This week, I thought it time to look at the top 5 new releases in a new genre, that of mystery books and thrillers. I don’t read a lot of mystery or thrillers, mainly because I don’t like not knowing what happened (and because I have an unnatural fear of open endings). But the covers looked really interesting, and I do read books with suspense, so I thought I’d give it a go! So these are the 5 top new releases in the mystery & thriller genre according to Goodreads.
- The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian
Publication date: January 10th 2017
When Annalee Ahlberg goes missing, her children fear the worst. Annalee is a sleepwalker whose affliction manifests in ways both bizarre and devastating. The morning of Annalee’s disappearance, a search party combs the nearby woods. Annalee’s husband flies home from a business trip. Lianna is questioned by a young, hazel-eyed detective. And her little sister, Paige, takes to swimming the Gale to look for clues. When the police discover a small swatch of fabric, a nightshirt, ripped and hanging from a tree branch, it seems certain Annalee is dead, but Gavin Rikert, the hazel-eyed detective, continues to call, continues to stop by the Ahlbergs’ Victorian home. As Lianna peels back the layers of mystery surrounding Annalee’s disappearance, she finds herself drawn to Gavin, but she must ask herself: Why does the detective know so much about her mother? Why did Annalee leave her bed only when her father was away? And if she really died while sleepwalking, where was the body? - The Girl Before by J. P. Delaney
Publication date: January 24th 2017
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does. After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home’s previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before. - Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
Publication date: January 31st 2017
Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly and they kiss. When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise. And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend, but she also just happens to be married to David. David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife, but then why is David so controlling, and why is Adele so scared of him? As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong, but Louise can’t guess how wrong―and how far a person might go to protect their marriage’s secrets. - Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land
Publication date: January 12th 2017
Set to be one of the most extraordinary controversial and explosive debuts of 2017 – for fans of quality psychological suspense. Annie’s mother is a serial killer. The only way she can make it stop is to hand her in to the police. But out of sight is not out of mind. As her mother’s trial looms, the secrets of her past won’t let Annie sleep, even with a new foster family and name – Milly. A fresh start. Now, surely, she can be whoever she wants to be. But Milly’s mother is a serial killer. And blood is thicker than water. Good me, bad me. She is, after all, her mother’s daughter… - Everything You Want Me To Be by Mindy Mejia
Publication date: January 3rd 2017
High school senior Hattie Hoffman has spent her whole life playing many parts: the good student, the good daughter, the good citizen. When she’s found brutally stabbed to death on the opening night of her high school play, the tragedy rips through the fabric of her small town community. Local sheriff Del Goodman, a family friend of the Hoffmans, vows to find her killer, but trying to solve her murder yields more questions than answers. It seems that Hattie’s acting talents ran far beyond the stage. Told from three points of view—Del, Hattie, and the new English teacher whose marriage is crumbling—is the story of Hattie’s last school year and the events that drew her ever closer to her death. Evocative and razor-sharp, Everything You Want Me To Be challenges you to test the lines between innocence and culpability, identity and deception. Does love lead to self-discovery—or destruction?
I must say, none of these books really inspired me to want to read them. Naturally I haven’t put any of them on my wishlist. Not that these aren’t good books, I’m sure they are, but it just affirms that I’m not much of a fan of mystery & thrillers. I prefer a little bit of predictability and cliche over stories where I’m constantly stumped. Other new releases of January 2017 can be found by genre right here on Goodreads.
Happy reading,
Loes M.