47 New Mystery Books That'll Have You on the Edge of Your Seat

Crystal Smith Paul's "Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?" is about the family, fame, and secrets surrounding the death of a beloved celebrity actress. Kitty Karr was a multimillion-dollar star, and when she dies, the last thing anyone expected was for her to leave her entire estate to equally famous Black actress Elise St. John and her sisters in her will. While going through Kitty's things, Elise uncovers a journal that harkens back to the earliest days of life in the segregated South, revealing family connections and damning secrets that threaten to upend everything Elise thought she once understood about herself, her family, and this woman she never knew.

Release date: May 2

"Lying in the Deep" is Diana Urban's complex YA mystery that takes place aboard a ship carrying a class of high-school students with secrets and grudges. Jade can't stand to look at her traitorous ex-boyfriend and former best friend, who are now dating. That's why she accepted her school's offer to study aboard a ship for a few weeks. Imagine her surprise when she discovers they'll both be attending as well. Fun on the high seas takes a fatal turn when someone is found dead, and it becomes clear Jade isn't the only one on board with a grudge worth killing for.

Release date: May 2

Katie Cotugno's "Liar's Beach" refreshes Agatha Christie's "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," making it the perfect thrilling read for spring. Unlike most of the kids at his prep school, Michael Linden is barely making it by with his lacrosse scholarship. When Michael is offered a two-week stay with a group of the school's most popular kids, he can't deny the opportunity to find an in with the upper echelon and heads off to Martha's Vineyard with the crew. When someone is found unconscious by the pool, it's Michael's childhood friend Holiday who will save the day by digging up secrets many in the group would prefer stay hidden.

Release date: May 2

In Liv Constantine's "The Senator's Wife," despite the tragic loss of her husband two years ago, philanthropist Sloane Chase Montgomery is seemingly moving on. She's engaged to Senator Whit Montgomery, a fellow widow, and returning to the political affairs of Washington DC makes her feel like she's back at home. However, when Sloane's health takes a turn for the worse, the pair hire an aide named Athena to help her at home. But as Sloane continues to deteriorate, it seems that Athena is easily slipping into Sloane's role at work, and even with her husband-to-be, Whit. Could it be Sloane growing paranoid, or is Athena truly coming for her spot?

Release date: May 23

"Sing Her Down" by Ivy Pochoda follows former cellmates Florida and Dios's release from prison and their fixation on one another that leads to devastating consequences. Florida claims she has no reason to be in jail. She was just driving the car of a bad man while she was high, and now her whole life has been tarnished. Dios has never believed her. Dios knows that Florida isn't as innocent as she claims and wants her to own up to it. When the effects of the pandemic lead to Florida and Dios's early release from prison, the pair's lives should finally diverge, but unable to move on, their destructive relationship turns into a cat-and-mouse chase that will go down in flames.

Release date: May 23

In Jaclyn Goldis's "The Chateau," a granddaughter to an heiress and her friends make a visit to the matriarch's palatial home, only to have their secrets put on display. Twenty years ago, Séraphine Demargelasse used to see her granddaughter Darcy and her pals all the time while they visited her in France. Today, she invites them to return to her spacious home for another weekend of luxury and catching up. When Séraphine suddenly turns up dead, it's up to Darcy and her friends to investigate, but it seems someone has already been watching them. With their secret misdoings around the chateau on camera and being uploaded to Instagram, the girls race to uncover the killer's identity before something too monumental is revealed and breaks up their friendship for good.

Release date: May 23

Get a taste of liars, cheaters, and all-around summer scandal in "Bad Summer People," Emma Rosenblum's seductive summer debut. The town of Fire Island welcomes Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker's close but cutthroat community of summer friends. Their husbands are childhood friends, and their other pal Rachel is ready to settle down. Between games of tennis and cabanas on the beach, this summer couldn't be any more perfect, until a dead body on the boardwalk threatens to upend every secret held between the members of the group, potentially including murder.

Release date: May 23

Second-grade teacher Jacy is on the way to establishing the life she's always dreamed of. She's deeply in love with her husband, Jed; pregnant with their first child; and ready to start their family. On a summer road trip to spend time with Jed's family (whom he rarely mentions), Jacy falls ill, forcing her to stay inside the cabin for the remainder of the trip. Jacy can't tell if it's her paranoia or if this family seems intent on keeping her locked inside with no contact with the outside world. In Megan Abbott's "Beware the Woman," knowing the family you're marrying into is a key to survival.

Release date: May 30

Motherhood proves to be a daunting task for Natalie Fanning, the star of Nora Murphy's "The New Mother." Despite the challenges of her new role, all of her frustrations and fears go out the window when she looks into the eyes of her son. However, Natalie can't deny that her new neighbor, Paul, is a nice distraction when things get to be too much. But under Paul's kind exterior lies frightening ulterior motives. What Paul doesn't know is that a mother's instinct can be fatal, and she will do anything to protect her family.

Release date: May 30

In Chelsea Sedoti's nail-biting mystery, "Tell Me What Really Happened," the rumors surrounding a town's mysterious lake come to life when five friends head on a camping trip and only four return. Maylee has finally convinced Petra, Nolan, Abigail, and John to head out to Salvation Creek with her for a camping trip. Despite the rumors about the history of horrific accidents at the creek, the teens all attend, but when they wake up to find Maylee gone, they question what happened to her. When the police question the four remaining teens, everyone has a different version of what happened that night at the lake. The question is, who is telling the truth?

Release date: April 4

Ten years ago, best friends Evangeline, Bess, and Joni flew to Greece to celebrate their high school graduation. Only Bess and Joni returned. After a media frenzy that altered the course of their lives, Joni now works as a motivational speaker, while Bess stays out of the spotlight. When Joni is entangled in yet another crime, she turns to Bess, the only person who understands what it's like to have everything upturned by one horrific night. "Before We Were Innocent" by Ella Berman slices to the core of a fraught friendship on the brink of disaster.

Release date: April 4

Sally Hepworth plants the protagonists of her mystery "The Soulmate" in a house near cliffs known for their beauty and fatal reputation. Gabe and Pippa Gerard adore the views from their new cliffside house in Melbourne, Australia, but grow concerned when they discover the cliff is also known as a suicide destination. Gabe manages to talk several people back from the dangerous ledge, but a woman jumps to her death one night. The couple is devastated, Pippa even more so when she learns Gabe knew the victim, calling his motivations into heading onto the cliff that night into question. Trying to unravel the events of that fateful night will reveal secrets within their relationship, forcing Pippa to question who it is she married.

Release date: April 4

In her debut novel, "Camp Zero," Michelle Min Sterling presents readers with the impending downfall of society due to climate change. In northern Canada is Camp Zero, a refuge led by American architect Meyer for those seeking safety from a world destroyed by climate change. Rose joins the Blooms, a group sent in to entertain the camp, but her intentions are less than friendly. Rose is there to investigate Meyer, Camp Zero's sole hero, and uncover the secrets this secluded community may be keeping in exchange for easing the life of her Korean mother. Meyer is not the only one on Camp Zero holding secrets, and the more Rose digs, the more she discovers that this haven is not nearly as safe as once believed.

Release date: April 4

A deadly game of cat and mouse takes place aboard a ship in "The Cuban Heiress" by Chanel Cleeton. In 1934, New York heiress Catherine Dohan boards the Morro Castle with luggage and secrets about her past she's determined to leave behind. But it seems her past will not be so easily forgotten, as someone on the ship has made it their duty to ensure Catherine never makes it to her final destination. Meanwhile, everyone believes Elena Palacio is dead, but she's well and alive, and she returned for one reason only: revenge. With no place to hide on the moving ship, Elena and Catherine both fight for their piece of vengeance and justice.

Release date: April 11

Author of heartstopping titles like "Such a Quiet Place" and "The Last to Vanish," Megan Miranda continues to shock readers with her latest lock-box mystery, "The Only Survivors." 10 years ago, two vans full of teens crashed into a ravine in Tennessee while on a school trip, and only nine students made it out alive. Cassidy Bent is one of those survivors, and she doesn't want to keep looking back at the tragedy that changed her life. As the annual reunion approaches, two more survivors die, and feeling the urge to be around those who understand her loss and feel supported by the promise they made that day to save each other, Cassidy heads to the reunion. But the secluded house filled with fellow survivors feels tinged with danger, and when another survivor disappears, it seems the promise among survivors has been broken.

Release date: April 11

Brendan Slocumb enchants readers with another music-centric mystery following "The Violin Conspiracy." In "Symphony of Secrets," the reputation of renowned 20th-century composer Frederick Delaney is now in the hands of Bern Hendricks. Bern, an expert on Delaney's career and work, has been tapped by the Delaney Foundation to authenticate a recently found piece of Delaney's work. Bern's deciphering of Delaney's final piece reveals that he might not have been the genius the world credits him as, but the Delaney Foundation grows more menacing in their attempts to stop Bern from revealing the truth. Only Bern can rewrite the history his idol kept hidden, but will he be able to do so before it's too late?

Release date: April 18

In "You Shouldn't Have Come Here" by Jeneva Rose, a vacation fling goes awry. When New York banker Grace Evans arrives at her secluded Airbnb for her stay on a ranch, she isn't expecting Calvin Wells to open the door. The charming owner of the place is enough to distract her from the discomforts of the home, like no cell service and the recent disappearance of a woman. Nevertheless, Grace and Calvin begin to catch feelings for one another during Grace's short stay. As her stay comes to an end, though, their relationship soon turns unhealthy, with secrets on both sides breeding mistrust — and something potentially worse.

Release date: April 25

Joe Goldberg has made waves as the star of Netflix's You, and the serial killer returns in the latest addition to the "You" book series. In "For You and Only You," Joe Goldberg heads to Harvard to further his academic career rather than his murderous one. Where Joe thought he might find like-minded peers, he instead finds the Ivy League upper echelon already within their own clique and with no intentions of letting him in. Then he meets Wonder Parish, another outsider to the Ivy League crowd with a passion for literature as visceral as his own. Joe just wishes some of the circumstances around Wonder could...change, then they could be together. Joe's desire reignites his bloodlust, and if he plans on keeping Wonder, things around Harvard will have to change.

Release date: April 25

Taylor Adams asks who will have "The Last Word" between a potentially deranged author and the woman who left him a negative book review. Emma Carpenter didn't enjoy H. G. Kane's horror novel 'Murder Mountain,' and says as much in her one-star review of his book online. After getting into a heated exchange with the author, Emma tries to put it all behind her but can't when strange occurrences begin taking place at her lonesome beachfront home. When she looks into H.G Kane and discovers that all his novels feature stalking and murdering plots, she questions if he could be pulling inspiration from real life, and her review made her his next victim.

Release date: April 25

Loreth Anne White's "The Maid's Diary" follows Kit Darling, a maid with a curious spirit. It's that desire for knowledge that leads Kit to a shocking secret hiding in the home of her new uberwealthy clients and turns her working relationship into a potential threat. When homicide cop Mallory Van Alst is called to the waterfront home, Kit and the family have both vanished. All that's left behind is a horrific amount of blood and a neighbor's statement as the last person to see Kit alive. As Van Alst picks apart this mystery, she begins to uncover hints of what this picture-perfect family was hiding and what could have potentially cost someone their life.

Release date: March 1

In "What Have We Done," a group of misfit childhood friends is reunited when they realize their shared history could be the cause of their sudden deaths. Jenna, Nico, Donnie, Benny, and Arty were once best friends when they resided at the Savior House, a teen group home. Twenty-five years later, the five have drifted apart and charted new paths in life. But then, two members of the group suddenly wind up dead. Forced to reassemble in the wake of devastating loss, a childhood promise to secrecy threatens to shatter under deadly pressure as the remaining Savior House kids try to figure out who could want them dead and why.

Release date: March 7

Ripley Jones's YA debut, "Missing Clarissa," follows two high-school best friends' investigation into the 1999 murder of a high-school cheerleader. Oreville high-school students Blair and Cameron have heard all the rumors about the death of Clarissa Campbell, the popular Oreville cheerleader who disappeared into the woods and never returned in the '90s. They hope to unravel the truth from the lies with their new podcast, and as they sink deeper into the seemingly pristine life of Clarissa, they discover dark secrets about her former boyfriend and a local town hero who was once her art teacher. Will Blair and Cameron be able to deliver justice to Clarissa's memory, or will their podcast only dig up truths too painful to bear?

Release date: March 7

Readers hungry for cutthroat competition, betrayal, and sabotage will enjoy "The Golden Spoon," Jessa Maxwell's twisty debut about a baking competition that turns fatal. Every baker in the nation craves an invitation to the exclusive baking competition "Bake Week," hosted by revered baker Betsy Martin. After welcoming six new competitors to the show, Betsy is poised to deliver an outstanding performance as a doting host, but when a series of contestants are sabotaged, it kicks everyone into high gear. What at first seems to be the work of a merciless contestant becomes a test of trust when a competitor turns up dead, turning everyone on set into a suspect. The heat may be too hot, so who will survive the kitchen in Maxwell's mystery?

Release date: March 7

Harlan Coben's "I Will Find You" follows a father's quest for redemption after being wrongfully accused of his son's death. David Burroughs has no memory of the night his son Matthew was brutally murdered, but he's convicted of the heinous crime and sentenced to life in federal prison regardless. Five years into the sentence, his sister-in-law shows up with unbelievable news: Matthew might still be alive, and the photo of a boy bearing his son's resemblance is enough for David to believe her. To prove his innocence, David escapes from prison to find his son and finally learn the truth about what happened that fateful night. But with the FBI hot on his trail, David's quest for the truth is on a timer.

Release date: March 14

Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of the delightfully cozy mystery "Dial A For Aunties," sets an aging tea-shop owner as the detective of her new mystery, "Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers." The last thing Vera Wong expects when she heads downstairs into her tea shop is to find a dead body with a curious flash drive in their hand. When the cops arrive, Vera, ever the sleuth, decides if anyone's going to get to the bottom of this mystery, it's going to be her, and she swipes the hard drive. Suspecting the hard drive will lure the killer back to the scene of the crime, Vera begins taking a closer look at her tea shop's customers. Rather than sniffing out a hardened criminal, Vera forges new bonds with her tea-shop patrons and soon realizes that turning over one of her newfound friends may be harder than she once thought.

Release date: March 14

As the youngest of a family line of murderers, it is finally Sissy's turn. Her sisters have made a notorious career as serial killers who get their victims to fall in love with them before making them the next national news headline. When Sissy steps up for her first kill, she sets her sights on recent widower Edison, but her plans backfire when her act to get him to fall in love fails, as she develops real feelings for him. Sissy has committed the cardinal sin: falling for your target. No matter what choice she makes, she will lose someone she loves. In Ren DeStefano's "How I'll Kill You," Sissy must choose between loyalty to her bloodthirsty sisters and the chance at true love or risk the scariest thing of all: becoming her family's next victim.

Release date: March 21

Alex Quinlan, the protagonist of Charlie Donlea's "Those Empty Eyes," will never forget the night she hid as her family were murdered in her childhood home. Worse yet, Alex was trotted out as a prime suspect, nicknamed "Empty Eyes" by the media, and faced relentless questioning through her grief. When she was determined innocent, Alex disappeared from the public eye to reinvent herself. Ten years later, she works as a legal investigator, hoping to save other innocent civilians from life in prison. Alex's current client, Matthew, is accused of being involved in the disappearance of his girlfriend, Laura. When Alex learns of Laura's investigation into her school's coverups of sexual assault, she wakes up a hornet's nest of privilege, connections, and power that connect to not only Laura but also her own family's tragedy.

Release date: March 28

T. Kingfisher continues to leave readers haunted with his latest horror, "A House With Good Bones." Sam Montgomery is excited to return home to North Carolina to visit her mother and spend some long-awaited quality time together. However, Sam's childhood home feels more off-putting than she remembers, and her mother has developed a strange case of paranoia. Sam can't ignore her sudden inability to sleep, the peculiar lack of bugs, and the rattling jar of teeth she finds in the backyard. Digging to the core of what's troubling this house might destroy everything and everyone in it.

Release date: March 28

"Our Share of Night" by Mariana Enriquez plays with magic, family, history, and the supernatural in ways that will leave readers haunted. Father-and-son duo Juan and Gaspar take a grief-laden trip to the estate of Juan's late wife, which Gaspar is set to inherit. Awaiting their arrival is the Order, a family with unspeakable power willing to do absolutely anything to maintain it. As Gaspar begins to feel a pull toward the Order, Juan will do anything to protect his son from falling into its sinister grip. But the Order has been waiting for this moment longer than he's known and has influence beyond his imagination. The battle for one boy's future depends on the downfall of a system with magnificent power and one man willing to sacrifice it all.

Release date: Feb.7

"Don't Fear the Reaper" is Stephen Graham Jones's equally grim and bloody followup to his horror novel "My Heart Is a Chainsaw." Slasher film buff Jade Daniels may have survived the Independence Day Massacre, but horror follows her everywhere she goes. Upon returning to her hometown, a hook-handed serial killer with an extensive list of victims called Dark Mill South escapes during a prison transfer and selects her town as the site for his next bloodbath. Once again, Jade must rely on her catalog-like knowledge of horror films to keep herself alive, but will it be enough to protect herself and her friends from being added to the bloody pileup? Jones's propensity for gore and sweat-inducing suspense elevates Jade Daniels's final-girl tale.

Release date: Feb. 7

In "Every Missing Girl" by Leanne Kale Sparks, FBI Special Agent Kendall Beck and Denver Homicide Detective Adam Taylor join forces to investigate a kidnapping case that quickly becomes personal. Set in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the pair of sharp-witted investigators tackle the case of a young female kidnapping victim that may be the latest in a long string of kidnapping cases that have thus far gone unconnected. Things take a turn when Taylor's niece becomes the next victim, disappearing without a trace and announcing the presence of a predator aware that Beck and Taylor are growing too close to answers that have remained hidden. Beck and Taylor must rush to uncover the extent of these kidnappings and find the perpetrator before it is too late.

Release date: Feb.7

The women of Rachel Koller Croft's "Stone Cold Fox" are willing to do whatever it takes to get their piece of a wealthy man's fortune. Since childhood, Bea has trained to take what she wants from this world. Tired of her dangerous lifestyle, she sets her sights on her most lucrative target, Collin Case, to get her out of the scheming life. After faking her way to a proposal with Collin, Bea realizes she's not the only one with Collin in her crosshairs. On a weekend trip meant to solidify her place within Collin's family life, Bea discovers a cast of other women with their own intentions for her finaceé, with Bea being the one thing standing in their way. Its winner takes all in this vicious game of cat and mouse, but can Bea keep her promise to change her ways, or will she have to revert to cold-blooded games to get what she wants?

Release date: Feb. 14

Debut author Julia Bartz turns a hopeful writer's dream come true into a cutthroat psychological nightmare in "The Writing Retreat." When Alex receives an invitation to an exclusive one-month writers' retreat from horror extraordinaire Roza Vallo, she jumps at the opportunity to kick-start her dreams of becoming an author. However, Vallo's retreat has an untraditional twist: only one of the five writers will gain a one million dollar advance for publication, which they will compete to earn by writing an entire novel from start to finish during their stay. As if the competition aspect wasn't intimidating enough, Alex struggles with hostility from writer and former best friend, Wren. Complicating matters, she grows suspicious of ulterior motives when a fellow writer disappears in a snowstorm. Becoming the winner of this retreat could be life-changing for all participants, and it seems someone is willing to take lives to win.

Release date: Feb.21

At the center of J.T. Ellison's mystery "It's One of Us" is the married couple Olivia and Park, who desperately want a baby but struggle to conceive. When a dead woman turns up in their park, evidence linked to Park seems impossible until Park reveals that years ago, he donated sperm to a clinic, and the evidence found is from his own offspring. Reeling from the betrayal of Park's long-kept secret and the implications for their marriage, Olivia struggles to reckon the man she married with the man the police are telling her he is: the father of a killer. As the investigation continues to dredge up secret after secret, shattering her marriage, Olivia questions who she can truly trust.

Release date: Feb. 21

Katie Shaw, the protagonist of Alex North's "The Angel Maker," is fueled by the guilt of her past and a fierce desire to protect her family. When she was younger, Katie had never known of true pain until a violent attack on her family upended everything she thought she knew. She's never recovered from being unable to protect her brother Chris from the horrific incident. As she prepares to become a mother herself, she grows increasingly paranoid about her ability to keep her loved ones out of harm's way. When her brother disappears, Katie will do whatever it takes to find him, including revisiting the origins of her family's trauma: a serial killer rumored to be able to see the future.

Release date: Feb. 28

Carole Johnstone provides pulse-pounding panic in the thriller "The Blackhouse." Maggie MacKay has been drawn to the remote island of Kilmeray ever since she was a child and predicted the murder of Andrew MacNeil there despite never having been there. Years later (and recently released from a psychiatric ward), Maggie is finally ready to visit Kilmeray and face the havoc her childhood claims brought to the island. When she arrives, the locals are less than welcoming, and her investigation into Andrew hits a dead end when she discovers no records of him exist. But Maggie's struck a nerve because ominous threats begin to appear warning her to stay away, but from what? Maggie could be on the right track to uncovering the truth she predicted all those years ago, but the cost of answers could be fatal.

Release date: Jan. 3

Rachel Hawkins continues her catalog of twisty mysteries with "The Villa." In it, childhood best friends Emily and Chess find they have grown apart in adulthood as life has taken them down divergent paths. When Chess suggests they take a trip to an Italian villa, it feels like the perfect chance to catch up. But Emily soon becomes engrossed with the villa's history when she discovers a famous rock star was murdered there, but there's more to the iconic case than meets the eye. Emily's investigation into the star's murder — aided by clues found around the villa — creates tension between her and Chess. The estate is the site of murderous secrets from the past, but it looks like history could repeat itself.

Release date: Jan. 3

Centering on a rich family fighting over an inheritance, fans of the Knives Out franchise will enjoy Kat Rosenfield's clever mystery "You Must Remember This." When Miriam Caravasios, the 85-year-old matriarch of the Caravasios family, descends upon her familial home for a reunion, tensions run high amid the family, but things go from tense to downright terrifying when Miriam slips through ice on a frozen lake. With the entire family already gathered, the will is read, and no one is more surprised than Miriam's granddaughter Delphine that she will be the sole heir to Miriam's inheritance. With everyone up in arms over being cut out of the will, Delphine questions if Miriam's death was truly a misguided mistake or if someone she calls family was willing to kill her in order to get their expected cut of the inheritance. In a cutthroat game of whodunnit, Delphine races to uncover the truth about the lengths her family could go to secure their own fortune.

Release date: Jan. 10

Residents of one high-rise building set up Iris Yamashita's "City Under One Roof." The citizens of Point Mettier, Alaska, all live in a former military base-turned-residence, with the only access to the building being one tunnel. When a teen's severed body parts wash ashore, detective Cara Kennedy makes her way to the icy tundra to investigate his murder, but has motivations of her own for wanting to look around Point Mettier. When a powerful snowstorm blocks the tunnel, Cara, the residents, and the suspects are trapped in the building with no way in or out. Neighbors seem to be holding more grudges than Cara realized, and everyone under this roof is in danger unless Cara can crack the secrets hiding in this isolated city.

Release date: Jan. 10

"The Hunter" is Jennifer Herrera's generational mystery that'll keep readers on their toes. NYPD detective Leigh O'Donnell's career goes up in flames after she turns her gun on her partner instead of on a suspect one night. When her brother offers her a job in his department in Ohio, she takes it as a chance to recoup and hopefully rebuild her tarnished reputation. While there, she uncovers a case of three murdered men that mirrors a case from years ago involving three teens who committed suicide. Leigh suspects the cases are connected, but the question is how. Uprooting a town tragedy and generational wounds leads to tension between Leigh and the community, but unmasking the truth about what happened years ago might be the key to what happened to the three murdered men today. Herrera's debut threads uneasiness and mistrust through a pulse-pounding mystery.

Release date: Jan. 10

In "The House in the Pines" by Ana Reyes, Maya has been haunted by the sudden loss of her best friend Aubrey for almost eight years. She, Aubrey, and Aubrey's boyfriend Frank had been an inseparable trio that summer nearly a decade ago, until Aubrey dropped dead right in front of Frank. When Maya finds a video showing a woman dying exactly the same way Aubrey did, she thinks it's a sad coincidence until she spots the man standing across from the woman moments before she died: Frank. Spurred on by her conviction that something has always been amiss with Frank, Maya heads back to her hometown in Massachusetts to find clues to trigger memories of that fateful summer with Frank. Finding scraps of memorabilia, Maya begins to see that she and Aubrey are part of a larger plan, and the only way she'll get answers is to find the house that started it all.

Release date: Jan. 10

Maria Dong's debut "Liar, Dreamer, Thief" is an unpredictable rollercoaster ride from start to finish. Working a soul-sucking job and being looked down on by her family has Katrina Kim struggling to maintain hold of reality, so she fixates on her co-worker Kurt. One night while rifling through his things, Katrina finds evidence that someone is aware of what she's been doing and she escapes to her ritual spot at the bridge to soothe herself. But when she arrives, Kurt is there, and he hurls a horrifying accusation at her before jumping to his death. Spiraling from his indictment, Katrina returns to Kurt's desk only to discover that she was not the only one observing in their office. Kurt was watching her, too. Diving into Kurt's life only leads to shocking revelations about her own, and Katrina may not have left her past as far behind as she thought.

Release date: Jan. 10

Bringing the refreshing thrills from his novel "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires," Grady Hendrix plays up the eerie setting in "How to Sell a Haunted House. Louise hadn't planned on returning to her childhood home, but after her parents pass away, she's the one who must take charge of their assets. Dealing with her young brother brings up old wounds and casts tension over the house that is inescapable as Louise prepares to put the house up for sale. Ominous warnings and ghastly experiences shake Louise to her core, and the only way to escape is to rid her family of the house, but it seems the spirit of the manor has other plans.

Release date: Jan. 17

In Kate Lice Marshall's adult debut "What Lies in the Woods," friendship dynamics are tested when someone threatens to reveal a long-held secret. When Naomi was 11, she spent every waking moment with her best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, frolicking through the Washington woods in search of adventure. Instead, the girls found tragedy that marked them as heroes when their testimonies put a suspected serial killer behind bars. More than 20 years later, the news of the killer's death in prison does little to settle the questions Naomi always had about that night. When Olivia threatens to crack about the secret they all kept, Naomi is forced to return to the scene to fortify her friendships (and secrets) or risk losing everything.

Release date: Jan. 17

Stephen Amidon's menacing mystery "Locust Lane" follows the moneyed families of a suburban town closing ranks when a murder threatens their futures. The murder of teenager Eden Perry has changed everything for the residents of Emerson, Massachusetts. The cops suspect Eden's friends that were seen partying with her that night: Jack, a spoiled heir; his girlfriend Hannah; and Christopher, a newbie to the friend group. With their reputations and futures on the line, the parents of each suspect must abandon former allegiances to protect their child, even if that means throwing each other under the bus. Only one child has to go down for the crime, and each parent will do anything to ensure it's not theirs.

Release date: Jan. 17

In Erin Kelly's "The Skeleton Key," a father's literary reputation threatens the lives of his loved ones. 50 years ago, Nell's father penned one of the greatest literary mysteries that led to a nationwide treasure hunt across England, citing the book as a guide. However, his fame came at a cost. With media and fans becoming increasingly more involved in their everyday lives, Nell moved away to evade the limelight and live a life of her own. A year later, the simultaneous release of a new edition of the book, a documentary surrounding it, and a new treasure hunt is drawing the spotlight back onto their family, and Nell can't say no when her father asks her to return home for the filming. When her father reveals the location of the final missing clue, a body turns up, and what started as a fun game is now a murder case, with Nell and her family at the crux of it all.

Release date: Jan. 24