Best mysteries and thrillers of September 2025, as chosen by the Amazon Editors
So many good mysteries and thrillers come out in the fall and this year is no exception. On our list of Amazon Editors’ picks for the Best Mysteries and Thrillers of September you’ll find a long-awaited new mystery from Dan Brown, a clever story about a family of cons and criminals, a debut that’s perfect for Agatha Christie fans, and more.
This debut is a delight—especially for the Agatha Christie fans among us. Seven strangers are invited to a mysterious (and very extravagant) dinner party that ends with each receiving a card predicting the age at which they will die. The narrative is told from each guest’s perspective, and I was sucked in right away. Watching how these very different people respond to foretold death is fascinating—especially as the predictions start coming true. Is there a murderer in their midst? Who invited them to that dinner in the first place, and why? Some of the remaining guests change their ways and some go for broke in the perceived time they have left—it’s all on the table here, which gave me so much to think about as I tore through this mystery. I can’t wait to hash it all out with another reader. –Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
Claire Campbell hasn’t been back to her hometown in 20 years, and it doesn’t take long for the past—and her sister’s long-ago disappearance—to rise up to greet her. Past and present start to overlap in interesting ways, and a hidden diary leads to more questions about a man who plucks young, vulnerable women like overripe fruit from the ground, and what may have happened to Claire’s her sister. This seemed like a story I knew the ending of, but then it took a razor-sharp turn I never expected (love that!) and won’t soon forget. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
The Mercurios are a bit like The Partridge Family if, instead of all having musical talents, they were a band made up of criminal talent, all playing in harmony. Buddy and Lillian were destined for each other from the moment they met—a great story in itself—and go on to raise their wild brood of five kids in nightclubs and casinos, the kids taking to criminal life like ducks to water. I love the whole rowdy family in the early years, the camaraderie and petty deceptions and their distinct personalities…then as the years pass, seeing how each of their lives plays out—where they break the rules or make their own. Crooks is an irresistible story of crime, belonging, and finding your own crooked path in a family who will always have your back (and would stab someone else’s to protect it). —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
I’m a huge fan of these books (and the CB Strike streaming series adapted from them), so I’m itching to see The Hallmarked Man on-screen now that I’ve finished the book. This is another smart, complex mystery for private investigators Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott, which starts as a somewhat odd missing person case but quickly takes a dark turn. The romantic tension between Strike and Robin continues—despite her relationship with detective Murphy—through gruesome discoveries, danger, deduction, and the secretive world of Freemasonry. Witty dialogue, colorful characters, and fantastic plot twists—I ate this one up and am once again reminded of just how good this series is. More please. – Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
In case you missed the memo, we have a new Robert Langdon title, The Secret of Secrets! There hasn't been a title in this series in eight years, but I can assure you it's worth the wait. I had so much fun going on a new adventure with the globe-trotting Harvard symbologist as he's pulled into solving a murder mystery, and the disappearance of the scientist he's recently started seeing. Despite the complex themes Brown tackles in his books (this one is a juxtaposition of advanced science and human consciousness), he writes in a way that makes his books accessible, riveting, and dangerously bingeable (I inevitably lose sleep when I'm reading these books). —Abby Abell, Amazon Editor
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