The Best New Crime Fiction of May 2019
The birds are chirping and the flowers are in bloom—I guess that makes a great background for murder-y people and lots of thrills—or something like that—because May has some great crime fiction releases! Whether you’re into historical, rivalries, odd pairings, thrills, or suspense there’s something here for all the mystery-loving hearts.
Paging all Hannibal Lecter fans. Thomas Harris has a new thriller! Okay, so it’s not a Hannibal Lecter novel, but when you’re a fan of an author, you’re a fan! Harris's new novel is set in Miami Beach where a house—of course, a mansion—houses secrets and cartel gold. A lot of gold! So you know there are scary bad people hunting for it: enter Hans-Peter Schneider. Will Cari Mora, the house caretaker, be able to fight him off?...
Perveen is back, this is not a drill! In this fantastic historical mystery series set in the early 1920s, we follow Bombay’s only female lawyer, Perveen Mistry. After the Satapur royal family loses its maharaja and his teenage son, the state finds itself ruled by a British Raj agent. Because the maharanis do not speak to men, the only lawyer who can help the royal ladies' current dispute is Perveen Mistry. But is it a trap?
She’s smart, determined, delightful, and has a moral compass that only seems to point to helping people no matter what, so I have all the faith she’ll figure this one out!
Related: 5 Page-Turning Mysteries Starring Indian Detectives
Two strangers fight for their lives in this thriller where they better figure out who is trying to kill them and why, if they want to live. And I'm pretty sure living is always the goal! College senior Tara Beckley is believed to be in a vegetative state after a car accident but is really in locked-in syndrome when she learns someone is trying to kill her. Abby Kaplan is the insurance investigator who realizes this car accident was no accident, and investigating any further puts her in the line of fire. I already have anxiety!
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An Aboriginal ghost that needs her grieving father to help her solve a mystery—I have never been sold faster on a book! Beth Teller is dead, and only her father and Isobel Catching can see her. But who is Isobel Catching, and why can she see Beth? And is she connected to the fire Beth’s father is investigating? The fire that killed an unidentified person?...
And this is the winner for this month’s cover I’m obsessed with. This is a story about two best friends-turned-rivals when the wallflower is done being the wallflower. Yes, gimme this psychological suspense! These college friends end up working at the same news station, which is just the perfect setting for rivalry, ambition, and privilege to explode into destruction.
A historical mystery like none I’d read before, which takes us between Frannie Langton’s life in Jamaica as a slave and her time in London as a servant—where she's now on trial for the murder of her boss and his wife. In order to save herself, she’ll have to tell the story of what actually happened, but will she be able to remember? And even if she does, will it be enough to save her—a black woman accused of murder in 1826?
A former Marine and a recently released prisoner team up to save a kidnapped service dog. Okay, I’m in! Jess Winslow has PTSD and is dealing with all the trouble her late husband left behind when an obviously crappy person kidnaps her service dog. And that’s when Mason Burke, the man who trained Jess’ service dog while he was incarcerated, shows up. They’re gonna make a hell of a team—and they better find the dog!
What to Read & Watch Next
Jamie Canavés is a Book Riot contributing editor and Tailored Book Recommendations Coordinator who always has a book in one hand. She writes the Unusual Suspects mystery newsletter, never says no to chocolate or ‘80s nostalgia, and spends way too much time asking her goat-dog “What’s in your mouth?!” Tweets: @Oh_Dinky.