Archives de catégorie : Crime & Thrillers

EL DORADO DRIVE de Megan Abbott

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Turnout comes a simmering, atmospheric novel of friendship and betrayal, following a women-led pyramid scheme in suburban Detroit.

EL DORADO DRIVE
by Megan Abbott
Putnam/PRH, June 2025
(via Levine Greenberg Rostan)

« Abbott is a superstar of the suspense genre. » —NPR

All I want is to be innocent again. But that’s not how it works. Especially not after the Wheel.

The three Bishop sisters grew up in privilege in the moneyed suburbs of Detroit. But as the auto industry declined, so did their fortunes. Harper, the youngest, is barely making ends meet when her beloved, charismatic sister Pam—currently in the middle of a contentious battle with her ex-husband—and her eldest sister, Debra, approach her about joining an exciting new club.

The Wheel offers women like themselves—middle-aged and of declining means—a way to make their own money, independent of husbands or families. Quickly, however, the Wheel’s success, and their own addiction to it, leads to greater and greater risks—and a crime so shocking it threatens to bring everything down with it.

Megan Abbott turns her keen eye toward women and money in El Dorado Drive, a riveting story about power, vulnerability, and how desperation draws out our most destructive impulses.

Megan Abbott is the Edgar award-winning author of eleven crime novels, including You Will Know MeGive Me Your Hand and the New York Times bestseller The Turnout, the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She received her Ph.D. in English and American literature from New York University and her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, the Paris Review and the Wall Street JournalDare Me, the series she adapted from her own novel, now streaming on Netflix. Her latest novel, Beware the Woman, is now in paperback.

RUNNING COLD de Susan Walter

In this heart-pounding story of deception, murder, and survival, a former Olympian retreats to the Canadian wilderness for a fresh start, only to find out that the past will always catch up to her.

RUNNING COLD
by Susan Walter
Lake Union/Amazon, October 2024
(via Laura Dail Literary)

Julie Adler’s perfect facade is shattered by grief when her husband commits suicide. His death reveals that their luxurious California life was a house of cards, and his secret business dealings have left Julie penniless.

As she strikes out on her own, Julie feels drawn to her old stomping grounds in Banff, a charming and isolated ski town where she once trained for the Olympics. She finds work as a housekeeper at a luxury resort, but just as she starts to piece together a new life, an eccentric guest turns up dead. And Julie, the last person seen in her hotel room, is the prime suspect.

The evidence is stacked against her, but even in the encroaching blizzard, Julie knows her way around these mountains. She just needs to evade the police long enough to find the truth behind the murder…and before the real killer finds her first.

Set in a stunning but unforgiving landscape, Running Cold is chilling—both literally and figuratively. This twisty tale of murder, secrets, and exceptional human grit had me flying through the pages!” —Robyn Harding, bestselling author of The Drowning Woman

When Julie’s life is ripped apart by her husband’s untimely death, it’s just the beginning of the journey that will lead her into her dark past and the secrets that swirled around her, sight unseen. A taught page-turner that draws you in and never lets go…” —Catherine McKenzie, USA Today bestselling author of I’ll Never Tell

Susan Walter is the author of Lie by the PoolGood as Dead, and Over Her Dead Body. She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After being given every opportunity—and failing—to become a concert violinist, Susan attended Harvard University. She had hoped to be a newscaster, but the local TV station had different ideas and hired her to write and produce promos instead. Seeking sunshine and a change of scenery, Walter moved to Los Angeles to work in film and television production. Upon realizing writers were having all the fun, Susan transitioned to screenwriting, then directing. She wrote and made her directorial debut with the 2017 film All I Wish, starring Sharon Stone.

THE LEDGE de Christian White

The new and highly anticipated thriller from bestselling author Christian White. His twistiest thriller yet!

THE LEDGE
by Christian White
Affirm Press, October 2024
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

When human remains are discovered in a forest, police are baffled, the locals are shocked and one group of old friends starts to panic. Their long-held secret is about to be uncovered.

It all began in 1999 when sixteen-year-old Aaron ran away from home, drawing his friends into an unforeseeable chain of events that no one escaped from unscathed.

In The Ledge, past and present run breathlessly parallel, leading to a climax that will change everything you thought you knew. This is a mind-bending new novel from the master of the unexpected.

Christian White is an Australian author and screenwriter whose credits include feature film Relic, Netflix series Clickbait and numerous other projects in the pipeline. His debut novel The Nowhere Child was one of Australia’s bestselling debut novels ever, with rights sold in 17 international territories and a major screen deal. Christian’s second book, The Wife and the Widow (2019),and third, Wild Place (2021), were instant bestsellers. THE LEDGE is his fourth novel.

FIRE IN THE HEAD de Daniel Oakman

A gripping and unsettling psychological thriller that goes to the heart of the deep taboo of child assault, and the ramifications of trauma later in life.

FIRE IN THE HEAD
by Daniel Oakman
Black Inc. (Australia), March 2025

Part crime drama, part coming-of-age tale, part modern psychological odyssey, Oakman’s novel is a gripping, unsettling and powerful story about self-discovery, the importance of friendship and the transcendent power of words. FIRE IN THE HEAD addresses a deep taboo in Australian society—the legacy of child sexual abuse and what victims must endure to bring perpetrators to justice.

In March 1999, twenty-seven-year-old James Harper, a shy public servant living in Canberra, is called to a police station to provide evidence on the suicide of his youngest sister nine years earlier. As the investigation gets underway, James confesses that he had been abused by his stepfather, Martin Jenkins, when he was a child. Could the two events be connected? But as he dives headfirst into the legal system in a quest for justice, James must face some disturbing truths about himself and the past he thought he had left behind.

Daniel Oakman, a writer and historian, comes from Melbourne. After a brief sojourn as a public servant in the mid-1990s, he completed his PhD at the Australian National University before a fifteen-year career as a senior curator at the National Museum of Australia. In 2005, his ground-breaking history of Australia and the Colombo Plan, Facing Asia (published by Pandanus Books), was shortlisted for the NSW History Awards. With Melbourne Books he has published Oppy (2018), an acclaimed biography of the sporting icon and politician Hubert Opperman, and Wild Ride (2020), an immersive exploration of how the bicycle has long shaped understandings of the Australian continent and its people. Daniel’s other writing has appeared in diverse publications, including Mountain Biking Australia, VeloNews, Australian Historical Studies, The Big Issue and Meanjin. He lives in Canberra with his partner Cecilie and a dog called Gilbert. FIRE IN THE HEAD is his first novel.

THE CONTEST de Jeff Macfee

In this light noir crime novel, a previous puzzle prodigy returns to the competing world. A thoughtful mystery with deeply personal stakes, perfect for fans of The Queen’s Gambit.

THE CONTEST
by Jeff Macfee
Angry Robot, February 2025
(via JABberwocky)

Once a child prodigy of puzzles and logic games, Gillian Charles now barely ekes out a living in Los Angeles. With her sick mother facing eviction from her care facility, Gillian can’t say no when her childhood nemesis, Tommy, shows up at her apartment with a $50k offer. All she has to do is return to the place where it all started, where she swore she’d never set foot again: Miscellany.

Miscellany is a place of wonder and enchantment—a Disney World for puzzle lovers, and one that quickly owns the lives of those who stay too long. Tommy is running the park’s latest big game, and he’s convinced someone is leaking the answers. With investment and expansion in the cards, Miscellany can’t afford a scandal. As a former puzzler who kept her distance from Miscellany for twenty years, Gillian should find it easy to investigate while avoiding Miscellany’s charms and entanglements.

But when Gillian arrives, she discovers things aren’t so straightforward. Her turncoat ex-friend Martin Ellsberg holds the security reins, Tommy’s estranged wife Evelina spins PR webs around the park’s machinations, and the manipulative park founder Sebastian offers her the financial security and intellectual future she always wanted. With her mother’s circumstances growing more dire, and under pressure to sweep the accusations under the rug, Gillian finds childhood games all the more treacherous for adults.

Miscellany is offering Gillian the life she always wanted. But at what price?

Jeff Macfee writes about ordinary people who do their best but make things worse. When he’s not writing he’s doing IT things and asking you to turn it off and on again. He lives in North Texas with his wife and three kids.