Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in 2023

I am looking forward to a great year of Mysteries and Thrillers for 2023! January is already shaping up to be a chilling month and the rest of 2023 is looking thrilling as well. What are the Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in 2023? I’m going to tell you!

Looking for Must-Read Thrillers and Mysteries for 2024 – here they are!

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Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in 2023

I’m going to go month by month and will continue to update the post as more books are announced. If you want to keep tabs, just subscribe to my monthly Mystery and Thriller Newsletter!

Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in JANUARY 2023

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins (St Martins Press)

I am a Rachel Hawkins fan from way back in her 2010s YA days. Her writing is always smart and funny. I have liked some of her books better than others.

As I explain in my review (linked above) I think there will be those who love The Villa and others who are perplexed by it.

If you are okay with a slow burn past/present storyline, grab this modern feminist Gothic and give it a try! If you want to discuss the book, check out my Spoiler Discussion for The Villa.

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All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham (Minotaur)

I really enjoyed Willingham’s debut book, A Flicker in the Dark.

I’m excited about All the Dangerous Things because, despite a child kidnapping premise that I know some readers may find off-putting, it was giving me ALL the Mary Higgins Clark vibes.

Back in the 80s and 90s, we did read books like this about moms being gaslit!

All the Dangerous Things soundslike a psychological thriller and has a podcast element. Check out my review of All the Dangerous Things and the Spoiler Discussion for All the Dangerous Things.

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The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis (Knopf)

Hello? Send help. I think I fell into a time machine set to the 1980s.

Bret Easton Ellis, if you don’t recall, is a Gen X novelist, part of a literary Brat Pack of 1980s authors along with Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney.

I read his “voice of the Gen X generation” book Less Than Zero back in the day, but I couldn’t get all the way through his most popular book, so we will see how this goes. It sounds memoir-ish. It’s also 600 pages, so …. wish me luck.

Update: check out my Review of the Shards.

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Exiles by Jane Harper (Flatiron Books)

I’m back in the 2020s! I read and enjoyed The Survivors by Jane Harper.

I didn’t realize that this book was part of a series, the Aaron Falk series, but I’m hoping I can follow along. It’s about a missing mother in South Australia whose disappearance is investigated by Falk.

Update: Wasn’t a huge fan of this one, which I found slow moving and too focused on the past.

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The Drift by C.J. Tudor (Ballantine Books)

I’m a bit worried about this one, as I think it may lean too sci-fi for me.

I thought it was a “trapped in a snowstorm” book to add to my list of Chilling Winter Mysteries to Read, and it is, but there’s also some weirdness about viruses and vaccine manufacturing.

I like to read out of my comfort zone, so I will give this a go and see.

Yes, this was not my usual read, but here’s my Review of The Drift.

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Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in FEBRUARY 2023

NO, I did not skip February. Is February NOT a thriller month? Do we need to read romances? If I find something I will add it…

Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in MARCH 2023

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben (Grand Central)

I’m always up for a Harlan Coben, even after the puzzling experience that was The Match. Thanks to all my fellow readers who helped me sort all that DNA out.

In any case, I always like to try Coben’s books. This one is about a man in prison for his son’s murder who receives evidence that his son might actually be alive. Sounds good and I am IN!

Updated: Here is my review of I Will Find You and my Spoiler Discussion of I Will Find You. YES, more puzzling things to discuss, so come by!

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What Have We Done by Alex Finlay (Minotaur)

I have enjoyed other books by Alex Finlay, including The Night Shift and Every Last Fear.

What Have We Done is about a group of people who were all in the same group home. Now, someone is coming after them, And Then There Were None-style.

Update: Here’s my Review of What Have We Done, which I thought was really fun and fast paced!

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Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado (Minotaur)

NO, this is not the YA book, which is all you get if you Google.

Red Queen is supposed to be the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo of Spain, part of a very successful trilogy that is going to be adapted as a streaming series.

The book is about a female investigator who is drawn into a high-profile case despite her bad case of PTSD.

Loved this one. Here’s my review of The Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado and my Spoiler Discussion is coming soon!

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The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson (William Morrow)

I did a post on What is the Best Book by Peter Swanson and this book was my #1 pick.

I don’t think this is a sequel, but I hope it has the same dark and twisty feel.

Do you need an refresher on the first book? Here’s my plot summary.

Which did I like more? You can read my review of The Kind Worth Saving here!

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Spring Books I Can’t Wait to Read in 2023

Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in APRIL 2023

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

My first foray into the world of Sally Hepworth was with The Younger Wife.

I liked that book, although I’d argues it is more women’s fiction with suspense than a true mystery. The blurb of The Soulmate promises that it IS thrilling.

And it was! The Soulmate is structured like a thriller, though by the end it’s more philosophical than chilling.

I did enjoy it, and you can read my Review of The Soulmate and join The Spoiler Discussion for The Soulmate.

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The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda

I am a fan of Megan Miranda back to her YA writing days.

In fact, in one of my 2016 reviews I said I thought she should write adult thrillers. Was she listening? Well, I like to think so.

I really enjoyed All the Missing Girls.

In addition, I reviewed The Last to Vanish (liked), The Girl From Widow Hills (didn’t love) and her YA book Fragments of the Lost (not a huge fan at all.)

This book is about a group of survivors of a “tragic accident” who are being picked off one by one. Hmmm…. sounds a little like What Have We Done.

My take: I really liked this! It was a bit like One of Us Is Lying, and I am all for that.

You can read my Review of The Only Survivors and join The Spoiler Discussion for The Only Survivors.

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The Last Word by Taylor Adams

I read Hairpin Bridge but not The Last Exit, which everyone seemed to love.

In any case, The Last Word is about a reviewer who posts a one-star review and soon finds that her life in an isolated house takes a strange and disturbing turn.

I’m excited about this one. Is it inspired by this true story of a YA reviewer who gave a book a one-star review and then had an author show up at her door?

This was more horror than I expected, but it was a fun read. I’m not giving it a rating, just in case…

Check out my Review of The Last Word by Taylor Adams!

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Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in MAY 2023

The Senator’s Wife by Liv Constantine (Coming May 23!)

I will confess that The Last Mrs. Parrish was not really for me, but I did enjoy The Wife Stalker. You can also join my Spoiler Discussion for The Wife Stalker.

I also reviewed The Stranger in the Mirror and made a Stranger in the Mirror Spoiler Discussion.

This book sounds a bit Mrs. Parrish — it’s about a philanthropist who worries that her home health aide is out to steal her husband or even her life.

Check out my review of The Senator’s Wife! Plus a Spoiler Post!

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Summer Books I Can’t Wait to Read in 2023

Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in JUNE 2023

Zero Days by Ruth Ware (Coming June 20th!)

I have read ALL the Ruth Ware books and even weighed in on What’s the Best Book by Ruth Ware.

Also check out my reviews of The It Girl, Turn of the Key, and One by One.

This one is about a couple who are hired by companies to try to hack into their security systems. Tech-y thrillers are not my favorites, but I will read whatever Ruth Ware writes. Fingers crossed.

UPDATE: really enjoyed this page-turning, female-forward action thriller – check out my Zero Days review.

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The Only One Left by Riley Sager (Coming June 20th)

So I went into the House Across the Lake with high hopes, and I really liked it… until the end. My Spoiler Post for House Across the Lake reveals all.

I’m excited about the 1980s and true crime elements of this one and I REALLY hope I will like it.

Happy to say that I DID really like it and my review is here!

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Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin (Coming June 20th!)

This author is new to me, but the book sounds really interesting, with a psychic turned scientist teaming up with a police officer to solve a case. I’m in!

Update: loved this one. If you are a fan of Reddit and true crime podcasts and love discussing a conspiracy theory, this one’s for you. Bonus: an odd couple detective pairing of a psychic and a hard-boiled cop. Check out my review of this book!

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Too Late by Colleen Hoover (coming June 27)

Okay, I’m not the biggest CoHo fan, so maybe someone can explain: is this a re-issue?

I did find Verity a twisted, crazy kind of modern Gothic, so I am trying this!

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Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in JULY 2023

Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena (coming July 25)

I really enjoyed Shari Lapena’s last book so I am excited to try this one! And is it me or does this seem like a Neighborhood Thriller?

Update: this was not the Best Book by Shari LaPena, though that linked post will tell you my opinion of what is. Here’s my review of Everyone Here is Lying, which sets out what I did and didn’t enjoy about this book! And here’s my Spoiler Post for Everyone Here is Lying!

Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in AUGUST 2023

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell (coming August 8)

I’m a HUGE Lisa Jewell fan so I had to include this one!

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday.

A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series.

Though Alix finds Josie unsettling, Alix can’t quite resist the temptation to make the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

Check out my review of None of This is True! It has podcast elements too!

Check out my Spoiler Discussion for None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

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Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney (coming August 29)

I was jumping up and down when I got an early copy of this book. I love Feeney’s twisted take on things!

This was a little less dark and twisted than I was expecting, but included some classic Alice Feeney themes and I enjoyed it. My review of Good Bad Girl is here! And my Spoiler Discussion Post of Good Bad Girl is here!

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Fall and Winter Mysteries I Can’t Wait to Read in 2023

Fall! Spooky Season! But I’m a little surprised that my list is so short. Tell me what you’re excited to read this fall so I can add to my list!

Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in SEPTEMBER 2023

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey (September 19)

I chose this because I really enjoyed The Quarry Girls and I got such a surprise!

The Taken Ones is a great police procedural AND the first in a series.

Here’s my review of The Taken Ones.

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Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (September 19)

I am working on a huge list of fiction inspired by true crime and had to add this one!

The book opens on a Saturday night in 1978, hours before a soon-to-be-infamous murderer descends upon a Florida sorority house with deadly results.

The lives of those who survive, including sorority president and key witness, Pamela Schumacher, are forever changed. Across the country, Tina Cannon is convinced the woman she loved was targeted by the man papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer—and that he’s struck again.

Determined to find justice, the two join forces as their search for answers leads to a final, shocking confrontation.

Check out my review of Bright Young Women here!

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The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club #4) by Richard Osman (September 19)

I love this charming series and am very excited about this new installment.

It’s rarely a quiet day for the Thursday Murder Club. They are shocking to hear that an old friend has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.

The gang’s search leads them into the antiques business, where the tricks of the trade are as old as the objects themselves. As they encounter drug dealers, art forgers, and online fraudsters—as well as heartache close to home—Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim have no idea whom to trust.

With the body count rising, the clock ticking down, and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?

Aw, I really enjoy spending time with this group of crime-solving elders. Goals for my older age! Here is my review of The Last Devil to Die! And if you need a refresher on the prior books, check out my Quick Recap of Thursday Murder Club Books one-three!

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Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in October 2023

I like to try a few truly creepy books in October. Here are my picks!

Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead (October 3)

I enjoyed Winstead’s first novel but her second, The Last Housewife, was about cults and not for me. This one sounds right up my alley and I am excited!

In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her father rains down fire-and-brimstone from his pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. The only things the townspeople fear more than God is the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners’ bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights.

When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar―and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town’s secret underbelly in search of true evil.

Wow, this one was wacky – check out my Midnight is the Darkest Hour review here!

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My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon (October 3)

This one could be weird, but I’m going to try it!

Alison has never been a fan of Christmas, but has no choice but to face it. Then she gets the call.

Mavis, Alison’s estranged mother, has been diagnosed with cancer and has only weeks to live. She wants to spend her remaining days with her daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters. But Alison grew up with her mother’s alcoholism and violent abuse and is reluctant to unearth these traumatic memories. Still, she eventually agrees to take in Mavis, hoping that she and her mother could finally heal and have the relationship she’s always dreamed of.

But when mysterious and otherworldly things start happening upon Mavis’s arrival, Alison begins to suspect her mother is not quite who she seems. And as the holiday festivities turn into a nightmare, she must confront just how far she is willing to go to protect her family.

I survived it – what did I think? Check out my Review of My Darling Girl! I also added this to my list of Best Christmas Mysteries to Read!

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The Night I Died by Anne Frasier

I love a good PI story, and have not tried a book by this author before!

Private detective Olivia Welles hasn’t been to her hometown since childhood, the night she died. She has no memory of the car crash or of coming back to life in the morgue. But now, years later, when fellow survivor Bonnie Ray calls from a Kansas jail begging for help, Olivia feels the tug of the past.

Bonnie seems guilty of murdering her young son, who is Bonnie’s third child to die under suspicious circumstances. Intrigued and seeking closure, Olivia agrees to investigate.

Back in town, Olivia finds an unexpected ally in a journalist with his own motives for uncovering the truth. Together they unearth more than they expect about Bonnie, her traumatized family, and the crime.

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Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie (October 31)

I always try to include some underrepresented authors in my reading. In the past, most Native American -themed crime fiction was written by white writers, and I’m excited to see talented Native American writers like Angeline Boulley be recognized. I’m excited to try this one!

As an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd Walker spends her days in Rhode Island trying to protect the land’s indigenous past.

Sad is also haunted by a night of violence she barely escaped in her Oklahoma hometown fifteen years ago. Though she swore she’d never go back, the past comes calling.

When a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, just as her sister, Emma Lou, vanishes, Syd knows she must return home. She refuses to let her sister’s disappearance, or the remains, go ignored—as so often happens in cases of missing Native women.

This one was awesome – check out my review of Blood Sisters!

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Mysteries and Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in November 2023

Resurrection Walk (Lincoln Lawyer #7) by Michael Connelly (November 7)

I am a Lincoln Lawyer fan and have (kind of) enjoyed the Netflix series. (I thought season one was much better than season 2). And sadly, Harry isn’t part of the series as he has his own series.

After getting a wrongfully convicted man out of prison, Mickey Haller is inundated with pleas for help. He enlists his half brother, retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, to weed through the letters.
 
Bosch pulls a needle from the haystack: a woman in prison for killing her husband, a sheriff’s deputy, but who maintains her innocence. Bosch reviews the case and sees elements that don’t add up.
 
Haller has an uphill battle in court. The path for both lawyer and investigator is fraught with danger from those who don’t want the case reopened and will stop at nothing to keep the Haller-Bosch dream team from finding the truth.

Check out my review of Resurrection Walk!

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There Should Have Been Eight by Nailini Singh (November 21)

They met when they were teenagers. Now they’re adults, and time has been kind to some and unkind to others—none more so than to Bea, the one they lost nine long years ago.
 
They’ve gathered to reminisce at Bea’s family’s estate, a once-glorious mansion straight out of a gothic novel. Best friends, old flames, secret enemies, and new lovers are all under one roof. But when the weather turns and they’re snowed in at the edge of eternity, there’s nowhere left to hide from their shared history.
 
As the walls close in, the pretense of normality gives way to long-buried grief, bitterness, and rage. Underneath it all, there’s the nagging feeling that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be. And before the weekend is through, the truth will be unleashed—no matter the cost. . . .

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The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (November 28)

Molly is back. If you’re a regular reader, you know that The Maid wasn’t my absolute favorite, but I am willing to give the sequel a try. It has mixed reviews on Goodreads so far, so we will see!

Molly Gray is not like anyone else but has risen through the ranks of the Regency Grand Hotel to become Head Maid. But just as her life reaches a pinnacle state of perfection, her world is turned upside down when J.D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead on the hotel’s tea room floor.

Detective Stark, Molly’s old foe, investigates, and everyone wants to know: who killed J.D. Grimthorpe? 

Molly knows she alone holds the key to unlocking the killer’s identity. Long ago, she knew J.D. Grimthorpe. Molly begins to comb her memory for clues, revisiting her childhood and the mysterious Grimthorpe mansion where she and her dearly departed Gran once worked side by side.

With the entire hotel under investigation, Molly must solve the mystery post-haste. If there’s one thing Molly knows for sure, it’s that dirty secrets don’t stay buried forever…

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Holiday Thriller Novellas I Am Going to Try in 2023

I don’t mean cozy mysteries, with hot chocolate and flirting at the Christmas tree lot. I mean THRILLERS. I didn’t know this was a thing, and maybe it wasn’t? And I think these are all novellas, which usually aren’t my thing but I am giving them a try! Here’s my list!

Note: My Darling Girl (above on the October list) also seems to take place at Christmas, so check that one out!

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The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson (novella; October 17)

Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley.

She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma’s aloof and handsome brother. But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub.

Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she’d ever imagined?

Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later.

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The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett (novella; October 24)

The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof.

But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theater enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes.

Of course, there’s also the matter of the dead body onstage. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they investigate Christmas letters, examine emails, and pore over police transcripts to identify both the victim and killer before the curtain closes on their holiday production—for good.

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Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger (novella; October 24)

Madeline Martin, owner of The Next Chapter Bookshop, is not thrilled when a true crime podcaster drifts into her shop right before Christmas. He seems intent on digging up events that Madeline would much rather forget. She’s the only surviving victim of Evan Handy, the man who was convicted of murdering her best friend Steph, and is suspected in the disappearance of two sisters, also good friends of Madeline’s, who have been missing for nearly a decade. It’s an investigation that has obsessed her father Sheriff James Martin right up until his devastating stroke.

Harley Granger wasn’t much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth―and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed―and some want reopened. And he has a lot of questions about the night Stephanie Cramer was killed, Ainsley and Sam Wallace disappeared, and Madeline Martin was left for dead, bleeding out on a riverbank.

Since Evan Handy went to jail, three other young women have gone missing, most recently a young college dropout named Lolly. Five young women missing in the same area in a decade. Are they connected? Was Evan Handy innocent after all? Or was there some else there that night? Someone who is still satisfying his dark appetites?

As Christmas approaches and a blizzard bears down, Madeline and her childhood friend Badger return to a past they both hoped was dead―to find the missing Lolly and to answer questions that have haunted them both, discovering that the truth is more terrible and much closer to home than they think.

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What 2023 book are YOU most excited about? Please tell me in comments!