highly entertaining.”—The Washington Post
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The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong
A shocking and addictive psychological thriller, The Good Son explores the mysteries of mind and memory, and the twisted relationship between a mother and son, with incredible urgency.
Early one morning, twenty-six-year-old Yu-jin wakes up to a strange metallic smell, and a phone call from his brother asking if everything’s all right at home—he missed a call from their mother in the middle of the night.
Yu-jin soon discovers her murdered body, lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs of their stylish Seoul duplex. He can’t remember much about the night before; having suffered from seizures for most of his life, Yu-jin often has trouble with his memory. All he has is a faint impression of his mother calling his name. But was she calling for help? Or begging for her life? Thus begins Yu-jin’s frantic three-day search to uncover what happened that night, and to finally learn the truth about himself and his family.
“A cool, crafty did-he-do-it thriller [for] readers of Jo Nesbo and Patricia Highsmith.” —A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
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Death Notice by Zhou Haohui; Translated by Zac Haluza
A wild thriller and deadly game of cat-and-mouse about an elite police squad that hunts a manipulative mastermind who is out to publically execute criminals the law cannot reach.
The brutal murder of respected police officer Sergeant Zheng Haoming sends shock waves through Chengdu. He had been obsessed by an unsolved, eighteen-year-old murder case until an entity calling itself Eumenides (after the Greek goddess of vengeance and retribution) releases a terrifying manifesto. Is the manifesto a sick joke, or something more sinister? Soon, the public starts nominating worthy targets for Eumenides to kill, and, two days later, Sergeant Zheng is dead.
Eumenides’ cunning game is only getting started. The police receive a “death notice,” a chilling note announcing the killer’s next target, the crimes they have committed, and the date of their execution. The note is both a challenge and a taunt to the police. When the first victim dies in public, under their complete protection, the police are left stunned. More death notices are coming. The chase is on.
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Broken Places by Tracy Clark
When former cop Cass Raines stumbles across the dead body of a respected member of the community, it’s up to her to prove a murderer is on the loose . . .
Deeply traumatized by an incident, Cass resigned from the Chicago PD, leaving one less female African-American on the force. Now she’s the head of a one-woman private investigation agency. When Father Ray asks Cass to look into a recent spate of vandalism at his church, she readily agrees to handle the case. But only hours later she’s horrified to discover his murdered body in the church confessional, a dead gangbanger sprawled out nearby.
The lead detective assigned to the case is all too ready to dismiss it, but a late-night random theft doesn’t seem like much of a motive at a cash-strapped parish like Saint Brendan’s and, badge or no badge, Cass intends to see justice one.
The Dark Maidens by Rikako Akiyoshi
In this Rashomon-style mystery story, each member of a high-school literature club presents her own version of the death of the group’s leader.
At a prestigious girl’s school, a student has died. Itsumi was the most beautiful, charismatic, and popular girl at St. Mary’s Academy for Girls. She was also the president of the exclusive and tight-knit Literature Club. One week after her death, the members of her beloved club gather in her memory. But as they each testify to what happened in the days leading up to the tragic event, their accusations turn shocking. In this glittering and gripping murder mystery, everyone has their own motivations and version of the truth.
Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
Inspired in part by the woman who made history as India’s first female attorney, The Widows of Malabar Hill is a richly wrought story of multicultural 1920s Bombay and an atmospheric historical mystery.
Perveen Mistry is investigating a suspicious will on behalf of three Muslim widows living in full purdah when the case takes a turn toward the murderous.
Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen examines the paperwork, she notices something strange: all three of the wives have signed over their full inheritance to a charity. What will they live on?
Perveen is suspicious, especially since one of the widows has signed her form with an X—meaning she probably couldn’t even read the document. The Farid widows live in strict seclusion, never leaving the women’s quarters. Are they being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous guardian? Perveen realizes her instincts were correct when tensions escalate to murder. Now it is her responsibility to figure out what really happened on Malabar Hill, and to ensure that no innocent women or children are in further danger.
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Little Reunions by Eileen Chang; Translated by Martin Merz and Jane Weizhen Pan
A autobiographical depiction of class privilege, bad romance, and political intrigue during World War II in China.
Eileen Chang’s dark romance opens with Julie, living at a convent school in Hong Kong on the eve of the Japanese invasion. Her mother, Rachel, long divorced from Julie’s opium-addict father, saunters around the world with various lovers. Recollections of Julie’s horrifying but privileged childhood in Shanghai clash with a flamboyant, sometimes incestuous cast of relations that crowd her life. Eventually, back in Shanghai, she meets the magnetic Chih-yung, a traitor who collaborates with the Japanese puppet regime. Soon they’re in the throes of an impassioned love affair that swings back and forth between ardor and anxiety, secrecy and ruin. Like Julie’s relationship with her mother, her marriage to Chih-yung is marked by long stretches of separation interspersed with unexpected little reunions.
Bad Men and Wicked Women by Eric Jerome Dickey
With the strong characters, heart-pounding action, and intense passion he is known for, New York Times bestseller Eric Jerome Dickey lays bare a tale of lust and angst that will leave readers breathless.
As a low-level enforcer in Los Angeles, Ken Swift knows danger, but nowhere does he feel it more than in his tangled romances. Divorced from one woman, in love with another, and wrestling with a strong desire to get to know a third, his life is far from perfect, and it becomes all the more complicated when his troubled daughter resurfaces on the same day as a major job. Margaux is pregnant, bitter, and desperate: she needs $50,000 immediately, and she isn’t above blackmailing Ken to get it. Yet even as the tension-filled father/daughter reunion escalates into a clashing of wills and desires that spread far beyond their family, Ken’s latest contract spirals quickly out of control, and he finds it is not only his daughter looking to seek revenge.
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