A Month-by-Month Guide to Fall's Biggest Mystery Novels

Posted by Cybil on August 18, 2025



A desperate would-be home buyer discovers the bloodier side of America’s competitive housing market. An old diary leads to startling revelations in the fields of a muscadine vineyard. A missing dancer exposes the dark heart of Atlanta’s most notorious Black strip club.
 
Such are the mystery and thriller stories on offer as we spotlight some of the most intriguing books coming this autumn. As with our collection of Readers’ Most Anticipated Fall Books, this guide features upcoming titles publishing through the end of December, based on early reader reviews and Goodreads regulars’ Want to Read shelves. This time around, we sorted selections by calendar month to better facilitate your fall reading schedule.
 
Some additional highlights, in no particular order: The indefatigable Freida McFadden returns with The Intruder, featuring an incoming hurricane and a girl with a knife. Richard Osman’s popular Thursday Murder Club cozy series gets a new installment with The Impossible Fortune. And genre veteran Karin Slaughter kicks off her new North Falls series with the small-town procedural We Are All Guilty Here. Also: Legal thriller specialist John Grisham takes his first crack at the traditional whodunit with The Widow.
 
Click on the book cover images for more information about each title. You can also use the Want to Read button to organize your digital bookshelf.  

 

Publishing in August

Publishing in September

Publishing in October

Publishing in November

Publishing in December