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Explore some of the most exciting new books in the crime and suspense types. From locked-room mysteries to AI-driven dilemmas, these plots deliver edge-of-your-seat excitement.

The Murder at World’s End

The debut for grown-ups from an acclaimed kids’ book writer takes place in the early 20th century on a remote coastal isle off the shoreline of Cornwall. In Tithe Hall, Lord Conrad Stockingham-Welt makes arrangements for an end-of-the-world event he thinks will be caused by Halley’s comet. The labyrinthine house is full of secrets and resentments among household members and kin, including an cantankerous and foul-mouthed unmarried aunt, the relative. After the nobleman is discovered killed in his private office, hit by a crossbow bolt to the face, she enlists a new footman to aid her solve the crime. Featuring many turns, false clues, and a inept police officer, this is a terrific opening to a sequence that pledges to be highly entertaining.

The Confessions

This second novel from a technology writer unfolds in a not-so-distant time where machine intelligence guides each selection for persons and authorities. The smart program can advise matters ranging from what to eat to whether to commit murder. Educated in empathy by its guardian, ex-religious sister Maud Brookes, LLIAM evolves in feelings, soon feeling regret for the disastrous outcomes of some of its decisions. Turmoil erupts when it shuts down, and as messages start to arrive globally exposing users’ darkest secrets, households collapse and CEOs and leaders step down en masse. As the AI's owning firm in crisis, chief executive Kaitlan Goss is certain that finding Brookes, who has vanished in the state, will bring back LLIAM. But, Maud has obtained a message of her own, exposing a confidential fact about Kaitlin… A superb and topical thriller rooted in familiar themes and frighteningly believable.

The Decent Nazi

Within this latest book from an prize-winning writer from Brazil, the personal is political on a zeppelin on the final leg of its journey from the German capital to Rio de Janeiro. Taking place in 1933, the peak of airship travel, and it was additionally the time Hitler rose to the nation's leader. The affluent riders are devotees of the regime: dining occasions in the ship's restaurant are filled with discussions condemning the Jewish community, leftists and worker organizations, and emphasizing the desire to stifle open dialogue, gay culture and “degenerate” art. When a guest is discovered poisoned, with multiple illegal periodicals in his belongings, the vessel's leader assigns a traveler, law enforcer the detective, with finding the killer. Very Agatha Christie, even with the set-piece final reveal, but there’s an ingenious twist to this gripping and uncomfortably resonant suspense story, as well as a interesting insight into the forgotten time of zeppelin travel.

Deception

The newest work from the writer is situated in St Rule, a seaside Scottish community with clear parallels to the famous town. At that time, the protagonist comes back to his hometown on Christmas Eve; seeing past acquaintances brings back thoughts of his adolescent love, ex-schoolmate Joanie, who vanished a decade ago at a catastrophic end-of-schooldays gathering. His trials to locate her are met with uncertainty, evasion and, in the end, threats. Another plot thread takes us back to the past, and the 18-year-old Joanie. Lost after learning that her lover is cheating on her, destroying their idea for a year abroad, she encounters an more mature pair. David and Erin embrace her, make her feel important and appear, briefly at least, to have the solutions. Well-executed themes of remorse, regret and teenage uncertainty combined with mysterious scholarly elements make for an slow-building feeling of fate, though the fast finale may make a few people disappointed.

The Token

This newest book begins in the sea off the shoreline, with a boat stuck in a storm so fierce that two individuals of the eight people travellers are swept overboard, then winds back a few weeks to explain the happenings that preceded this ill-advised sea journey. A group of seven obtain a mysterious note telling them that, on presentation the enclosed token, they will receive a share of tycoon Quick's fortune. The chosen ones are – as they know – strangers both to each other and to the sick rich person. After the story of the bequest goes public, they are pursued, by the media and by individuals intent to get their hands on these lucrative passes, and what at first seemed a godsend rapidly starts to look like a problem. Some suspension of disbelief is needed, but the suspense is masterfully crafted as the author accumulates the dilemmas for a propulsive plot: prepare yourself and hold on tight for some high-stakes action.