Nigerian-British novelist Oyinkan Braithwaite burst onto the literary scene in 2018 with her propulsive debut thriller My Sister, the Serial Killer. Ayoola, the book’s title character, is beautiful and charming but impulsive and ruthless – as evidenced by a string of murdered boyfriends. Dutiful older sibling Korede is an expert at cleaning up Ayoola’s messes – until both set their sights on the same handsome young doctor. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called My Sister, the Serial Killer “bitingly funny and brilliantly executed, with not a single word out of place.” It garnered Braithwaite the 2019 Anthony Award for Best First Novel and a coveted spot on TIME’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time, among other high honors. It has since been translated into more than 30 languages. Braithwaite’s highly anticipated follow-up, family saga Cursed Daughters, hits shelves November 4. Seemingly fated for tragedy from birth, Eniiyi is encumbered by both a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin.

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Historical fiction heavyweight Marjan Kamali is a leading figure within the flourishing Iranian-American literary tradition. Her novels spotlight the lives and irrepressible spirit of Iranian women across generations, both in their native country and the global diaspora. Kamali’s maiden novel, Together Tea, follows a mismatched mother and daughter pair who emigrate to America but, despite their contrasting natures, each feels drawn back to Iran. Her follow-up, international bestseller The Stationery Shop, is a saga of love and loss set against the backdrop of the 1953 coup d’etat that overthrew Iran’s democratic government. Kamali returns to that tumultuous period in her latest book, The Lion Women of Tehran. Inseparable as children, friends Ellie and Homa are pulled apart by political upheaval and personal betrayal. Later in life, a haunted Ellie seeks out her childhood companion to confront and atone for her checkered past. Bookreporter calls The Lion Women of Tehran “a beautifully crafted and subtle exploration of love, family, friendship, ambition, betrayal, and redemption in a socio-political powder keg.”

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Elle Cosimano is the pen behind the chart-topping Finlay Donovan series, madcap mysteries unlike any other. Cosimano first introduced her domestic antihero, a single parent and strung-out thriller novelist, in Finlay Donovan is Killing It (2021). In this debut outing, described by reviewers as “part screwball comedy, part morality tale,” a wronged wife mistakes Finlay for a contract killer after overhearing her outline the plot of her latest book to a literary agent. Readers have enjoyed the further adventures of Cosimano’s writer-turned-sleuth at the steady pace of a book a year. Her latest, out in March, is Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave. When a dead body turns up in their elderly neighbor’s backyard, Finlay and her best friend Vero must unravel neighborhood secrets to stay ahead of a police investigation that soon zeroes in on Finlay’s own ex-husband, Steven. Shelf Awareness praises the book – and the series as a whole – as “a celebration of female friendship and a comical exploration of what happens when life keeps imitating art.”

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Minnesota’s own Joshua Moehling is a unique voice and rising star in the crowded mystery and thriller landscape. He introduced fans to Deputy Sheriff Ben Packard and the seemingly idyllic town of Sandy Lake in 2023. Notes the Associated Press: “Moehling’s debut, And There He Kept Her, plays out like something on TV, resembling Yellowstone in its small-town setting and larger-than-life drama set against captivatingly detailed scenery… It’s a great opportunity to get into a new detective series at the ground level.” Many readers did exactly that. Both And There He Kept Her and Packard’s sophomore outing, Where the Dead Sleep (2024), were contenders for the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ+ Mystery. Moehling’s latest thriller, A Long Time Gone, hinges around the haunting disappearance of Packard’s own brother – a cold case that cracks wide open after decades of questions and speculation. First Clue Reviews raves: “The third in the series is far and away the best… It’s amazing how Moehling keeps all these narrative balls in the air, but even more amazing is how they eventually come together.”

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Jon Hickey is a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa Indians (Anishinaabe) and author behind the 2025 literary breakout Big Chief. Set on the fictional Passage Rouge Reservation in northern Wisconsin, Big Chief follows Mitch Caddo, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer, as he attempts to clinch reelection for Tribal President Mack Beck. Political control of the Nation, and with it the lucrative Golden Eagle Casino and Hotel, is contested by a group of intrepid activists that include campaign manager Layla – Mitch’s estranged sister and Mack’s former love interest. Hickey’s themes and tone have earned favorable comparisons to modern classics like The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich and There, There by Tommy Orange. Among a host of glowing early reviews, fellow novelist David Heska Wanbli Weiden opines: “We’ve been waiting for the great Native American political novel, and here it is.” Rare for a debut release, Big Chief charted high on Most Anticipated Books of 2025 lists for publications as varied as The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times to LitHub.

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New York Times bestselling author Silvia Moreno-Garcia masterfully blends elements of horror, fantasy, noir, and historical fiction. Her distinctive style gained a wide audience with Mexican Gothic, winner of the Locus Award for Best Horror Novel in 2021 and one of TIME’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time. Moreno-Garcia’s follow ups include The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (2022), a reimagining of the H.G. Wells classic set in Yucatán, and The Seventh Veil of Salome (2024), a dual-timeline story that interweaves the biblical story of Salome with that of a Mexican actress playing her in a big-budget Hollywood film. Moreno-Garcia’s latest novel hit shelves in July. The Bewitching is a multigenerational saga about the primordial evil forces that have inspired witches in popular fiction. In a starred review, ­Publishers Weekly raves: “With this equally spooky and sophisticated horror novel, bestseller Moreno-Garcia proves she’s as adept playing in the tropes of dark academia as any of the other subgenres she’s tried on… It’s as unsettling as it is unputdownable.”

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Nickolas Butler is the internationally bestselling author of critically acclaimed novels like The Hearts of Men (2017) and Little Faith (2019). His breakout debut, Shotgun Lovesongs (2014), remains among his most enduring works to date. It centers around five lifelong friends who take wildly diverging paths in life but remain indelibly linked both to one another and to the small Wisconsin community they called home. Butler’s two most recent novels build on the author’s literary fiction bona fides with elements of suspense and romance, respectively. Godspeed (2021) follows three struggling construction partners who agree to build a lavish mansion for a mysterious client on an impossible deadline. The Financial Times calls it “an effective blend of rural fable and snow-lashed Rocky Mountain noir… The set-up is pure Hitchcock.” Butler’s latest, A Forty Year Kiss, is a poignant story of second chances and rekindled love. In a glowing review, Library Journal opines: “This is a love story, not only between Charlie and Vivian but also between the novel and the Midwest.”

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Hanif Abdurraqib is an incisive poet, accomplished essayist, and versatile cultural critic. His acclaimed poetry collections include The Crown Ain’t Worth Much (2016), a raw meditation on the dangers of being young and Black in the American Midwest, and A Fortune for Your Disaster (2019), which explores the themes of loss and rebuilding after heartbreak. Music aficionados may know Abdurraqib best for his essay collection They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, a modern cultural touchstone that led NPR to herald him as “one of the most essential voices of his generation.” His follow-ups include Go Ahead in the Rain (2019), an homage to the seminal rap group A Tribe Called Quest, and National Book Award finalist A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance (2021). His latest book, There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, straddles and defies literary genres. Publishers Weekly lauds: “The narrative works as if by alchemy, forging personal anecdotes, sports history, and cultural analysis into a bracing contemplation of the relationship between sports teams and their communities.”

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