Best New Mystery and Thriller Books of November 2021
The 13 Best New Mystery and Thriller Books of November 2021
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It's hard not to love a good domestic thriller, but mystery fans who have been waiting for the genre to start mixing things up again are in luck this month. The best thriller and mystery novels of November are all about stretching outside of your reading comfort zone. From a historical suspense novel that takes a page out of Thelma and Louise's book to an erotic thriller about partner swapping gone wrong, this month's selection of must-read thriller and mystery books are an eclectic — and absorbing — bunch. Ready to try a new kind of twist-filled tale? Read on to discover 13 engrossing books from every corner of the mystery and thriller genre.
1 Her Name Is Knight by Yasmin Angoe
Her Name Is Knight by Yasmin Angoe is an action-packed thriller you can lose yourself in. At the centre of the story is assassin Nena Knight, who ends up saving a man who she was sent to kill and finding a new target within the ranks of the same organisation that employs her to do their dirty work.
Out Nov. 1
2 All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris
Wanda M. Morris's All Her Little Secrets more than lives up to the hype. This twisty novel follows Ellice Littlejohn, a Black lawyer who discovers her white boss's body, and doesn't report it for fear of her own past being exposed. However, things get complicated when she takes over his job and realises their firm has some seriously shady clients.
Out Nov. 2
3 The Collective by Alison Gaylin
Dark and daring, The Collective by Alison Gaylin is a revenge thriller with an unexpected twist — the people seeking revenge are mothers who take down the privileged people responsible for their heartbreaking losses. At first, Camille Gardener finds solace in their company, but she soon begins to wonder whether or not she has put herself into a dangerous position by trusting The Collective.
Out Nov. 2
4 Everything We Didn't Say by Nicole Baart
Everything We Didn't Say by Nicole Baart is an explosive family thriller about a woman trying to make amends with the teenage daughter she barely knows. Complicating Juniper's quest is a murder from the past that just keeps coming back to haunt her and the next generation of her family.
Out Nov. 2
5 Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas
Sherry Thomas's The Lady Sherlock Series is always a delight, but the author's latest, Miss Moriarty, I Presume? is particularly absorbing. This time around, Charlotte Holmes and Mrs. Watson are employed by their nemesis Moriarty to find his daughter, which leads the detectives to a strange island full of mysteries just waiting to be solved.
Out Nov. 2
6 The Hidden by Melanie Golding
Melanie Golding infuses her haunting new thriller The Hidden with an eerie dash of Celtic mythology. When a man is found bludgeoned to death in his own apartment, the last thing DS Joanna Harper expects is to discover he has a wife who believes she's a descendant of the mythological Selkies, or that her own daughter is somehow entangled in this strange case.
Out Nov. 9
7 The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Trust us, you've never read a mystery quite like The Sentence by Louise Erdrich before. Beginning on All Soul's Day 2019 and ending on All Soul's Day 2020, the story follows Tookie, who lands a job in her local independent bookstore in Minneapolis after being incarcerated. Unfortunately for her, the store's most persistently annoying customer, Flora, won't stop haunting the place, leaving Tookie with no choice but to solve the mystery of why the woman won't move on even as the world around grinds to a halt in the wake of the pandemic.
Out Nov. 9
8 A Net for Small Fishes by Lucy Jago
A Net for Small Fishes by Lucy Jago is being described as a historical Thelma and Louise, and the comparison is spot on. Inspired by a true story, this Jacobean England set novel follows Frances Howard, who is unhappily married to an earl, and Anne Turner, a widow in need of a good match to support her family, as they hatch a dangerous plan to take control of their lives.
Out Nov. 16
9 The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
Manifest meets Lost in The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier. This puzzle box of a sci-fi thriller is about a flight from Paris to New York. Just as the plane is about to land, it hits a patch of turbulence that somehow leads to the passengers disembarking into a world where everything is just ever so slightly different — leaving them to figure out exactly what happened on their Twilight Zone-esque descent.
Out Nov. 23
10 Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa effortlessly mixes fact and fiction in Harsh Times, a suspenseful novel that dramatizes the political upheaval in 1950s Guatemala. With the support of the CIA, Carlos Castillo Armas pulls off a military coup that changes the course of Latin America's future forever in this tale of political intrigue and conspiracies.
Out Nov. 23
11 Couples Wanted by Briana Cole
Couples Wanted by Briana Cole is a steamy erotic thriller about spouse-swapping gone wrong. Initially, newlyweds Bridget and Roman are excited by the idea of opening up their relationship to married swingers Corinne and Patrick, but when the couple becomes possessive, the newlyweds realise they may have picked the wrong people to invite into their beds.
Out Nov. 30
12 Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey
Police transcriber Hazel Greenlee stumbles upon a dangerous case in Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey. Hazel is an aspiring novelist who hopes her job will inspire her to write a bestseller that will spring her from her depressing town. What she doesn't expect is to be drawn into a case involving a deadly drug dealer that could cost her everything she holds dear.
Out Nov. 30
13 Mimi Lee Cracks the Code by Jennifer J. Chow
Mimi Lee Cracks the Code by Jennifer J. Chow is a cosy mystery that's just begging to be paired with a steaming cup of cocoa and a warm blanket. In her latest adventure, Mimi, her adorable cat Marshmallow, and her husband Josh take a much-needed holiday. However, there's not much time for relaxing when the holiday home's previous renter turns up dead.
Out Nov. 30
