The Best Crime Fiction For September
The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
Viking, £22
The Brief: The Thursday Murder Club is back – and this time, the wedding bells are almost drowned out by the sound of danger.
The Suspects: Joyce, preoccupied with table plans and first dances; Elizabeth, grieving but sharp as ever; Ron, wrestling with family troubles; Ibrahim, still dispensing therapy; and a dangerous guest with secrets that could prove deadly.
The Setup: Life’s been relatively uneventful at Cooper’s Chase; Elizabeth is sitting with her grief, Ron is navigating his role as Ritchie patriarch, Ibrahim is counselling crim client Connie, and Joyce is busying herself with Joanna’s wedding (welcomed or not). But what should be a season of celebration soon turns perilous, and a wedding guest in danger and a malevolent force wanting access to an uncrackable code gets the A team back where they belong: amateur sleuthing. And once again, it’s a twisting puzzle that tests both their friendship and their ingenuity.
The Judgement: Osman’s fifth outing with his beloved retirees is as charming, witty, and warm-hearted as ever, while delivering enough peril to keep readers turning the pages late into the night. The Impossible Fortune balances humour and humanity with deft plotting, proving why this series has become a global phenomenon.
If You Liked This, Try:
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. The irresistible debut that started it all.
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood. For another witty, characterful amateur sleuth series.
A Spoonful Of Murder by J.M. Hall. Cozy crime with warmth and a sharp twist of humour.
The Killer Question by Janice Hallett
Viper, £18.99
The Brief: A clever, twisty mystery told entirely through emails, WhatsApps and transcripts. What happens when a quiet pub quiz turns deadly?
The Suspects: Sue and Mal, once beloved village publicans; a mysterious quiz team that wins every round; the quiz regulars pushing back; and a body fished from the river.
The Setup: Local pub The Case Is Altered used to be the heart of the community, run by Sue and Mal Eastwood. But since they disappeared, the pub is now boarded up and silent, the quiz nights long gone. Their nephew Dominic is pitching their story to a Netflix producer, and as we rewind to five years earlier, we see how a rival quiz team muscled in, dominated the weekly contests, and stirred unease among the locals. Through WhatsApp chats, emails and quiz sheets, the creeping tension builds until a body surfaces in the river – and every exchange of messages becomes another clue.
The Judgement: Hallett returns to her signature mixed-media mystery with confidence and misdirection. She uses the format to build tension, shade character, and turn the mundane into menacing, and the plotting is deft – the reveal may well surprise even the sharpest reader. If you’re a fan of cryptic puzzles, this is prime territory.
If You Liked This, Try
The Appeal by Janice Hallett. Her breakout epistolary mystery, smart and character-driven.
The Cut Throat Trial by SJ Fleet. A hard-hitting courtroom thriller.
Making A Killing by Cara Hunter. A gripping thriller that uses transcripts, news clippings and texts.
The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
Sphere, £30
The Brief: The eighth Cormoran Strike novel plunges the detective duo into a case of missing men, hidden loyalties, and a body found in a vault of silver.
The Suspects: Cormoran Strike, relentless in pursuit of truth but distracted by his attraction to Robin; Robin Ellacott, balancing loyalty, personal danger, and her growing bond with Strike; Decima Mullins, a desperate client convinced her partner is the victim; and the shadowy figures tied to Freemasons’ Hall and its secrets.
The Setup: When a brutally butchered corpse is discovered in the vault of a London silver shop, Strike and Robin are hired by a woman certain the victim is her missing partner. The investigation quickly spirals, uncovering connections between vanished men, powerful networks, and long-buried truths. Before long, the trail forces Strike and Robin into extremely dangerous territory – both professionally and personally – and that’s without even starting on the complex dynamics between the plucky pair. With Robin’s relationship with CID officer Ryan Murphy developing fast, will Strike find it within himself to reveal his true feelings before it’s too late?
The Judgement: Intricate, atmospheric, and emotionally charged, The Hallmarked Man shows Galbraith at the height of her storytelling powers. Yes, it’s enormous, but it’s a book to fully immerse yourself in and savour. The central mystery is as fiendish as we have come to expect from Galbraith, and one you can’t hope to solve as much as delight in how our detecting duo unravel all the moving parts. And the deliciously tangled ‘will they/won’t they’ partnership continues to confound, entice, madden and delight in equal measure. There is heart and depth here, the weight of all that has gone before coming to bear as Strike and Robin’s complex relationship is not mere background, it’s as central as the crimes themselves. Throw in new characters determined to derail and extra jeopardy at every turn, and the result is a compelling and rewarding addition to the already superb series.
If You Liked This, Try:
Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith. A sprawling, character-rich Strike mystery.
A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz. A modern, clever whodunnit with sharp twists.
The Appeal by Janice Hallett. A smart, unconventional mystery brimming with secrets and deception.
Clown Town by Mick Herron
Baskerville, £22
The Brief: The ninth instalment of Herron’s razor-sharp Slough House series brings the slow horses back for their most dangerous outing yet.
The Suspects: Jackson Lamb, foul-mouthed and unflappable spymaster; River Cartwright, sidelined but digging into his grandfather’s secrets; Diana Taverner, scheming at the top; Louisa Guy, Shirley Dander, Roddy Ho, Catherine Standish, and Ash Khan – each with their own missteps and motives.
The Setup: When the ghosts of a botched Troubles-era operation resurface, MI5 finds itself staring down blackmail and betrayal. Taverner sees an opportunity in the chaos, while River uncovers troubling mysteries in his late grandfather’s library. Around them, the rest of Slough House bicker, blunder, and plot – but as ever, mischief turns deadly. With Lamb watching from the wings, the clowns are unleashed, and the reckoning may be bloodier than anyone expects.
The Judgement: Herron returns after three years with a masterclass in wit, menace, and political bite. Clown Town proves why the Slough House books have become modern classics – layered, laugh-out-loud funny, and piercingly bleak. Fans will revel in the familiar dysfunction, while new readers will find the sharpest spy fiction being written today.
If You Liked This, Try:
Slow Horses by Mick Herron. Where the phenomenon began, and still unmissable.
The Second Woman by Charlotte Philby. A modern espionage tale of betrayal and divided loyalties.
Alias Emma by Ava Glass. A propulsive, female-led spy thriller with high stakes and grit.
59 Minutes by Holly Seddon
Orion, £20
The Brief: A high-concept, heart-stopping thriller that asks, ‘With less than an hour to live, what truly matters?’
The Suspects: Three women fighting to reach their families; a lost schoolchild in desperate need of safety; a missing teenage daughter; and the ever-ticking clock.
The Setup: England has just fifty-nine minutes before nuclear destruction. As sirens wail and panic spreads, three women race through a collapsing world, battling danger and impossible choices. Each road home suddenly becomes a gauntlet of fear, forcing them to confront who they are when all pretence falls away. In the shadow of total destruction, every decision could be the last.
The Judgement: Gripping, gut-wrenching, and thought-provoking, 59 Minutes is both a pulse-pounding survival thriller and a raw exploration of human truth under pressure. Holly Seddon delivers a bold, cinematic story that will leave readers questioning what they would do in their own final hour.
If You Liked This, Try:
The Last by Hanna Jameson. A haunting countdown thriller set against nuclear fallout.
Before This Is Over by Amanda Hickie. A mother fights to protect her family as disaster closes in.
Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam. A chilling novel of collapse, survival and secrets.
Guilt Trip by Jo Furniss
Zaffre, £9.99
The Brief: When a school minibus full of teenagers vanishes, the real danger may come not from strangers, but from the parents themselves.
The Suspects: Emily Smith, frantic to find her daughter Olivia; the ambitious, tightly wound families of an elite school; police struggling for leads; and the parents whose polished façades conceal dangerous secrets.
The Setup: At 3pm on an ordinary Monday, the swim team fails to return from a gala. With the school’s no-phone policy leaving the children untraceable, panic escalates as hours tick by. As fear curdles into suspicion, the cracks in the parents’ community widen, revealing betrayals, rivalries, and lies that may prove more devastating than the kidnapping itself.
The Judgement: Darkly addictive and superbly twisty, Guilt Trip blends the intensity of a missing-children thriller with a razor-sharp dissection of parental ambition and fear. Jo Furniss turns the screw with every chapter, keeping loyalties shifting until the final page. Tense, timely, and impossible to put down.
If You Liked This, Try:
Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan. For domestic suspense rooted in parental anxieties.
The Push by Ashley Audrain. A gripping exploration of motherhood, trust, and fear.
The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell. Twisty, compulsive suspense centred on missing teens.
To Love A Liar by L.V. Matthews
Viking, £9.99
The Brief: A taut, emotional thriller about marriage, deception, and the dangerous secrets that unravel when loyalty collides with lies.
The Suspects: Chris Fletcher, a policeman trained in the art of deceit, hiding out in remote Scotland; Jillian, his steadfast wife who vanishes without warning; Sophia Roy, his undercover target and ex-lover – now dead.
The Setup: Awaiting the verdict on whether he’s complicit in Sophia’s death, Chris is already a man on the edge. His wife Jillian stands by him until she too disappears. With one woman dead and another missing, suspicion circles tighter. Is Chris a killer, a victim of circumstance, or simply a man who has lied one time too many?
The Judgement: L.V. Matthews delivers her most powerful thriller yet – layered, haunting, and brimming with tension. More than a page-turner, it’s a razor-sharp exploration of love, betrayal, and the blurred moral lines of undercover policing.
If You Liked This, Try:
None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell. For unsettling obsessions and pitch-black secrets.
The Wrong Sister by Claire Douglas. For layered family tension and a relentless pull into the dark side.
Breathless by Amy McCulloch. For a killer on a mountain and high-octane thrills.
Fallout by Peter Hain
Muswell Press, £14.99
The Brief: A Cold War thriller of espionage, betrayal, and nuclear conspiracy, set against the volatile backdrop of 1980s Southern Africa.
The Suspects: A mild-mannered Chinese scientist who stumbles on dangerous secrets; a magnetic anti-apartheid activist pursuing her own cause; a veteran South African operative navigating Zimbabwe’s fragile independence; and a ruthless Chinese player with ties to Mao’s inner circle.
The Setup: When an accidental discovery in Beijing exposes a hidden alliance between apartheid forces and rogue British intelligence, a chain of perilous events begins to unfold. As agents and activists cross borders from London to Harare and Pretoria, the race is on to stop a nuclear conspiracy capable of reshaping the balance of power in the Southern Hemisphere. Fact and fiction entwine as the novel draws on Hain’s own history as an anti-apartheid campaigner and target of political violence.
The Judgement: Fallout is tense, timely, and steeped in authenticity. Hain’s first standalone thriller draws on his lived experience to deliver a globe-spanning narrative that blends political intrigue with the pace of a classic espionage novel. Intelligent, atmospheric, and unflinching, it will appeal to fans of both historical thrillers and contemporary political suspense.
Acts Of Omission by Terry Stiastny. A sharp, modern political thriller rooted in betrayal and espionage.
Out Of The Dark by Gregg Hurwitz. A tense, contemporary thriller of international conspiracies and shadow operations.
Triple Cross by Tom Bradby. A fast-paced, contemporary espionage thriller with political bite.
Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan
Mulholland Books, £15.99
The Brief: A lyrical, genre-bending thriller where missing girls, family secrets, and ancient myths collide on the shores of the toxic Salton Sea.
The Suspects: Malamar Veracruz, a mother haunted by her sister’s disappearance; her two daughters, each carrying their own buried truths; the girls vanishing from their community; and the horse-headed woman of legend, whose shadow stalks their every step.
The Setup: In the dust-choked town of El Valle, Mal has done her best to keep her family safe, but when another girl goes missing, old wounds split wide open. Guided by visions of a mythic hunter, Mal and her daughters uncover secrets knotted deep in their community and in their bloodline. Drawing on Latina and Indigenous folklore, Givhan weaves a tale of horror, magical realism, and crime, where the poisoned land itself seems complicit in the violence.
The Judgement: Salt Bones is raw, poetic, and unflinchingly powerful – a mother-daughter thriller steeped in myth and menace. Givhan’s prose blurs beauty with brutality, crafting a story that feels both timeless and urgent. It’s a haunting exploration of generational trauma, missing women, and the fierce, enduring bonds of family.
If You Liked This, Try:
Shutter by Ramona Emerso. A forensic thriller rich with Native American myth and ghosts.
The House In The Pines by Ana Reyes. A suspenseful tale of trauma, memory, and mythic shadows.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. A chilling gothic set in the Mexican highlands, blending folklore, horror, and feminist undercurrents.
No Women Were Harmed by Heather Mottershead
Sphere, £18.99
The Brief: A searing, gothic debut set in a Victorian asylum, where one woman’s story blurs the line between villain and victim.
The Suspects: Lily, scarred and shackled, telling her tale from confinement; the missing men whose fates shadow her every word; the warders and doctors who would rather see her silenced than understood; and death itself, her constant companion.
The Setup: Branded dangerous and confined to an asylum, Lily insists she is no killer, more the unlucky shadow of a life bound to death. As she recounts her past, a trail of vanished men suggests a darker truth. Is Lily mad, malicious, or simply a woman fighting back against a world designed to cage her? In an era when female defiance was treated as madness, her voice forces us to question where blame truly lies.
The Judgement: Winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Prize, Heather Mottershead’s debut is electric, unsettling, and unflinchingly feminist. Rich with gothic atmosphere and historical detail, No Women Were Harmed grips from its first scarlet-tinged lines and lingers long after the final page.
If You Liked This, Try:
Mrs England by Stacey Halls. For gothic atmosphere and a woman’s fight against hidden power.
The Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas. Another haunting portrait of female voices suppressed by asylums.
The Corset by Laura Purcell. Dark, Victorian suspense with a razor-sharp feminist edge.