An undercover cop reluctantly returns to the Irish neighborhood where he grew up when a discovery in an abandoned house forces him to reconsider the event that changed his life over 20 years ago. Though technically part of the Dublin Murder Squad series, this novel functions perfectly well as a standalone. Tana French takes a… Read More Faithful Place by Tana French
Kate Burkholder series #8 Just when you might think Linda Castillo would run out of ideas for creating trouble within the Amish community, she delivers a stunning situation with Chief Kate Burkholder right in the center. The death of a teenage girl gives new weight to the whispered rumors about an Amish community under the… Read More Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo
A private plane crashes shortly after taking off from Martha’s Vineyard. Only two of the eleven people on board survive – a child and Scott Burroughs. Scott was flying to New York in the hopes of turning his paintings, an outlet for his personal demons, into a source of income. Instead, he becomes a media-created… Read More Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
How well does Quinn know Esther, the roommate who has mysteriously disappeared from their Chicago apartment? Is Esther the young woman who shows up suddenly in Alex’s small Michigan town on the lake and, if so, why is she there? Quinn and Alex tell their own stories in alternating chapters and the reader has no… Read More Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica
#12 in the Three Pines mystery series The writing is lyrical and beautiful, as always, as Armand Gamache takes on a new challenge, but the latest in the Three Pines series also features an intricately plotted and satisfying mystery. The camaraderie of the characters of Three Pines shines through, with humor lightening the darkness as… Read More A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
Jean’s husband was hit by a bus and killed but she’s not all that torn up about it. Glen was the main suspect in the kidnapping of a child, an accusation that turned their lives upside down. Told from several points of view, the author builds an uneasy more than suspenseful story about Glen and… Read More The Widow by Fiona Barton
Excellent depiction of the era and how The Yard was affected by the unsolved murder spree of Jack the Ripper, especially when faced with another string of murders. Details the range of cops – those who do the job for prestige (and to impress girls), those dedicated to justice (often to the detriment of their… Read More The Yard by Alex Grecian
A suspended cop falls from a balcony, causing temporary amnesia. With the help of his partner and former girlfriend, he struggles to re-trace the steps of his covert investigation into the dirty dealings of an influential businessman, hopefully in time to avert a disaster in Manhattan. A competent thriller with humor and camaraderie and the… Read More Blackout by David Rosenfelt
Eskens’ competent thriller starts off slowly as he builds his characters’ backgrounds and personalities. The story is compelling – Joe Talbert, a college student dealing with an autistic brother and an irresponsible mother, is on deadline to complete a writing assignment requiring him to interview a stranger and the subject he is forced to accept… Read More The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
