The Best (and Most Anticipated) Mystery and Thriller Books of 2024, So Far

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In life, sudden twists are nausea-inducing; in fiction, they’re part of the fun. What makes mystery and thriller novels such stalwart cornerstones of the publishing industry is their dependability: You know to strap in for a roller coaster, even if the track before you has vanished. The best authors take advantage of that blindness, and throw in drops that double as social commentary, emotional release, or (ideally) both.

The books on this list vary their drops: Some are skydives, others are gentle bumps. But all offer a story that resonates in this peculiar era defining the mid-2020s. Ahead, I share our recommendations for the best (and most anticipated) mysteries and thrillers of 2024, from the months of January through April. As with ELLE’s other best-of book lists (including literary fiction, nonfiction, romance, and fantasy and sci-fi), this list gets updates throughout the year—so don’t fret if your crime writer of choice has yet to make an appearance. For now, we hope you find a new favorite and settle in for the ride.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Out now.

A relentless cat-and-mouse thriller, Ashley Elston’s First Lie Wins follows a protagonist without an identity—or, at least, without one that exists anymore. “Evie Porter” is a pseudonym, and a con artist, and Ryan Sumner of Louisiana is her latest mark. But as her attraction to Ryan grows and her commitment to the con slips, her employer—the mysterious “Mr. Smith”—dangles the keys to Evie’s old, real identity, and sends it out to track her down. This is a classic twist-stuffed suspense for fans who plan to read late into the night.

Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody

Out now.

An unorthodox tale for the true-crime obsessed, Rabbit Hole is less a conventional suspense and more a case study in mourning and obsession, refracted through the lens of a woman processing her father’s suicide and her sister’s disappearance. With a particular ire for (and understanding of) internet forums, Kate Brody takes readers through protagonist Teddy’s descent into the Reddit community devoted to her sister’s cold case—and one amateur detective whom Teddy can’t seem to resist.

California Bear by Duane Swierczynski

Out now.

California Bear is a multiple-perspective crime novel about four unexpected collaborators working to unravel an infamous California cold case. This quartet—a hard-drinking former cop, the ex-con he released from prison, the ex-con’s teenage daughter, and a genealogist—ground Duane Swierczynski’s suspense in well-crafted relationships, making their ultimate mission (to catch a serial killer) not only hair-raising but emotionally resonant.

Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn

Out now.

This is far from a traditional thriller. In fact, Dead in Long Beach, California, actively butts up against genre conventions, in spite of its thriller-invoking title and premise: A woman discovers her brother has died by suicide, and she begins impersonating him, answering his texts as if he were still alive. As our protagonist spirals further into grief—and continues posing as her brother—the fictional world of her hit science-fiction series begins to haunt her reality, further threatening both her sanity and her relationships. A true genre-bender that blends meditations on grief with sci-fi snippets, this not-quite thriller is nevertheless its own experimental mystery: Who do we become when we refuse to let the dead rest?

My Favorite Scar by Nicolás Ferraro

Out now.

A visceral, violent crime noir—the book opens with the 15-year-old protagonist cleaning up her father’s latest gunshot wound—My Favorite Scar never shies away from blood, literal or figurative. Translated from Spanish by Mallory Craig-Kuhn, Nicolás Ferraro’s book follows father-daughter pair Víctor and Ámbar, who launch a cross-country revenge ride through Argentina on the hunt for a mercenary. But while the high-octane adventure will certainly entice action fans, it’s Ámbar’s conflicted coming-of-age tale that pierces deepest.

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

Out now.

The author of The Silent Patient is back this year with The Fury, in which he lures readers to a private Greek island with the promise of a murder mystery. But Alex Michaelides withholds the identity of both the murderer and the murdered as the main cast’s relationships unfurl against the sun-baked backdrop of Easter weekend. Twisty and elusive, Michaelides’ latest is a surprising take on a genre classic.

Ilium by Lea Carpenter

Out now.

Every time I begin to fret that the spy genre has reached critical mass, a brilliant soul like Lea Carpenter comes along and reinvigorates the form with zeal and inspiration. Ilium, Carpenter’s latest, is just such a work: The story concerns an unnamed female narrator who marries a much older man named Marcus, who turns out not to be the businessman she’d believed him to be. From the moment he first saw her walking the streets of London, he’s been recruiting her for an espionage role in “Operation Ilium.” Her mission is to pose as an art critic visiting the French estate of a prominent Russian oligarch named Edouard, and aid in the ultimate plot to assassinate him. But after our protagonist endures an unexpected loss, she grows closer to Edouard’s family, and to Edouard himself, finding her morals and allegiances irrevocably tangled.

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

Out now.

This delicious follow-up to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is as winking as its title, perfect for mystery fans whose tastes lean more “cozy” than “frightening”—even if the subject itself remains murder. Australian author Ernest Cunningham boards the Ghan, a train taking a four-day trip from Darwin to Adelaide, as a guest of the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society... only for one of the passengers to end up dead. Ernest and his fellow authors become immediate suspects, as well as amateur detectives, in this trope-targeting take on Murder on the Orient Express.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

Out now.

Here, a real treat for true-crime devotees who relish a puzzle. In The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, Janice Hallett presents the audience with a task: Read the collection of transcriptions, texts, WhatsApp messages, emails, articles, and novel and screenplay excerpts that follow, and either take them to the police or ignore the package altogether. And so we enter the story of true-crime writer Amanda Bailey as she explores the Alperton Angels cult, including the teenage mother who escaped, and the baby—now 18 years old—that the cult members once deemed the Anti-Christ. Set aside time for this one; you’ll want to study it with the conviction of a subreddit.

Since She's Been Gone by Sagit Schwartz

Out now.

Sagit Schwart’s thriller is a nuanced roller-coaster—high-stakes, high-energy, but with a sensitive approach to its subject matter. Protagonist Beatrice “Beans” Bennett lost her mother when she was only 15. Now decades older, she’s a clinical psychologist, one who uses her own experiences in eating-disorder recovery to better care for her patients. But when her latest patient informs Beans her mother is very much still alive—oh, and wrapped up in a Big Pharma scandal—Beans must reconcile her own mental health with her mother’s secret history. Told via dual timelines between Los Angeles and New York, this debut is a captivating feat.

Smoke Kings by Jahmal Mayfield

Out now.

A debut novel boiling over with intensity and ingenuity, Smoke Kings never once lets its characters—or its readers—take the easy way through. Author Jahmal Mayfield presents an idea: What if, in pursuit of both justice and vengeance, a group of friends kidnapped the descendants of racists and demanded reparations from them? This group of vigilantes, called the Smoke Kings, take center stage in Mayfield’s novel, and soon they’ve invoked the wrath of a white supremacist leader—and the attention of a former cop. This sharp book balances nuance with exhilaration, and doubt with anger, warding off platitudes in its search for a deeper, knottier truth.

Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

Out now.

Megan Nolan’s sophomore outing zeroes in on a ’90s crime scandal, in which a dead child is found on a London estate. Reporter Tom Hargreaves finds the scoop irresistible, but Carmel—daughter of the Greens, the family that owns the London estate—understands the truth can’t be captured in a tabloid headline.

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander

Out now.

With strong echoes of Luckiest Girl Alive, Jenny Hollander’s first novel, Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead, plants the mystery in that all-too-familiar crime scene: graduate school. Protagonist Charlie Colbert has reinvented herself after the events of the notorious “Scarlet Christmas”; she’s now a major media tastemaker engaged to a rich publishing heir. But the gaps in her memory of what really happened that bloody night in grad school threaten to derail her new life, particularly as a film based on the violent events launches pre-production. This is an enticing, lightning-quick debut.

Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra

Out now.

Horror meets thriller in this pulse-pounding locked-room suspense, playing off the dread (and claustrophobia) of being trapped in your home with an intruder. In Tracy Sierra’s Nightwatching, a blizzard blows through town, leaving a mother with few options when she spots a shadowy figure standing in her hallway. Hiding with her children in a secret room in the aging house, she listens as the intruder attempts to lure them out of their hiding spot—only for her to realize she recognizes him. Sierra manages to integrate complex ideas about perception, trauma, guilt, and women’s autonomy...without once loosening her grip on the reader’s nerves.

The Split by Kit Frick

Out now.

Dual narratives intertwine in Kit Frick’s The Split, which explores two outcomes of one fateful choice. Sisters Jane and Esme aren’t exactly close—at least, not since what happened when they were teenagers. But when Esme reveals she’s leaving her wealthy husband to come and stay with Jane, Jane has to choose whether she’ll embrace her little sister’s return, or leave Esme to fend for herself. At this juncture, the book cleaves in half: In one potential timeline, a secret bubbles up inside the sisters’ relationship, but they’re together; in the other, Esme goes missing entirely. Frick’s family drama uses its clever framing device to trace the very real mysteries imbedded in our oldest and most intimate relationships.

No One Dies Yet by Kobby Ben Ben

Out now.

Kobby Ben Ben’s debut, No One Dies Yet, is fascinating, funny, surreal, and provocative, its genre-warping murder tale fusing queer autofiction with geopolitics and mystery with erotica. In the midst of it all are Elton, Vincent, and Scott, who land in Ghana in 2019 as part of the “Year of Return,” during which Black Americans were encouraged to return to their ancestral homeland. There, they meet Kobby (recognize that name?) and Nana, who serve as narrators and guides to two different sides of the city of Accra—all with a murder looming over their adventures.

A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian

Out now.

With supernatural components that have drawn reader comparisons to Stranger Things, The Goonies, and It, Vera Kurian’s A Step Past Darkness threads genres and characters and twists into an intricate, absorbing web. Here, Kurian introduces us to the “Capstone Six,” a group of high-school students who come together in 1995 for their capstone project, in which they plan to study the abandoned mines of Wesley Falls. But those mines hold something horrible in store, and the crime they witness there will mark them forever. Two decades later, a former Capstone Six member calls the others back to Wesley Falls; one of their own has been murdered. Only together can they uncover why, and reveal the rot at the heart of their small town’s religious fervor.

Baby X by Kira Peikoff

Out now.

An early headline mentioned in Kira Peikoff’s Baby X epitomizes the exhilarating sci-fi thriller in which it’s written: “Rogue Network Suspected in Black Market Scheme to Steal Celebrity Cells for Embryo Creation.” This startlingly prophetic tale takes place in a near-future America, where famous musician Trace Thorne has employed a bio-security guard to protect his DNA from unwanted progeny. (In this version of the future, any stray hair can be used to create an embryo, and Trace isn’t looking to father children with strangers.) But when a woman nevertheless shows up pregnant with his child, his bio-security guard must face not only her growing feelings for Trace, but what led each of them to this bizarre and frightening conjunction.

The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

Out now.

As bewildering and beckoning as its cover, Jennifer Croft’s locked-room mystery is something like Agatha Christie or Knives Out on mushrooms—ones not unlike those in the book itself. A group of eight translators from eight different countries travel to a Polish forest bordering Belarus, devoted as they are to the forest’s inhabitant, the author Irena Rey. They’ve come to translate her book, Grey Eminence, and they refer to Rey like a saint, as “Our Author.” But within days of their arrival she’s vanished. As they investigate her disappearance within the isolation of the forest, their behaviors and relationships become increasingly warped. As Croft’s narrator tells us: “We never meant her any harm. How could we have? All we wanted was to follow in her footsteps, making them our own.”

The Hunter by Tana French

Out now.

Adored American-Irish crime author Tana French has landed with The Hunter, her second book exploring the trials of ex-Chicago PD officer Cal Hooper. (Fans can read its precursor The Searcher for more context, but The Hunter is meant as a stand-alone.) This crime mystery carries a deep sense of place, dropping the reader not only in the oppressive heat of a drought-plagued Ireland, but in the relationships that sustain readers through the book’s (very) slow-burn plot. At the core are Cal, Lena, and Trey, whose formerly absent father has suddenly reappeared with a scheme to strike gold. The gorgeous writing here is classic French, even as she leads her fans through a decidedly different sort of detective story.

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

Out now.

Darkly witty and vivacious, Amy Tintera takes wicked pleasure in coaxing readers through Listen For the Lie, which aims its arrow at the true-crime podcast phenomenon. Her entry to this world of grisly voyeurism is protagonist Lucy, who was once discovered wandering her Texas hometown drenched in her best friend’s blood. In the years since, Lucy has done her darnedest to ignore that night’s gruesome murder—she can’t seem to remember it anyway—but the interest of hit podcast “Listen for the Lie” promises she’ll be pulled back into its mysteries. And what if she’s the one who murdered Savvy? Does it matter, if that’s what everyone wants to believe anyway? Is “Listen for the Lie” after the truth, or the most entertaining story?

The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian

Out March 19.

Princess Diana is alive—or, anyway, that’s what the audiences in Las Vegas want to believe, and Crissy Dowling is happy to oblige. In Chris Bohjalian’s The Princess of Las Vegas, Crissy impersonates the late Lady Di every night at the Buckingham Palace Casino, where she’s happy to use her Spencer-like looks to support her prescription pill addiction. But when the casino’s owners are murdered, and Crissy’s sister, Betsy, arrives in town with boyfriend and daughter in tow, Crissy can’t depend on the Princess of Wales’ story to cushion her own. There’s an organized crime conspiracy afoot, one that loops both Crissy and Betsy into a cryptocurrency scheme they’ll need each other to help escape. Bohjalian’s latest is a fusion of contemporary malaise and eager nostalgia—not unlike Sin City itself.

She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica

Out April 2.

That moody purple-fog cover beckons readers into Mary Kubica’s bingeable medical mystery She’s Not Sorry, in which an ICU nurse investigates the violence perpetuated against one of her patients. That patient jumped off a bridge, or so the story goes—but, when new information comes to light, Meghan is convinced the woman was pushed. As she grows increasingly entangled in her patient’s history and relationships, Meghan confronts the threat lurking all too close to home. This is a compulsively twisty, keeps-you-guessing ride of a book.

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda

Out April 9.

Suspense darling Megan Miranda’s eagerly anticipated Daughter of Mine is slow-building but ultimately unstoppable, its foreboding a subtle nod to the climate crisis. In Mirror Lake, the rain has evaporated; a drought has set in, drawing up long-submerged secrets as Hazel Sharp reluctantly returns to town for her father’s funeral. But as the inheritor of his home, it seems she’ll need to stick around—and good thing, given how quickly she’s pulled into a mystery surrounding two newly unearthed vehicles. “How quickly the past could grasp onto you here, and pull,” Miranda notes, an especially prescient thought as new evidence appears in the case surrounding Hazel’s long-missing mother. Detailed but well-paced, this is another atmospheric winner from Miranda.

While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi

Out April 16.

Sara Koffi’s While We Were Burning opens with an epigraph citing Kimberly Jones: “They’re lucky Black people are looking for equality and not revenge.” That—and a yearning, tempestuous prologue—sets the tone for the vivid tale that follows. In the Memphis suburbs, Elizabeth Smith is trying (and failing) not to obsess over the death of her best friend. But when she hires an assistant, Brianna, to make sense of her disordered life, Brianna also becomes engrossed in the mystery. “There was just something about suburbanites and lying,” Koffi writes. “They lied so much that they assumed everyone else was always lying, too.” As Elizabeth and Brianna’s own relationship contorts, they’re drawn deeper into these suburban lies—and must confront why Brianna’s son was killed in Elizabeth’s own neighborhood.

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen

Out April 16.

Inspired in part by her own experiences with obsessive-compulsive disorder, K.T. Nguyen’s debut thriller, You Know What You Did, takes us inside the life and mind of Annie, whose composure begins to crumble in the wake of her mother’s death. As Annie spirals, she finds herself sucked into increasingly strange, haunting, and painful patterns: Her OCD is uncontrollable, her PTSD is bubbling up, her relationships are straining, she’s drinking too much, and—just to add fuel to the fire—she just woke up next to a lifeless body, making her Suspect No. 1. With unflinching determination, Nguyen keeps readers pinned to the page in this dark, devastating psychological horror.

Safe and Sound by Laura McHugh

Out April 23.

As a long-time fan of Laura McHugh’s work, I was overjoyed to see she has another novel coming our way, set—like the books that precede it—amongst the hardscrabble corners of rural Missouri (our shared home state). In Safe and Sound, two teenagers dream of graduation, and of finally leaving Beaumont, a town it seems no one ever leaves. But, once, there was Grace. Amelia and Kylee’s former babysitter, Grace had seemed like she’d earn her college degree and finally make it out of town. But before that could happen, she disappeared one night while watching the friends. Years later, Amelia and Kylee are confronted with new evidence—and it will warp everything they thought they understood about their community. McHugh has a precise skill for capturing the low-grade anxieties embedded in many small towns; her stories are taut with that strain, and relish in exploring what happens when the string finally snaps.

Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett

Out April 30.

Juicy but shrewd, Missing White Woman is arguably a thriller for the TikTok age, its issues contemporary yet timeless. Kellye Garrett uses her staccato sentences to build pressure as she leads protagonist Bree on a romantic getaway with her distracted boyfriend Ty, only for said boyfriend to disappear, and a dead body to show up in the Airbnb Bree’s renting. Soon, she realizes the body belongs to a white woman named Janelle, whose missing-person’s case has become the internet’s latest addiction. #JusticeForJanelle is inescapable, and Bree realizes she’ll need to get all the facts—and hire an old friend as her lawyer—to protect herself and make sense of what really happened. Is Ty somehow involved? And why does social media seem so intent on spinning their own story, an inarguably racist one? Kellye handles these questions with depth and verve in this exciting new book.

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh

Out April 23.

A reality show akin to Survivor turns into a nightmare in Clare Mackintosh’s A Game of Lies, wherein seven contestants become suspects in a murder. The second installment in Mackintosh’s DC Morgan series—though it, too, can be read as a standalone—this mystery tinkers with our inherent fear of exposure, both literal and figurative. Not only are the contestants stuck in the Welsh mountains, but they’re all hiding a secret the others have to attempt to uncover. When Detective Ffion Morgan arrives on the crime scene, she understands that those secrets might be the most important evidence in her case. Well-structured (and featuring a very good dog!), this is a sure hit for Mackintosh devotees.

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