The Best New Thriller and True Crime Books of November 2019
‘Tis the season for cozy reading and finding inventive ways to sneak away from holiday festivities for quiet time with a book. Or, ya know, just sitting at the holiday table with your book out ’cause everyone already knows your level of booknerd. And I’m happy to point you to some new November crime releases–fiction and nonfiction–to check out!
Atlee Pine is back! If you’re looking for a thriller, return-home, past case, serial killer, and FBI lead, have I got the book for you! 30 years ago, FBI Agent Atlee Pine's twin sister was kidnapped—her final fate undetermined. Still dealing with the emotional toll, Pine returns home to Georgia, where she and her assistant set out to find out what happened thirty years ago. But you know that isn’t going to be easy, and soon there appear to be ritualistic killings happening around Pine, and of course, as an FBI agent, she has to look into it… My money’s on “You in danger, girl!”
This book totally sold me at the title. Everything that I learned after that is just sprinkles and cherries on top of a delicious ice cream sundae! A Chinese-Norwegian ninja in L.A. dedicates her life to protecting women, which is how she finds herself taking on the Ukrainian mob, sex traffickers, and even her family. Here. For. This. And bonus on top of bonus: It’s an action-packed thriller, so my ‘80s and ‘90s action movie-loving heart is thrilled!
Alex Cross is back! This is the series that began with Along Came A Spider and Kiss the Girls, and if you love to marathon series, you've got plenty of marathoning to do here! You get a forensic psychologist, a past case come back with a vengeance, and the need to clear one’s name! Oh, and that pesky thing of bodies piling up! Guess Cross better figure out what’s going on and clear his name real quick…
I love Mulholland crime novels! Growing up in Ozark, 15-year-old Boady Sanden is already dreaming of escaping Missouri for big city life when his already-closing-in-on-him small town gets ready to explode around him after a new Black family moves in across the street. A missing woman case, town secrets, racism, and classism come to a head as Boady is forced to make difficult decisions...
Well, this sounds perfect for fans of political thrillers who are looking for a nonfiction read. This book takes a look at the Russians (dissidents, oligarchs, gangsters) who fled to Britain only to be met with mysterious deaths. MI6 and the U.S. government watched on horrified as it escalated into a failed attempted assassination of a double agent that endangered hundreds of people. Here, Blake aims to show Putin’s Kremlin’s assassination campaign to bring this geopolitical true story to light.
And I leave you with one more nonfiction, for fans of true crime that looks into a specific event. This is a deep dive look into the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia that killed one person and injured 111 during the Summer Olympics. It not only explores the domestic terrorist act before and during but also the aftermath, including the media and FBI’s quick turn on security guard Richard Jewell going from hero to number one suspect.
Here’s to the coziest chair, blanket, and drink meeting a great crime book for some awesome November reading!
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Jamie Canavés is a Book Riot contributing editor and Tailored Book Recommendations coordinator who always has a book in one hand. She writes the Unusual Suspects mystery newsletter, never says no to chocolate or ‘80s nostalgia, and spends way too much time asking her goat-dog “What’s in your mouth?!” Tweets: @Oh_Dinky.