Our Favorite New Crime Thriller Books: August 2025
Crime thriller enthusiasts are in for a treat this year with an exceptional lineup of new releases from both established masters and promising debuts. Here’s a curated selection of the most anticipated and acclaimed crime thrillers new for 2025.
1. King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
Released June 10, 2025
S.A. Cosby’s new crime novel, “King of Ashes,” is as dark, riveting and accomplished as “Blacktop Wasteland,” “Razorblade Tears” and “All the Sinners Bleed.” This Godfather-inspired Southern crime epic follows Roman Carruthers, a financial whiz who returns home after his father’s suspicious car accident to find his brother in debt to dangerous criminals and his family’s crematorium business under threat.
Review highlight: “Propulsive and powerful. . . A gripping roller coaster ride of escalating danger.” —New York Times Book Review
2. The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen
August 2025
Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of killing the biological daughter of her wealthy, Southern family. Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution where the most violent offenders are held while she awaits trial. When her estranged twin sister Amanda visits, Georgia whispers only: “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out of here.”
Story focus: A psychological thriller exploring the complex bonds of sisterhood and what happens when they’re stretched to the breaking point.
3. All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
August 2025
The latest from Southern thriller specialist Stacy Willingham (A Flicker in the Dark) introduces Claire Campbell, an erstwhile journalist who takes a summer job at a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina. She is still mourning the childhood death of her sister, and her reverie is interrupted when she comes across an old diary with a disturbing provenance.
Setting: A scenic vineyard in coastal South Carolina that becomes the backdrop for dark secrets from the past.
4. We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls Thriller Book 1) by Karin Slaughter
August 2025
This latest mystery-thriller from Karin Slaughter tells the story of officer Emmy Clifton, a small-town cop with big-time problems. When two teenage girls go missing on the Fourth of July, Clifton’s investigation reveals something rotten in the small town of North Falls.
Series note: The first in a new North Falls thriller series from the bestselling author of Pretty Girls.
5. The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict
February 2025
In 1930, the five great female crime writers of the time band together to solve a real murder case. Tired of being second-class to male authors, Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy dive into a locked room mystery. When May Daniels, a young English nurse, vanishes from a busy train station only to be found strangled nearby, the Queens of Crime uncover clues leading to the highest levels of British society.
Historical angle: A meta-mystery featuring real Golden Age crime writers as amateur sleuths.
6. Death Takes Me by Cristina Rivera Garza
February 2025
The long-awaited English translation of Pulitzer Prize-winning Cristina Rivera Garza’s Death Takes Me is finally releasing this year. In this story, a protagonist also named Cristina Rivera Garza, stumbles upon the body of a murdered man who has been castrated. As fate would have it, this crime scene contains lines of poetry written within it, and it just so happens that the poetry belongs to a poet who Cristina has been studying for years.
Style: A genre-bending epic that flips gender-based violence and victimhood on their heads.
7. They All Fall the Same by Wes Browne
January 2025
In this gritty Appalachian thriller, Wes Browne establishes himself as a new voice in crime fiction. Spoon stands out as a complex villain we love to hate and cheer on, despite his misdeeds. Browne’s portrait of Eastern Kentucky is a complex one, teasing out the small cultural details that make this region unique.
Setting focus: Eastern Kentucky’s unique cultural landscape provides the backdrop for this debut thriller.
8. Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
July 2025
From the author of the bestselling Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series comes Holly Jackson’s highly anticipated adult debut. Beloved U.K. author Alice Feeney is back on shelves in January with Beautiful Ugly, concerning a missing spouse, a remote Scottish island, and a creepy doppelgänger dilemma.
Author transition: Jackson’s move from YA to adult crime fiction is one of the year’s most watched developments.
9. Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson
July 2025
The queen of YA mysteries and thrillers has moved effortlessly into middle grade mysteries! Tiffany D. Jackson has a different topical focus with every book, which leads to gripping stories, while her characters’ voices always shine. In Blood in the Water, we follow Brooklyn native Kaylani to Martha’s Vineyard. While trying to find her way in a place she doesn’t want to be, she ends up investigating a suspicious death.
New direction: A middle-grade mystery from a master of YA thrillers.
10. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
January 2025
Beloved U.K. author Alice Feeney is back on shelves in January with Beautiful Ugly, concerning a missing spouse, a remote Scottish island, and a creepy doppelgänger dilemma.
Atmospheric setting: A remote Scottish island becomes the perfect backdrop for psychological suspense.
Why 2025 is a Banner Year for Crime Thrillers
Pretty much every rock-star mystery writer seems to have a book coming out in the next 12 months. Plus, we’ve got the usual slate of promising debut novelists and even the occasional moonlighting movie star. The diversity of settings—from Southern Gothic to Scottish islands, from Appalachian hollers to Martha’s Vineyard—ensures there’s something for every crime fiction fan.
The year also marks significant transitions, with YA authors moving into adult fiction and established writers exploring new territory. Historical mysteries featuring real crime writers as characters add a meta-fictional element that should appeal to genre enthusiasts.
Pro tip: Many of these titles are already generating significant buzz on Goodreads and among early reviewers, so crime thriller fans should consider pre-ordering their favorites to ensure they don’t miss out on what’s shaping up to be an exceptional year for the genre.