The best books out this month

A family reunion ends in a cutthroat competition; a maths professor receives a puzzling mission from the White House; a murder mystery-themed writing retreat turns deadly. These are just some of the high-stakes thrillers being published in February.

From detective fiction to psychological thrillers, there are plenty of new books out this month, including from Belinda Bauer, James Patterson, Cara Hunter, and more. We’ve rounded up some of our favourites below, but don’t miss our full list of the best books of 2025.

New crime books out this month:

Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz
out 13th February

Former government black ops assassin Evan Smoak had always been a lone wolf – until he befriended gunsmith Tommy Stojack. But when Tommy double-crosses him, Evan has no choice but to take revenge. Nemesis is the latest in Gregg Hurwitz’s hugely popular Orphan X series – and we reckon it’s one of the best, thanks to its escapist setting and plot that moves at breakneck speed. It’s perfect for fans of The Bourne Identity and Kotaro Isaka.

The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer
out 27th February

Belinda Bauer’s gripping thrillers have earned her a cult following with readers and critics alike (Snap was even longlisted for the Booker Prize). The Impossible Thing is more of a slow-burn mystery but, as with Bauer’s other novels, it packs a punch. Set in a remote village in Wales, a family is robbed of an ancient heirloom: a unique scarlet egg. As they seek to retrieve it, they enter the cruel, high-stakes world of priceless egg trafficking, with danger around every corner.

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego
out 13th February

Knives Out: Glass Onion meets Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None in this intricate, multi-layered murder mystery. An acclaimed crime writer invites six authors to a retreat on his private island. But the themed games are put on hold when one of the guests is found dead, and the host’s dark imagination runs wild… The authors in attendance might know a thing or two about how to write a murder mystery – but now they’ll have to survive one.

The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha
out 13th February

Raj Agarwal, business mogul and family patriarch, has just six weeks to decide how to split his petrochemicals empire between his three children. He has invited them all to a private island off the west coast of Scotland to make his decision. Each of them has a secret they would die to protect – but only one of them would kill for it… This twisty, atmospheric debut novel is like Succession with a murderous twist, and it’s one of our most anticipated books of 2025.

25 Alive by James Patterson
out 27th February

Homicide detective Lindsay Boxer has seen her fair share of grisly murders. But nothing could have prepared her for her latest case: the murder of her former partner and police chief Warren Jacobi. Diligent until the end, Jacobi has left a clue at the crime scene to help Lindsay catch his killer, and now it falls to the Women’s Murder Club to decipher it. This is the latest in the explosive series that shows no sign of slowing down.

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths
out 13th February

Ali Dawson and her team investigate cold cases, but not as you know them: they travel back in time to conduct their research. Ali’s latest case takes her to 1850s London to clear the name of Cain Templeton, the ancestor of a prominent MP. Cain was believed to be part of the infamous secret society called The Collectors where, to become a member, you had to kill a woman. As Ali finds herself in increasing danger, can she solve the mystery and get out alive?

Making a Killing by Cara Hunter
out 13th February

In 2016, eight-year-old Daisy Mason went missing, and, after a gruelling investigation, her mother was found guilty of her murder. But Daisy’s body was never found. Now, forensic evidence at a present-day murder scene has cast her disappearance in a whole new light. DCI Adam Fawley and his team are brought in to investigate: what really happened to Daisy, and was her mother truly responsible?

Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman
out 6th February

A young, aspiring actress is found dead at the entrance of a hospital, and the evidence points to a Hollywood misfit with a criminal record as the culprit. But as Detective Lieutenant Milo Sturgis and his team make their way to arrest the man, they find him shot dead on his balcony. Milo calls on psychologist Alex Delaware for his expertise, and as more bodies pile up, linked only by the same murder weapon, the pair are in a race against time to find a murderer with an unclear motive.

Eleven Numbers by Lee Child
out 1st February

This isn’t exactly a book: it’s a short story, exclusive to Amazon. But we had to include this thriller, given it was written by Lee Child (and, frankly, we’d read Lee Child’s to-do lists if he let us). In Eleven Numbers, Nathan Tyler is a mathematician at a middling university when he receives a call from the White House: he holds the key to a massive foreign intelligence breakthrough, thanks to his knowledge of a cryptic set of equations. All he has to do is meet with the Russian mathematician who created it. But there’s more to this assignment than meets the eye…

The pick of the paperbacks

The following titles have already hit the shelves in hardback and are newly available in paperback this month.

In case you missed it: January’s biggest titles

Which books are going to the top of your to-read pile? Let us know in the comments below…