May 2025 list by S. Ward
The Ascent
by Allison Buccola

Twenty years after being the sole survivor of a vanished commune, Lee Burton's carefully constructed life unravels when a stranger offers answers about her past, forcing her to confront buried secrets and the growing paranoia threatening her grasp on motherhood and identity.

The Busybody Book Club
by Freya Sampson

In a Cornish seaside village, Nova Davies and her dysfunctional book club members become amateur sleuths after a theft threatens their community center, a murder implicates a missing member, and secrets among them complicate their quest to solve the case and restore order.

The Children of Eve
by John Connolly

When private investigator Charlie Parker is hired to find Wyatt Riggins, who vanished after a cryptic message, he uncovers a sinister web involving the abduction of four children linked to relentless killers, a cartel boss, and the chilling truth about the enigmatic Children of Eve.

The Dark Maestro
by Brendan Slocumb

Curtis Wilson, a cello prodigy from D.C. who rose to classical music stardom, is forced into witness protection after his drug-dealer father turns informant, but when the cartel remains untouchable, Curtis and his family must use their wits and his musical gifts to fight for survival.

Dying to Meet You
by Sarina Bowen

Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect but inside she’s a mess. She knows that stalking her ex’s avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup. 
Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating until she becomes the first witness to his murder—and the primary suspect.


Going Home in the Dark
by Dean R. Koontz

Three childhood friends reunite in their hometown after a fourth falls into a coma and uncover a dark, forgotten past that threatens to consume them all.

Hidden Nature
by Nora Roberts

Surviving a near-fatal shooting, injured police officer Sloan Cooper moves back to her quiet hometown and investigates a string of mysterious disappearances across three states.

The Language of the Birds
by K. A. Merson

A brilliant but solitary teenager must unlock ciphers, unearth buried clues, and reckon with the outside world as she pursues an ancient secret.

The Last Ferry Out
by Andrea Bartz

Abby travels to the storm-ravaged Isla Colel seeking answers about her fiancée Eszter's mysterious death, but as expats reveal chilling secrets and a key witness vanishes, she uncovers a web of lies that may put her own life in jeopardy.

The Man Made of Smoke
by Alex North

Dan Garvie's life has been haunted by the crime he witnessed as a child—narrowly escaping an encounter with a notorious serial killer.

Marble Hall Murders
by Anthony Horowitz

Back in England, editor Susan Ryeland is working on a continuation novel called Pünd's Last Case, in which writer Eliot Crace has concealed clues about his grandmother's death by poison, but when another murder follows, Susan becomes the number one suspect.

The Missing Half 
by Ashley Flowers

Nicole Monroe, still haunted by her sister Kasey's unexplained disappearance seven years ago, teams up with Jenna Connor, whose sister vanished under similar circumstances, as they unravel buried secrets and risk everything to uncover the truth about their missing loved ones.

My Father Always Finds Corpses
by Lee Hollis

You never forget your first corpse. For former child star Jarrod Jarvis, that discovery was twenty-plus years ago. Now Jarrod lives in Palm Springs where he directs local theatre while grieving the loss of his partner, police detective Charlie. When his daughter, Liv stumbles on the corpse of her estranged boyfriend. Jarrod rushes to her aid surprising her with his ease around a crime scene.

Never Flinch
by Stephen King

With a killer on a revenge mission, Buckeye City Police Detective Izzy Jaynes turns to friend Holly Gibney for help; meanwhile, a vigilante targets controversial feminist activist Kate McKay, and Holly is hired as bodyguard.

Nightshade
by Michael Connelly

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been “exiled” to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts he gets a report of a body found weighed down at the bottom of the harbor. At the same time, a report of poaching on a protected reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger as Stilwell digs into the past of an island bigwig.

Parents Weekend
by Alex Finlay

Five families gather for Parents Weekend at a small college in Northern California, but their kids—Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—never show up for dinner, and FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller must discover if the sins of their parents have caused them peril.

The Retirement Plan
by Sue Hincenbergs

Three best friends turn to murder to collect on their husbands' life insurance policies, but the husbands have a plan of their own.

South of Nowhere
by Jeffery Deaver

When a levee collapses in Northern California, Colter Shaw and his disaster response specialist sister, Dorion, race to locate a missing family and uncover whether sabotage, not nature, threatens the town's survival.

The Tenant
by Freida Mcfadden

Blake Porter, desperate to keep his life afloat after losing his job, rents a room to the seemingly perfect Whitney, but as strange occurrences escalate and secrets unravel, he realizes too late that she's woven a deadly trap within his own home.

Line of Demarcation
by M. P. Woodward

In Guyana to secure a business deal, Jack Ryan Jr. is thrust into a deadly conflict involving Russia's Wagner Group and Venezuelan narco-terrorists after a U.S. Coast Guard cutter is destroyed, forcing him to unravel shifting alliances to stop a potential war.