Weekly Book Recs 35-2025: Thrillers, Mysteries and Crime
- Apollo Imperium
- Aug 29
- 8 min read
WEEKLY BOOK RECS: 12 book suggestions every week
It's almost September, and we're getting closer and closer to the rainy, dark season. No better time than now to start stocking up on books with the eerie, mysterious vibes that are perfect for this upcoming time of year. Grab one of these recs, a blanket and cozy up for reading while rain beats down on your windows.
This week's book recs feature thrillers, mysteries and crime novels (some cozy, some not), all sent in by independent authors!
“The Flower Bed” by Michael Springer
Tropes/Genre: Thriller, Dark Fiction
Who will live, who will die, and can anyone survive in The Flower Bed? Can a person ever escape their past? Is love the balm for the soul? Is each person a unique flower, or are we just imitating those who bloomed before us? Are we prisoners of our inner demons?
The Flower Bed takes you on a fictional journey of survival through the harsh realities of human life – its corruption, malignancy, and finite nature – while also venturing into the darkest, most despairing corners of the human mind. Take the journey into a world of prejudice, greed, crime, love, despair, drugs, and redemption.
The Flower Bed will challenge your intellect, stir your passions, engage your emotions, and leave you with lingering questions long after you've completed your journey through its pages.
“Murder at Mourning Dove Ranch” by Penny S. Weibly
Tropes/Genre: Cozy Mystery
Recently widowed, Doris ‘Dovey’ Byrd Rawlins retreats to the peace and solitude of Mourning Dove Ranch located in tiny Love County in the heart of the Texas hill country. Working to restore her old German farmhouse and to bring her over-grazed land back to life, she remains aloof from her rural neighbors, content with her dogs, her great-aunt Aurora, and her ranch hand for company. That is, until she stumbles across a body. The murder thrusts Dovey into the life of the community. Quilting circles, tail gating parties, and Oktoberfest planning compete with her drive to discover the victim’s identity and bring his killer to justice. Could one of her new neighbors be the culprit? She pursues clues that could solve the mystery or cost her life.
“The Deadly Garden” by Robin Stephanie
Tropes/Genre: Cozy Mystery
Nestled along the windswept shores of Massachusetts’ North Shore lies Driftwood Cove, a picturesque coastal town with quaint shops, salty sea air, and more than its fair share of secrets. In The Driftwood Cove Mystery Series, follow the quick-witted and curious Violet as she teams up with her loyal friends Arthur and Chris to unravel the town’s most puzzling mysteries. From stolen treasure to mysterious murders around town, no mystery is too tangled for this trio.
Blending atmospheric charm with page-turning suspense, each installment in the series delivers a fresh case and deepens the rich tapestry of Driftwood Cove’s hidden past. With a mix of heart, humor, and coastal intrigue, The Driftwood Cove Mystery Series is perfect for readers who love small-town secrets, smart sleuthing, and friendships that weather every storm.
“The Girl on the Tram” by Stephen Marson
Tropes/Genre: Historical Mystery
Exeter 1910. A time of Suffragettes, newly invented petrol and steam cars, the new-fangled telephone invention and the advent of fingerprinting to solve crime. This delightful crime mystery story follows Carrie when she witnesses a devastating tram crash, killing a passenger called Rose. As she lies dying in Carrie’s arms, she hands her a curious calling card, insisting the crash was no accident. Carrie is intrigued.
“Chasing Betty” by Jason Prugar
Tropes/Genre: Mystery, Noir
Meet Garrison Chase, a private eye with a checkered past. As an army deserter, he's used to running from his problems, but when a wealthy shipping magnate hires him to find his missing daughter and grandson, Chase can't resist the allure of a big payday. What starts as a routine missing person's case quickly turns into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, as Chase navigates a world of broken bridges and shifting allegiances.
With his own troubled past threatening to catch up with him, Chase must use all his cunning to solve the mystery of Betty's disappearance before it's too late. Chasing Betty is a heart-pounding mystery that will leave you guessing until the very end.
“Powerless” by Vicky Ball
Tropes/Genre: YA Thriller
Abby’s sister, Beth, returns after disappearing seven years ago with no explanations. Beth had it all or did she? She wanted adventure and to be treated like a grown-up but she didn’t realise that falling in love and running away would put her family in danger. Soon she learnt that being a grown-up means to look for danger at every corner and to not trust men who say they love you but only want one thing. Who is Michael and why does he keep texting Beth? Is he the key to why Beth went away?
“Barratry” by Albert Lorraine
Tropes/Genre: Historical Thriller, Conspiracy
Was the Titanic sunk on purpose?
Is it even Titanic that resides on the floor of the North Atlantic?
Based on a conspiracy theory that rivals even that of the Kennedy assassination. Barratry is part crime, part adventure and part romance, with a little court room drama thrown in. Submerse yourself in the biggest "What If" in maritime history.
“By the Horns” by Victoria Reiby
Tropes/Genre: Crime Fiction, Outback Noir
A gritty Australian outback crime thriller of buried secrets, betrayal, and brutal justice
(Rocky Barnes PBR Crime Series – Book 1)
A buried body. A haunted past. A truth someone will kill to keep hidden.
In the scorched heart of outback Queensland, Rocky Barnes is trying to leave his bull-riding days behind.
But when the rains expose a decomposed body on his remote cattle station, the past charges back with a vengeance. The dead man is Cole Maddox, a former rider on the PBR circuit.
And his death is no accident. Once a rising star in the U.S. rodeo world, Rocky walked away from the circuit and its betrayals fifteen years ago.
Now a solitary cattleman on Moray Downs, he wants nothing more than peace. But the land has other plans. Enter Alice Hart, a fearless investigative journalist with scars of her own. Sent to uncover the truth, she finds herself caught in a web of silence, corruption, and dangerous old alliances.
The deeper she digs, the more perilous it becomes. Someone wants the truth buried, and they’ll kill again to keep it that way. Along the way, Rocky hires a sharp-witted jillaroo named Eliza McIntyre, known to most as Bear.
What begins as a working partnership soon deepens into something more.
Bear becomes not only his lover but his fiercest ally and the moral compass at the heart of the storm. As loyalties fracture and long-held secrets rise from the dust, Rocky, Alice, and Bear must face what they tried to outrun. Because justice doesn’t wait. And the outback never forgets.
By the Horns is a raw and atmospheric rural crime thriller that grips from the first page.
Perfect for fans of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, Candice Fox, and Michael Robotham, this is Australian noir where the dust is thick, the stakes are high, and redemption rides hard and fast.
“Maa Maa Black Sheep” by Seema Sandeep Tiwari
Tropes/Genre: Thriller, Family Drama
“There once was a Maa Maa Black Sheep
Who lived happily with her flock
Till a wolf came howling
And the truth came crawling
And the masks fell off”
Thirty years ago, a car accident in Grand Marais, Minnesota led to a death and two burials: of a sister and a secret. That’s what Mary Watson, an aging matriarch and a real estate tycoon suffering from a permanent memory blackout remembers. That’s what her doting criminal defense lawyer husband, John Watson, helps her safeguard. And that’s what her nightmares and panic attacks ensure she never forgets.
But thirty years later, the ghosts of her past return to haunt her with a vengeance, pitting her own daughter, Lisa against her adopted niece-turned-beloved-daughter, Amy, forcing Mary to make a horrific decision to protect her family. But will she end up destroying everything instead?
“The Weipa Crocodile – Murders in the Outback” by Victoria Reiby
Tropes/Genre: Crime Fiction, Mystery
A gripping Australian outback mystery of betrayal, murder, and cultural reckoning
(Bruce Hudson Trilogy – Book 1)
One sacred site. One deadly betrayal. One man cast out...until the killing starts.
In the blistering heat of Far North Queensland, the richest man in Cape York is found dead. Days earlier, Bruce Hudson, a solitary Indigenous farmhand exiled by his own community, pointed the bone at him in a drunken rage.
Decades ago, Bruce trusted the wrong man, Walt Henry, a smooth-talking geologist he thought was a friend. Bruce revealed a sacred site. Walt saw bauxite. And just like that, the land was stolen, mined, and sold, before the Indigenous Land Rights Act could protect it. Bruce was betrayed, shunned by his people, and left to rot in silence. Now Walt is dead. And the murders have only just begun.
Two more men turn up dead at a cattle station near Weipa, where Bruce works. The police want answers, and all eyes turn to Bruce. But he isn’t the only one with secrets… Carol, Bruce’s estranged ex-wife, still stands to inherit Walt’s billions. Cindy, a young RFDS nurse, is sleeping with Walt and hiding her own past. And the land itself? It hasn’t forgotten what was taken.
Can Bruce clear his name before the past buries him for good? Or will the truth be lost beneath blood, greed, and dust?
"Barefoot in the Parking Lot" by Vineet Varma
Tropes/Genre: Police Procedural
When the hotshot CEO of a famed AI company and tech powerhouse is found dead, detectives Angela White and Paul Conley are called in to investigate. The deeper they wade into the evidence, the longer the suspect list grows. They soon come face-to-face with the dark and sordid world that lies just under Silicon Valley’s polished and pristine exterior. From jealous ex-lovers to rival tech giants, Jay has created powerful enemies, all of whom would be happy to see him dead--and all of whom have solid alibis. White and Conley hit dead end after dead end. And when blackmail schemes and copycat murders come into play, finding the killer becomes increasingly more urgent. Can they catch a break, or will a murderer go free in Silicon Valley?
"Kestrel" by Kyle Joseph
Tropes/Genre: Thriller
The youngest princess of Engla leaves her homeland for the neighbouring country of Scotia, the capital of which is currently experiencing an industrial revolution. Despite departing in rebellion against the wishes of her mother, the Queen of the Commonrealm, Mira Aberdeen wants nothing more than to carve her own path free from her family's long shadow. On the road to Scotia, she meets a banker who takes her in and together they become embroiled in the plans of a ruthless vigilante, determined to take revenge on those who wronged him.
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