Think Twice ★★★★☆
by Harlan Coben
Century, £22
After a “break” – in which he has produced several other novels and collaborated with Netflix, for whom he has a staggering 14 projects ongoing – Coben returns to his most popular character, sports agent Myron Bolitar. In this, the 12th novel in the series, Mylar faces a couple of FBI agents who’re keen to speak to his client Greg Downing on suspicion of murder. The only problem is, Downing died three years ago, and Mylar even gave the eulogy at his funeral. The story becomes just as twisty as you would expect. Terry Ramsey
Murder at the Monastery ★★★★☆
by Richard Coles
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £22
In his most recent novel, the Rev Richard Coles reserved for his final sentence a surprise that devastated cleric-cum-sleuth Daniel Clement, and the thousands of readers who have come to adore him. This third outing for Clement sees him taking a recuperative break at the abbey in which he trained half a lifetime ago, only to find a hotbed of enmities leading to one brother being jammed into the workings of the monastery’s power turbine. Coles’s feline wit and infectious enthusiasm for ecclesiastical trivia make for a very moreish read despite the familiarity of the monkish murder set-up. Jake Kerridge
The Sleepwalkers ★★★★★
by Scarlett Thomas
Scribner, £16.99
Much of Scarlett Thomas’s 14th novel comprises a letter from a newlywed to her husband, explaining why she has chosen to abandon their honeymoon. It’s not just that Evelyn and Richard are absurdly ill-suited: danger lurks at the exclusive Greek island resort at which they’re staying, where another couple apparently sleepwalked into the sea and drowned the year before. One of our most consistently surprising and inventive novelists, Thomas fashions here an ambiguous chiller worthy of Patricia Highsmith or Daphne du Maurier, with added comic bite. JK
Hunted ★★★★☆
by Abir Mukherjee
Harvill Secker, £14.99
Best known for historical mysteries set in British India, Abir Mukherjee enters into the world of contemporary thrillers with a bang: Hunted opens with a terrorist attack on a Los Angeles shopping mall. Among those subsequently haring around the States to prevent further atrocities are the no-nonsense FBI agent Shreya Mistry and Sajid Khan, a British Muslim whose daughter has joined the terrorist cell. Mukherjee writes with clear-eyed clarity about the political mess the world is in, while his narrative drive and cunning twists make the novel a buoyant read. JK
Close to Death ★★★★★
by Anthony Horowitz
Century, £22
This is the fifth book in the unashamedly clever-clever Hawthorne and Horowitz series, in which the author appears alongside his unconventional detective Daniel Hawthorne. It’s set in the well-to-do Riverside Close in Richmond, south-west London, where brash Giles Kenworthy arrives with his noisy children, loud parties and plans for a swimming pool. When he’s shot with a crossbow, it seems as though all the suspects have the same motive… As you would expect from Horowitz, the mystery is inventive, elegant and smart – some might say, overly so. TR
