If you haven’t yet chosen which novel to give for Christmas, no problem. I’ll take care of offering you a list of mysteries, thrillers and noirs that could meet the tastes of a large segment of readers who love the genre. Books released during 2025 ranging from established names to new voices capable of surprising, books characterized by intrigue and twists, mystery, symbolism, action and investigation.

The midwife of Nagyrév (Marsilio)

In strict order of release in the bookstore, Nagyrév’s midwifeSabrina Zuccato’s debut novel (review in this article), published by Marsilio, is a noir fresco with barely hinted at gothic reflections, in which the author handles delicate themes, such as patriarchy, with a reversal of roles – women take revenge and kill men – which has widely documented roots in the Hungary of a hundred years ago. The story originates from the discovery of the body of an elderly peasant woman, which the captain of the county gendarmerie Zsigmond Danielovitz, a veteran of the Great War, still tormented by memories of the front, is called to investigate. Although he is used to dedicating his days to managing paperwork, it takes him little time to glimpse something sinister behind the eyes of the community’s inhabitants.

Katie (Neri Pozza)

Gothic thriller it is too Katie by Michael McDowell (read the full review here), a novel rediscovered by Neri Pozza, after having published the entire Blackwater saga by the same author. PMore than a novel, it is a long fairy tale with very dark tones, in which the hammer is the weapon with which the protagonist gets rid of her victims. What transpires between the pages is an almost symbiotic bond between her and her heavy-headed instrument. The script is almost always the same: the young witch is able to predict the future. When a woman shows up at his table – the type of customer who most frequently wants to have her hand read – with a large amount of money or precious items hidden among her clothes, he has no qualms about brandishing the hammer to murder her and take possession of her belongings.

The family (Einaudi)

It is a dark and compelling novel, where family love mixes with a ruthless desire for survival, The family by Jo Nesbø, published by Einaudi. The Opgard brothers, the protagonists of the novel, have been successful in life, in a small village like Os: a thousand souls clinging to a mountain, apparently forgotten by God and men. Carl runs a luxury hotel with spa, Roy has an ambitious project in mind: an amusement park with one of the tallest and scariest roller coasters in the world. Meanwhile, a rural agent wants to investigate the abyss known as Curva delle Capre and the carcasses of the cars that ended up in it, often thanks to a push from the brothers. Once again, Carl and Roy must cover their tracks and get their hands dirty, probably with blood.

The catastrophic visit to the zoo (The Ship of Theseus)

A mystery with a strong educational and didactic power – conceived and written by the author to be read by any reader aged between 7 and 99 years – is The catastrophic visit to the zoo by Joël Dicker, published in Italy by La Nave di Teseo with the translation by Milena Zemira Ciccimarra. The latest effort by the Swiss bestselling author marks a decisive paradigm shift in his publishing history: with great delicacy and a sense of proportion he addresses a potentially much wider audience of readers than that which made the fortune of Harry Quebert’s trilogy (read by millions of people all over the world). The protagonists of the story are six children who find themselves relating in a ramshackle but at the same time profitable way with adults. Really for everyone.

A quiet street (Fazi)

It’s a psychological thriller set in an American suburb full of secrets A quiet streetthe latest novel by the American writer Seraphina Nova Glass, published by Fazi. Secrets big, small, some deadly, which one after another will be revealed. It is a black-tinged novel, populated with characters who are enriched with unpredictable facets, set in a place where raw desperation hovers, but where irony and feeling are not lacking. A novel that explores the hidden side of relationships and provincial life.

Kala (Fazi)

Emotional and tense narrative, balanced between thriller and Bildungsroman: she is the director of Kala by Colin Walsh, published in Italy by Fazi. In Kinlough, an Irish town overlooking the sea, it is the summer of 2003. A group of fifteen-year-old friends are experiencing the best moment of their lives. It is a summer lived as if it would last forever. It’s the summer that will change their lives forever. Kala Lanann, charismatic leader of the group, transgressive and reckless, will disappear without a trace at the height of that season. Fifteen years later, three of the old friends meet again in the town. Helen, Joe and Mush, once inseparable, have now taken different paths and left everything behind. In the same days, however, human remains were found in the Caille forest, the same forest where Kala lived with her grandmother. It’s the beginning of a new nightmare.

Kill for love (Ubagu)

It was released in bookstores in June Kill for love by Laura Picklesimer, published by Ubagu. A dark and disturbing thriller novel that investigates the extreme boundaries of feelings and the consequences of irreversible choices. An intense novel, capable of combining psychological tension and a fast pace, ideal for those who love dark stories and morally ambiguous characters. Tiffany is beautiful, rich, attends university in Los Angeles and is a prominent member of a female fraternity, envied by her classmates and desired by boys. But beneath that perfect surface lurks an indecipherable yearning, a lack that neither likes on Instagram nor sex can heal, until a date with a boy turns into a fatal and bloody event. The girl thus discovers that an insatiable desire to kill young men has grown inside her.

The Assassins of Dawn (And/Or)

In The Assassins of Dawnpublished by E/O, Michel Bussi skillfully plays with appearances, leading the reader to doubt everything and everyone. The plot develops at a fast pace, alternating mystery and introspection. We are in Guadeloupe, a tropical paradise of seabeds, enchanting beaches and lush forests. A dream landscape shaken by the murder of a rich builder, pierced by an underwater rifle and found on the Scala degli Slavi, a symbolic place of the island. For police commander Valéric Kancel it is the beginning of a nightmare: together with his assistants, he sets off in search of a murderer who seems to leave no traces other than intentionally symbolic ones.

Zero (Mondadori)

A tense and provocative plot, which raises very contemporary ethical and moral questions. It is the basis of Zero by Anthony McCarten, published by Mondadori. Ten people have been selected for the beta-testing phase of “Fusion”, a cutting-edge and revolutionary spy software capable of tracking anyone, wherever they are. Participants will have two hours to “reset”, that is, disappear and make themselves untraceable, and then thirty days to evade the highly sophisticated Capture Teams sent to look for them. For one of them, however, the stakes are decidedly higher than for the others: Kaitlyn Day, a librarian from Boston, has in fact decided to participate in the experiment for much more personal reasons than one might imagine.

In Disguise (Sellerio)

The new chapter of the series by Antonio Manzini was released in November, published by Sellerio, dedicated to deputy commissioner Rocco Schiavone who returns as the protagonist with his sharp sarcasm and his disenchanted gaze on the world. Increasingly shady and melancholy, Schiavone is forced to investigate among the Christmas lights. A bank robbery and a body found in a mountain lake, among disguises, chemical formulas, twists and connections, put the deputy commissioner of Aosta in difficulty. What will come to terms with a few more quick and irregular hands.