Nowadays, true crime is all around us. We can see them in television shows, conventions, and movies; it is practically in the air we breathe. We live in a world of true crimes, and all of us live it.
There are true-life stories that make suspense novels look tame and predictable for every suspense novel that stuns and astounds readers. But why do we have such a strong desire for these tales? Whether they are depicted on the page or the screen, are we willing to devote hours of our lives to them? These tales grip us more than those in any other genre when it comes to true literary crime.
Best Crime & Thriller Books to Read
The best true crime writers don’t sensationalize violence or human misery; instead, they give context and depth to the crimes they investigate. Many of them draw attention to the judicial system’s limitations as well as the destructive influences of internalized racism and misogyny.
These wonderful works serve as a reminder that true crime does not just involve a tidy plot with a criminal mastermind, valiant detectives, and perfect victims. Life is considerably messier than that, and so are crimes. Here are some of our favorites, which span various crimes and demonstrate different societal causes and effects.
The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly
Key Features
- Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company (November 9, 2021)
- Language: English
- Print Length: 401 Pages
- File Size: 744 KB
Overview
As New Year’s Eve draws to a close, mayhem reigns in Hollywood. As hundreds of revelers fire their weapons into the air, LAPD detective Renée Ballard, who is working her graveyard shift, waits out the traditional lead rain. Ballard is summoned just minutes after midnight to a scene where an industrious auto shop owner has been shot and killed in the middle of a busy street celebration.
Ballard rapidly comes to the conclusion that the fatal bullet could not have fallen from the sky and that it is connected to another unsolved homicide, a case that Detective Harry Bosch had previously worked on. Ballard is also on the prowl for the Midnight Men, a devilish duo of serial rapists who terrorize women and leave no trace.
Ballard is determinedly working to solve both cases. Still, she sometimes feels like she is running uphill in a police department that the pandemic and following societal instability have irreversibly transformed. Because of the department’s lack of motivation and inertia, Ballard is forced to turn to Harry Bosch, the one investigator she can trust. However, they must continuously be on the lookout for each other as the two incontrollable investigators collaborate to locate the points where old and new cases collide. The vicious predators they are pursuing are ready to kill in order to keep their identities a secret.
The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens
Key Features
- Publisher: Mulholland Books (September 7, 2021)
- Language: English
- File Size: 1859 KB
- Print Length: 321 Pages
Overview
Lila Nash has settled into a contented life with her lover, Joe Talbert. She is about to begin working in her dream profession as a prosecutor for the Hennepin County Attorney. However, matters at work take a personal turn when a woman is found barely alive in the Mississippi River.
Police suspect local photographer Gavin Spenser of attacking the woman, but the case swiftly weakens due to a lack of solid evidence. Gavin seemed to have anticipated this investigation; no one could understand how precisely he had planned.
The more adamant Lila is about locking Gavin up, the harder it is to achieve justice. Lila is aware that time is running out as she struggles with a ruthless new boss and is plagued by memories of her own horrific attack, which she has kept a secret for eight long years. It will take all Lila has to outwit a killer and escape the grip of her past in a race against a wicked mastermind.
False Witness by Karin Slaughter
Key Features
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 448 Pages
- Weight: 1.3 Pounds
Overview
Leigh Collier has put a lot of effort into creating what appears to be a typical life. She is a rising defense lawyer at a top Atlanta law firm who would sacrifice anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy and who is effectively co-parenting following a civil divorce from her spouse Walter.
But Leigh’s everyday existence hides a childhood that nobody should ever go through. A childhood stained by lies, shattered by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by heinous brutality.
At her daughter’s school performance on a Sunday night, Leigh receives a call from one of the firm’s partners asking her to join the defense of a wealthy guy who is facing several rape charges. In a week, their trial is set to begin. She is uncertain of the situation, but it soon becomes clear that she has no alternative if she wants to keep her work.
She discovers that the accused’s request for her to represent him was not an accident when she finally gets to see him in person. She is acquainted with him. He also knows her. More importantly, he might be aware of what happened more than 20 years ago and why Leigh has spent so long ignoring her past.
Falling by T.J. Newman
Key Features
- Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (July 6, 2021)
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 304 Pages
- Weight: 1.06 Pounds
Overview
You’ve just gotten on a plane to New York.
Additionally, there are 143 other passengers on board.
You are unaware that your pilot’s family was abducted 30 minutes before takeoff.
Everyone on your flight must die in order for his family to live.
If the pilot obeys his orders and crashes the plane, that will be the only way the family will make it out alive.
Have fun on the trip.
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Key Features
- Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (September 14, 2021)
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 480 Pages
- Weight: 1.45 Pounds
Overview
Would you alert the authorities if your mother went missing? Even if your father was the prime suspect?
The four adult Delaney siblings are struggling with this issue.
The Delaney family is well-known in their neighborhood. All of their friends enviously look up to Stan and Joy, their parents. They are deadly on the tennis court, and their chemistry off the court is evident. However, after 50 years of marriage, they have now successfully sold their renowned tennis academy and are prepared to begin what should be their golden years. Why, then, are Stan and Joy in such misery?
Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke Delaney were tennis stars in their own ways, but as their father will show, none of them had what it required to make it all the way. But that’s alright now that they are all successful adults and the beautiful prospect of grandkids is in the near future.
After a disagreement with her boyfriend, a stranger called Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door one night, bleeding. The Delaneys are delighted to extend to her the tiny favor that she urgently needs. If only she had just that in mind.
Later, when Savannah is nowhere to be found, and Joy goes missing, the police investigate Stan, the only person left. But despite his claims of innocence, he appears to be hiding a lot, much like many wives. All of the Delaneys will begin to evaluate their common family history in a completely fresh light as the two sides square off against each other in what may be their largest match ever. Two of the Delaney children believe their father is innocent, while two others are unsure.
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
Key Features
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition, 8th Printing (May 4, 2021)
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 320 Pages
- Weight: 1.07 Pounds
Overview
Protect her, Owen Michaels smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year before vanishing. Hannah Hall is aware that the note is referring to Bailey, Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, despite her confusion and anxiety. Bailey is a young girl who sadly lost her mother. Bailey is stubbornly opposed to her new stepmother.
Owen’s boss is arrested by the FBI, a US marshal and federal investigators show up at her Sausalito house without warning, and more. Hannah quickly discovers her husband isn’t who he claimed to be as her desperate calls to Owen go unanswered. And that Bailey might be the key to discovering Owen’s real identity—and the real reason for his disappearance.
Bailey and Hannah set out to find the truth. But as they begin to piece together Owen’s past, they quickly discover that they are also creating a new future that neither of them could have foreseen.
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Key Features
- Publisher: Celadon Books (June 15, 2021)
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 352 Pages
- Weight: 1.2 Pounds
Overview
Edward Fosca is a murderer, and Mariana is assured of this. Fosca, though, is untouchable. Professor of Greek tragedy at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by both staff and students, but especially by the female members of The Maidens, a covert organization of female students.
When one of The Maidens, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found killed in Cambridge, Mariana Andros, a bright but unstable group therapist, gets fascinated with the group.
Mariana, who was previously a student at the institution, rapidly develops the suspicion that something dark hides beneath the ancient traditions and behind the beautiful magnificence of the spires and turrets. She also comes to the conclusion that Edward Fosca committed the crime despite having a plausible excuse. But why would the teacher pick on one of his pupils? And why does he constantly bring up the rituals associated with the female Persephone and her trip to the underworld?
When a second body is discovered, Mariana’s preoccupation with establishing Fosca’s guilt becomes out of control, endangering both her reputation and her closest relationships. Mariana, however, is determined to bring this murderer to justice, at any cost, including the cost of her own life.
Lightning Strike by Kent Krueger
Key Features
- Publisher: Atria Books; First Edition (August 24, 2021)
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 400 Pages
- Weight: 1.19 Pounds
Overview
Aurora is a small community located on the shores of Iron Lake in Minnesota, tucked away in an old-growth forest. For 12-year-old Cork O’Connor, it is the entire universe in the summer of 1963; its beats are known to him as his own. Cork, however, will be forced to reevaluate all he previously took for granted about his community, his family, and himself after discovering the death of a guy he revered hanging from a tree in an abandoned logging camp.
Liam O’Connor, Cork’s father, is Aurora’s sheriff, and it is his responsibility to certify that the man’s death was a suicide, as all the available evidence points to. Cork starts his own independent search for information in the background of his father’s formal probe. Together, father and son must make the ultimate decision between what their hearts believe to be right and what their minds tell them is true.
Final Words
To summarize, here are the best crime & thriller books you can read . There is a huge list of crime novels you can read ; we’ll review more in the future. In the meantime, you can read these novels. Keep reading our blogs to get honest reviews about the best books in all genres. Here, you will find information about the best reads and their reviews. Moreover, you can also find trending and DIY ideas.
If you have any other crime & thriller books in your mind that you want us to review, let us know in the comments below.
FAQ
What Makes a Novel a Crime Novel?
The fact that there is actually no mystery sets the crime book apart from the other mystery novels in a significant way. It is told from the perspective of the criminal and portrays life on the streets.
What Makes a Good Crime Thriller?
The majority of a thriller novel’s attention is focused on building tension and dread. Crime thrillers frequently focus on the worry of a future crime, whereas most mysteries first expose a crime and then require their main characters to work backward to determine who committed it.
What Makes Thriller Different from Detective Novels?
In most mysteries, the main protagonists must piece together the details of a crime to determine who committed it. The enemy is frequently introduced early on in a thriller, and the main characters must work to stop them from doing awful things.
What Makes a Thriller Unique?
The thriller subgenre is known for its unanticipated story turns, evil villains, and page-turning intensity. Because these are the fundamental objectives of the thriller genre, thriller writers have laser-focused expertise in maintaining a reader’s interest. Any story can stimulate excitement, tension, curiosity, and exhilaration.