This season, shady characters rely on a host of professionals, from a veteran former PI to a former British race car driver, to do their dirty work.

Top 10

Alias Emma

Ava Glass. Bantam, Aug. 2 ($27, ISBN 978-0-593-49679-4)

Emma Makepeace, a young British intelligence officer on her first important mission, must protect Michael Primalov, the son of Russian physicists who spied for England.

The Bequest

Joanna Margaret. Scarlet, Oct. 18 ($26.95, ISBN 978-1-61316-344-3)

When American Isabel Henley arrives in Scotland to begin a PhD with a renowned feminist professor, she learns that her adviser has suffered a deadly fall. Worse follows.

The Deal Goes Down

Larry Beinhart. Melville House, Aug. 9 ($27.99, ISBN 978-1-61219-990-0)

On a train, former PI Tony Casella meets a rich young woman who hires him to kill her abusive husband. That job leads to others like it.

Double Exposure

Ava Barry. Pegasus Crime, Oct. 4 ($25.95, ISBN 978-1-63936-224-0)

Four years after the parents of L.A. heiress Melia van Aust were murdered, Melia starts receiving threatening messages referring to the murders. Melia hires PI Rainey Hall, who has her own traumatic family history, to investigate.

Girl, Forgotten

Karin Slaughter. Morrow, Aug. 23 ($28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-285811-5)

Newly minted U.S. Marshal Andrea Oliver arrives in Longbill Beach, Ga., to protect a judge receiving death threats, but she winds up getting involved in a 40-year-old cold case.

The Resemblance

Lauren Nossett. Flatiron, Nov. 8 ($28.99, ISBN 978-1-250-84324-1)

At the University of Georgia, a fraternity brother dies after being struck by a speeding car. Witnesses agree the driver looked just like the victim, and he was smiling.

The Rising Tide: A Vera Stanhope Novel

Ann Cleeves. Minotaur, Sept. 6 ($27.99, ISBN 978-1-250-20453-0)

For decades, a group of friends have been meeting regularly on England’s Holy Island. When one of them is found hanged at their latest reunion, Det. Insp. Vera Stanhope investigates.

The Shards

Bret Easton Ellis. Knopf, Jan. 17 ($29, ISBN 978-0-593-53560-8)

In 1981 Los Angeles, 17-year-old Bret, a senior at the elite Buckley prep school, has cause to worry after a serial killer begins targeting teenagers throughout the city.

Shutter

Romana Emerson. Soho Crime, Aug. 2 ($25.95, ISBN 978-1-64129-334-1)

Rita Todocheene, a forensic photographer for the Albuquerque (N.Mex.) PD, gets pulled into investigating members of the police force with connections to a suicide victim she photographed. Her ability to communicate with the ghosts of crime victims comes in handy.

Welcome to the Game

Craig Henderson. Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 15 ($27, ISBN 978-0-8021-5970-0)

Spencer Burnham, a former British race car driver, has moved from England to Detroit, where he has an apparently chance encounter with gangster Dominic McGrath, who is looking for a driver he can trust to help pull off one last big heist.

Mysteries & Thriller

Agora

Arya Winters and the Deadly Cupcakes by Amita Murray (Nov. 15, $16.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-957957-01-2). Arya Winters, a baker who lives in a cottage in an English village, specializes in macabre desserts. An invitation to bake her cakes for an art retreat held on an estate leads to trouble.

Akashic

Random by Penn Jillette (Oct. 11, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-63614-071-1). Bobby Ingersoll has two weeks to pay off a huge gambling debt his father owes a Vegas crook. Thanks to a lucky roll of the dice, Bobby wins enough cash to pay off the debt. But will his luck hold?

Amazon Crossing

Broken Summer by J.M. Lee, trans. by An Seon Jae (Sept. 1, $24.95,
ISBN 978-0-593-46686-5). Lee Hanjo, a famous Korean artist, wakes up on his 43rd birthday to find his wife has disappeared. She’s written a soon-to-be-published novel about an artist like him with a dubious past.

anchor

The Lost Kings by Tyrell Johnson (Aug. 2, $27, ISBN 978-1-66250-528-7). One day, when Jeanie King was 12, her father came home covered in blood. He disappeared the next day. Now, 20 years later, Jeanie gets the chance to discover whether her father was really a murderer.

Arcade Crimewise

The Winter Guest by W.C. Ryan (Oct. 4, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-956763-16-4). In 1921, during the Irish civil war, Maud Prendeville, a lord’s daughter, is found dead following an
IRA ambush gone wrong. Capt. Tom Harkin, an IRA intelligence officer and Maud’s former fiancé, investigates.

Atria

Bad Day Breaking by John Galligan (Aug. 30, $17 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-9821-6656-4). Sheriff Heidi Kick must contend with an armed religious sect that has built a compound in Wisconsin’s rural Bad Axe County. Meanwhile, a secret from Heidi’s past puts her in peril.

Ballantine

The Housekeeper by Joy Fielding (Aug. 16, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-15892-0). Jodi Bishop, a successful real estate agent worn down from trying to balance her career and her aging parents’ needs, hires a housekeeper to care for them. To Jodi’s alarm, the housekeeper takes over everything.

Berkley

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (Sept. 6, $27, ISBN 978-0-593-20068-1). Four older women, assassins who have worked for a secret international organization for 40 years, are forced to retire and take an all-expenses-paid vacation in which they become targets of one of their own.

BITTER LEMON

There Are No Happy Loves by Sergio Olguín, trans. by Miranda France (Sept. 6, $27, ISBN 978-1-593-91339-471-4). Reporter Veronica Rosenthal investigates a case involving the Catholic church in Argentina and the abuse of vulnerable girls and young mothers.

Blackstone

The Zero Night: A Jonathan Stride Novel by Brian Freeman (Nov. 1, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-09-408234-9). A Duluth, Minn., lawyer claims he paid the ransom to the men who kidnapped his wife and who remains missing. Jonathan Stride of the Duluth PD suspects the lawyer may be behind the crime.

CamCat

The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon by Marcy McCreary (Sept. 6, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-7443-0402-2). Members of the family that owns a Catskills hotel are worried when skeletal remains are discovered that could belong to a coffee shop waitress at the hotel who disappeared decades earlier.

Camel

Look Twice: A Johanna Hudson Mystery by R. Franklin James (Aug. 9, $16.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-942078-96-8). At a homeless shelter, genealogist Johanna meets JW, an impoverished young woman who claims she witnessed the killing of a Silicon Valley tycoon’s daughter. JW could really use the $1 million reward.

CROOKED LANE

Dear Little Corpses by Nicola Upson (Aug. 9, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-64385-902-6). After the start of WWII in 1939, author Josephine Tey investigates when one of the thousands of children evacuated from London goes missing in the English countryside.

Delacorte

No Plan B: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee and Andrew Child (Oct. 25, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-984818-54-6). In a Colorado town, one witness thinks he sees a woman throw herself in front of a bus in what’s ruled a suicide. Another witness, Jack Reacher, decides to follow the man he saw push her.

Doubleday

Secrets Typed in Blood: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery by Stephen Spotswood (Dec. 13, $28, ISBN 978-0-385-54926-4). In 1947 New York City, mystery writer Holly Quick asks Willowjean “Will” Parker and her boss, famed detective Lillian Pentecost, to help catch the killer committing crimes inspired by Holly’s fiction.

Dutton

The Shadow Murders: A Depart-
ment Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen, trans. by William Frost (Sept. 27, $28, ISBN 978-1-5247-4258-4). When an older woman dies apparently by suicide, the detectives at Copenhagen’s cold cases division come to believe it’s a murder related to an unsolved cold case from decades ago.

ECW

Fenian Street: A Mystery by Anne Emery (Sept. 13, $17.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-77041-388-7). In 1970s Dublin, Shay Rynne decides to join the Irish police after a friend’s murder goes unsolved. In his effort to find the killer, Shay makes an enemy of the detective who failed to solve the case in the initial investigation.

Forge

Paperback Jack by Loren D. Estleman (Nov. 15, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-250-82731-9). Right after WWII, hack writer Jacob Heppleman discovers a new publishing racket: paperback novels. His success as the author of bestselling crime novels brings him into contact with some disreputable characters.

Grand Central

Overkill by Sandra Brown (Aug. 16, $29, ISBN 978-1-5387-5201-2). Former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Zach Bridger is shocked to learn that he has medical power of attorney over his ex-wife, who’s on life support after a violent assault. Should he keep her on life
support or take her off?

Graydon House

Someone Had to Do It by Amber and Danielle Brown (Dec. 27, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5258-9996-6). Brandi Maxwell, an intern at the Manhattan fashion house Simon Van Doren, overhears something she shouldn’t that intertwines her fate with Simon’s daughter, Taylor, who’s in conflict with Simon.

Hanover Square

Seventeen: Last Man Standing by John Brownlow (Nov. 1, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-335-46959-5). The man known as Seventeen says he’s the most feared assassin in the world. His next target is Sixteen, but he knows one day Eighteen will come to kill him.

Hard Case Crime

The Big Bundle by Max Allan Collins (Dec. 6, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-78909-852-5). PI Nathan Heller gets involved in a kidnapping case that turns out to be linked to Robert F. Kennedy’s efforts to take down union boss Jimmy Hoffa.

Harper

The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz (Nov. 15, $29.99, ISBN 978-0-06-293818-3). When a theater critic is murdered the day after panning author Anthony Horowitz’s new play, Horowitz is arrested for the crime. Only one man can help him—his ex-detective pal, Daniel Hawthorne—but will Hawthorne do it?

Kensington

Murder in Westminster by Vanessa Riley (Aug. 30, $26, ISBN 978-1-4967-3866-0). In Regency England, Lady Abigail Worthing discovers the body of the wife of her neighbor, Stapleton Henderson, on her property. The local vicar suspects Abigail of murder, but Stapleton provides her an alibi.

Little, Brown

Blowback by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois (Sept. 12, $26, ISBN 978-0-316-49963-7). Newly elected President Keegan Barrett, previously the CIA director, devises a plan to expand his power. Will the two CIA agents Barrett orders to execute his crazy plan carry it out?

Mariner

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson (Jan. 17, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-06-327902-5). The homicidal members of a family gather at a remote ski lodge, and more bodies begin to pile up.

MCD

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (Oct. 4, $28, ISBN 978-0-374-60595-7). In the near future, a marine biologist is eager to study a super-intelligent species of octopus discovered in a remote archipelago, but she has competition from others who wish to exploit the creatures for their own ends.

Mira

A Mother Would Know by Amber Garza (Dec. 13, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-7783-8648-3). Valerie, who lives alone in a big Victorian house, asks Hudson, her moody, taciturn adult son, to move in with her. When a young woman is found murdered nearby, suspicion falls on Hudson.

Mulholland

The Wheel of Doll by Jonathan Ames (Sept. 6, $26, ISBN 978-
0-316-28815-6). A young woman asks hapless PI Happy Doll for his help searching for her estranged mother, who was once Doll’s lover. Against his psychoanalyst’s advice, Doll takes the case, desperate to see his lost love again.

Mysterious Press

A Strange Habit of Mind: A Cameron Winter Mystery by Andrew Klavan (Oct. 25, $26.95, ISBN 978-1-61316-351-1). English professor and ex-spy Cameron Winter tries to understand why a former student of his died by suicide. Winter’s quest leads him to shamanic billionaire Gerald Byrne.

Oceanview

It’s News to Me by R.G. Belsky (Oct. 4, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-60809-456-1). When a troubled Afghan War vet is arrested for the murder of a female student at Manhattan’s Easton College, TV reporter Clare Carlson investigates and discovers the case is far more complex than it seems.

other press

The Confessions of Matthew Strong by Ousmane K. Power-Greene (Oct. 11, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-63542-208-5). Allegra Douglas, a professor at an eminent New York university, is finally ready to tell the story of what really happened with a white supremacist named Matthew Strong.

Overlook

The Other Sister: An Agent John Adderley Novel by Peter Mohlin and Peter Nyström, trans. by Ian Giles (Nov. 8, $27, ISBN 978-1-4197-5299-5). Former FBI agent John Adderley looks into the murder of beautiful Stella Bjelke, the face of a successful dating app company founded by her coding genius sister.

Pantheon

A Song of Comfortable Chairs: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Sept. 6, $27, ISBN 978-0-593-31697-9). Mma Ramotswe and her assistant, Grace Makutsi, help Grace’s furniture store owner husband, Phuti, deal with a ruthless competitor interested only in profits.

Park Row

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger (Oct. 4, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-7783-3323-4). A tech mogul arranges for his sister and her husband, along with two other couples, to spend a weekend getaway in a luxury cabin in the woods. It soon becomes clear someone with a grudge wants to ruin the weekend.

Penguin Books

Disaster at the Vendome Theater by M.L. Longworth (Oct. 4, $17 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-14-313530-2). During a production at the little Vendome Theater, an actor goes missing—permanently. Antoine Verlaque, Aix-en-Provence’s examining magistrate, investigates.

Poisoned Pen

Secret Lives by Mark de Castrique (Oct. 11, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-72825-830-0). Ethel Fiona Crestwater, a 75-year-old who runs a boarding house for government agents, springs into action after someone murders one of her boarders. A distant cousin helps Ethel investigate.

Polis

Among Wolves by Erica Blaque (Sept. 13, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-951709-93-8). Sophia Claire, who’s married to the wealthy, intelligent, and attractive CEO of a pharmaceutical research company, has cause to worry when detectives tell Sophia that they’re investigating a string of murders of young women who were all her husband’s lovers.

Putnam

Racing the Light by Robert Crais (Nov. 1, $28, ISBN 978-0-525-53572-0). A woman with bags of cash hires PI Elvis Cole to find her missing son, a podcaster named Josh Shoe. Elvis soon learns a deadly team of mysterious strangers are also out to find Josh and his adult film star girlfriend.

Random House

Such a Good Mother by Helen Monks Takhar (Aug. 2, $17 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-9848-5599-2). Struggling bank teller Rose O’Connell is worried that her son isn’t fitting in at his new, prestigious school. Then a group of wealthy school mothers invite Rose to join their elite circle—but at what price?

Scout

We Spread by Iain Reid (Sept. 27, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-982169-35-0). After a series of unfortunate incidents, elderly Penny winds up in a long-term care residence. When the days start to blur together, Penny wonders whether she’s losing her grip with age—or is something more sinister going on?

Scribner

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon (Aug. 2, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-982185-57-2). Linda, who leads a nice, quiet suburban life, is married to Terry, who seems a rather ordinary husband. Then Terry begins working at odd hours around the time young local women start to go missing.

Severn House

A Dark Steel Death by Chris Nickson (Sept. 6, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-7278-5047-8). In 1916 Leeds, England, Deputy Chief Constable Tom Harper investigates an explosion that destroys a munitions factory. A month later, a fire at an army clothing depot suggests a saboteur is at work.

Simon & Schuster

No One Left to Come Looking for You by Sam Lipsyte (Dec. 6, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-5011-4612-1). In Manhattan’s East Village in 1993, Jack S., a rock musician, goes looking for his band’s lead singer after the singer goes missing with Jack’s prized bass.

Sourcebooks Landmark

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead (Aug. 16, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-72822-991-1). In college, Shay Evans and her two best friends fall under the thrall of a captivating man. Eight years later, the apparent death by suicide of one of those friends brings Shay back to campus in search of answers.

St. Martin’s

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris (Nov. 1, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-250-27414-4). Amelie enjoys a glamorous life after marrying a handsome billionaire. Then Amelie wakes up in a dark room a captive, not knowing where she is or who has taken her prisoner.

Thomas & Mercer

Kismet by Amina Akhtar (Aug. 1, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-5420-3426-5). Wellness guru Marley Dewhurst persuades New Yorker Ronnie Khan to accompany her to her retreat in Sedona, Ariz. Ronnie thinks she’s in health heaven, until other gurus start turning up dead around town.

Titan

Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Thefts of Christmas by Tim Major (Oct. 18, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-80336-191-8). During a snowy London Christmas, Irene Adler challenges Sherlock Holmes with a devious puzzle that involves items that only appear to have been stolen.

Viking/Dorman

The Bullet That Missed: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery by Richard Osman (Sept. 20, $26, ISBN 978-0-593-29939-5). The four members of the Thursday Murder Club—all residents of a retirement home in Kent, England—look into two murders 10 years apart.

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