Unmissable Thrillers out now: Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray, 138 Main Street by Gavin Bell, Frame 37 by Nicholas Shakespeare

Talented young barrister Leila Reynolds gets her first murder trial – to defend a man she defended once before on a charge of GBH, but lost. Nevertheless he has asked for her again. But there is a snag. He will only tell her that he is innocent, but not why.

Nightclub bouncer Jack Millman insists this is the only way that he is getting a fair trial, not like the last time when he was convicted after a vital witness for his defence failed to appear.

The complication is that the prosecution is led by Leila’s more experienced barrister husband, who hates to lose. The scene is set for a gripping courtroom drama, which Murray delivers in a striking debut – one of the best British legal thrillers in years, with echoes of Agatha Christie’s unforgettable Witness For The Prosecution.

This is a crackling serial killer thriller with a super smart twist. The victims are linked only by the fact they all live at the same address on a road named Main Street in the US – and there are more than 7,000 Main Streets across the 50 states. The killer is not targeting lone women, the homeless or gay men. There is no apparent motive.

The FBI have never encountered anything like this and recruit Zoe Hill, a rookie cop from Illinois who responded to one of the first killings, to help. She spotted a signature – a pin marking a spot on the map. Based in New York she faces a steep learning curve, but her instinct serves her well.

Bell’s new book bristles with fresh ideas and nuanced characters that leap off the page: it is definitely not to be missed.

Ex-journalist John Dyer, now in his 60s, has retired for a quiet life in Tasmania when he suddenly gets a call from an old friend, photojournalist Miguel, which changes everything.

Their old university friend Lia – a woman John once loved – has died in mysterious circumstances. Miguel insists that he travel to Buenos Aires to see him and Dyer feels compelled to do so, only to arrive there and find his friend hanged.

He is then plunged into a shadowy, political conspiracy in South America, organised by someone who committed a heinous crime four decades ago, which few people knew about it – but one of them was Lia.

Superbly written, with atmosphere, intelligence and tension, it reminds you of the best of Graham Greene. There can be no higher praise.