Looking for a new book that will make your heart race? The twelfth edition of The Minotaur Sampler compiles the beginnings of six can’t-miss novels—either standalone or first in series—publishing Fall 2024 for free for easy sampling.

👻 First in Series: In Olivia Blacke’s A New Lease on Death, a darkly funny supernatural mystery about an unlikely crime-solving duo that launches a commercial, unique, and genre-blending series, death is only the beginning.

💀 Standalone: In acclaimed author Julia Dahl’s I Dreamed of Falling, the death of a young mother triggers an avalanche of secrets in a small Hudson Valley town.

🔪 First in Series: In Michelle Chouinard’s clever mystery The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, the granddaughter of a serial killer shows readers another side of the beloved city.

🌻 First in Series: In Deborah J. Benoit’s Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut, The Gardener’s Plot, a woman helps set up a community garden in the Berkshires, only to find a body in one of the plot’s on opening day.

🏝️ Standalone: A gripping new novel inspired by a real place and events from the author’s family, Trouble Island is the standalone suspense debut from historical mystery writer Sharon Short.

📚 First in Series: P. J. Nelson’s Booked for Murder is an atmospheric southern cozy debut, where Madeline Brimley returns to the bookstore she inherited, discovering that small towns hold deadly secrets.