Autumn Thrillers: 4 Crime & Mystery Series to Keep You Turning the Pages
There’s something about autumn that makes a good thriller even harder to put down.
The evenings get darker, the weather turns colder and suddenly staying in with a cup of tea and a book feels like the perfect plan. If your ideal autumn reading involves suspicious characters, atmospheric settings, complicated investigations and the promise of just one more chapter, we have a few collections for you.
From Welsh murder mysteries to the Scottish Highlands, these crime and thriller series are packed with cases to unravel and plenty of twists along the way.
1. DI Fawley by Cara Hunter
If you like your crime fiction tense, intelligent and full of secrets, the DI Fawley series by Cara Hunter is a great place to start. The six-book collection follows Detective Inspector Adam Fawley as he investigates a series of complex cases. Across Close to Home, In the Dark, All the Rage, No Way Out, The Whole Truth and Hope to Die, Fawley is faced with disappearances, murders, shocking attacks and cases that become increasingly personal. What makes this collection particularly easy to get lost in is the sense that there is always another layer to uncover. Just when you think you have worked out what is happening, another question appears.
Perfect for: readers who love psychological crime, police investigations and plenty of twists.
Shop the Cara Hunter DI Fawley 6-book collection
2. DI Ruth Hunter by Simon McCleave
Want something you can really settle into?
The DI Ruth Hunter collection by Simon McCleave brings together a huge run of Welsh crime mysteries, following Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter as she investigates cases across atmospheric locations in Wales. The collection features settings including Lake Vyrnwy, Chirk Castle, Portmeirion, Llandudno Pier, Chester, the Wirral and Bala Lake.
Each investigation brings its own mystery, suspicious characters and hidden secrets, making this the kind of collection that can keep a crime-fiction fan occupied for quite a while.
And there's something particularly atmospheric about a murder mystery set against windswept Welsh landscapes, historic castles, lakes and coastal towns.
Perfect for: readers who love police procedurals, atmospheric settings and long-running detective series.
Shop the DI Ruth Hunter 1–12 collection
3. DCI Craig Gillard by Nick Louth
For readers who like their crime fiction dark, fast-paced and full of bodies, the DCI Craig Gillard series by Nick Louth offers ten mysteries in one collection. Across the ten books, Gillard investigates cases involving bodies discovered in marshland, on the coast, in the snow, on an island and beneath bridges, among other unsettling locations.
The titles alone give you an idea of the atmosphere: The Body on the Marsh, The Body on the Shore, The Body in the Mist, The Body in the Snow and The Body on the Moor.
These are the sort of books that suit a dark autumn evening perfectly. Think misty landscapes, isolated locations, hidden motives and the constant question of who could possibly be responsible.
Perfect for: fans of British detective fiction, police procedurals and classic murder-mystery suspense. Shop the DCI Craig Gillard 10-book collection
4. DCI Jack Logan by JD Kirk
Fancy taking your autumn reading a little further north? The DCI Jack Logan collection by JD Kirk is set against the rugged backdrop of the Scottish Highlands, combining police procedural crime with plenty of atmosphere.
This three-book collection includes Colder Than The Grave, An Isolated Incident and Ahead Of The Game. The stories range from a decades-old murder case to a shocking crime in a remote Highland village and the suspicious death of a professional footballer.
The Scottish setting gives these books a particularly atmospheric edge, while the combination of twists, investigations and memorable characters makes them easy to settle into. If you're a fan of Tartan Noir or simply enjoy crime fiction with a strong sense of place, this one belongs on your autumn TBR.
Perfect for: fans of Scottish crime, police procedurals and atmospheric thrillers. Shop the JD Kirk DCI Jack Logan collection
Still Looking for Your Next Mystery?
Sometimes one series just isn't enough. If you're the kind of reader who finishes a crime novel and immediately starts wondering what am I reading next?, our Crime, Thriller & Mystery collection is a good place to browse. You'll find everything from detective fiction and police procedurals to darker thrillers and mysteries, with plenty of series to discover. Browse Crime, Thriller & Mystery at Lowplex Books
Your Autumn TBR, Sorted
There's something wonderfully addictive about settling down with a crime series in autumn. One chapter becomes two, two becomes five and suddenly it's much later than you thought.
Whether you prefer the psychological twists of DI Fawley, the Welsh mysteries of DI Ruth Hunter, the darker investigations of DCI Craig Gillard or the atmospheric Scottish setting of DCI Jack Logan, there's plenty here to keep those pages turning.
So make the tea, get comfortable and choose your next mystery.
