Is there a better time of year than October to immerse yourself in a great juicy mystery or wonderfully heart-pulsing thriller? I think not. As we head into “spooky season”, plenty of excellent, new books which fit that very bill hit the shelves. From Ian Rankin’s first stand-alone crime novel in two decades to the latest Jack Reacher book from Lee and Andrew Child, here is our pick of the best…
The Heights by Ian Rankin
The first stand-alone thriller in 20 years from one of Britain’s most read crime writers – best known for his Inspector Rebus series – is set in the rarefied world of London’s wealthy, where a night concierge of an opulent apartment block is murdered. Enter Detective Gillian Gish, who must decipher which of the residents are lying.
Orion, £25
London Station by David McCloskey
Five thrillers in and the former CIA staffer does not let you down. His latest explores whether the special relationship between the US and UK might not be so special after all, with MI6 and the CIA spying on each other and agents mysteriously dying.
Swift Press, £25
Revenge Plot by Stephanie Wrobel
Arnie is an aspiring author who has just completed his perfect manuscript. All he needs to do is get signed by his dream literary agent, Claudia. Sure, she has rejected him before, but this time she will have no choice to say yes – the book is about her, and he knows exactly where she’s spending Christmas.
Michael Joseph, £18.99
The Natural Order by Matthew Aldrich
At 122, tech mogul Paul looks half his age thanks to the developments of his own company. But when his estranged son is threatened, things soon get messy in this thriller which already has a film adaptation in the works (to be written and directed by Barry Jenkins and starring Glen Powell).
Michael Joseph, £18.99
The Fifteenth Man by William Cook
In 1942, 15 men in the Third Reich hold a secret meeting. 50 years later, in West Berlin, journalist Michael Braun is making a living by tracking down and selling stories about former Nazis – and comes across a lead that may take him to the head of the Gestapo.
Viper, £16.99
The Man with the Golden Compass by Vaseem Khan
The latest instalment to Khan’s series set in the universe of James Bond – written with the blessing of Ian Flemming’s estate – sees Q hired by the police to finally crack the unsolved murder of a tech millionaire-turned-online antique dealer.
Zaffre, £20
Watch the Quiet Snow by Mick Herron
Bringing the five Slough House novellas together in one volume for the first time, this eminently gift-worthy collection has espionage, drama and dark secrets aplenty. Read it to remind yourself just why Herron has been hailed the spy writer of his generation.
Baskerville, £22
Chain Reaction by Lee and Andrew Child
When one of her colleagues is murdered, Pentagon worker General Susan Turner needs someone on the outside to help uncover what happened. Who else better to ask than Jack Reacher? The brother author duo are at it again with the inhalable thrillers.
Bantam, £22
Death on the Royal Yacht by SJ Bennett
It’s the 60s, and Queen Elizabeth II is having a smooth-sailing tour of the Caribbean on the Royal Yacht Britannia – until her new diary secretary is found dead in her cabin. Thus begins another charming mystery in the latest iteration of the Her Majesty the Queen Investigates series.
Zaffre, £16.99
The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves
When a woman’s body is found in the swimming pool of a luxury Devon holiday home, and her best friend declared missing, Detective Matthew Venn is called to investigate. With a raging heatwave and a fractured community to contend with, his task of unpicking the truth is far from simple.
Macmillan, £22
The Stretch by Martina Cole
The million-copy bestselling author of the DI Kate Burrows series is back with a stand-alone thriller, in which a man has just been sentenced to prison for life. Meanwhile, things get rather complicated for the people he leaves behind in this story of family, vengeance and betrayal.
Headline, £25
The Witch by Freida McFadden
The mega-selling author of The Housemaid returns with a haunting psychological thriller, just in time for Halloween. It follows newly unemployed Julia, who winds up in her grandmother’s 17th-century home in rural Massachusetts, where she uncovers a sinister past.
Poisoned Pen Press, £22
Adam and Eve by Jeffrey Archer
The final novel from the late author and politician takes its eponymous characters, born within the hour of each other in 1918, and traces their history-altering lives over the century that follows.
HarperCollins, £22
Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Four decades after King and Straub first collaborated for The Talisman, they return with the epic finale to the trilogy – though it can also be read as a stand-alone. In it, Jack Sawyer (who was 12 in the first book), is a retired policeman sent on an otherworldly adventure involving a gang of infected teenagers.
Hodder & Stoughton, £25
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