Fall is Afoot: October’s New Mysteries, Thrillers, and True Crime

Anishinaabe writer Amber Blaeser-Wardzala wrote the story “Collections” for the bestselling horror anthology, Never Whistle at Night. In her debut mystery, a young Anishinaabe woman’s older sister disappeared over a year ago, and her absence has left their family broken. When local authorities prove useless, the young woman sets out to investigate herself, but her search will mean putting her own life in danger.

A retired photographer begins to hear something strange and unsettling beneath her regular tinnitus: the murders of women she knew in her punk youth in 1980s New York. She sets out to solve the mystery of an unspeakable crime done to these women, forcing her to reckon with her own painful past. This isn’t the first book with a middle-aged woman protagonist Cardinal has given us, and I say, keep ’em comin’!

I first joined the Lyndsay Faye fan club when she wrote a Jane Eyre remix where Jane is a serial killer (but like, the good heroic kind who takes down bad guys). Now she’s back with a Gothic tale set in antebellum Maryland billed as an homage to the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. This will be one of my fall reads.

This horror thriller had me from its cover alone, and then Liberty Hardy really sold me: “The fast approach of graduation only serves as a reminder of the night Lili’s best friends were killed in a massacre at their graduation the year before. It was a horrifying event Lili herself barely survived. And when another student is killed on the anniversary of the murders, Lili realizes the nightmare is starting again. But this time, she’s going to be ready.”

This is the second book in the Kiss Merry Kill series (such a good name!), but the books in this series can be read as standalones and feature entirely different MCs. The first book, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, was a ton of fun—like Knives Out, but Christmasy at a secluded English estate. This one is cat-and-mouse, enemies-to-lovers romance + mystery about a billionaire’s grandson who everyone thinks is dead and the housekeeper’s daughter everyone thinks did it.

Side note: I think this is the first time I’ve seen the “romystery” portmanteau in publisher copy. Will it officially become “a thing?”

Those of us who have a soft spot for Sherlock are in for a treat with this one: the untold story of the Edinburgh doctor who inspired the character of Sherlock Holmes. I’m especially excited for this story to be told by Lindsey Fitzharris, who’s written two other fantastic nonfiction books. They aren’t about crime, but these deep dives into the early days of surgery and Victorian medicine certainly have a touch of the macabre and read a little bit like true crime – look up The Butchering Art and The Facemaker.

Have I read any Luke Cage comics? No. Am I automatically rooting for an author of color to get that Marvel bag? Hell yes, especially when it’s S.A. Cosby! This is the third in the Marvel Crime novel series: the first two were a Jessica Jones novel by Lisa Jewell and Alex Segura’s take on Daredevil). I’m excited to see S.A. Cosby taking up this mantle, where Luke Cage plays both detective and superhero when he uncovers a conspiracy.

Somehow it’s already the time of year when The Best American collections start to drop, and I’m not even mad. These anthologies are such a fantastic way to discover some of the year’s best writing across multiple genres, giving you little morsels of brilliance to sample in one convenient package. This year’s mystery and suspense compilation was edited by guest editor Megan Abbott and series editor Steph Cha, and includes writing from Sara Gran, Cheryl A. Head, Wanda M. Morris, Paul Tremblay, and more. Treat yourself to this one.

This series opener is a “be gay, solve crimes” read with a magical twist. The very dapper gentleman detective, Havelock Harper, along with his partner, Major Sebastian Wright, has been summoned to solve the murder of a duke. Only it turns out this duke is actually a chestnut tree in a lovely enchanted forest, and the villagers he calls his friends demand justice when someone chops him down. Tree MCs plus mystery and magic sounds like an ideal way to pass an afternoon, if you ask me.