Set in the snowy mountain forests of Oregon, The Child Finder (W&N, £12.99) is the second novel from bestselling American author Rene Denfeld. Naomi, the eponymous investigator, is asked to track down eight-year-old Madison Culver, who disappeared three years earlier during a trip to cut down a Christmas tree and is generally assumed to have frozen to death. Single-minded Naomi – herself once a missing child, now with only vague memories to help her solve the mystery of her origins – is determined to find Madison, come what may. The narrative alternates between Naomi’s search and Madison’s experience of being locked in the cave-like cellar of a remote cabin. Her coping mechanism is to reinvent herself as “the snow girl”, putting herself into a fairytale to deal with the trauma of being wrenched from her family by a predatory stranger she knows only as “B”. Given the subject matter, Denfeld’s lyrical writing can, on occasion, be discomforting, but the sense of physical and psychological isolation is palpable in this moving exploration of loss, hope and human resilience.

There is more wilderness in Dark Pines (Point Blank, £12.99) by Will Dean, who has set his debut novel in his adoptive country, Sweden. Journalist Tuva Moodyson has relocated to the isolated town of Gavrik to be near her sick mother. A former city-dweller, she hates the vast forest that surrounds the place, and her sense of otherness is exacerbated by the fact that she is deaf. Work on the local paper is humdrum until the discovery of a body with missing eyes, and a possible link to earlier killings, propels her into an investigation. The suspects, who include a hoarder and two sisters who carve stupendously creepy trolls, are satisfyingly bizarre, and the forest, teeming with all manner of dangerous wildlife, is wonderfully depicted. Memorably atmospheric, with a dogged and engaging protagonist, this is a compelling start to what promises to be an excellent series.

The small Scillonian island of Bryher is the setting for Hell Bay by Kate Rhodes (Simon & Schuster, £20), also the first in a projected series. DI Ben Kitto, on leave from the Met after the death of his partner, returns to his childhood home to ponder his future, but his plans for a three-month stint working at Uncle Ray’s boatyard are scuppered when the body of a 16-year-old girl is discovered. Ben volunteers to help find the culprit, who must still be on the island as a two-day storm has prevented any of the inhabitants – all of whom are friends or acquaintances – from leaving. Bryher may be beautiful, but life, largely dependent on fishing and tourism, isn’t easy; although people leave their doors unlocked, they also harbour plenty of secrets. Beautifully written and expertly plotted, this is a masterclass in “closed world” crime fiction.

There’s nothing wild or windswept about Sarah Vaughan’s debut crime novel, Anatomy of a Scandal (Simon & Schuster, £12.99), but its glossy, privileged London setting abounds with human predators. Barrister Kate Woodcroft is tasked with prosecuting junior Home Office minister James Whitehouse for raping a young researcher with whom he has recently had an affair. James has been chummy with the prime minister since Eton and belonged to a Bullingdon-type club at Oxford where drunken, drug-fuelled toffs behaved badly at parties; he is handsome, charismatic and a family man. The narrative baton passes between Kate, James and his adoring wife, Sophie. A second storyline is set in the 1990s, featuring Holly, who studied at Oxford at the same time as Sophie, James and future prime minister Tom. While it’s not hard to guess the part Holly plays in the story, this engrossing psych-thriller-cum-courtroom-drama makes some pertinent observations about sex, power and entitlement, and makes for a particularly timely read in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

CJ Tudor’s assured debut novel, The Chalk Man (Michael Joseph, £12.99), is a timeslip set in a market town on the south coast of England. In 1986, the narrator Eddie Adams is 12 years old, building dens, riding bikes and communicating in a secret code of chalk figures with his friends Fat Gav, Metal Mickey, Hoppo and Nicky. The fun and games are undercut by disturbing events which culminate in a series of anonymous chalk drawings leading to the discovery of a dismembered girl in the woods. In 2016, Eddie, now 42 and still living in the family home, is a teacher with a drink problem, tormented by lucid dreams and fearing for his mental health. Things go from bad to worse when he receives in the post a picture of a stick figure with a noose round its neck – and then Mickey returns, claiming to know the identity of the killer. Strong characterisation, plenty of plot twists and an evocative portrait of small-town life in the 1980s add up to a riveting read.

• Laura Wilson’s latest novel is The Other Woman (Quercus). To buy any of these titles go to guardianbookshop.com.