Crime/thrillers: the best-written recent release is Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt
* See the other books considered * Read a passage from our pick *
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd03db845-ed5f-450c-90a6-1b03dee9f65e_1410x975.jpeg)
BOOKS CONSIDERED
In a Hard Wind by David Housewright
A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales
The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard by Kate Robards
The Gulf by Rachel Cochran
Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt
Killingly by Katharine Beutner
Black River by Nilanjana Roy
Killingly by Katharine Beutner
The End of Us by Olivia Kiernan
The Trial by Rob Rinder
The Penance by Eliza Clarke
The best-written of these is
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Auraist: picking the best-written books of the month to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.