I was out of town (vacation in Mexico with family) when this month’s amazon list of Editor Picks came out so I’ll only do an abbreviation of what I normally do with that list. Here is a link to the list in case you want to see more detail.
In my mind the best book on the list is THE WHITE CROW by Michael Robotham. I also liked HOTEL UKRAINE by Martin Cruz Smith (the last Renko novel) and am reading THE FROZEN PEOPLE by Elly Griffiths right now. Robin Agnew recommends INTO THE LEOPARD’S DEN by Harini Nagendra (I also like this series.) No title got more than one starred review other than the aforementioned THE WHITE CROW (the subject of a Reviewed to Death column in our upcoming issue).

Editors’ Picks: Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense – New and continuing series July, 2025

The abbreviations of LJ, PW and BL stand for starred reviews in Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus

HISTORY LESSONS, Zoe Wallbrook LJ
RAGE, Linda Castillo BL
HOTEL UKRAINE, Martin Cruz Smith
THE GAME IS AFOOT, Elise Bryant Kirkus
MRS. PLANSKY GOES ROGUE, Spencer Quinn LJ
THE WHITE CROW, Michael Robotham Kirkus, PW, LJ
CODED JUSTICE, Stacey Abrams BL
INTO THE LEOPARD’S DEN, Harini Nagendra BL
FOG AND FURY, Rachel Howzell Hall Kirkus

Editors’ Picks: Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense – Standalones, July, 2025

EL DORADO DRIVE, Megan Abbott LJ
PROOF, Jon Cowan
NIGHT WATCHER, Daphne Woolsoncroft
ALL THE WORDS WE KNOW, Bruce Nash
THE WOMAN IN SUITE 11, Ruth Ware
PARTY OF LIARS, Kelsey Cox
NOT QUITE DEAD YET, Holly Jackson
THE FROZEN PEOPLE, Elly Griffiths
NO BODY NO CRIME, Tess Sharpe PW
FRENCH WINDOWS, Antoine Laurain