Fall Ushers In 12 New Mystery, Thrillers, & True Crime for September 2025

For fans of coming-of-age YA mixed with thrillers!

At age 14, Lucy Smith ended up in foster care after her father died. Now at 18, she’s been given the opportunity to connect with her Ojibwe family, the family her father hid from her. But she’s not easily going to go with strangers after everything she learned in the system — and with a bomb detonated at her job, and someone stalking her, she’s not looking to drop her guard… 

This is a standalone novel with a new setting, but a couple of characters from Angeline Boulley’s previous novels, Granny June and Jamie Johnson, make appearances.

For fans of murder mysteries set in a library!

Hazel Lee moves back to her Austin, Texas, hometown when her husband goes missing after some financial dishonesty. But her new library work doesn’t provide the escape she was hoping for when two patrons mysteriously die during a murder mystery-themed game night. Hazel and her three coworkers all have secrets in their private lives they fear will be exposed with a criminal investigation, so they band together to solve the deaths themselves.

For fans of mysteries set in wealthy neighborhoods, procedurals, multiple POV, and officers from different countries working together!

North Wales DC Ffion Morgan has a lot on her plate: her boyfriend — DC Leo Brady of Cheshire Major Crimes — is looking to move the relationship forward while his ex-wife is in sabotage mode, her dog is considered a menace, she’s struggling to find a new place, and she has to solve the murder of a dead estate agent. Complicating things is Brady’s ex-wife trying to become one with a group of residents in an elite neighborhood that suddenly has break-ins and attacks in their luxury home.

If you want to start at the beginning of one of my favorite series, pick up The Last Party!

For fans of old school mysteries and mixed media murder mysteries, where you get to solve the mystery!

In a nod to Agatha Christie, seven people are summoned to a wealthy residence in 1933 London via mysterious letters informing each of them that someone knows their secret. What happens when they gather? Someone is stabbed to death in the room with six other people, but no one sees it. Now the reader—you!—get to help Scotland Yard solve the murder thanks to blueprints, case files, witness statements, maps, and more!

For fans of Japanese detectives, historical fiction, puzzle mysteries, and novellas!

There are two stories — mystery cases — to be solved in this book, which are a bit meta in the way that Watson writes about Sherlock! First is the “faceless corpse” trope, in which a body is found with an unidentifiable face. The police detectives question people and try their best to move the investigation forward, but of course, they’ll need the help of the series detective, Kosuke Kindaichi. The second story, “The Well Wheel Creaks,” is a murder mystery and family drama in which you follow along newspaper articles and letters sent between family members.

If you want to start at the beginning of this classic detective series, pick up The Honjin Murders!

For fans of snowed-in YA thrillers, multiple POV, and police interviews!

At a remote estate, matriarch Emily Vanforte is poisoned during a dinner with her husband, nephew, daughter, and daughter’s boyfriend, making them suspects. There are also three strangers who have been stranded in the house with them during a snowstorm. There’s a teen driving to her grandmother’s; a jewelry store owner’s daughter meant only to deliver a piece; and a part-time housekeeper. The three girls are clearly trapped with a murderer and must stay alive and figure out who the killer is.

For fans of trivia night and epistolary mysteries!

Dominic Eastwood is pitching a documentary based on his aunt and uncle’s English pub that hosts a weekly quiz night. It was all fun and games until a new, unknown team showed up, somehow knowing every answer. While an obsession with who the new team is—and how they’re winning—grows, the body of a known cheater is found floating in a local river.

For fans of twisty murder mysteries with family drama and corporate satire!

In past and present storylines, we follow Nicole Underwood. A year ago, she was the assistant to a Fortune 500’s founder, Bridget Chambers, until she died in a car accident. Nicole, through loyalty, moved to assisting Bridget’s son Xander, who turned out to be a nightmare and died during a party planned by Nicole. Whoopsie. Now she’s on a movie set, based on those events, but nothing is going right, and she’s really only there to solve Bridget’s death…

For fans of decades-spanning PI mysteries!
This is a great series that started publishing in the ‘90s with a setting of L.A. in the 1940s ( Devil in a Blue Dress ). Now the setting is the 1970s, and PI Easy Rawlins is in his ‘50s and still in L.A.. His former girlfriend is back in his life, his daughter is with a school group in France, and his business is doing well, but nothing is ever easy for Easy (sorry, too easy). His new case comes from Santangelo Burris, who is demanding that Easy find his auntie Lutisha James. Lucky for readers it’s not a straightforward missing person case, because the more Easy tries to investigate, the more daunting the case gets, especially when tortured bodies are found.

For fans of mystery and romance blends!

Fiona Addai must team up with PI Maurice Bennett after she gets caught trying to get her dead brother’s invention back from the company that stole it. It’s truly bad luck for her that there’s a dead body. But nothing is simple. While Fiona demands that Maurice teach her how to be a real-life sleuth, Maurice has never been able to let go of an unsolved case involving Fiona’s father’s megachurch.

For fans of Icelandic procedurals and missing person cases!

If you’re aware of the real-life story of Agatha Christie, this may sound familiar to you: a bestselling author has disappeared! In this fictional 2012 case, Icelandic crime author Elín S. Jónsdóttir has disappeared, and detective Helgi Reykdal has been assigned the case. But interviewing those in Elín’s life reveals people’s private lives are different from what you see, and as the story flashes back to the ‘60s, ‘70s, and early aughts, the pieces start to be revealed.

For fans of New Zealand-set stories and atmospheric crime dramas!

Decades ago, Effie escaped her family’s remote wilderness lifestyle and fled to build a new life in Scotland’s Isle of Skye. But now a young girl, covered in blood, has appeared near the wilderness she ran away from. The girl doesn’t speak, has witnessed a murder, and looks like Effie, which leads Effie to return and face the past…