Start Summer With 18 New Mystery, Thrillers & True Crime for June 2025

For fans of crime novels, family drama, past missing persons cases, and characters returning home to face the past!

Roman Carruthers returns to his hometown when his father ends up in a coma. But that quickly becomes the least of his problems when, in trying to save his brother from a bad decision, he finds himself in the position of needing to outwit the local crime boss. His sister, now running the family crematorium, knows Roman is up to something and is becoming increasingly convinced that their father was responsible for their mother’s disappearance when they were teenagers. Every move Roman makes to try and protect his family ends up putting them deeper in danger…

For fans of retired, amateur sleuths and murder mysteries!

Miss Hortense is a retired nurse living in a Birmingham suburb and solving mysteries. When she starts investigating the Pardner network’s investments— a group she was forced out of decades ago—she ends up with a dead body and is forced to dredge up the past everyone wants to keep buried.

For fans of murder mysteries, detectives, and coastal English village settings!

The creator of Broadchurch has written a new procedural! Local pub owner, Jim Tiernan, is found murdered in the middle of the road, sitting in a chair with antlers on his head. This is not supposed to happen in picturesque seaside towns, but detective Nicola Bridge is learning that lots of things about her new job were not revealed until after she signed up. Partnered with decade younger DC Harry Ward—who does get excited over his first murder case—they’ll have to get the villagers to talk in order to unearth the secrets behind this brutal murder.

For fans of YA, elite boarding school settings, and tournaments!

Gardner is a boarding school that has created a cutthroat environment by offering a survival skill class not offered at other schools and also creating the Tournament. What exactly is the Tournament? It’s a ruthless game that only seven elite seniors can compete in, and Nora, Max, and Teddy are willing to do anything to win.

For fans of speculative YA mysteries with themes of addiction and grief.

Hakeem Hawkins is a high school senior who has been going to NA meetings and staying clean when his best friend, Miles, dies by what is ruled a suicide. Hakeem and Miles had a buddy system to help each other if either was ever in need, so he can’t understand why Miles didn’t reach out—until Miles does, from the grave, saying he needs Hakeem to find out who murdered him.

For fans of a Fiji setting and WWI historical mysteries!

The series began with Muslim Sikh British Police officer Akal Singh being relocated from Hong Kong to Fiji as punishment. Now Sergeant Akal Singh is given a series of tasks on the island of Ovalau, but quickly he’s doing more than assigned when Norwegian sailors are imprisoned and an unpopular local is brutally killed…

If you want to start at the beginning, pick up A Disappearance in Fiji!

For fans of journalist leads, missing person cases, and family secrets!

Sydney Singleton was a journalist who had a psychotic break while working on a missing girl case. After her grandmother dies, she finds a photograph of her aunt, who was one of six Black girls to go missing in ‘60s North Carolina. The cases have remained unsolved and Sydney’s family didn’t talk about her aunt, so she launches into finding answers herself. But her marriage is strained, she’s undergoing fertility treatments, and she’s once again becoming obsessed with a missing person case…

For fans of middle grade mysteries!

Andy Carter is not enjoying his summer at his aunt’s place in a small Midwestern town. Now, after a barn burns down and he’s blamed for it, his punishment is to help the owner renovate their old mansion. But things take a turn when Andy learns that the previous owner was the Red Nave, a famous magician who disappeared after being accused of murder. Now Andy has a mystery from the 1950s to solve!

For fans of domestic thrillers, investigative journalist characters, and missing person cases!

Rose Howard’s personal life is falling apart, including having a falling out with her best friend Eve Castillo. So pardon her when she doesn’t immediately jump to the rescue when she finds out that Eve has gone missing while on vacation. But Eve’s sister is persistent, and Rose is roped into finding out what happened to Eve, even if it means dredging up long-buried secrets and putting her own life in danger.

For fans of funny murder mysteries!

What do you do if you find out that your boyfriend is also dating two other women? You join forces for revenge! At least that was the plan, but instead Kat, Olivia, and Elle find him dead and realize that they will be murder suspects. What to do? Band together to solve the murder, of course!

For fans of beach-set mysteries and bibliophile leads!

Mia Crawford is forced to take a long overdue vacation before being made partner, which is how she finds herself on a beautiful island reading a book—what she loves doing most. Except there are secrets, and an unsolved murder, and an old book with possible clues written in the margins…

For fans of old-school style detective mysteries!

A local mill worker is found shot to death beside train tracks. Was it members of the workers’ union? A new religious sect? Chief Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna end up on the case as more bodies drop.

For fans of romance and mysteries!

Detective Rav Trivedi stands out in the NYPD as a not-yet-30 gay Brit with a great solve rate. But his new case may be the hardest: a record executive’s murder has all eyes on the case, and Rav finds himself attracted to the prime suspect—a rock star!

Beatrice Steele is on top of the world: she’s moved with her chaperone, Miss Bolton, to Sweetbriar in London where there may be pesky flying squirrels, but her dream job, D.S. Investigations, is now open. Problem? She and her partner, Inspector Drake, are only getting boring pet-finding cases, and her mom still expects her to find a wealthy husband. Then a string of murders that throws the community into chaos finally lands her a case she wants.

If you’d like to start at the beginning, pick up A Most Agreeable Murder!

For fans of suspense, sister stories, and crime!

Harper’s sister Pam went through a messy divorce where her husband not only liquidated their accounts but managed to steal from their kids. When Harper moves in with Pam, she’s surprised that her sister has landed on her feet again. Turns out Pam is part of the Wheel, a group of women who meet twice a month and pool their money for one member. It’s the true definition of community support…but things take a turn when Harper is invited to participate.

For fans of whodunnit historical mysteries with a Golden Age feel!

In London during the end of the 1920s, Selby Bigge is a bank clerk who frequents the local underground queer bars. When a chance meeting with a past friend from Oxford, Patrick Duker, gets Selby invited to a dinner with Patrick’s wealthy father, he quickly accepts. But what starts with Patrick wanting Selby to find dirt on his stepmother ends with a murdered member of the house staff. So Selby instead jumps into the role of detective while trying to keep his sexuality hidden in order to keep his foot in the door with the elite.

For readers of books about recent history becoming timely again.

Fieseler dives into the history and destructive aftermath of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, created by Senator Charley E. Johns. The committee—which operated from 1956 to 1965— started with a goal of purging liberals from Florida universities and schools by looking for communist connections. But when it couldn’t find any within the NAACP, it broadened its racist witch hunt to also go after the queer community—starting with UF and the interrogation of professors and students, many of which left.

For fans of murder mysteries, middle-aged sleuths, PI assistants, and cruise ship settings!

Muriel Blossom was widowed a decade ago and is retired from being PI Tess Monaghan’s* assistant. Now, thanks to a winning lotto ticket she found, she plans a trip on a French cruise and meets a charming man who takes her out in Paris. Things would be looking up if this was a romance novel, but it’s a mystery so the man is found dead. With Muriel being the last person in a photo on his camera phone, she’s questioned. Then another man steps into the picture claiming she’s in danger…

*Tess Monaghan is the star of Lippman’s eponymous series that starts with Baltimore Blues.