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Dive into some of the most gripping new books in the crime and thriller categories. Including locked-room mysteries to tech-based thrillers, these narratives deliver heart-pounding excitement.

A Killing at World’s End

This debut for grown-ups from an prize-winning young readers’ writer is set in the 1910s on a isolated island cut off by tides off the Cornish coast. In Tithe Hall, the estate's owner gets ready for an apocalyptic disaster he is convinced will be triggered by the passing comet. The maze-like mansion is brimming with secrets and grudges among servants and relatives, featuring an cantankerous and vulgar maiden aunt, Decima. When the nobleman is discovered dead in his sealed study, hit by a crossbow bolt to the face, she recruits a recent servant to assist her find the culprit. With plenty of twists, misleading leads, and a blundering police officer, it is a superb opening to a series that promises to be highly entertaining.

The Revelations

This newest title from a digital reporter unfolds in a near future where artificial intelligence directs every decision for individuals and governments. This advanced system can recommend everything from meal options to whether to commit murder. Trained in understanding by its guardian, ex-religious sister the woman, the system evolves in feelings, soon having guilt for the harmful consequences of certain of its recommendations. Disorder breaks out when it ceases functioning, and as messages begin appearing globally disclosing clients’ hidden truths, households collapse and business leaders and politicians resign en masse. As LLIAM’s parent company in crisis, head Goss is convinced that locating the former nun, who has vanished in the state, will restore the system. But, Maud has received a message of her own, revealing a hidden truth about the CEO… A superb and timely suspense novel rooted in relatable concerns and horrifyingly credible.

The Decent Nazi

Within this latest book from an acclaimed South American novelist, private lives reflect public issues aboard a blimp on the last segment of its journey from the German capital to Rio de Janeiro. Taking place in 1933, the golden age of zeppelin voyages, and it was also the period the chancellor assumed the role of German chancellor. The wealthy riders are ardent supporters of the government: mealtimes in the vessel’s dining room are accompanied by discussions demonising Jews, radicals and trade unions, and stressing the wish to curb free speech, homosexual lifestyles and unacceptable creativity. After a traveler is found dead, with a number of illegal periodicals in his possession, the airship’s commander assigns a passenger, investigator Bruno Brückner, with solving the mystery. So far, so Agatha Christie, including the traditional final reveal, but there’s an ingenious twist to this compelling and disturbingly relevant mystery, as well as a fascinating look into the bygone era of airship voyages.

Bluff

This newest work from the novelist is situated in St Rule, a town by the sea in Scotland with distinct resemblances to St Andrews. In 2023, the main character comes back to St Rule on Christmas Eve; meeting past acquaintances rekindles recollections of his teenage crush, former classmate the young woman, who vanished previously at a catastrophic graduation gathering. His trials to track her down are met with ambiguity, evasion and, in the end, deterrents. A second plot thread returns to the past, and the teenage Joanie. Adrift after her discovery that her lover is disloyal, destroying their plan for a year abroad, she encounters an older couple. David and Erin welcome her, make her feel important and look, temporarily at least, to have all the answers. Skilfully handled subjects of remorse, disappointment and adolescent confusion coupled with dark academia make for an slow-building feeling of impending disaster, even if the fast finale may leave some readers unsatisfied.

The Token

The most recent book opens in the sea off the shoreline, with a vessel caught in a tempest so fierce that two of the eight passengers are washed away, then winds back a short time to reveal the events that led up to this unwise voyage. Seven people receive a mysterious note telling them that, when presenting the attached object, they will inherit a share of tycoon Quick's wealth. The people are – as they know – strangers mutually and to the sick billionaire. After the news of the legacy becomes news, they are hounded, by the media and by people determined to get their hands on these golden tickets, and what originally seemed a windfall swiftly starts to look like a burden. Some acceptance of the unlikely is needed, but the excitement is skillfully built as the novelist builds the problems for a propulsive plot: prepare yourself and fasten your seatbelt for some high-stakes action.