25 Best Crime, Mystery And Thriller Books of October 2023

Our October 2023 list of best crime, mystery and thriller books includes highly-anticipated titles such as the new Jack Reacher novel The Secret by Lee Child and Andrew Child, One of our favorite titles Thin Air by Kellie M. Parker, as well as Murder in Fourth Position by Lori Robbins.

Note: Mystery Tribune’s Reading Lists include the best crime and thriller books of each month as well as our picks for different sub-genres: Check them out here.

The Vengeance of the Crows by Kyle Alexander Romines (October 7)

Josh Rush wants to enjoy one final getaway with his friends before the end of high school. A spooky October camping trip in rural Appalachia sounds like the perfect opportunity to do just that.

But Josh doesn’t know about the bloodstains at the cabin. He doesn’t know about the graves. And he definitely doesn’t know about something monstrous stirring in the cave. Something that won’t rest until Josh and his friends are dead.

I Kill Killers by S. T. Ashman (October 10)

When serial killers become the prey, it’s a deadly game that will linger in your thoughts long after the final page is turned.

In the dazzling world of concert halls, Leah Natchnebel is celebrated as a genius pianist. Beneath the applause lies a darker truth: she uses her brilliant mind to relentlessly hunt serial killers. But when she finds herself linked to her latest target by a startling coincidence, she not only lands on the radar of a persistent FBI agent but also becomes entangled in a dangerous dance with a serial killer whose lethal cunning could rival her own.

When Agent Liam Richter was called to the crime scene of a brutally murdered individual in the woods, he initially saw it as another murder case. But when the victim is identified as the ‘College Snatcher’, a serial killer long sought by the FBI, Liam is thrust into a perilous cat-and-mouse chase where every move and every breath could be his last.

“I Kill Killers” is a pulse-pounding journey into moral ambiguity, blurring the slippery line between heroes and villains.

Dangerous Women by Mark de Castrique (October 24)

In a case deciding the future of clean energy, everything hinges on how the chief justice of Supreme Court will lean. DANGEROUS WOMEN stirs up the perfect cocktail of ingenious spy-craft and political intrigue of Thomas Perry’s The Old Man brightened with the charming, uncanny energy of Killers of a Certain Age.

This urgent, cleverly plotted high stakes thriller is set in motion by botched attack on two law clerks leaving one dead and the other in a coma. The ensuing cover up leaves a string of bodies and too many players at cross-purposes. It also leaves Chief Justice Clarissa Baxter with a target on her back.

We’ll need an off the grid hero with friends in high places: enter retired FBI agent-turned-boardinghouse landlady, Ethel Fiona Crestwater (legend) and her double-first-cousin-twice-removed Jesse Cooper (sidekick). Although in her mid-seventies, Ethel is no bumbling amateur sleuth; she’s a seasoned pro with razor-sharp instincts and Bond-worthy skills. College-aged Jesse brings tech savvy and boundless enthusiasm, along with an innate talent for intrigue.

Together, the unlikely duo will face malicious back-stabbing political sycophants, conniving lobbyists, and a motivated assassin bent on removing the Chief Justice from the equation—along with Ethel, who stands defiantly between the hitman and his payday.

The Secret (A Jack Reacher Novel) by Lee Child; Andrew Child (October 24)

The gripping new Jack Reacher thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew Child

1992. All across the United States respectable, upstanding citizens are showing up dead. These deaths could be accidents, and they don’t appear to be connected—until a fatal fall from a high-floor window attracts some unexpected attention.

That attention comes from the secretary of defense. All of a sudden he wants an interagency task force to investigate. And he wants Jack Reacher as the army’s representative. If Reacher gets a result, great. If not, he’s a convenient fall guy.

But office politics isn’t Reacher’s thing. Three questions quickly emerge: Who’s with him, who’s against him, and will the justice he dispenses be the official kind…or his own kind?

Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison (October 24)

Glasgow, 1932. When the son-in-law of one of the city’s wealthiest shipbuilders is found floating in the River Clyde with his throat cut, it falls to Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn to lead the murder case–despite sharing a troubled history with the victim’s widow.

From the flying fists and flashing blades of Glasgow’s gangland underworld to the backstabbing upper echelons of government and big business, Dreghorn and his partner, “Bonnie” Archie McDaid, will have to dig deep into Glasgow society to find out who wanted the man dead and why.

All the while, a sadistic murderer stalks the post-war city, leaving a trail of dead bodies in their wake. As the case deepens, Dreghorn realizes that the answers may lie in his old ties with the victim’s family—and the horrors he saw in the Great War.

Edge of the Grave is historical noir at its very best—a gripping mystery that truly transports the reader to the lawless streets and high society of 1930s Glasgow and brings a teeming, chaotic city irresistibly to life.

Murder in Fourth Position by Lori Robbins (October 4)

Mad Music was the buzziest new show of the upcoming Broadway season, with a hot score, a cool director, and a deadly plot twist no one saw coming. When rumors of a behind-the-scenes disaster surface, ballerina Leah Siderova finds herself with the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to make her Broadway debut while playing a double role.

The producers hope to capitalize on her talent, as well as her devoted fan base, to revive ticket sales. Leah’s true reason for abandoning Lincoln Center for the Great White Way is her undercover investigation of online threats against Amber Castle, the star of the show.

Leah finds herself in a deadly race against time as the virtual threats escalate into real-life violence. Her collaboration with the handsome detective assigned to the case complicates their fragile romance as she battles jealousy, hidden motives, and a shadowy stalker who endangers her personal and professional future. Surrounded by actors skilled in deception, can Leah solve the mystery in time to save the show?

Thin Air by Kellie M. Parker (October 17)

Eight hours. Twelve contestants. A flight none of them might survive. A flight to Paris full of teenagers seeking opportunity turns deadly in this suspenseful, locked-door YA thriller. Perfect for fans of Diana Urban, Karen McManus, and Jessica Goodman.

Seventeen-year-old boarding school student Emily Walters is selected for an opportunity of a lifetime—she’ll compete abroad for a cash prize that will cover not only tuition to the college of her choice, but will lift her mother and her out of poverty.

But almost from the moment she and 11 other contestants board a private jet to Europe, Emily realizes somebody is willing to do anything to win. Between keeping an eye on her best friend’s flirty boyfriend and hiding her own dark secrets, she’s not sure how she’ll survive the contest, much less the flight. Especially when people start dying…

As loyalties shift and secrets are revealed, Emily must figure out who to trust, and who’s trying to kill them all, before she becomes the next victim.

*****

Other titles in our list of best crime, mystery and thriller books of October 2023 include the following: