Here are some thrilling recommendations for crime novels for your holiday reading this summer! 

 

 

Rat Race - Callum McSorely

'Beautifully plotted, chockful of shocks and oozing compassion... The perfect end to an outstanding trilogy' The Times, Crime Book of the Month

'Destined to become a very big name' Peter James

'The vibe is Taggart rewritten by Mick Herron' The Times

DCI Alison McCoist is up to the oxters in Glasgow's shadiest police unit, with a list of guilty secrets growing longer by the day.

Fran Forbes has just bolted from the scene of a gangland massacre with only a shite-stained tracksuit and a memory stick full of cryptocurrency to his name.

Ally is tasked with looking into this latest underworld rammy and ends up working with some bampots even dodgier than her polis pals. Can she keep Fran from being turned into mince by a Russian OCG and finally free herself from the fankle of police corruption she's caught in? An enemy from Ally's past is determined her story won't have such a happy ending...

 

Shadow of Madness by D.V Bishop

Longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger 2026Tuscany. Winter, 1540. Travelling north into the hills above Florence, investigator Cesare Aldo seeks answers about his past.

The trail leads him to Ospedale de’ Pazzi, a secure institution for the criminally insane. Soon after arriving a blizzard engulfs the area, trapping Aldo and his companion, Doctor Saul Orvieto. Even more alarming, their cart driver is found dead.

It looks like he fell over a nearby cliff in the whiteout – but Aldo suspects foul play. When a brutal slaying occurs in the central courtyard, it becomes clear a killer lurks among them. With the snowstorm sealing everyone in and a murderer hunting fresh victims, Aldo’s search for the truth proves deadlier than he could ever have imagined .

.Shadow of Madness is the sixth Cesare Aldo mystery by D.V. Bishop, preceded by Carnival of Lies, A Divine Fury, City of Vengeance, The Darkest Sin and Ritual of Fire.

Praise for D.V. Bishop:

'It’s hard to think of a better guide than D. V. Bishop to the brutality and glamour of Renaissance Florence' Andrew Taylor, author of A Schooling in Murder

'A brilliant series' Anna Mazzola, author of The Book of Secrets

'Aldo is a magnificent creation' Vaseem Khan, author of The Edge of Darkness

 

Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd

 

'Nora Breen will become a favourite character' Ian Moore

'Nora Breen is Maria Von Trapp on steroids' Richard Armitage

Sharp-eyed former nun Nora Breen is back, as the latest attraction in Gore-on-Sea turns deadly . . .

On a brilliant December morning, Nora finds her customary seaside walk rudely interrupted: she's been summoned, with Detective Inspector Rideout, to the home of Doreen Chimes, Gore-on-Sea's resident medium. Chimes would like to report a robbery - and to personally invite Rideout to that evening's private séance. It's an invitation he will regret accepting: the evening ends in a suspiciously spooky murder.

And in the coming days, more of the attendees will find themselves in peril. Can Nora figure out who - or what - is behind these spectral killings before it's too late?

 

The Sunshine Man - Emma Stonex

Gripping and emotional, The Sunshine Man is a powerful story of a terrible crime and a revenge plotted over decades, set against the haunting beauty of rural Devon.

 From the bestselling author of The Lamplighters, Emma Stonex.

 ‘Luminously unsettling’ – The Observer

‘A deeply thrilling and emotionally rich page-turner’ – Lucy Clarke

‘A wholly original and immersive thriller’ – Harriet Evans

 

Birdie wakes to the news she’s been waiting eighteen years to hear: Jimmy Maguire – the man who murdered her sister – is out of prison.

She sends her children to school, picks up a gun, and leaves for London with one purpose: to find Jimmy and make him pay. But there’s another side to this story, and Birdie is about to enter a world of family lies, worn-out loyalties and long-buried betrayals.

 

 

The Waterfall by Gareth Rubin

A story about stories within stories, as four interconnected mysteries take the reader through the ages, from Shakespeare’s day to a 19th-century Gothic former Priory, to 1920s Venice, and finally to 1940s California, from the internationally bestselling author of The Turnglass.

We begin with the last testament of William Shakespeare as he investigates the real-life murder mystery of his friend, playwright Christopher Marlowe. The second story is a 19th-century Gothic tale about the discovery of Shakespeare’s manuscript, set in an isolated former Priory, now a clinic for those who cannot sleep.

The third is a lighter Golden Age detective tale set in Venice, where private investigator Honora Feldman looks into a baffling case of theft and murder in the British expat community, with the Gothic story at its heart. And finally, a 1940s American Noir, as Ken Kourian finds that a serial killer is recreating all the murders in The Waterfall, the companion book to his friend Oliver Tooke’s The Turnglass. The Waterfall is a beguiling and intricate mystery that cements Gareth Rubin’s position as one of the most original authors writing today.

PRAISE FOR THE TURNGLASS, THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER: ‘This is a story about stories and their perspectives, the passage of time and the slow march of the inevitable. Vivid, resonant, melancholy and beautiful’ JANICE HALLETT

‘Rubin has pulled off the difficult trick of writing an ambitious novel that is also an easy, enjoyable read’ THE TIMES, CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

‘A bold, breath-taking piece of writing that absolutely nails its two books in one conceit. I doubt I’ll ever read anything like it again, which is the highest compliment I can offer’ STUART TURTON

 

 

The Man Who Died Seven Times - Yasuhiko Nishizawa

'The blend of Agatha Christie and Groundhog Day works a treat' The Times

'Ingenious' Guardian

In the middle of the family New Year's gathering at his home, Grandfather Fuchigami is murdered. But not for the last time.

For his grandson, Hisataro, has fallen into a mysterious time-loop, in which he must relive the same day again and again.

Every morning after his grandfather's death, Hisataro wakes up with a chance to find the culprit and prevent the murder. But day after day he fails, despite stumbling across clues aplenty in the shape of secret plots, illicit love affairs and jealous rivalries.

With an extremely large inheritance up for grabs, everyone is a suspect - and Hisataro is beginning to wish he could leave this day behind...