Category Archives: mystery

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

31 Monday Oct 2016

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Sixteen minutes after take-off on a foggy night from Martha’s Vineyard airport, a private jet plummets to the ocean.  Only a down-on–his-luck artist and a 4 year old boy (now the sole inheritor of immense wealth from his mogul media father’s empire)  manage to swim to safety.  “Who? and why?” scream to be answered.  A suspense thriller at its best.

“From the Emmy, PEN, Peabody, Critics’ Choice, and Golden Globe Award-winning creator of the TV show Fargo comes the thriller of the year, 2016.”

“This is one of the year’s best suspense novels, a mesmerizing, surprise-jammed mystery that works purely on its own, character-driven terms….Mr. Hawley has made it very, very easy to race through his book in a state of breathless suspense.”―Janet Maslin, New York Times 

“In the hands of a writer like Noah Hawley, who knows how to build tension from mundane moments, it is a remarkable thriller that most readers will find difficult to put down…it moves toward a breathless ending.”―The Washington Times

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Mrs. Sinclair’s Suitcase by Louise Walters

12 Monday Sep 2016

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A well-read patron recommended this book to me.  I am glad she did!  Roberta, a used book shop sorter of books, has kept a collection of those peculiar things that fall out of donated books.  Then a letter to her own grandmother falls from a suitcase full of books left off by her father that puzzles her completely – dates, names, places all see very different from what she had always grown up knowing about her grandmother.  What did happen during those war years that no one living seems to recall?  Guaranteed: an unpredictable ending!

“A breathtaking, beautifully crafted tale of loves that survive secrets.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“Musty books, unrequited love, and old family secrets combine to create a crackling multigenerational saga infused with passion, pathos, and evocative WWII-era historical detail. Plenty of book-club and cinematic potential in this irresistible page-turner.” — Booklist

“A solid debut . . . [that] may appeal to those who have also liked bookishly romantic stories such as Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.” – Library Journal

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The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

29 Monday Aug 2016

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In this literary, suspenseful novel, a young woman is found dead in a small town in the Ozarks, compelling her friend to find out what happened to her. Her search leads her to the story of what happened to her own mother, who disappeared years ago. The characters and descriptions are vivid, and by the end I could picture this fictional community.

“Gripping . . . Her prose will not only keep readers turning the pages but also paints a real and believable portrait of the connections, alliances, and sacrifices that underpin rural, small-town life. . . . Strongly recommended for readers who enjoy thrillers by authors such as Laura Lippman and Tana French.”—Library Journal (starred review)

 “[A] suspenseful novel, with a barn burner of a plot . . . McHugh shows herself to be a compelling writer intimately familiar with rural poverty and small-town weirdness.”—Booklist

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Last Ragged Breath by Julia Keller

08 Monday Aug 2016

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When the marketer for a luxury resort in rural West Virginia is found murdered on the property of an impoverished recluse who had vehemently refused his offers to buy the parcel of land that would halt the multimillion-dollar project, prosecutor Bell Elkins privately probes wounds that run deep in a place of poverty and despair.

“A beautifully crafted mystery in which Keller explores love, hate, and poverty in a place of stunning natural beauty with pockets of overwhelming ugliness. The ending may leave you in tears.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Keller conveys smalltown mind-sets with a folksy style that richly evokes a part of Appalachia still grappling with its past.” ―Publishers Weekly

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In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

06 Wednesday Jul 2016

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Nora lives a quiet life in London as a writer when she receives an invitation to her old friend Clare’s hen (bachelorette) party. Nora hasn’t seen Clare in ten years, since a traumatic event during high school caused Nora to leave her past behind. The small hen party group assembles at an unusual house made of glass in an English forest, where strange things begin happening. The book is a little bit mystery, a little bit thriller, but mostly a psychological novel about friendship and memory. I listened to the audio book and found the narrator’s performance really enhanced the story. The dark, snowy setting and suspenseful plot will keep you cold this summer.

“WARNING: This book is hot. Do not pick it up late at night or if you are in a dark, dark wood…Ruth Ware has a gift. This British author’s first foray into fiction is a hit…it delivers a punch and keeps you guessing—an ideal August psychodrama that reminds us why mysteries remain such fun—except at night.” –The New York Journal of Books

“Ware slowly unspools the mystery, setting a truly spooky scene … with a constant undercurrent of danger. Read it on a dark and stormy night—with all the lights on.” –Kirkus Reviews

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All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage

20 Monday Jun 2016

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This was an unsettling page-turner that I couldn’t put down. Set in a small farm town in upstate New York, the story opens with the murder of a young woman, who is killed in her home. As the story unfolds, we learn more about why she and her family moved to this house, which has a dark history. This is suspenseful, creepy, and beautifully written.

“A dynamic portrait of a young woman coming into her own [and] of a marriage in free fall. . . . It rises to [great] literary heights and promises a soaring mix of mysticism.” —Booklist (starred review)

“All Things Cease to Appear is a riveting ghost story, psychological thriller, and literary page turner. It’s also the story of four women: Ella, Catherine, Justine, and Willis. With masterful skill and brilliant empathy, Brundage brings each of them to vivid and remarkable life. At its heart, this is a story about women’s grit and courage, will and intelligence. It’s a powerful and beautiful novel.” —Kate Christensen

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Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely

31 Tuesday May 2016

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Here is a thoroughly refreshing slant on the cozy mystery genre set in the countryside of North Carolina among the Carters, a dysfunctional family quietly feuding over their matriarch’s fortune.  Enter Blanche White, a black 40 year old housekeeper with moxie who knows she is made invisible by her color and profession. Blanche is an avid reader of people and situations who feels this is as much a part of her work as making beds and readers will delight in her social commentary. Nothing is what is seems in the tangled affairs of the Carter household and when Nate, the black groundskeeper, is murdered, Blanche summons all of her wits and gumption to bring the killer to justice.

“One of the best fictional detectives conjured up in years,” Library Journal

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The Likeness by Tana French

11 Monday Apr 2016

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The second in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series, this book is a very loose sequel to In the Woods, but can easily be read as a stand-alone mystery. Cassie Maddox is a Dublin detective who goes undercover to solve the murder of a woman who looks exactly like her. While set in contemporary times, the book’s style and plot give it the feel of an old-fashioned page-turner.

The Likeness has everything: memorable characters, crisp dialogue, shrewd psychological insight, mounting tension, a palpable sense of place, and wonderfully evocative, painterly prose. In the Woods was an Edgar Award finalist; this one just might go one step further. –Booklist (*starred review*)

“For The Likeness, [French] has brought back detective Cassie Maddox and fashioned a plot that harks back to both Donna Tartt and Wilkie Collins.”–The Washington Post

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

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After reading the first three words, the first sentence and the first paragraph, the reader will know what happened to the central character in this book.  But then the question is Why? and then How? and then For What?

Celeste Ng, in her first novel, has gracefully written a poignant and heartbreaking story of family, ethnicity, communication and grief that the reader will be compelled to read in one sitting.

“If we know this story, we haven’t seen it yet in American fiction, not until now… Ng has set two tasks in this novel’s doubled heart—to be exciting, and to tell a story bigger than whatever is behind the crime. She does both by turning the nest of familial resentments into at least four smaller, prickly mysteries full of secrets the family members won’t share… What emerges is a deep, heartfelt portrait of a family struggling with its place in history, and a young woman hoping to be the fulfillment of that struggle. This is, in the end, a novel about the burden of being the first of your kind—a burden you do not always survive.” – Alexander Chee, The New York Times Book Review

“Wonderfully moving…Emotionally precise…A beautifully crafted study of dysfunction and grief…[This book] will resonate with anyone who has ever had a family drama.” – Boston Globe

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The Bookseller: The First Hugo Marston Novel by Mark Pryor

21 Wednesday Oct 2015

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Get ready for suspense and red herrings in the world of the bouquinistes –  the book stalls along the Seine in Paris. Hugh Marston, the head of security at the US embassy in Paris, passes many a lunch break perusing old books to find the perfect gift.  And then one day, we watches helplessly as his favorite bookseller is dragged away at gunpoint. Surprise – the police couldn’t be bothered even as more booksellers begin to disappear.  Taking matters into his own hands with the help of his long time friend Tom, CIA, and short term friend, Claudia, a journalist, he uncovers an obscure past that may explain matters. But can he piece the puzzle together before his time runs out?

“Pryor’s steady and engrossing debut combines Sherlockian puzzle solving with Eric Ambler-like spy intrigue. With a cast of characters you want to know better and a storyline cloaked in World War II betrayals…the author winningly blends contemporary crime with historical topics.”  –Library Journal Starred Review

“A real page-turner. This is what thriller writers always aim to produce and so often fail to get right…. You can’t ask for better than this.”  –San Francisco Book Review

As strong and welcome as a hot coffee on a chilly Paris morning. Bibliophiles, Francophiles, and mystery addicts rejoice! The debut of Hugo Marston is one you don’t want to miss.”  –Steven Sidor, author of Pitch Dark

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