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Cool temperatures, dark evenings, and crunchy leaves make for great mystery-reading – and since publishers know that, there are always quite a few good releases throughout late summer and autumn. To help you navigate the best of what's new and upcoming, we've rounded up some of the best new British mysteries below.

Keep in mind that publication dates occasionally vary between the US and UK. For those titles not yet released, we've included a US release date above the description.

14 of the Best New British Mysteries for Autumn 2022

the bullet that missed

Author: Richard Osman

Date: 20 September, 2022

In this third installment of the Thursday Murder Club series, a decade-old cold cast leads Elizabeth and friends to a local news legend and body-less murder. After someone notices their curiosity, however, Elizabeth gets a threatening visit.

The cold case becomes decidedly hot, and it leads Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim on an adventure involving an upmarket spa, a luxury penthouse, and a prison cell with an espresso machine. 

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

the ink black heart

Author: Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)

While Troubled Blood (Book #5) handled a cold case full of mostly geriatric witnesses, The Ink Black Heart (Book #6) takes us into the more youthful world of the internet and online harassment.

When successful animator Edie Ledwell shows up begging to speak with Robin, she describes a mysterious online stalker called Anomie who's been threatening and harassing her. Robin turns away the case, thinking nothing of it until a few days later. That's when she gets the startling news that Edie has been murdered in Highgate Cemetery.

Later, Robin and Strike are approached to help her agent and production company find out the true identify of Anomie. Agreeing, they quickly find themselves wrapped up in a web of dodgy businesses, online aliases, and family conflicts. Not surprisingly, the case put them – and the entire agency – at risk.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Audio Book | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

The twist of a knife

Author: Anthony Horowitz (of Foyle's War fame)

Date: 15 November 2022 in the US

This is the fourth book in the Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery series, a series in which the author is a character working alongside a former police detective called Hawthorne. This time around, we see Horowitz firmly declining Hawthorne's request to do another book and case together.

Unfortunately, Horowitz won't have much choice in the matter. Shortly after he declines, he finds himself the chief suspect in a homicide investigation. To keep himself out of trouble, he'll need Hawthorne's investigative skills to find the real killer.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

under a veiled moon

Author: Karen Odden

Date: 11 October 2022 in the US

The second book in the Inspector Corravan series, this one is set in September 1878 as the pleasure boat Princess Alice makes its way up the Thames. In a tragic turn of events, the book collides with an enormous iron-hulled collier, throwing all 600 passengers into the river. Only 130 survive. 

Clues point to sabotage by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and Irish-born Scotland Yard Inspector Michael Corravan will have to get to the truth – no matter what his friends and colleagues may think about his actions and possible conflicts of interest. 

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

a botanist's guide to parties & poisons

Author: Kate Khavari

In 1923 London, research assistant Saffron Everleigh is eager to build her career at University College London. Unfortunately, she's plagued by comments about her father's influence in getting her position, along with a general belief that women aren't suited to serious research.

When she attends a dinner party for the school, she hopes to get to know her colleagues better – until everyone is shocked by the sudden death of one of the professor's wives. It's clear she's been poisoned, and when Saffron's mentor becomes chief suspect, she'll use her botanical knowledge to help clear his name.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

the family remains

Author: Lisa Jewell

On the banks of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu discovers bones connected to a thirty year old cold case in Chelsea. At the same time, Rachel Rimmer receives the news that her husband has been found dead in the cellar of his French home. Elsewhere, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home – thirty years after fleeing London in the wake of a tragedy. 

All three will be brought together by the convoluted and interconnected mysteries they're involved in, and what follows will demonstrate the lengths people go to to protect the ones they love and uncover the truth.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

the prisoner

Author: BA Paris

Date: 1 November 2022 in US

In spite of the loss of her parents as a child, Amelie moves to London and makes a good life for herself. The future seems full of promise when she's swept up into the luxurious world of handsome billionaire Ned Hawthorne.

Unfortunately, that all comes to a grinding halt when she wakes up one day, trapped in a pitch-black room with no idea where she is. Though answers aren't forthcoming, she's puzzled to learn she soon feels safer in captivity than she had with her husband Ned.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

The burning pages

Author: Paige Shelton

In the seventh Scottish Bookshop Mystery, bookseller Delaney Nichols and her co-worker are invited to a Burns Night Supper (See: What Is Burns Night?) not far from the Cracked Spine bookshop. It quickly becomes clear that there was an ulterior motive behind their invitation.

After the dinner, a fire breaks out and the dinner venue burns to the ground. When her co-worker is blamed, Delaney rushes to prove his innocence – but she soon learns be might have a good motive for arson.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

marple: twelve new mysteries

Author: Collaboration

In 1927, the world was introduced to St. Mary Mead's most famous spinster, Miss Jane Marple, in a short story published in The Royal Magazine. While Dame Agatha is no longer with us and able to write new Marple mysteries, this collection of stories brings us new tales from some of today's most talented mystery writers. The stories are as follows:

• EVIL IN SMALL PLACES by Lucy Foley
• THE SECOND MURDER AT THE VICARAGE by Val McDermid
• MISS MARPLE TAKES MANHATTAN by Alyssa Cole
• THE UNRAVELLING by Natalie Haynes
• MISS MARPLE’S CHRISTMAS by Ruth Ware
• THE OPEN MIND by Naomi Alderman
• THE JADE EMPRESS by Jean Kwok
• A DEADLY WEDDING DAY by Dreda Say Mitchel
• MURDER AT THE VILLA ROSA by Elly Griffiths
• THE MURDERING SORT by Karen M. McManus
• THE MYSTERY OF THE ACID SOIL by Kate Mosse
• THE DISAPPEARANCE by Leigh Bardugo

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

The rising tide

Author: Ann Cleeves

If you're a fan of Ann Cleeves' Vera book series, you'll be pleased to know this autumn brings a new entry in the series. 

50 years ago, a group of friends met on a school trip to Holy Island. Ever since, they've been visiting the island for reunions to honour their friendship and the friend they lost to the rising causeway just a few years after their meeting.

When one of those friends is hanged, Vera is called in to investigate. As she begins to learn more about his life, she realises the friends are hiding more than what she initially thought.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

bleeding heart yard

Author: Elly Griffiths

Date: 15 November 2022 in the US

When Cassie's husband finally persuades her to attend a school reunion, she expects nothing more than a routine catch-up with high-achieving friends from Manor Park School. Unfortunately, one of them is soon found dead in a school toilet, supposedly from a drug overdose. 

Because it's a high-profile investigation, Cassie's new boss, DI Harbinder Kaur, will be heading up the case. The case threatens to dredge up old secrets from her past – the same ones that kept her from previous reunions.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

A sliver of darkness: stories

Author: CJ Tudor

Date: 8 November 2022 in the US

Though the stories in this book are more macabre than true mystery, they're not entirely without mystery. Dubbed “Britain's female Stephen King”, CJ Tudor brings us eleven bone-chilling stories of time slips, doomsday scenarios, and killer butterflies. 

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

the inheritance

Author: Howard Linskey

When Sarah's aunt dies, a huge inheritance is at stake – but it comes with conditions. In order to receive the inheritance, she'll have to solve the decades-old mystery of her aunt's friend's disappearance. As if that's not bad enough, she'll soon learn there's someone out there who wants the secrets to stay hidden.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

 

here lie the dead

Author: JD Kirk

Date: 20 September 2022

If you haven't given JD Kirk's DCI Jack Logan series a try, you're missing out on some of the most gripping Scottish crime thrillers to come out in years (all made even better by Angus King's audiobook narration).

This time around, the body of a teenager has been discovered near Eilean Donan Castle several months after she initially disappeared. As DCI Jack Logan and his team begin to untangle the secret's of the young woman's life, their findings threaten to tear the small community apart. When a second girl goes missing in similar circumstances, they find themselves racing against time to prevent another murder.

Get it: Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Audible | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)