The finalists for the 2025 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes in several categories have been announced.
The finalists in the Mystery/Thriller category are as follows
El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott
The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly
Everyone Wants to Rule the World by Ace Atkins
Crooks by Lou Berney
King of Ashes by S A Cosby
Prizes will be awarded on Friday 17th April 2026.
Congratulations to all the nominated authors
Kings of Ashes by S A Cosby (Headline)
A son returning home. A dangerous debt. Secrets about to ignite . . . and a family consumed by flames. Roman Carruthers left the smoke and fire of his family's crematory business behind in his hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia. He is enjoying a life of shallow excess as a financial adviser in Atlanta until he gets a call from his sister, Neveah, telling him their father is in a coma after a hit-and-run accident. When Roman goes home, he learns the accident may not be what it seems. His brother, Dante, is deeply in debt to dangerous, ruthless criminals. And Roman is willing to do anything to protect his family. Anything. A financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, Roman must use all his skills to try to save his family while dealing with a shadow that has haunted them all for twenty years: the disappearance of their mother when Roman and his siblings were teenagers. It's a mystery that Neveah, who has sacrificed so much of her life to hold her family together, is determined to solve once and for all. As fate and chance and heartache ignite their lives, the Carruthers family must pull together to survive or see their lives turn to ash. Because, as their father counselled them from birth, nothing lasts forever. Everything burns.
Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan (Bonnier Books)
Q is out of MI6 and into a new world of deceit and death. After Q (aka Major Boothroyd) is unexpectedly ousted from his role with British Intelligence developing technologies for MI6's OO agents, he finds himself back in his sleepy hometown of Wickstone-on-Water. His childhood friend, renowned quantum computer scientist Peter Napier, has died in mysterious circumstances, leaving behind a cryptic note. The police seem uninterested, but Q feels compelled to investigate and soon discovers that Napier's ground-breaking work may have attracted sinister forces . . . Can Q decode the truth behind Napier's death, even as danger closes in?
The Midnight King by Tariq Ashkanani (Profile Books)
'This is a work of fiction. This is not a confession.' Lucas Cole is a bestselling writer. A quiet and unassuming man, he's a beloved celebrity in his small town. Lucas Cole is also a serial killer. Nathan Cole has always known the truth about his father. But it isn't until Lucas is found dead that Nathan discovers The Midnight King, his father's fictionalised account of his hideous crimes, hidden in a box of trinkets taken from his victims. Trinkets that include a ribbon belonging to a missing girl who disappeared only days before Lucas's death. Now, Nathan must deal with the consequences of keeping his father's secret. But The Midnight King holds Nathan's secrets as well as Lucas's, and he is not the only one searching for the truth...
Clown Town by Mick Herron (John Murray Press)
Spies lie. They betray. It's what they do. Slow horse River Cartwright is waiting to be passed fit for work. With time to kill, and with his grandfather - a legendary former spy - long dead, River investigates the secrets of the old man's library, and a mysteriously missing book. Regent's Park's First Desk, Diana Taverner, doesn't appreciate threats. So when those involved in a covert operation during the height of the Troubles threaten to expose the ugly side of state security, Taverner turns blackmail into opportunity. Over at Slough House, the repository for failed spies, Catherine Standish just wants everyone to play nice. But as far as Jackson Lamb is concerned, the slow horses should all be at their desks. Because when Taverner starts plotting mischief people get hurt, and Lamb has no plans to send in the clowns. On the other hand, if the clowns ignore his instructions and fool around, any harm that befalls them is hardly his fault. But they're his clowns. And if they don't all come home, there'll be a reckoning.
The Darkest Winter by Carlo Lucarelli (Orenda Books)
Bologna, 1944. World-weary Comandante De Luca is tasked with investigating three brutal murders, with the lives of ten Italian hostages on the line. In November 1944, in the worst winter ever known in Bologna, in the depths of the war, the bomb-scarred streets are home to starving refugees who have fled the advancing Allies. The Fascist Black Brigades, the officers of the S.S. and the partisans of the Italian Resistance compete for control of the city streets in bloody skirmishes. Comandante De Luca, who has proved himself “the most brilliant investigator” in Bologna, but who is now unwillingly working for the Political Police in a building that doubles as a torture facility, finds himself in trouble when three murders land on his desk: a professor shot through the eye, an engineer beaten to death, and a German corporal left to be gnawed on by rats in a flooded cellar. De Luca must rapidly unravel all three cases with ten lives on the line: ten Italian hostages who will face a Nazi firing squad if the corporal’s killing is not solved to the German command’s satisfaction. As he navigates a web of personal and political motivations – his life increasingly at risk – De Luca will not stop until he has uncovered the dangerous secrets concealed in the frozen heart of his city.
Midnight Streets by Phil Lecomber (Titan Books)
When Cockney private detective George Harley saves a young girl's life on a dark London night in 1929, he doesn't realise it marks the beginning of an investigation which will change his life forever. The incendiary book which inspired the girl's abduction also seems to be linked to a series of grisly murders that are taking place on Harley's patch, and though he's delighted to be asked by Scotland Yard to help find the killer before they strike again, he could do without the local razor- and cosh-wielding mobsters thinking he's in the police's pocket. Set during the Golden Age of Crime Fiction, Harley's world is a far cry from the country house of an Agatha Christie whodunnit. This working-class sleuth does his 'sherlocking' in the frowsy alleyways and sleazy nightclubs of Soho - the city's underbelly - peopled with lowlife ponces, jaded streetwalkers, and Jewish and Maltese gangsters: a world of grubby bedsits, all-night cafes, egg and chips, and Gold Flake cigarettes. Here, the midnight streets are black as pitch and, as Harley finds himself embroiled in the macabre mysteries of a city in which truth is as murky as the pea-souper smog and the sins are as dark as stout porter beer, he begins to realise he may never find a way out.
The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly (Orion)
Following his "resurrection walk" and need for a new direction, Mickey Haller turns to public interest litigation, filing a civil lawsuit against an artificial intelligence company whose chatbot told a sixteen-year-old boy that it was okay for him to kill his ex-girlfriend for her disloyalty. Representing the victim's family, Mickey's case explores the mostly unregulated and exploding AI business and the lack of training guardrails. Along the way he joins up with a journalist named Jack McEvoy, who wants to be a fly on the wall during the trial in order to write a book about it. But Mickey puts him to work going through the mountain of printed discovery materials in the case. McEvoy's digging ultimate delivers the key witness, a whistle-blower who has been too afraid to speak up. The case is fraught with danger because billions are at stake. It is said that machines became smarter than humans on the day in 1997 that IBM's Deep Blue defeated chess master Garry Kasparov with a gambit called "the knight's sacrifice." Haller will take a similar gambit in court to defeat the mega forces of the AI industry lined up against him and his clients.
Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman (Faber & Faber)
Meet Mrs Blossom. . . A widow who has never left the US. A grandmother with a knack for blending in A lottery winner with an unexpected fortune. Determined to finally see the world, she's starting with a cruise along the Seine. Just twenty-four hours into Mrs Blossom's trip, however, a man is dead, a precious artefact is missing, and a mysterious stranger is claiming her life is in danger. Surrounded by luxury food, quaint towns and people with staggeringly high net worth, she has no idea who she can trust. But maybe blending into the background has its perks - whoever is responsible will never see this most unlikely of detectives coming.
The Good Liar by Denise Mina
(Vintage Publishing)
Blood spatter expert Doctor
Claudia O’Sheil’s evidence put a killer behind bars – or so everyone thinks.
Since the trial, Claudia has learned a horrific truth: her evidence and her
testimony were wrong. Now as she takes the stage to give a speech before
London’s elite specialists, Claudia has to choose: keep lying and leave the
wronged killer behind bars or stand up, tell the truth and rip her life apart.
Strange Pictures by Uketsu
A Japanese mystery horror
bestseller, revolving around a series of creepy drawings, in which the reader
is the detective - from the Youtube sensation Uketsu. A series of drawings made
by a young woman before her death. A child's disturbing picture of his home. A
desperate sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments. Each contains a
chilling warning. Each reveals a terrible secret, hidden in plain sight. Uketsu's
eerie mysteries have captivated millions of readers. Can you find the clues in
these strange pictures and uncover the sinister truth that connects them all?
Moscow Underground by Catherine
Merridale (HarperCollins Publisher)
Moscow, 1934. When the body of an
archaeologist connected to the construction of the glittering new Moscow subway
is discovered in a deserted mansion, Procuracy Investigator Anton Belkin
initially wants nothing to do with the case. It will mean asking difficult
questions of the wrong people, and Anton has a reason to keep his head down.
But he has not reckoned with Vika, his former lover and now a powerful member
of the secret police, who is adamant Anton is the best man for the job. Deep
underground, Anton discovers a priceless secret. Yet excavating it will mean
disturbing a complex web of political and personal rivalries, deceptions and
betrayals. Soon Anton must make a choice between the truth, and everything else
he holds dear.
The Art of a Lie by Laura
Shepherd Robinson (Pan Macmillan)
'That’s the trouble with stories,
especially the ones you write for yourself. Sometimes you think they've ended,
when they've barely begun . . .'
London, 1749. Following the murder of her husband in what looks like a violent
street robbery, Hannah Cole is struggling to keep her head above water. Her
confectionery shop on Piccadilly is barely turning a profit and Henry Fielding,
the famous author and new magistrate, is threatening to confiscate the money in
her husband’s bank account, because he believes it might be illicitly acquired.
Even those who claim to be Hannah’s friends have darker intent. Only William
Devereux seems different. A friend of her late husband, Devereux helps Hannah
unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his death. But their friendship opens
Hannah to speculation and gossip, and draws Henry Fielding’s attention her way,
locking her into a battle of wits more devastating than anything, even her
husband’s murder . . .
Honourable mentions go to the
following as well.
Hang on St. Christopher by Adrian
McKinty
Rain slicked streets, riots,
murder, chaos. It's July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland are still
grinding on after twenty-five apocalyptic years. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy
got his family safely over the water to Scotland, to "Shortbread
Land." Duffy's a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a
month to get his pension. It's an easy gig, if he can keep his head down. But
then a murder case falls into his lap while his protégé is on holiday in Spain.
A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But
something's not right, and as Duffy probes, he discovers the painter was an IRA
assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hit man and why?
Murder at Worlds End by Ross
Montgomery (Penguin Random House)
Secrets, murder and mayhem
collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo - an under-butler and a foul-mouthed
octogerian - hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world. Cornwall,
1910. On a remote tidal island, the Viscount of Tithe Hall is absorbed in
feverish preparations for the apocalypse that he believes will accompany the
passing of Halley's Comet. The Hall must be sealed from top to bottom - every
window, chimney and keyhole closed off before night falls. But what the
pompous, dishonest Viscount has failed to take into account is the danger that
lies within... By morning, he will be dead in his sealed study, murdered by his
own ancestral crossbow. All eyes turn to Steven Pike, Tithe Hall's newest
under-butler. Fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn't commit, he is the
wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. His unlikely ally? Miss Decima
Stockingham, the foul-mouthed, sharp as a tack, 80-year-old family matriarch.
Fearless and unconventional, she relishes chaos and puzzles alike, and a murder
is just the thrill she's been waiting for. Together, this mismatched duo must
navigate secret passages, buried grudges and rising terror to unmask the killer
before it's too late.
The Good Nazi by Samir Marchado
de Machado (Pushkin Press)
A zeppelin leaves Nazi Germany
bound for Rio de Janeiro. For those on board it's a luxury holiday, until one
of them is murdered. Police Detective Bruno Brückner, travelling on the
airship, is immediately asked to investigate - and soon discovers that the
murdered man was not the proud Nazi he claimed to be. What's more, he was
carrying a stash of banned 'degenerate' material. As Brückner interviews his
fellow passengers - a wealthy baroness, an antisemitic doctor, a debonair Englishman
- his inquiries will uncover a startling story of fake identities, queer love
and revenge, where nothing is as it appears, until finally the secret of the
'good Nazi' is revealed...
The Burning Ground by Abir Mukherjee
(Vintage Publishing)
In the Burning Ghats of Calcutta
where the dead are laid to rest, a man is found murdered, his throat cut from
ear to ear. The body is that of a popular patron of the arts, a man who was, by
all accounts, beloved by all: so what was the motive for his murder? Despite
being out of favour with the Imperial Police Force, Detective Sam Wyndham is
assigned to the case and finds himself thrust into the glamorous world of
Indian cinema. Meanwhile Surendranath Banerjee, recently returned from Europe
after three years spent running from the fallout of his last case, is searching
for a missing photographer; a trailblazing woman at the forefront of the
profession. When Suren discovers that the vanished woman is linked to Sam's
murder investigation, the two men find themselves working together once again -
but will Wyndham and Banerjee be able to put their differences aside to solve
the case?
Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine announced the winners for the Barry Awards at Bouchercon in New Orleans. Winners are voted on by readers of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.
Best Mystery Novel:
The Waiting, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Best First Mystery Crime Novel:
Ordinary Bear, by C.B. Bernard (Blackstone)
Best Paperback Original Mystery Novel:
Double Barrel Bluff, by Lou Berney (Morrow Paperbacks)
Best Action Thriller:
Hero, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press)
The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the shortlists for the 2025 Ned Kelly Awards for the Best International Crime Fiction, Best True Crime but also Best Crime Fiction.
Best International Crime Fiction Nominees
Return to Blood, by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster UK)
Leave the Girls Behind, by Jacqueline Bublitz (Allen & Unwin)
The Waiting, by Michael Connelly (Allen & Unwin)
A Case of Matricide, by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Text)
Moscow X, by David McCloskey (Swift Press)
Home Truths, by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)
Best True Crime Nominees
They’ll Never Hold Me, by Michael Adams (Affirm Press)
A Thousand Miles from Care, by Steve Johnson (William Collins)
The Kingpin and the Crooked Cop, by Neil Mercer (Allen & Unwin)\
Meadow’s Law, by Quentin McDermott (HarperCollins)
The Lasting Harm, by Lucia Osborne-Crowley (HarperCollins)
Best Crime Fiction Nominees
Shadow City, by Natalie Conner
Sanctuary, by Garry Disher
Unbury the Dead, by Fiona Hardy
The Creeper, by Margaret Hickey
Cold Truth, by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Highway 13, by Fiona McFarlane
17 Years Later, by J.P. Pomare
Storm Child, by Michael Robotham
Join us in London on 12th-13th June for an unforgettable festival packed with thrilling conversations, exclusive events, and the chance to meet your literary heroes.
Expect bestselling authors, award-winning storytellers, and crime fiction’s biggest names, including:
Michael Connelly, Steph McGovern, Jeremy Vine, Vaseem Khan, Linwood Barclay, Karin Slaughter, Richard Armitage, Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell, Clare Mackintosh, Andrew Child and many many more.
Plus, we’ve just announced the Fingerprint Awards shortlists - will your favourite take the prize?
Whether you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, gripping spy fiction, or classic crime stories, there’s something for everyone.
Weekend & day tickets are selling fast - secure yours now to avoid disappointment.
With an electrifying mix of bestselling authors, expert panels, and thrilling discussions, this year’s festival is set to be truly unforgettable.
Here’s just a taste of what’s in store over two packed days:
FRIDAY:
Thrillers That Go Bump in the Night with Linwood Barclay and Andrew Child & Nadine Matheson
Criminal Minds Throughout History with Conn Iggulden, Kate Williams & Hallie Rubenhold
Espionage for the Modern Reader: Ava Glass, Charles Cumming and Nick Harkaway & Vaseem Khan
The One You Least Suspect: Dilemmas and Decisions with David Goodman, S. M. Govett and Remi Kone & Brian McGilloway
Deception in Crime Fiction - Mark Edwards, Nicci French, Erin Kelly & Claire McGowan
Found in Translation: Jón Atli Jónasson, Lex Noteboom, Johana Gustawsson, Thomas Enger & Quentin Bates
Terror on and off the page: social injustices in horror and high concept thrillers: Chris Carter, Erin E. Adams, Jessie Elland & Andrea Carter
Masters of Mystery: a panel of crime writing experts: Dr Duncan Harding (forensic psychologist), Graham Bartlett (police) and Nicola Williams (practising Judge) in conversation with criminal defence lawyer Ruth Mancini
Crime to cool you down this summer: Will Dean, Heidi Amsinck, R. O. Thorp & Ed James
SATURDAY:
Crime Writing Masters discussing craft and creativity: Michael Connelly in conversation with M. W. Craven
The Appeal of Unlikeable Characters with Richard Armitage, Lisa Jewell and Steph McGovern & Jon Coates
25 Years in the Making: Mark Billingham and Karin Slaughter in conversation with Louise Minchin
Exploring the Human Mind One Thriller at a Time: with Dorothy Koomson, Ruth Ware & Anna Sharpe
From Page to Screen: Bringing crime thrillers to life: with Jane Casey, Michael Connelly andRagnar Jonasson, interviewed by Lisa Howells
Agatha Christie for the ‘Knives Out’ Generation: Kelly Mullen, Ram Murali, Jeremy Vine & Rob Rinder
Silver Anniversary Stories: celebrate 25 books with Adele Parks in conversation with David Headley
Not-so Domestic Bliss: toxic families and friendships with Andrea Mara, Asia Mackay, Claire Douglas, Caz Frear & Heidi Perks
‘C’ is for creating communities in Crime Fiction: Suk Pannu, Rev Richard Coles, Blake Mara & Tim Sullivan
Making your mark: the different routes to telling your thriller: Barnaby Martin, Jo Callaghan and Dominic Nolan & C. B. Everett
And so much more! With over 30 incredible events, the Fingerprint Awards, surprises throughout the weekend, and the chance to meet your favourite authors, this is one festival you don’t want to miss.
The full schedule can be found here and tickets can be found here.
My favourite reads this year have spanned spy thrillers, a debut novel an end of a trilogy, translated novels and a contemporary topical thriller to name few. They are as follows in alphabetical order.
The Sparrow & The Peacock by I S Berry (No Exit Press/Bedford Square Publishers)
Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. Stationed in Bahrain for his final tour, he's anxious to dispense with his mission — uncovering Iranian support for the insurgency. But then he meets Almaisa, an enigmatic artist, and his eyes are opened to a side of Bahrain most expats never experience, to questions he never thought to ask. When his trusted informant becomes embroiled in a murder, Collins finds himself drawn deep into the conflict, his romance and loyalties upended. In an instant, he's caught in the crosswinds of a revolution. He sets out to learn the truth behind the Arab Spring, win Almaisa's love, and uncover the murky border where Bahrain's secrets end and America's begin.
The Waiting by Michael Connelly (Orion Publishing)
LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a terrifying serial rapist whose trail has gone cold with the help of the newest volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: Patrol Officer Maddie Bosch, Harry's daughter. Renée Ballard and the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago. The arrested man is only twenty-three, so the genetic link must be familial. It is his father who was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the city of angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles. Meanwhile, Ballard's badge, gun, and ID are stolen-a theft she can't report without giving her enemies in the department the ammunition they need to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, but her solo mission leads her into greater danger than she anticipates. She has no choice but to go outside the department for help, and that leads her to the door of Harry Bosch. Finally, Ballard takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit. Bosch's daughter Maddie wants to supplement her work as a patrol officer on the night beat by investigating cases with Ballard. But Renée soon learns that Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city's library of lost souls.
Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway (Penguin Books)
It is spring in 1963 and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West's spy war with the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only on a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumour in Whitehall – unconfirmed and a little scandalous – that George Smiley might almost be happy. But Control has other plans. A Russian agent has defected in the most unusual of circumstances, and the man he was sent to kill in London is nowhere to be found. Smiley reluctantly agrees to one last simple task: interview Susanna, a Hungarian émigré and employee of the missing man, and sniff out a lead. But in his absence the shadows of Moscow have lengthened. Smiley will soon find himself entangled in a perilous mystery that will define the battles to come, and strike at the heart of his greatest enemy… Karla's Choice is set in the missing decade between two iconic instalments in the George Smiley saga, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and is an extraordinary, thrilling return to the world of spy fiction's greatest writer, John le Carré.
Hotel Lucky Seven by Kotaro Isaka (Vintage Publishing)
A luxury hotel full of assassins - what could go wrong? Nanao ‘the unluckiest assassin in the world’ has been hired to deliver a birthday present to a guest at a luxury Tokyo Hotel. It seems like a simple assignment but by the time he leaves the guest's room one man is dead and more will soon follow. As events spiral out of control as it becomes clear several different killers, with varying missions, are all taking a stay in the hotel at the same time. And they're all particularly interested in a young woman with a photographic memory, hiding out on one of the twenty floors. Will Nanao find the truth about what’s going on? And will he check out alive?
Imposter Syndrome by Joseph Knox (Transworld Publishers)
'When you’re living a lie, you find it’s best to avoid close attachments…’ Lynch, a burned out con-artist, arrives, broke, in London, trying not to dwell on the mistakes that got him there. When he bumps into Bobbie, a rehab-bound heiress - and when she briefly mistakes him for her missing brother - Lynch senses the opportunity, as well as the danger… Bobbie’s brother, Heydon, was a troubled young man. Five years ago, he walked out of the family home and never went back. His car was found parked on a bridge overlooking the Thames, in the early hours of the same morning. Unsettled by Bobbie’s story, and suffering from a rare attack of conscience, Lynch tries to back off. But when Bobbie leaves for rehab the following day, he finds himself drawn to her luxurious family home, and into a meeting with her mother, the formidable Miranda. Seeing the same resemblance that her daughter did, Miranda proposes she hire Lynch to assume her son’s identity, in a last-ditch effort to try and flush out his killer. As Lynch begins to impersonate him, dark forces are lured out of the shadows, and he realises too late that Heydon wasn’t paranoid at all. Someone was watching his every move, and they’ll kill to keep it a secret. For the first time, Lynch is in a life or death situation he can’t lie his way out of.
Guide Me Home by Attica Locke (Profile Books)
Texas Ranger Darren Mathews has handed in his badge. A choice made three years before, which served justice if not the law, means that he may now stand trial. And his mother - an intermittent and destructive force in his life - is the cause of his fall from grace.And yet it is his mother's reappearance that may also be his salvation. A black girl at an all-white sorority at a nearby college is missing, her belongings tossed in a dumpster. Her sorority sisters, the college police, even the girl's own family, deny that she has disappeared, but Sera Fuller is nowhere to be found. A bloodstained shirt discovered in a woodland clearing may be the last trace of her. And Darren's mother wants her son to work the case. Disillusioned by an America forever changed by the presidency of Donald Trump, Darren reluctantly agrees. Yet as he sets out to find a girl whose family don't want her found, it is his own family's history that may be brought painfully into the light. And a reckoning with his past may finally show Darren the future he can build.And yet it is his mother's reappearance that may also be his salvation. A black girl at an all-white sorority at a nearby college is missing, her belongings tossed in a dumpster. Her sorority sisters, the college police, even the girl's own family, deny that she has disappeared, but Sera Fuller is nowhere to be found. A bloodstained shirt discovered in a woodland clearing may be the last trace of her. And Darren's mother wants her son to work the case.Disillusioned by an America forever changed by the presidency of Donald Trump, Darren reluctantly agrees. Yet as he sets out to find a girl whose family don't want her found, it is his own family's history that may be brought painfully into the light. And a reckoning with his past may finally show Darren the future he can build.
Moscow X by David McCloskey (Swift Press)
A daring CIA operation threatens chaos in the Kremlin. Its execution is foiled by a Russian woman with secret loyalties CIA operatives Sia and Max enter Russia to recruit Vladimir Putin's moneyman. Sia works for a London firm that conceals the wealth of the super-rich. Max's family business in Mexico - a CIA front since the 1960s - is a farm that breeds high-end racehorses. They pose as a couple, and their targets are Vadim, Putin's private banker, and his wife Anna, who is both a banker and an intelligence officer. As they descend further into a Russian world dripping with luxury and rife with gangland violence, Sia and Max's hope may be Anna, who is playing a game of her own. Careening between the horse ranch and the dark opulence of Saint Petersburg, Moscow X is both a gripping thriller of modern espionage and a daring work of political commentary on the conflict between Washington and Moscow.
Hunted by Abir Mukherjee (Vintage Publishing)
You can't save your kids. But can you stop them? It's a week before the presidential elections when a bomb goes off in an LA shopping mall. In London, armed police storm Heathrow Airport and arrest Sajid Khan. His daughter, Aliyah entered the USA with the suicide bomber, and now she's missing, potentially plotting another attack on American soil. But then a woman called Carrie turns up at Sajid's door after travelling halfway across the world. She claims Aliyah is with her son and she has a clue to their whereabouts. Carrie knows something isn't adding up - and that she and Sajid are the only ones who can find their children and discover the truth. On the run from the authorities, the two parents are thrown together in a race against time to save their kids and stop a catastrophe that will derail the country's future forever.
White City by Dominic Nolan (Headline Publishing)
It's 1952, and London is victorious but broken, a city of war ruins and rationing, run by gangsters and black-market spivs. An elaborate midnight heist, the biggest robbery in British history, sends newspapers into a frenzy. Politicians are furious, the police red-faced. They have suspicions but no leads. Hunches but no proof. For two families, it is more than just a sensational headline, as their fathers fail to return home on the day of the robbery. Young Addie Rowe, daughter of a missing Jamaican postman and drunk ex-club hostess mother, struggles to care for her little sister in a dilapidated Brixton rooming house. Claire Martin, increasingly resentful of roads not taken, strives to make the rent and keep her teenage son Ray from falling under unsavoury influences in Notting Dale. She finds herself caught between the interests of dangerous men who may know the truth behind her husband's disappearance: Dave Lander, whose reserved nature she finds difficult to reconcile with his reputation as a violent gang enforcer, and Teddy 'Mother' Nunn, a sociopathic, evangelising outlaw and top lieutenant in Billy Hill's underworld. Drawn together through the years in the city's invisible web of crime and poverty, the fates of the broken families and violent men collide in 1958, as the West Indian community of Notting Hill's slums come under attack from thugs and Teddy Boys. For Addie, Claire, Dave and Mother, old scores will be settled and new dreams chased in the crucible of London's violent summer.
Holmes and Moriarty by Gareth Rubin (Simon and Schuster Ltd)
Two adversaries. One deadly alliance. Together, can they unlock the truth? Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend, Dr John Watson, have been hired by actor George Reynolds to help him solve a puzzle. George wants them to find out why the audience who comes to see him perform every night are the same people, only wearing disguises. Is something sinister going on and, if so, what? Meanwhile, Holmes’ archenemy, Professor James Moriarty is having problems of his own. Implicated in the murder of a gang leader, Moriarty and his second, Moran, must go on the run from the police in order to find out who is behind the set-up. But their investigation puts them in the way of Holmes and Watson and it’s not long before all four realise that they are being targeted by the same person. With lives on the line, not just their own, they must form an uneasy alliance in order to unmask the true villain. With clues leading them to a hotel in Switzerland and a conspiracy far greater than any of them expected, who can be trusted – and will anyone of them survive?
The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel (Penguin Books)
Alfred Smettle adores Hitchcock. And who better to become founder, owner and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a remote, sprawling Victorian house sitting atop a hill in the beautiful White Mountains, New England. There, guests can find movie props and memorabilia in every room, round-the-clock film screenings, and an aviary with fifty crows. For the hotel's first anniversary, Alfred invites the five college friends he studied film with. He hasn't spoken to any of them in sixteen years. Not after what happened. But who better to appreciate Alfred's creation? His guests arrive, and everything seems to go according to plan. Until one glimpses someone standing outside her shower curtain. Another is violently ill every time she eats the hotel food. Then their mobile phones go missing. You should always make the audience suffer as much as possible, right? The guests are stuck in the middle of nowhere, and things are about to get even worse. After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a dead body.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki (HarperCollins Publishers)
The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story. There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation's imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can't resist writing back. Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought? Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer", Asako Yuzuki's Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.
Honourable mentions go to -
The Instruments of Darkness by John Connolly (Hodder and Stoughton)
In Maine, Colleen Clark stands accused of the worst crime a mother can commit: the abduction and possible murder of her child. Everyone - ambitious politicians in an election season, hardened police, ordinary folk - has an opinion on the case, and most believe she is guilty. But most is not all. Defending Colleen is the lawyer Moxie Castin, and working alongside him is the private investigator Charlie Parker, who senses the tale has another twist, one involving a husband too eager to accept his wife's guilt, a disgraced psychic seeking redemption, and an old twisted house deep in the Maine woods, a house that should never have been built. A house, and what dwells beneath.
A Beginners Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray (Cornerstone)
Property might be theft. But the housing market is murder. My name is Al. I live in wealthy people's second homes while their real owners are away. I don't rob them, I don't damage anything... I'm more an unofficial house-sitter than an actual criminal. Life is good. Or it was - until last night, when my friends and I broke into the wrong place, on the wrong day, and someone wound up dead. And now... now we’re in a great deal of trouble. Featuring crooked houses, dodgy coppers and a lot of lockpicking, A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering is a gripping thriller about what it's like to be young, skilled, unemployed - and on the run.
Holmes, Margaret and Poe by James Patterson and Brian Sitts (Century)
Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple and Auguste Poe run the most in-demand private investigation agency in New York City. The three detectives make a formidable team, solving a series of seemingly impossible crimes which expose the dark underbelly of the city - from a priceless art theft, high-stakes kidnapping and a decades-old unsolved murder, to a gruesome subterranean prison and corruption and bribery at the highest levels of power. But it's not long before their headline-grabbing breakthroughs, unconventional methods - and untraceable pasts - attract the attention of the NYPD and the FBI. After all, it's no surprise that there's a mystery or two to unravel in the city that never sleeps . . . not least, who really are Holmes, Margaret and Poe?
Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin (Orion)
John Rebus spent his life as a detective putting Edinburgh's most deadly criminals behind bars. Now, he's joined them. As new allies and old enemies circle, and the days and nights bleed into each other, even the legendary detective struggles to keep his head. That is, until a murder at midnight in a locked cell presents a new mystery. They say old habits die hard... However, this is a case where the prisoners and the guards are all suspects, and everyone has something to hide. With no badge, no authority and no safety net, Rebus walks a tightrope - with his life on the line. But how do you find a killer in a place full of them?
The Australian Crime Writers Association announced all the categories for the Ned Kelly Award Shortlists.
2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best International Crime Fiction:
Birnam Wood By Eleanor Catton
Dice by Claire Baylis
Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish
The Search Party by Hannah Richell
Zero Days by Ruth Ware
2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best True Crime:
Crossing the Line by Nick McKenzie
Killing for Country by David Marr
The Murder Squad by Michael Adams
Reckless by Marele Day
The Teacher’s Pet by Hedley Thomas
2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best Crime Fiction:
Killer Traitor Spy by Tim Ayliffe
Dark Corners by Megan Goldin
Dark Mode by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
The Seven by Chris Hammer
Ripper by Shelley Burr
The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson
Everyone on this train is a suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best Debut Crime Fiction:
Four Dogs Missing by Rhys Gard
Gus and the Missing Boy by Troy Hunter
Lowbridge by Lucy Campbell
Murder in the Pacific: Ifira Point by Matt Francis
The Fall Between by Darcy Tindale
The Beacon by P.A. Thomas
Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl by Fiona Britton
Congratulations to All!
