The Best Crime Fiction For January
Troublemaker by Lesley Kara
The Brief: A tense mystery that follows a woman who insists on solving a murder no one else thinks happened.
The Suspects: Storm, witness and unwilling investigator of a crime she can’t prove; her brother, whose unsolved death casts a long shadow; the police who treat her account as another false alarm; and a killer trying to remain hidden
The Setup: After her younger brother is killed in a violent mugging, Storm’s life contracts into caution, instinct sharpened by loss. When she later witnesses a murder that looks disturbingly similar, she becomes certain she’s found a thread worth pulling – but the absence of a body makes her account easy to dismiss. With no missing-persons report to anchor the crime, the police close ranks, leaving Storm with questions instead of proof. As danger edges closer, Storm begins her own investigation.
The Judgement: A taut, sharply paced thriller with real psychological depth and a nerve-jangling central mystery. Storm carries the story with authenticity, vulnerability and fierce resolve. This is a stylish, tight mystery that combines suspense, high emotional stakes and smart plotting.
A Killer In Paradise by Tom Hindle
The Brief: A lush, escapist murder mystery set in the Costa Rican rainforest, where friendships are tested by isolation, ambition, and a death that pulls them back into a shared past.
The Suspects: Glamorous hotelier Abigail Blythe; her five former university friends, reunited for a luxury hotel launch; the guest found dead during the opening event; and the killer determined to keep old secrets buried at any cost.
The Setup: Five friends believe they’re boarding a flight to paradise when they accept an unexpected invitation from Abigail Blythe, who vanished from their lives a decade earlier. They haven’t heard from her since their student backpacking trip across Central America ended in disaster. Older now, outwardly successful, and quietly competitive, the reunion feels sun-soaked and hopeful, but when a guest is found dead during the hotel’s glittering launch, the dream holiday fractures into suspicion. With the resort surrounded by dense wilderness and no easy exit, the group must reckon not just with the murder, but the secrets they’ve spent years outrunning.
The Judgement: A cleverly plotted, transportive thriller that balances glamour with psychological tension. Hindle turns escapism into a pressure cooker, making the setting unforgettable in this ensemble suspense with a tropical sting.
The 10:12 by Anna Maloney
The Brief: A gripping thriller that begins with a train hijacking and evolves into a twisty investigation about what really happened on board. What would you have done?
The Suspects: Claire, middle-aged art lecturer-turned-unlikely leader; the group of armed hijackers who seize the train; and the passengers who follow Claire into the fray.
The Setup: Claire only wants to get home when her commuter train from Manchester to London is overtaken by armed men. In the chaos that follows, she rallies a group of passengers and leads them into resistance, overturning the hijack and saving hundreds of lives. But the moment that made her a hero also left two dead. Now, as Claire finally tells her story of that morning on the 10:12, some details don’t add up – and detectives begin to revisit what really happened that night.
The Judgement: Selfless and quick-thinking hero, attention-seeking vigilante or unrepentant murderer? That’s the question posed by this relentless, propulsive thriller that interrogates the cost of courage with psychological complexity.
A Death In Glasgow by Eva Macrae
The Brief: A gritty, emotionally intelligent Glasgow procedural that pivots on one unshakeable question: if the death looked like suicide, why did the victim buy a return ticket home?
The Suspects: Sergeant May Mackay, an investigator driven by personal loss and instinct; a tragedy shrouded in ambiguity; someone desperate enough to kill again to keep the truth buried.
The Setup: When Holly Campbell’s body is found on the tracks at Glasgow Central, the case is swiftly labelled a suicide. Holly had a documented history of attempts, and authorities close the file. But Sergeant Mackay can’t let go of one quiet anomaly – Holly purchased a return train ticket. The detail needles at her methodical mind, and determined to honour a promise to Holly’s grieving mother, May pushes past the surface narrative and into the darker marrow of the city’s secrets. But as the investigation goes deeper, the truth sharpens into something more dangerous than anyone first believed.
The Judgement: Procedural rigour meets warm emotional depth, in this sharp, authentic and immersive thriller. Resilient, clever, wounded, and unforgettable, May Mackay is the beating heart of a raw and authentic procedural.
Forbidden Waters by Rob Parker
The Brief: A gripping Norfolk Broads-set mystery where a blood-slicked knife pulled from a hidden lake triggers a manhunt for a killer.
The Suspects: Cam Killick, ex-Special Forces salvage diver who only feels at home in deep water; DS Claire Rogers, procedural backbone of the investigation; a predator whose hunting grounds have been disturbed.
The Setup: When Cam Killick finds a blood-slick knife on a simple diving mission, it becomes clear this isn’t some old relic. It’s evidence of a very recent murder, but with no body, solving it is going to be tough. Cam teams up with DS Claire Rogers to begin working through the short list of people who even knew about the lake, but it isn’t long before they realise the knife’s discovery has unsettled someone far more dangerous than they ever could have imagined.
The Judgement: The follow-up to the excellent The Troubled Deep, the second of the Cam Killick mysteries is tense, intelligent and vividly atmospheric. The Norfolk Broads provide a world of submerged secrets, and Cam is a deeply compelling lead. This is suspense with real momentum, and a narrative that pulls readers deep into a chilling tale told with heart and humanity. Unmissable.
Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
The Brief: A dark, addictive domestic thriller that skewers the modern property market as the hunt for a dream home spirals into shockingly high stakes.
The Suspects: Margo, desperate for that forever home; Ian, her husband and the collateral damage in a marriage under strain; the couple who seem like the answer to their prayers
The Setup: It’s been 18 months since Ian and Margo sold their old house and moved into a temporary place while they searched for their forever home – somewhere they can finally settle and raise a family. But the property market is officially insane, and not even a million can secure the deal. So, when they get a tip about a house that hasn’t been listed yet, Margo swings into action. It seems to be paying off until she puts a foot wrong. But she isn’t going to give up easily – and she will truly go to any lengths to secure the deal.
The Judgement:
Kashino blends sharp social commentary with a high-pressure mystery that entertains as much as it surprises. The stakes escalate fast, and Margo is messy, brilliant and unforgettable. This is a darkly hilarious thriller that delivers a standout hook – and isn’t afraid to go to jaw-dropping places.
Esther Is Now Following You by Tanya Sweeney
The Brief: A sharply funny, emotionally perceptive debut that blends romcom energy with a deliciously dark edge, following one woman’s spiral from curiosity to obsession.
The Suspects: Esther, the fan who wants more; Ted, the actor who unknowingly becomes the centre of her fixation; the superfans who track his every career move; Esther’s husband, collateral damage in a marriage upended by fantasy
The Setup: When Esther first sees Ted, the fleeting moment feels electric and transformative. What begins as a spark of curiosity becomes an escalating hunt for detail as she reads up on his past, watches interviews, and studies fan forums. But when Ted’s new celebrity romance goes public, Esther decides she needs to act fast. Leaving her husband and boarding a one-way flight to Canada, the mission is simple – find Ted and force him to realise they’re meant to be together.
The Judgement: A confident debut that delivers humour and heart – with bite. Esther is sharp, chaotic, tender, and seriously entertaining. This is an addictive look at modern infatuation, packed with big laughs, emotional truth, and standout storytelling. For fans of You and Baby Reindeer, this book is a reminder of just how addictive the online world can be.
A Spy In The Blood by Paul Warner
The Brief: A taut, emotionally charged espionage thriller following a retired legend forced back into the shadows when his daughter vanishes on a mission no one will acknowledge.
The Suspects: Mark Wolfe, once the greatest spy of his generation, now sidelined as a recruiter at MI6; Jody, his daughter whose ambition to follow in his footsteps may have put her in peril; the hidden network of operatives and contractors in London, Kabul and beyond whose truths are tangled with lies.
The Setup: Mark Wolfe has left the exhilarating world of dead-drops and double agents behind for an office at Vauxhall Cross, spending his days vetting new recruits and fending off offers from private security firms. To his family, he’s nothing more than a mild-mannered civil servant. But when he finds out his daughter Jody has followed him into the service – and is now missing – Mark’s quiet life crumbles. Branded a civilian with no clearance and no clout, he must navigate hostile agencies and dangerous terrain to find her.
The Judgement: Refreshing the genre with a deeply human core, Warner combines old-school spycraft with the dangers of modern intelligence work, balancing gritty action in Afghanistan with the psychological strain of a parent searching for their child. This is a bold, immersive thriller that delivers both pulse-quickening suspense and emotional depth.
Evil Bones by Kathy Reichs
The Brief: A chilling forensic thriller that puts renowned anthropologist Temperance Brennan on a case where grisly animal mutilations evolve into something that looks like pure evil…
The Suspects: Temperance ‘Tempe’ Brennan, forensic anthropologist juggling crime scenes and personal threads; Detective ‘Skinny’ Slidell, her long-time partner in investigation; a perpetrator whose pattern escalates beyond the expected
The Setup: Dead animals have begun turning up mutilated around Charlotte, each disturbing discovery more bizarre than the last. Called in to examine a dog found in similar circumstances, Tempe recognises that someone is escalating both in violence and intention. And what begins as an unsettling pattern soon becomes far more sinister when a woman is found dead, in a striking echo of the earlier animal scenes. With people Tempe cares about going missing and darker clues mounting, she must race against time to stop a killer whose motivations defy explanation.
The Judgement:A fast, smart and expertly constructed thriller that delivers compelling characters, fascinating forensic detail, and a terrifying mystery that tightens with every new discovery.
The Edge of Darkness by Vaseem Khan
The Brief: A vivid post-Independence murder mystery that blends political tension and a sharp detective navigating a remote landscape where every answer raises another question.
The Suspects: Persis Wadia, India’s first female police detective, exiled but unbowed; the murdered politician found in his locked hotel room; the foreign guests sheltering at the Victoria, each carrying their own version of the truth; a killer comfortable with vanishing
The Setup: India, 1951. After ignoring orders in Bombay, Persis Wadia is shipped to the mountainous Naga Hills District, a posting meant to end her career. She’s staying at the Hotel Victoria, a crumbling colonial refuge that seems suspended in the past, but when a powerful politician is murdered in his locked room, the case detonates her back to life. With the first post-Independence election days away, Persis must work fast, dig deep, and trust her instincts in a place where motives are layered with history, politics and unrest.
The Judgement: Tightly plotted and richly researched, this is driven by a magnetic lead whose brilliance unfolds on every page. Smart, propulsive crime fiction, Khan blends forensic curiosity with geopolitical stakes, delivering a mystery that feels ambitious, unpredictable and immensely satisfying.
Come back soon for more reviews, including the latest from thriller queen Lesley Kara…