2021 Thriller And Mystery Novels That Sound Incredibly Intriguing

Get these atmospheric and chilling novels on your radar ASAP!

1. Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton

Katie Klimowicz / Via Forge, Sharona Jacobs

Release date: Jan. 12

Why we're looking forward to it: This book caught our eye because it's for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing, which is a novel we absolutely loved. Cadie returns to her childhood home after long-estranged best friend Daniela says her return is important. There, the two face a dark secret that ended not only their friendship but also the magic of one summer.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

2. If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier

Beverly Brooks / Via Penguin Random House

Release date: Jan. 26

Why we're looking forward to it: After we read the description for this one, we had to know what was going to happen next! The premise sounds super promising. When Sera's favorite true crime podcast goes missing, she begins her own investigation that leads her to an isolated ranch outside Rachel's hometown. But the more Sera uncovers, the stranger things get. Rachel isn't the first woman to vanish from the ranch — and she won't be the last.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

3. Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh

Berkley, nalinisingh.com

Release date: Feb. 23

Why we're looking forward to it: Socialite Nina Rai disappeared 10 years ago with a quarter of a million dollars in cash, leaving everyone to assume it was because she was tired of her husband. Now Nina's bones have been found in the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, and her son Aarav is ready to uncover the dark truth of what happened. We sense themes of class, privilege, and wealth surrounding a mysterious murder, and we're all in to see how it all unfolds.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

4. Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay

Minotaur Books, Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed

Release date: March 2

Why we're looking forward to it: This highly anticipated thriller has layers of mystery and intrigue. NYU student Matt Pine's family has been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. Local police claim it was accidental, but the FBI and State Department disagree — they just won't say why. Meanwhile, Matt's brother Danny is currently serving a life sentence for murdering his teenage girlfriend Christina. He is the subject of a viral true crime documentary that suggests he may have been wrongly convicted of that crime, but Matt has a reason to believe his brother is guilty. When Matt returns to his hometown to bury his family, he learns that the deaths in Mexico appear increasingly suspicious and connected to Danny’s case.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

5. A Game of Cones by Abby Collette

Berkley Books, Twitter: @abbyvandiver

Release date: March 2

Why we're looking forward to it: This is the second book in Abby Collette's Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series, and we're hoping it's as sweet and intriguing as the first! Bronwyn Crewse is once again faced with a dead body, and this time, one of her closest friends becomes the prime suspect. To make matters worse, it's a big-name developer who wanted to build a mall in her small town of Chagrin Falls. Can she solve the case and save her town?

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

6. When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

Ballantine Books, paulamclain.com

Release date: April 13

Why we're looking forward to it: We're thrilled to sink our teeth into this atmospheric read. Missing persons detective Anna Hart flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve, when a personal tragedy hits close to home. There, Anna discovers that a local teenage girl has gone missing. It's a reminder of an unsolved murder that happened during Anna's childhood — one that changed the community forever. Obsessed with finding the missing girl, Anna will stop at nothing to figure out what happened.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

7. What You Never Knew by Jessica Hamilton

Penguin Random House, Farrah Penn / BuzzFeed

Release date: April 13

Why we're looking forward to it: For fans of The Lovely Bones? Say no more. Forty-year-old June Bennett inherits Avril Island after the death of her sister, an island she believed was sold when she was 12. But when June returns to the island to grieve her sister, she learns that the people there believe her father murdered someone before taking off. June soon realizes that strange things are happening on the island, and she'll have to piece her past together to figure it out.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

8. Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Berkley, jesseqsutanto.com

Release date: April 27

Why we're looking forward to it: While the cover might not look like a typical murder mystery, trust us, it is — with a dash of rom-com! Meddelin Chan has accidentally killed her blind date — so her mother calls her aunties to help get rid of the body...a body that's accidentally shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding that Meddelin and her family are working. What could possibly go wrong?

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

9. While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

Penguin Random House, Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Release date: May 25

Why we're looking forward to it: Get this on your radar ASAP! Politician, lawyer, and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams is gracing us with a complex political thriller next year. Avery Keene is a law clerk for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, but everything changes when Wynn slips into a coma. Wynn has left instructions for Avery, making her his legal guardian and power of attorney. That's when Avery uncovers Wynn's secret research on one of the court's most controversial cases — one that Wynn has linked to a dangerous conspiracy. As Washington, DC, scrambles to potentially replace the ailing judge, Avery is left putting together the clues Wynn left for her. But they might just lead her right into the lion's den...

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

10. The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine

Harper, Bill Miles / Via livconstantine.com

Release date: July 6

Why we're looking forward to it: If you enjoyed Reese's Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish, then get ready for another one from Liv Constantine. After an accident she doesn't remember, Addison's memory still hasn't returned. She's about to get married, but she's feeling unsettled about it. She may have done something terrible she doesn't remember. Meanwhile, in Boston, Julian is trying to figure out why his wife, Cassandra, disappeared two years ago. And when their lives come together, we're promised tons of twists.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

11. Survive the Night by Riley Sager

Penguin Randomhouse, goodreads.com

Release date: July 6

Why we're looking forward to it: This eerie-sounding thriller takes place in 1991. Charlie and Josh, who met at their campus ride board, are sharing a drive back to Ohio. Charlie's recovering from guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend by a man known as the Campus Killer, and Josh is going home to take care of his sick father. But the longer Charlie stays on the ride with Josh, the more she begins to suspect that something is very off. The trunk is off-limits. There are holes in Josh's story about his dad. Could he be the Campus Killer?

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

12. Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Penguin Randomhouse, Jamilla Yipp Photography / Via miapmanansala.com

Release date: May 4

Why we're looking forward to it: Here's another murder mystery–rom-com that sounds delectable! After Lila's ex, a food critic with a reputation for being nasty, drops dead moments after a confrontation with her, she becomes the one and only suspect. Can Lila save her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant and solve her own investigation?

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

13. A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams

Crooked Lane Books, sennydreadful.co.uk

Release date: June 8

Why we're looking forward to it: This one sounds extremely bone-chilling with The Silence of the Lambs vibes! Heather returns home after her mother dies by suicide. Surrounded by grief and confusion, Heather begins digging into her mother's past and discovers that she had been secretly corresponding with a serial killer — for decades. But serial killer Michael Reave is locked up and a copycat killer is on the loose, and the only way to get answers is for Heather to find out exactly what Michael knows about her.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or your local indie through Indiebound here.

14. Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone

Simon & Schuster, Twitter: @c_l_johnstone

Release date: April 20

Why we're looking forward to it: Mirrorland is pitched as Gone Girl meets Room, and we can hardly wait! When Cat and her twin sister were growing up in Edinburgh, they invented Mirrorland — a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs full of pirates, witches, and clowns. But when El mysteriously goes missing, Cat is forced to return to the house after 20 years. What Cat uncovers is a series of clues, most likely placed by El, that lead to Mirrorland, where the dark truth awaits...

Get it from Target or your local indie through Indiebound here.

15. Tall Bones by Anna Bailey

simon and schuster, penguin.com.au

Release date: Aug. 3

Why we're looking forward to it: The cover for this one is amazing, and the premise sounds so mysterious. Emma's best friend, Abi, has mysteriously disappeared in the woods, and her small town of Whistling Ridge is forced to answer for it. Now Emma, along with Abi's siblings, parents, and the town's pastor, must reckon with what happened, and why.

Get it from Barnes & Noble or through your local indie through Indiebound here.