12 Heart-Pumping New Thrillers To Read In 2023

Five dead bodies, a car whose driver has fled — so begins this lavish novel that is a pulse-quickening hybrid between literary fiction and crime thriller, with a big helping of family saga. Set in contemporary India, Age of Vice centers around the Wadia family, about whom the author skillfully paints an intriguing world full of strained family dynamics, corruption, and glittering wealth.

This book won the Crime Novel of the Year Award in Sweden, and since Sweden has also produced hit crime authors like Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson, the award alone might be reason enough to read it. With an intriguing plot set in 1980s Sweden and an obsessive detective looking for connections, it’s sure to keep you guessing to the end.

If you haven’t already spotted someone else on the train or in the library reading this novel, you soon will. But be warned: Once you pick this one up, you will move heaven and earth to keep reading it. You will become Maya, a woman who returns to her hometown to puzzle out the past mysterious death of a friend, discovering previously unnoticed messages in her late Guatemalan father’s book and uncovering memories she may have forgotten for a reason.

Take a cathartic but difficult journey through a dreamy horrorscape with a young Cree woman named Mackenzie, who grapples with a legacy of violence both in her family and her community, including the death of her younger sister. Full of twists and turns, this debut novel from Nehiyaw (Cree) author Jessica Johns is a must-read.

Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Iris Yamashita makes her novel debut with this story about murder in a tiny Alaskan town. A teenager finds severed body parts, and a detective — who just happens to be stranded — tries to solve the mysterious killing.

In the second book in the Indian Lake Trilogy, Native writer and horror aficionado Stephen Graham Jones is back with an edge-of-your-seat novel that weaves Indigenous history and slasher-film aesthetic. This time, the killer returns seeking vengeance for the 38 Dakota men hanged in 1862 outside of Proofrock, Idaho. If you haven’t yet read book one, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, be sure to read it first.

Latin American women horror writers have been woefully underrepresented in publishing, but the tides are changing. In this exquisitely terrifying novel from Argentinian author Marian Enriquez, a father and son in mourning for the loss of their wife and mother embark on a trip to her homeland. It is here they discover the secret society of evil that is her legacy and that wants her son.

“I am serving the fifth year of a life sentence for murdering my own child. Spoiler alert: I didn’t do it.” In this latest novel from crime novel mastermind Harlan Coben, an innocent man is sent to prison for the murder of his son, only to discover five years later his son is still alive. (Release date: March 14)

In book two of the series, amateur sleuth Kaveri Murthy is back, having been persuaded by her despotic mother-in-law to investigate a relatively minor crime. Instead, she uncovers a murder. Set in Bangalore under the rule of the British raj, go back and read the first book, The Bangalore Detective’s Club, to be introduced to the key players. (Publish date: March 28)

New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda is back, this time with a heart-pumping thriller about a group of high school classmates who survived a tragic crash while on a field trip. When one of the survivors commits suicide, the rest make a pact to get together each year to commemorate the anniversary of the crash. Set in the Outer Banks and full of Miranda’s signature “it could happen to you so easily” tone, this one promises to have you sleeping with the lights on. (Release date: April 11)

Not all crime thrillers involve murder, and this one, from the author of The Violin Conspiracy, takes on an entirely different crime. A professor, Ben Hendricks, uncovers the truth that America’s most famous composer’s music was actually stolen from a young Black composer named Josephine Reed. Professor Ben Hendricks is determined to expose the truth and celebrate Josephine’s legacy. (Release date: April 18)

Though frequently called the modern Agatha Christie, Ruth Ware is a literary author as much as she is a thriller writer. Her signature style of combining rich details, pleasant settings, and horrific crimes is truly one-of-a-kind. This one finds home-security system installer Jack a suspect in the murder of her own husband. Pre-order this one for your summer reading list. (Publish date: June 20)