The Guardian Crime 2025

‘They used to call our shop the Circus. Well if this is a circus, Jackson, you’re in charge of the clowns.’Old spies grow ridiculous, David Cartwright used to say, but he forgot to add that they can be dangerous too, especially if they’ve fallen on hard times – as Diana Taverner learns when the past lands on her desk. An operation carried out during the height of the Troubles laid bare the ugly side of state security, and those involved are threatening to expose details. But every threat hides an opportunity, and the would-be blackmailer is soon being used as Taverner’s solution to a much newer problem.Cartwright himself is long buried, and has left his library to the Spooks’ College, where it turns out that one of the books has gone missing. Or perhaps never existed... His grandson, River Cartwright, has time to kill while waiting to be passed fit for work, and investigating the secrets his grandfather’s library hid seems a harmless activity. But nothing involving the slow horses stays harmless for long.Louisa Guy is pondering her future, but before making any big decisions, she might as well check River’s not about to come a cropper. Shirley Dander is wondering if the new kid, Ash Khan, is as annoying as she seems. Roddy Ho wants the team to know that his tattoo is a hummingbird, and not, as Lech Wicinski claims, a platypus. And Catherine Standish just wants everyone to play nice.As far as Lamb’s concerned, they should all be at their desks – when Taverner starts plotting mischief, people get hurt, and Lamb has no plans to send in the clowns. On the other hand, if the clowns ignore his instructions, any harm that befalls them is hardly his fault.But they’re his clowns. And if they don’t all come home, there’ll be a reckoning.

In this provocative mystery from beloved crime writer Denise Mina, new evidence in an old murder case leads a forensic scientist to an impossible choice.Doctor Claudia O'Sheil is approaching the podium at an elegant fundraiser, where she is expected to give a speech about how her forensic science evidence helped convict the brutal killer in her most famous case, The Incident at Chester Terrace, a sensational double-murder that ignited the country just one year before.But the research has moved on. The evidence Claudia gave was junk science, used to put William Stewart away for the murder of his father and his girlfriend. Because of her, an innocent man is in prison, and she didn’t act alone—some very powerful people have an agenda she is only beginning to understand. This speech might be her last chance to reveal the truth and catch the real murderer. But admitting her mistake will cost her reputation, her career, her home, security for her two sons, the esteem of her colleagues, and the pride of a nation obsessed with her success.Interwoven with the present-day framework is a past narrative that slowly reveals what actually happened the night of a devastating double-murder in a wealthy family.As Claudia steps toward the microphone, she revisits the murder investigation, desperate to understand what went wrong before her chance is gone. What speech will Claudia give? And what really happened at Chester Terrace that night?Would you still do the right thing if you knew it would cost everything you loved?

Millions of letters arrive in the mail. Murders are uncovered, affairs revealed, family secrets exposed. These are the first Confessions. This is our last chance.Lliam is the world’s most powerful supercomputer, built to make the toughest decisions for its users: where to work, who to marry, and even who should live or die. But when Lliam suddenly goes offline with no explanation, the world is thrust into chaos, paralyzed by indecision. Stocks plummet, stores are shuttered, planes sit grounded on runways as humanity scrambles to re-adapt to an uncertain, analog world.Then the first letters arrive… On every continent, in every language, mysterious envelopes appear in the mail, exposing people’s darkest secrets and most shocking crimes, all beginning with the same chilling “We must confess.”With millions of people suddenly made to confront their past transgressions and society fast unraveling, CEO Kaitlan Goss must track down the only person who can help undo the resulting violence: Maud Brookes, an ex-nun who taught Lliam what it means to be human.But when Maud receives a letter herself, revealing Kaitlan’s own unforgivable sin, the two women are forced into a deadly game of deceit as the world teeters on the brink.A high-octane, high-concept thriller for fans of Blake Crouch, Harlan Coben, and Gillian Flynn from former Silicon Valley journalist turned bookstore owner Paul Bradley Carr.

November 1939: the Soviet Union, the largest army in the world, invades its tiny, relatively defenseless neighbor Finland, just three months after the declaration of World War II. So began what is known as the Winter War.A small makeshift company of soldiers, workers, and farmers must face off against columns of tanks and millions of Stalin’s Red Army fighters.In this propulsive and deeply moving narrative based on the true story of the Finnish infantry division, heroes include the star sniper Simo Häyhä, nicknamed the “White Death”; the young men from farms and villages who meet again on the battlefield to fight for their homes; and nurses who must treat old childhood friends. The soldiers go to battle with old guns as their wounds freeze in the unforgiving cold, and yet not only do they resist the Soviet soldiers, they force the superpower to offer terms for peace only six months later.The Winter Warriors is a testament to the Finnish quality of “sisu”: inner strength and determination which prevails in the face of overwhelming odds.Intense, propulsive, and deeply human, The Winter Warriors is a stunning historical novel of Finnish heroism in the face of Soviet invasion.

In the final months of World War II, a clandestine group known as The Choir smuggles thousands of escapees out of Nazi-occupied Rome via a secret route known as the Rome Escape Line. When an unidentified airman falls from the sky, The Choir is plunged into lethal danger and the survival of the Escape Line itself is threatened.The Choir is riven with internal tensions and infighting. The organization is in danger of falling apart, which would leave thousands of escaped allied soldiers, POWs, Jews, and objectors stranded in a Rome that is ruled with vicious efficiency by the Nazis. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, the architect of the Escape Line and acknowledged leader of The Choir, broods inside the Vatican, seemingly paralyzed by what he sees as the intolerable risks of keeping the Escape Line in operation. One man has been given the task of definitively destroying the entire operation and the price of his failure is high—SS Commander Paul Hauptmann’s wife and children are under Gestapo supervision in Berlin. Hauptmann is ordered to stay on in the city he both loathes and loves and to dismantle the Escape Line, or watch his family perish. Into this deliriously thrilling melee steps the Contessa Giovanna Landini, a reckless, audacious, and magnetic member of the Italian Resistance who has the nerve to challenge Hauptmann’s authority. A beautifully written and expertly crafted historical suspense novel that is bursting with action, atmosphere, and unforgettable characters, The Ghosts of Rome is the thrilling follow-up to Joseph O’Connor’s best-selling My Father’s House.

Lorraine would say afterwards that she was smitten straight off with Paddy Farrell. You could tell that he was occupying the room in a different way; he found the spaces that fitted him. She was the kind of girl the papers called vivacious, always a bit of dazzle to her.Could she not see there was death about him? Could he not see there was death about her? Paddy worked the border, a place of road closures, hijackings, sudden death. Everything bootleg and tawdry; nobody is saying that the law is paid off, but it is. This is strange terrain, unsolid, ghosted through.There's illicit cash coming across the border and Brendan's backstreet Bureau de Change is the place to launder it. Brendan knows the rogue lawyers, the nerve-shot policemen, the alcoholic judges and he doesn't care about getting caught. For the Bureau crew, getting caught is only the start of the game.Paddy and his associates were a ragged band and honourless and their worth to themselves was measured in thievery and fraud. But Lorraine was not a girl to be treated lightly. She's cast as a minx, a criminal's moll, but she's bought a shotgun. And she's bought a grave.

From the bestselling author of GIRL A and DAY ONE comes a heart-wrenching new novel about love, tragedy and forgiveness.It’s the story everyone wants to hear.That spring night in South London, when Isabel and Edward’s lives were torn apart.The night Isabel learned that the worst things wait, just outside the door.The night Edward learned that he was powerless to stop them.The night they never talk about.When their attacker is caught, it's finally time to tell the story of that night.Not to the world. Or to the man who did it. But to each other.This is a story of murder. This is a story of survival. But most of all, this is a story of love.*Praise for Abigail Dean*‘Layered, frightening, moving’ Stacey Halls‘A devastating, beautiful novel’ Jennifer Saint‘Gripping and beautifully written’ Emilia Hart‘A chilling, thought-provoking read. Brilliant.’ Shari Lapena‘Utterly gripping.’ Juno Dawson‘Intriguing and brave, a beautiful writer.’ Adele Parks

1926. On the cliffs of Yorkshire, men are lowered on ropes to steal the eggs of the sea birds who nest there. The most beautiful are sold for large sums. A small girl—penniless and neglected by her family—retrieves one such treasure. Its discovery will forever alter the course of her life.A century later. In a remote cottage in Wales, Patrick Fort finds his friend, Nick, and his mother tied up and robbed. The only thing missing: a carved case containing an incredible scarlet egg. Doggedly attempting to retrieve it, Patrick and Nick discover the cruel world of egg trafficking, and soon find themselves on the trail of a priceless collection of eggs lost to history. Until now.How do you find something that doesn’t exist? A taut, wonderfully imagined novel brimming with skullduggery at every turn, The Impossible Thing is a blazing testament to Belinda Bauer’s status as one of our greatest living crime writers.EndorsementsFrom the exceptionally original mind of CWA Gold Dagger Award winner and Booker longlisted author Belinda Bauer comes this sweeping tale of obsession, greed, ambition, and a crime that has remained unsolved for a hundred years.

A group of friends gather at an Airbnb on New Year’s Eve. It is Benjamin’s birthday, and his sister Abigail is throwing him a jazz-age murder-mystery-themed party. As the night plays out, champagne is drunk, hors d’oeuvres consumed, and relationships forged, consolidated or frayed. Someone kisses the wrong person; someone else’s heart is broken.In the morning, all of them wake up—except Benjamin.As Abigail attempts to wrap her mind around her brother’s death, an eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin's killer. In this mansion, suddenly complete with a butler, gardener and housekeeper, everyone is a suspect, and nothing is quite as it seems.Will the culprit be revealed? And how can Abigail, now alone, piece herself back together in the wake of this loss?For fans of Anthony Horowitz, Tana French, and Sally Rooney, a wonderfully original, genre-breaking literary debut from Ireland that’s an homage to the brilliant detective novels of the early twentieth century, a twisty modern murder mystery, and a searing exploration of grief and loss. Gripping and playful, sharp and profoundly moving, Fair Play plumbs the depths of the human heart while subverting one of our most popular genres.

An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance.A pregnant woman's sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning.A child's picture of his home contains a dark secret message.A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbit hole that will reveal a horrifying reality.Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the overarching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the debut from Uketsu.An eerie, fresh take on horror for fans of Hidden Pictures and Junji Ito, in which a series of seemingly innocent pictures draws readers into a disturbing web of unsolved mysteries and shattered psyches.