A strong, sexy, modern woman is at the helm of Barbara Rogan’s smart new mystery series that kicks off with A Dangerous Fiction. Rogan introduces Jo Donovan, a talented literary agent trying to put her life back together after the death of her larger-than-life husband, esteemed author Hugo Donovan. There’s challenge enough for the grieving widow in running a successful New York literary agency, but Jo faces much more. When a would-be client becomes obsessed with Jo and begins infiltrating her life on a very personal level, she has to figure out the story behind the stalking.

A literary agent turns detective to catch a stalker.

Rogan’s experience as a novelist shows in the way she seamlessly combines a fast-paced mystery with witty literary references, a strong sense of place and an intriguing romance (or two). A New Yorker and a former literary agent herself, Rogan seems equally at ease with casual banter around the slush pile at the agency and the formal show put on at expensive lunches with clients. Readers will feel at ease, too, as though they are part of the literary world’s inner circle.

Adding to the sense of camaraderie is the first-person narration by Jo herself. We’re in her head a lot of the time, and when the stalker’s efforts escalate to include Jo's clients, staff and closest friends, it feels personal. Even though Rogan separates us from the violence a bit by describing the acts after they’ve been committed, the way each blow hits Jo is palpable. She’s shocked by the awful things happening around her but helpless to stop them.

Or is she? As the book progresses, the reader slowly comes to realize that Jo's perspective might be a little skewed. Are there things that her grief has kept her from remembering or understanding? As we come to doubt our narrator, we also have reason to suspect almost every character in the novel, and a great deal of the fun comes from trying to guess who the real culprit is. Is it the handsome detective who appears from Jo’s past? Or maybe the aggressive agent vying for Jo’s position at the agency? It’s not easy to predict, although the clues are there, and Rogan spins out the suspense even after the case seems to be closed.

There’s always another side to the story, and Jo Donovan has to do some deep digging to reveal it. A thoroughly entertaining and engaging mystery, A Dangerous Fiction is not the last we’ll see of Jo Donovan, as Rogan is currently at work on the sequel.

Fans of James Lee Burke’s long-running Dave Robicheaux series (20 books, if you’re counting) will cheer the release of his new novel—it’s the perfect book to sink into and while away a hot, muggy summer evening. In Light of the World, the Louisiana detective is in Montana enjoying a crisp, clear, windblown summer along with wife Molly, daughter Alafair, buddy Clete and Clete’s daughter, Gretchen, recently introduced in the series.

But the breezes and mountain vistas take second shift as the novel progresses. Alafair is convinced someone is watching her, a lurking presence in town and out in the backcountry. She’s certain she recognizes her stalker. But how could it be convicted serial killer Asa Surrette, who supposedly met a recent fiery death when the prison van in which he was riding collided with an oil tanker? If it is Surrette, he’s got a big score to settle with lawyer and novelist Alafair, who heaped literary coals on Surrette’s head at the time of his trial and sentencing. The pristine mountain landscape is suddenly clouded, with every cave and hideaway a potential lair for the evil that seems bent on pursuing the Robicheaux crew.

Burke is at the peak of his formidable descriptive powers here, depicting violence at every turn and terror in the dark places of mind and landscape. He is at his best when he presents a circus of oddments who make their indelible mark in this marvelous hunk of a story—including Wyatt Dixon, a cowboy and self-described rodeo man whose eccentricities—including speaking in tongues—mask a steely readiness for battle. When Wyatt is protecting his newfound girlfriend, Miss Bertha, Burke describes how the cowboy’s “upper body was streaming with sweat and stenciled with nests of veins when he struck the first blow.” There’s a badass detective named Jack Boyd and a creamy-skinned “nocturnal flower” named Felicity. And Dave himself takes a scary turn toward the Scriptural in a battle of his own against the devil he knows or imagines.

Dave and Clete intersperse their meditations on the limits of rationality and the battle between good and evil with episodes of starkly drawn suspense, with Burke’s hard-edged, offbeat humor always at the ready. Everyone’s familiar with buddy flicks, but this variation beats all, in a climactic battle of dads and daughters against the forces of evil.

It’s springtime in the village of St. Denis in the French province of Dordogne. Flowers bloom, the church choir rehearses for Easter, corks pop from wine bottles, the outdoor market displays delicious treats . . . and the dead body of a nude woman drifts lazily down the river in an abandoned rowboat.

Here’s where Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges enters—or should we say ambles—into Martin Walker’s latest mystery novel featuring the popular village Chief of Police.

The Devil’s Cave marks the fifth entry in the Bruno crime series, which contains village adventures both culinary and murderous. A sunny village atmosphere stands in sharp contrast to murky goings-on, and Bruno seems equally at home pursuing criminal activities in this deceptively rustic setting as he does cooking in his small farmhouse kitchen, whipping up a mouth-watering meal of smoked ham, white asparagus and new potatoes with dandelion buds sautéed in butter.

The French countryside gets a little bit darker in the newest mystery starring Bruno, Chief of Police.

The relaxed yet resolute detective enjoys sharing a glass of wine with his friends, horseback riding, feeding his chickens, maneuvering between girlfriends and cooking gourmet repasts, but he proves just as adept when he takes charge of the gruesome crime scene, where the floating body is surrounded by black candles and marked by crude symbols indicating a connection to the black arts. Bruno is soon called upon to explore the “Devil’s Cave,” a local tourist attraction containing caverns, an underground river and a silent, dark lake, where the trappings of a strange occult Mass are discovered, seemingly connected to the woman on the river.

Complications ensue as well-heeled visitors descend on the town as part of a group hoping to develop a “vacation village” near St. Denis. At the same time, relatives surface who may be connected to the estate of the aging, comatose local resident known to all as the Red Countess, whose infamous activities date back to the French Resistance during World War II. A local case of domestic abuse is followed by a second death that appears to be an accident. All these separate occurrences initiate an investigation that leads Bruno to a common thread that weaves them all together, and to a dark and exciting dénouement set deep underground.

The Devil’s Cave brings to life a pastoral setting where the gourmet menu is as spicy as the sex, and where readers can share in the timeless beauty of the French countryside, laced with a little murder.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a 7 questions interview with Martin Walker for The Devil's Cave.

What would moody, modern private investigator Claire DeWitt say to the plucky girl detectives of the past, like Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew? Not much, if Sara Gran’s second Claire DeWitt mystery is any indication. Claire has little patience for perky. She just wants to solve her case and doesn’t need to be nice. So sometimes, she’s not. With Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway, novelist Sara Gran returns to the brilliant and twisted mind of her sarcastic sleuth as she stalks the streets of San Francisco on a murder case with personal meaning. Paul Casablancas, an old flame Claire never quite got over, has been murdered. Claire needs to know who did it and why.

A masochistic drug addict with a readiness to raid any medicine cabinet, Claire is an unlikely hero. And yet, she’s astonishingly thorough in gathering evidence. No clue is too small for Claire, and you’d better give her the details. What did you have for breakfast the morning of the murder? Cereal. What kind? Lucky Charms. Claire duly notes this on the back of an envelope, or in the stacks of paper scraps taking over her apartment. Her unconventional detective work, based on the writings of fictional detective Jacques Silette, relies on following every hunch. This method leads Claire on a fascinating journey as she consults Buddhist lamas, comic book collectors and punk rock musicians in her quest for answers.

Gran keeps Claire on the move both in her present-day murder case and in flashbacks to a parallel story of a missing friend in 1980s Brooklyn. The combination adds richness to Claire’s character by showing us her early days as a detective. It also keeps the tension high, as there are two mysteries to solve at once. As we get to know young Claire, her tough façade begins to fade, and we see the vulnerable girl who first fell in love with Paul. We feel for her as she draws closer to the dramatic final moments of the guitarist’s tumultuous life.

Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway is not a cozy, teatime mystery, but a gritty, realistic look at grief and the search for truth. Sara Gran has created an unforgettable character that readers will surely follow into her next adventure.

Author Lori Roy’s 2011 debut novel, Bent Road, was an Edgar Award winner. In her new novel, Until She Comes Home, Roy has created a tour-de-force of mood and suspense, where old habits and new realities collide in a drama played out in a gritty and memorable urban setting.

If language can be delicate and brutal at the same time, this is what Roy achieves in a beautifully written, dark exploration of fears both real and imagined, of old ways facing upheaval. The author’s stunning word pictures convey the air and mood almost of a fairy tale or fable—strange, laden with foreboding, dark around the edges where it may initially seem clear.

Detroit in 1958, a city on the verge of cataclysmic change, contains fading factory neighborhoods filled with close-knit families of a solid ethnic white. Families struggle to cope with the impending loss of livelihoods and the first inklings of ethnic diversity. Faced with facts both inevitable and unwelcome, the women of Alder Avenue respond according to their individual private inner fears and circumstances.

Racial tensions crackle like summer lightning when a mentally challenged 22-year-old white woman disappears, seemingly at her front gate, shortly after a local African-American woman is brutally murdered. Glass shards litter the street; the wheels of a baby carriage squeal disconcertingly on the pavement. A red-handled hammer disappears. Homemade carrot cake fills the stomachs of the husbands and the time of the women as the search continues for the missing girl. Children both born and unborn figure large, and terrible events can happen, unspoken and untold, behind closed doors up and down Alder Avenue.

Roy perfectly evokes these immaculately clad and mannered women, right down to their de rigueur white gloves and appropriate hats, all in contrast to the gritty realities assaulting their well-ordered lives. During the course of the book, readers are asked to encounter, and maneuver, the often stark differences between perception and reality that course through the pages.

In this book, small descriptions are never “fill”: each adds a layer to the developing story, as events assault and then change our minds and the action unfolds in a changing kaleidoscope. Roy has contributed a challenging, thoughtful and riveting story. Seeing the marvels she can create with words, we can only hope she’ll continue to share her talent with readers.