Crime fiction and thrillers you should read in 2019

Crime-fiction and thrillers are one of the most popular genres in literature. They are generally fast-paced and hard to put down, which makes them an enjoyable experience for most readers. Here we share some popular and bestselling crime-fiction and thrillers published this year, which you can add to your reading list.
(Photo: Pexels)

Vedika, a mother moves to a high-end society in Mumbai with her family. Coming from a humble background, she is overwhelmed by the affluent surroundings she will be raising her kids in. As she settles in, she realises her son seems a little off. Before she can get him checked, he dies in an accident that does not seem like an accident. As she searches for answers she finds not all is great in the posh gated community.
Photo: Tranquebar

'A Useful Death' is a mystery facinatingly set in the Telugu movie industry. An actress Priya with big dreams waiting for a break in movies, committed suicide. Mohan Krishna, a big name from the movie industry is said to have driven her to it.
She was rumoured to be in a relationship with his son and was to be cast in one of his movies. Mohan Krishna hires Partha to handle this crisis that threatens his family and investigate the truth. However, more questions, rather than answers come up as the death is investigated.
Photo: Westland

This book starts with a dazed, drugged and injured girl found in the streets of Bombay. She says she's Asavri, who won the reality TV show Indian Koel. But that was years ago and she's been considered dead since. Told from three points of views, the book focuses on uncovering who she is and what happened to her.
Photo: HarperCollins India

Bestselling author James Patterson and lawyer-author David Ellis's co-authored book 'Unsolved' is a follow-up to their 2013 novel 'Invisible'. In 'Unsolved', FBI researcher Emma Dockery returns with vengeance. When a series of deaths in different states rocks the country, Emma is convinced that there's a serial killer behind it. But when the detectives working on these cases also start dying, she knows that these deaths are murders and the killer will soon find her too. Emma is hell-bent to find the killer and has to race against time to catch the murderer.

(Photo: Century)

Alice Clark-Platts' 'The Flower Girls' is a psychological thriller which is set in the past and the present times. While the past shows the perspective of three little children, who were playing in a playground and later wander off; the present-day scenarios are being told from the perspectives of different people in a hotel where a child has mysteriously disappeared during a storm. As all the perspectives come together, the readers realise the whole truth behind the incident.

(Photo: Raven Books)

Indian-origin writer Vish Dhamija is known for writing popular legal fictions. His 2019 book 'The Heist Artist' was launched at the Times Litfest Bangalore earlier this year. The story revolves around Vagh Pratap Singh aka Captain, who is a conman. In his fortieth year, he decides to retire. That's when Udham Kumar, a politician from Uttar Pradesh, commissions him to find and steal Vincent van Gogh's painting-- Poppy Flowers. The painting had gone missing in 2010 when it was stolen from a museum in Egypt and is now smuggled in India; this seems to a thrilling case which the Captain wants to be his last. But catching hold of it is not that easy with the painting being in possession by a gangster.

(Photo: HarperCollins India)

'Searching for Sylvie Lee' is a suspense-drama story about family, secrets and one's identity. Sylvie Lee is the successful older daughter of the Chinese immigrant Lee family. When Sylvie goes to pay her last visit to her dying grandmother in the Netherlands, she suddenly disappears. The strange turn of events leaves her family back home distraught and desperate to find her. That's when her younger sister Amy decides to retrace Sylvie's footsteps in order to find and bring her back home, but she ends up discovering some family secrets which change her world forever.

(Photo: HarperLuxe)

'Redemption' by David Baldacci is the fifth book in the Memory Man series, which can also be read as a standalone novel. The story revolves around Amos Decker and how he handles another dangerous case. The book starts with Amos travelling to Ohio, his hometown, to mourn the birth-anniversary of his late daughter. At the graveyard, he is approached by Meryl Hawkins, whom Amos got arrested for a murder years ago. But when Meryl Hawkins insists that he's innocent, just as in the past, Amos reopens the investigation and discovers a hidden truth.

(Photo: Macmillan)

Bestselling author Harlan Coben's 2019 novel 'Run Away' is a mix of family drama and murder mystery. The story revolves around the Greene family who are thought to have a perfect life-- Simon Greene is a Wall Street financial adviser, and his wife Ingrid is a paediatrician. But it has been six months since the Greenes have heard from their daughter Paige, a drug-addict who dropped out of college and has disappeared since then. One day, when Simon sees Paige playing the guitar at Central Park he tries to talk to her, but she runs away. That's when her drug-dealer boyfriend Aaron Corval arrives and Simon ends up in a fight with him. Days later when Aaron is found dead in a house, police suspect Simon and Paige for the crime. During the same time with a strange turn of events, Ingrid is hit by a bullet and is admitted to a hospital in a state of coma. Meanwhile, Chicago Police Inspector Elena Ramirez is searching for Sebastian Thorpe III's adopted son along with a bunch of suspected criminals. With his life changing in unexpected ways, Simon is still trying to search for Paige. That's when he figures out that his search is somehow intertwined with the Chicago Police's, but he doesn't know how?

(Photo: Century)

Mike Maden's 'Tom Clancy: Enemy Contact' is based on characters created by the late author Tom Clancy. The book is set in the backdrop of the United States' security being breached and threatened by unknown forces. A bunch of elite commandos, who were preparing to strike on a newly discovered hideout on a remote island, are ambushed and killed. Parallel to this, an unknown enemy is trying to get America's secrets which are stored in the secure Intelligence Community Cloud. While the intelligence suspects China as the threat to America's cyber-security, American President Jack Ryan suspects a key politician behind the sinister plans against the country. But such accusations made in public can have dire consequences. So, he sends Jack Ryan Jr. to Poland to investigate if there's a link between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Poland. On his mission in Poland, Jack Jr. meets Liliana Zaleski who is a Polish agent and she is both beautiful and smart. While chemistry develops between Jack Jr. and Liliana, they together search for shreds of evidence for the conspiracy against America. They soon realise that danger is closer home than they had thought and they're surprised to know who the enemy of the country is.

(Photo: Penguin UK)

'The Hunting Party' is historical-fiction writer Lucy Foley's first thriller novel. The story is about a bunch of friends who went to Oxford together and they usually get-together at New Year's for a trip together. Over the years, their families also join into their annual holidays. This year, it is Mark's girlfriend, Emma, who booked an exclusive hunting lodge in Scotland for them. But when a dead body is found in the premises of the hunting lodge on the very first day of the year, the guests are shocked. Moreover, owing to a terrible storm and snow outdoors, they are all trapped in the lodge with the murderer. It's the classic whodunnit plot, but with the author's writing style it is impossible for the readers to guess the book's ending.

(Photo: HarperCollins)