New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles play host to more than their fair share of crime novels. The last six months alone gave life to major releases such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle (review), Emmy Award-winner Tamron Hall’s As the Wicked Watch (review) and #1 NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly’s The Dark Hours set in NYC, Chicago and LA, respectively. So many thrillers call one of these three cities home, but what about our nation’s capital? That metropolitan playground of politics and power. Surely, Washington, D.C., has a few thrilling tales to tell?
It does indeed! (And it just so happens that many D.C. based authors are the ones telling them.) Welcome to the United States’ capital where authors, in all their wonderous and frightening imaginations, have turned the crime dial up to the max. Assassins, corrupt government officials, morally complex heroes, psychopaths and spies fill the pages of these seven novels. Once you pick them up, you won’t be able to put them down.
While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
Avery Keene, a young law clerk with an eidetic memory, works for the legendary but cantankerous Supreme Court Justice Howard Wynn, an often critical swing vote. Between her troubled family life and her demanding job, Avery is just trying to keep her head above water. Her head starts to slip under, however, when she receives the news that Wynn has slipped into a coma and named her his legal guardian. It’s a highly unexpected decision that has earned her the ire of both Wynn’s wife and the president. Now, thrust into the spotlight, Avery must contend with an intense media scrutiny aimed at discrediting her by any means necessary.
Power of attorney isn’t the only thing Wynn has given Avery. He’s left her a complex sequence of clues pertaining to one particularly controversial case: the potential international merger between a biotech company and a genetics firm. Although the outcome of such a merger could prove instrumental in medical advancement, Wynn smelled conspiracy wafting from some of the highest powers in Washington. Searching for answers will put Avery in a perilous position because the political players she’s up against have no qualms about murder. “Glossy, gritty, breathlessly suspenseful, effortlessly authentic, and altogether wonderful,” muses Lee Child. “Why am I not surprised?”
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurain
Chloe Sevre seems like the average leggings-wearing, frat-party-attending college student … except she’s a diagnosed psychopath. Incapable of empathy or guilt, she plots conscience-free murders in between classes, like that of a childhood friend who grievously wronged her. Not to worry, though, Chloe is part of a university-funded program intent on studying psychopaths. Led by a renowned psychologist who previously treated a notorious serial killer, Chloe and her psychopath peers each wear a smart watch that tracks their moods and movements.
All seems well, psychopaths considered, until one of the students in the study turns up murdered in the psychology building. In an instant, Chloe goes from hunter to prey, and she must work quickly to identify the culprit before she becomes the next victim. In the chaos, she has begun to put her own revenge plot into action. Can she trust her fellow psychopaths? It doesn’t seem likely. Named a New York Times Best Thriller of 2021, Kurian’s fiendishly clever debut delivers an oddly likeable psychopath that readers can’t help rooting for. (Read BookTrib’s review here.)
Head Shot by Otho Eskin
As if it weren’t enough to be investigating the untimely death of his former lover, the celebrated actress murdered during a stage performance, D.C.’s top homicide detective, Marko Zorn, has just been shot at on his own doorstep. Now, the Secretary of State, the FBI and a shady “fixer” have all called on him to protect the same woman — Montenegro’s visiting Prime Minister, Nina Voycheck — and the heartbroken Zorn must hand off his old flame’s case to his partner. Nina’s life is in peril; powerful political enemies are planning her assassination.
As he works to keep her out of harm’s way, Zorn lands himself in the crosshairs of a globally infamous and notoriously elusive contract killer. Preventing an international tragedy on American soil will require creativity — help from mafia lawyers, decoded messages and a visit to a Supermax prisoner — but in Zorn’s eyes, the rules of the game are merely suggestions. Unfortunately, it appears as if his efforts to identify the assassin have left a trail of bodies, and local law enforcement starts to believe Zorn is responsible for the recent string of murders. USA Today bestselling author Jon Land calls Marko Zorn “the best crime hero this side of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch.” (Read BookTrib’s review here.)
Red Widow by Alma Katsu
Sent home to Washington on administrative leave following an incident on a recent assignment, “human lie detector” Lyndsey Duncan believes her career with the CIA is kaput. So, she jumps at the opportunity to prove herself when a former colleague recruits her to lead an internal investigation. Several of their Russian assets have gone missing or been killed, including Popov, who made Lyndsey a star. She begins to suspect that these assets were exposed by someone inside the agency. She doesn’t know why someone has betrayed the agency, but she intends to find the mole before their treachery moves further.
Also inside the Russia Division is Theresa Warner, the infamous “red widow,” whose husband died while protecting an asset in Russia. As she and Lyndsey become closer, Lyndsey realizes Theresa has connections to a complex and terrifying web of secrets within the department. Written by intelligence veteran Alma Katsu, author S.A. Cosby lauds Red Widow as “a wickedly sharp spy novel … equal parts Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Killing Eve.”
The Savage Kind by John Copenhaver
Travel to D.C. circa the late 1940s. 17-year-old Philippa Watson has just moved to town, and thanks to the encouragement of her English teacher, Miss Martins, she bonds with her classmate Judy Peabody over literature and noir detective fiction. All seems well until Philippa witnesses a struggle between a strange man and the beloved teacher, who returns to class a changed woman and soon resigns from her position at the school. Then, a classmate is found dead, floating in the Anacostia River with a strange inscription scrawled across his arm … and he’s just the first in a series of other deaths and misfortunes to befall them.
Phillippa and Judy begin their own investigation, following the clues through a string of twists and turns as they confront growing new feelings for one another. The killer may be closer than either of them realize … and the biggest threat of all may be a murderous impulse of their own. “A new take on femme fatales in a dazzling 1940s noir wrapper,” notes Alma Katsu, the author of the previous entry on this list. This novel from Macavity Award-winning novelist John Copenhaver kicks off what promises to be an enthralling new trilogy.
The Unrepentant by E.A. Aymar
18-year-old Charlotte Reyes has run away from her abusive home life and straight into the clutches of a human-trafficking ring. Traumatized but refusing to break, her captors decide to dispose of her. A chance encounter with former soldier Mace Peterson, however, thwarts their execution plans. Mace and his ex-wife work with a small anti-trafficking network to arrange Charlotte’s escape someplace far away with a new identity. These criminals and the crooked cop paid to bring Charlotte back won’t be easy to shake. With nowhere left to run or hide, Charlotte heads knowingly toward danger. Refusing to play it safe and prepared for the fight of her life, she seeks revenge on her abusers one by one.
The Unrepentant offers a unique spin on a vigilante hero, and E.A. Aymar manages to effectively tackle a sensitive subject with both humility and grace. “A gut-wrenching crime thriller,” declares Publishers Weekly. “Readers who appreciate depth of character alongside gritty nonstop action will be rewarded.”
Scavenger by Christopher Chambers
Dickie Cornish, a homeless man residing in a camp outside the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, lands in jail after he attacks a few local cops in a fit of rage following the news that a couple of his formerly unhoused peers have been murdered. And they presume Dickie to be the murderer. His stay at the big house is brief, however, because wealthy ex-Homeland Security Secretary Jamie Bracht has a job for him. If Dickie can locate a woman involved in an immigration issue using a sub-level network of streets, he can walk away from this mess a free man.
As Dickie hones his detective skills in the hopes of clearing his name, he stumbles upon something else that Bracht would kill to get his hands on. To keep this discovery away from Bracht and avoid a life behind bars, Dickie must rely on his street smarts and impressive scavenging skills. “Chambers comes out of the box swinging hard in this fast-moving, down-and-dirty crime novel that kicks up the tarp on the sleazy, duplicitous, double-dealing underbelly of our nation’s capital,” praises Tracy Clark, author of Borrowed Time.
