Thrillers: Names To Know, Mar. 2024, Pt. 3 | Prepub Alert

Thriller authors to follow. 

Click here for additional new Prepub Alert columns  

Casale, Alexia. The Best Way To Bury Your Husband. Penguin. Mar. 2024. 400p. ISBN 9780593654606. pap. $18. THRILLER

Having clobbered to death her violently abusive husband, using an an iron skillet, Sally learns that she’s not alone. Ruth’s self-defence during a bleak encounter on the stairs with a fist-swinging spouse led to his accidental death, Samira learns that her husband plans to batter a daughter who’s just come out, and Janey, a first-time mother at 42, knows that monsters aren’t just in fairy tales. Together, they bury their dead and learn to heal. British American author Casale’s first adult novel; once executive editor of a human rights journal, she has specialized in covering male violence against women and girls.

Cavanagh, Steve. Kill for Me, Kill for You. Atria. Mar. 2024. 416p. ISBN 9781668049341. $27.99. THRILLER

Over drinks on New York’s Upper West Side, Wendy and Amanda hatch a plan to avenge their wronged families—if you kill for me, I’ll kill for you—even as Ruth sits alone in her lovely brownstone elsewhere in town, facing a home invasion by a man with dagger-sharp blue eyes. From the best-selling author of the “Eddie Flynn” series.

Gómez-Jurado, Juan. Black Wolf. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Antonia Scott, Bk. 2). Mar. 2025. 368p. ISBN 9781250853691. $28. Downloadable. THRILLER

First seen in the United States in this year’s The Red Queen, which looks to be generating some heat among thriller readers, Antonia Scott is now struggling to move beyond a case with troubling personal ramifications. Then a ship from St. Petersburg arrives with a container bearing nine dead women, a big-time gangster is murdered on the Costa del Sol, and his wife goes on the run, pursued by the Black Wolf. Second in an internationally best-selling series with an Amazon streaming series scheduled for fall 2023; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Kurkov, Andrey. The Silver Bone. HarperVia. (Samson Kolechko Investigates). Mar. 2024. 256p. tr. from Ukrainian by Boris Dralyuk. ISBN 9780063352285. $28. CD. THRILLER

In post–World War I Kyiv, engineer Samson Kolechko seeks to report a suspicious conversation he overheard between two Red Army soldiers and ends up being recruited into the city’s new police force. His first case involves two murders, a beautifully tailored suit, and a gracefully arced silver bone, and he solves it with the help of whip-smart-statistician Nadezhda. Kurkov, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner for the literary title Grey Bees, ishere dubbed the Ukrainian Stieg Larsson; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

McTiernan, Dervla. What Happened to Nina? Morrow. Mar. 2024. 336p. ISBN 9780063042254. $30. lrg. prnt. THRILLER

A young couple named Nina and Simon weekend at his family’s cabin in Vermont, but only Simon returns, vague about what happened to Nina. His wealthy parents quickly encircle him with high-power lawyers, while her parents finally realize they must break the rules to find out what happened to Nina. McTiernan’s The Murder Rule was a New York Times Best Thriller of the Year; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Mahmood, Imran. Finding Sophie. Bantam. Mar. 2024. 336p. ISBN 9780593723586. $28. THRILLER

Harry and Zara King are frantic; their only child, 17-year-old Sophie, is missing. As days turn into weeks, they become suspicious of a neighbor and dangerously take things into their own hands. A London-based criminal barrister, Mahmood makes his U.S. debut following the Theakston and the CWA Gold Dagger Award long-listed You Don’t Know Me.

Masood, S.M. A Dangerous Book. Grand Central. Mar. 2024. 304p. ISBN 9781538724125. $29. THRILLER

Fresh off his latest job, mercenary Irfan Mirza learns that his estranged wife is in police custody in Karachi, Pakistan, after hiding an artifact she’s discovered that bears an explosive secret. She could be executed for blasphemy—but the police cannot find her. Evidently, she’s been spirited away by someone who will do anything to suppress that artifact, and Mirza has got to find it. Masood goes thriller after the fun and timely The Bad Muslim Discount; originally featured in January 2023 under an alternate author name and with slightly different plot details. With a 30,000-copy first printing.

Winters, Ben H. Big Time. Mulholland: Little, Brown. Mar. 2024. 320p. ISBN 9780316305778. $29. Downloadable. THRILLER

Kidnapped while playing with her baby daughter in the park, Allie awakens in the backseat of a car and manages to escape, landing dazed at a nearby hospital with a portacath in her chest the likes of which no one has seen before. Enter Grace, who works with the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Meanwhile, Allie’s kidnapper is on a deadline. From the author of the Edgar-winning The Last Policeman.

Click here for additional new Prepub Alert columns  

Author Image
Barbara Hoffert

Barbara Hoffert (bhoffert@mediasourceinc.com, @BarbaraHoffert on Twitter) is Editor, LJ Prepub Alert; winner of ALA's Louis Shores Award for reviewing; and past president, awards chair, and treasurer of the National Book Critics Circle, which awarded her its inaugural Service Award in 2023.

Comment Policy:
  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.


RELATED 

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?