Mystery & Suspense Archives | Page 89 of 118 | BookPage

Working just a smidgeon outside the law, Casey Woods’ crew of experts, “Forensic Instincts,” tackles the daunting case of a kidnapped kindergartener, Krissy, in Andrea Kane’s The Girl Who Disappeared Twice. Years before, Krissy’s six-year-old aunt was also kidnapped—and never heard from again. Now Krissy’s mother, family court judge Hope Willis, desperately seeks help, official or otherwise, to locate her missing daughter.

FI tackles the job with all the esprit that comes naturally to a psychologist, an almost-super-skilled techno-savant and a former Navy SEAL (not to mention Hero the bloodhound). Assembling the disparate facts of Krissy’s disappearance, they form a picture that confronts the guilty, satisfies the romantic and brings a gratifying answer to the whole puzzle.

Known for her ability to seamlessly combine the emotional and technical threads of her stories, Kane succeeds once again with The Girl Who Disappeared Twice.

Mystery & Suspense, Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Suspense

A murderous Irish summer

Review by Jillian Quint

by Jillian Quint

Benjamin Black’s previous mysteries—all set in 1950s Dublin—have been lauded for their tight pacing, intelligent plotting and ambient setting. This writerly skill comes as no surprise, however, as Black is actually the pen name of Booker Award-winning novelist John Banville, who brings his literary acumen (and deeply Irish sensibility) to his noir mystery side project.

A Death in Summer, his newest offering, deftly follows suit, reprising the amateur detective stylings of wry and moody medical pathologist Quirke, who continues to struggle against the memory of his own troubled Catholic childhood and painful lost love.

This time, Quirke sets out to find the truth behind the murder of Richard Jewell, a much-despised newspaper tycoon whose gunshot-to-the-head “suicide” screams foul play. Jewell’s wife, the wonderfully disaffected—i.e., French—Françoise,seems an obvious suspect (though this doesn’t stop Quirke from becoming romantically entwined with her), as do a whole host of individuals ranging from lowly Dublin goons to men and women of prominent social standing. Quirke’s daughter, Phoebe, and assistant, Sinclair, also take roles in the investigation, and Black gracefully moves between his characters in a fashion that leaves readers hanging on his words and hungering for more.

In short, A Death in Summer does everything that a good mystery should do: tantalize without conspicuously withholding, divulge clues in measured and surprising ways and interweave the lives and woes of the series’ recurring characters. Moreover, Black stands out within his genre by gesturing towards social issues larger than each book itself—in this case, the era’s unspoken prejudices and great evils and misconduct within the Church and clergy—without letting such moral quandaries overtake the story.

A welcome voice in the mystery genre, Black has established a series worth following and a central character worth coming back to.

Mystery & Suspense, Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Suspense

In the name of the father

Review by Megan Fishmann

by Megan Fishmann

Chevy Stevens’ debut thriller, Still Missing, was a runaway hit, and her hotly anticipated follow-up, Never Knowing, is nearly impossible to put down.

Sara is a feisty single mother—simultaneously running a carpentry business and planning her wedding—who feels an uneasy void in her life. With little connection to her adoptive parents, she decides to investigate the identity of her birth parents. Her search leads to a startling discovery: Sara’s birth mother was the rape victim and sole survivor of the elusive Campsite Killer.

As the killer strikes out on another murderous rampage, Sara slowly learns more about herself—and her biological father. Through phone calls, the killer manages to torture Sara and yet also endear himself to her. Hiding this news from her family and fiancé, Sara risks her job, her relationship and even her own daughter to catch the man who has evaded everyone, including herself.

With heart-pounding action and a main character whose faults only make her more engaging, this spine-tingling novel grapples with the danger and pain of unrevealed truth.

Chevy Stevens’ debut thriller, Still Missing, was a runaway hit, and her hotly anticipated follow-up, Never Knowing, is nearly impossible to put down.

Sara is a feisty single mother—simultaneously running a carpentry business and planning her wedding—who feels an uneasy void in her life.…

Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Mystery

Dave Robicheaux goes West

Review by bookpagedev

by Leslie Budewitz

Katrina’s floodwaters have receded, and Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel have gone to western Montana for an extended fishing trip. No surprise, except perhaps to them, that they find themselves both fishermen and bait.

The murder of two college students near their host’s property lures Dave and Clete, who soon find themselves threatened by the henchman of an old enemy who was killed in a plane crash at the end of the pair’s last trip to Montana, chronicled in Black Cherry Blues (1989). When it seems that the young lovers’ murders are linked to a wealthy family, the Wellstones, who have ties to Galveston and New Orleans, Dave is hooked.

Meanwhile, an Iraq war veteran turned private prison guard named Troyce Nix is on the trail of an inmate who stabbed him and escaped. His target, Jimmy Dale Greenwood, once sang with the wife of one of the Wellstone brothers, and fathered her child before being wrongfully imprisoned. Now, Greenwood is determined to take her away. But Nix is nearly as nasty as the Wellstones, and it seems clear that neither singer will ever be free – unless Dave and Clete can figure out the connections in time.

Swan Peak is James Lee Burke’s 17th Dave Robicheaux novel. In the series, the Pulitzer nominee and two-time Edgar winner creates a world that is frightening yet comforting in its familiarity, unnerving yet satisfying, because while justice is not always obtained, it is sought unswervingly and fought for passionately.

Swan Peak is the story of old loves, old grudges and old crimes resurfacing. It is also a story of choosing redemption. Series fans may miss the bayou, but they’ll be glad they took the trip west with Dave and Clete.

Leslie Budewitz lives and writes at the foot of the Swan Mountains in Montana.

Katrina's floodwaters have receded, and Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel have gone to western Montana for an extended fishing trip. No surprise, except perhaps to them, that they find themselves both fishermen and bait.

The murder of two college students near…

Mystery

Mystery

A turn-of-the-century detective

Review by Barbara Clark

by Barbara Clark

Readers of historical novels who discover Detective Simon Ziele will glom onto Stefanie Pintoff’s series of mysteries in a hurry. The first entry, In the Shadow of Gotham, garnered an Edgar Award in 2010.

Secret of the White Rose, the third in the series, is again set in turn-of-the-20th-century New York City, and filled with detailed historical settings and descriptions of the city’s helter-skelter atmosphere. This includes clopping horse-drawn cabs and early electrical cars, the Tombs prison, row houses, downtown opium dens, gaslit streets . . . and anarchist violence.

This time out, Ziele is investigating three murders of three prominent judges, linked by a Bible and a white rose left near each victim. Is this the work of an anarchist cell, or are there more personal motives for the murders? New York’s hard-boiled and judgmental police commissioner, Theodore Bingham, believes that the anarchists are responsible—one of the dead judges had been presiding over the trial of Al Drayson, a notorious anarchist leader who is in the dock for murder—and he is not interested in having his opinions overturned or thwarted.

Throughout this intricate and ingenious story, Pintoff shows how even the seemingly clearest clues or motives can be called into question. Ziele’s ongoing association with a wily criminologist, Alistair Sinclair, is fraught with such ambiguity, and the interchange between these two colleagues considerably ups the ante in this superior plot. True-to-life historical details form a major part of the story’s allure. It’s easy to read oneself right into the atmosphere of that time and place, maneuvering New York’s twilight streets with the detective as he puts to use the new forensic methods emerging in the field of criminology.

Even more engrossing is the thin line the author draws between the “good guys” and the “bad guys.” She sets us down in the midst of people’s obsessions and, ultimately, actions. While occasionally a little heavy-handed with its anti-anarchist spiel, Secret of the White Rose stays absorbing and surprising, as it dissects a series of mystifying crimes and inspects the reasons why many of our assumptions can be mistaken.

Secret of the White Rose, the third in the series, is again…

Mystery & Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Suspense Romantic Suspense

Doctors in danger

Review by Lois Faye Dyer

by Lois Faye Dyer

Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush are each best-selling authors on their own, but the Oregon sisters raise the stakes when they join forces to pen a terrifyingly suspenseful novel, Wicked Lies.

At a small hospital on the Oregon coast, nurse Laura Adderley is relieved to be getting a divorce, but devastated to discover that she and her ex-husband’s sole attempt to reconcile has resulted in a pregnancy. She’s even more appalled when she learns her onetime nemesis, the infamous psychotic killer Justice Turnbull, knows she’s carrying a child. She hears his voice in her mind—and she knows he’s coming for her and her unborn baby. Because Justice has escaped after murdering his jailers at Halo Valley Security Hospital . . . and retribution is his sole focus.

Fortunately for Laura, reporter Harrison Frost is following a lead on a news story about Turnbull’s escape. At first, Harrison only wants information from the pretty nurse, but before long he’s committed to stopping Turnbull. Because if he can’t, Laura will be dead.

Wicked Lies is a riveting, can’t-put-it-down, heart-pounding good read. If you love suspense with enough twists and turns to tie you into knots, this one’s for you.

Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush are each best-selling authors on their own, but the Oregon sisters raise the stakes when they join forces to pen a terrifyingly suspenseful novel, Wicked Lies.

At a small hospital on the Oregon coast, nurse Laura Adderley is relieved…

Fiction, Suspense

Fiction Suspense

Twisted sisters

Review by Deb Donovan

by Deb Donovan

The term “page-turner” is undoubtedly used much too often to describe a gripping novel of suspense, but Sister, a terrific debut by British author Rosamund Lupton, certainly fits the bill. And more than that, it’s a poignant and perceptive depiction of the emotional bonds between two sisters—bonds which remained strong even as years passed and an ocean came between sisters Beatrice and Tess.

Lupton uses an intriguing device throughout the novel—writing in the form of a letter from Beatrice, the older sister who has moved to New York, to her dead sister Tess, who stayed in London to be near their mother. The letter begins just as “the trial” is about to begin—so the reader knows that suicide was not the cause of Tess’ death, as the police first surmised—but it’s the whole thread of events leading up to the trial that provides the novel’s never-ending suspense.

Bea, who is usually in touch daily with Tess, has been on a trip with no cell or Internet service for several days, and so she learns of Tess’ disappearance from their mother, and flies immediately to London. She moves into Tess’ flat and is in constant contact with the police until Tess’ body is found in an abandoned park restroom, her arms slashed. Bea’s letter to her sister moves back and forth in time, relating all the details of her suspicions that Tess was murdered and her investigations into Tess’ relationships in search of possible suspects, including the married father of her recently stillborn child, her psychiatrist and a student who was obsessed with her. Then the letter shifts to the present, where Bea is giving detailed testimony to the prosecuting attorney.

The result is a superb thriller, full of twists and turns, false leads and a surprise ending—all seamlessly woven into a touching story of a sisterly bond that one imagines closely matches that of the talented first-time author and her own (still very much alive) sister.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Fiction Cozy Mystery

Perry’s latest Pitt mystery is a winner

Review by Barbara Clark

by Barbara Clark

There’s treason in Lisson Grove! That’s where you find London Special Branch, by the way, where Thomas Pitt works with his friend and mentor, Victor Narraway, who holds—or should we say held—the head position there. There’s a conspiracy afoot, and we see the handwriting on the wall: both men have cleverly been removed from their usual posts, and find themselves geographically separated and out of touch.

Anne Perry is best known in mystery circles for her William Monk series and her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, both set in Victorian England, and readers of these fine books will welcome this new Charlotte/Thomas entry—the first in three years.

Narraway, accused of treasonous activities and temporarily relieved of his position, must travel to Ireland to seek the real instigator, while Thomas is in France, shadowing what he at first thinks is an anarchist group planning an overthrow of England’s government.

Charlotte has learned from Narraway that both he and Thomas are at high risk for losing their positions as well as their reputations in what may be a well-planned demise. But who has done the planning? It appears as if the true mastermind may work right in Lisson Grove, and in a desperate effort to save her husband’s career, Charlotte accompanies Narraway to Ireland to try and gather information that will help the pair survive. Add to this the open secret that Narraway’s in love—from a distance, of course, this is Victorian England—with Charlotte.

The narrative slips easily from Charlotte to Thomas in alternating chapters, and colorful characters emerge to deepen our interest in what goes on beneath the surface, as we learn more about the deep, longstanding Irish/English “troubles.” Author Perry’s strength lies in her seamless meshing of historical facts and fictional characters, with each polished detail, from décor to politics, unerringly faithful to the era.

One mark of a good writer is consistency—the ability to show us, in each book, more facets of the recurring characters we love, while giving just enough bits of background to allow new readers to jump in without a lot of confusion. Perry wins this one, too; we never feel bored when she touches on the family’s former maid, or revisits the Pitts’ early courtship days; and there’s always Great-aunt Vespasia, a great staple of this series, to enliven as well as anchor the goings-on. Treason at Lisson Grove is a winner on all counts.

Inspirational Fiction, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Inspirational Fiction

First novel from a faith-based superstar

Review by the editors of BookPage

by the editors of BookPage

Best-selling Christian author Lee Strobel is known for his “Case” nonfiction series. In his debut novel, The Ambition, Strobel brings his life experience as both an investigative reporter at the Chicago Tribune and a pastor at two megachurches to deliver a timely, fast-paced thriller.

When Tom O’Sullivan, a small-time lawyer with a big-time gambling problem, attempts to erase his debts to a mobster by handling the payoff to a corrupt judge (and recording the conversation), he puts several lives in danger. Meanwhile, investigative reporter Garry Strider has been passed over for the Pulitzer and is losing his girlfriend Gina to an evangelical megachurch. A born skeptic, Garry decides to investigate the church and its “too good to be true” pastor, Eric Snow.

But Eric has a new calling—politics. When he chooses to run for the vacant seat of an indicted senator, all hell breaks loose and his world collides with Tom’s shadowy universe of crime syndicates and political corruption.

Compelling, authentic characters and a tight plot combine to create a thought-provoking, suspenseful read in The Ambition.

When…

Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, Paranormal Romance

Mystery & Suspense Fiction Paranormal Romance

New adventure in Bon Temps

Review by Karen Trotter Elley

by Karen Trotter Elley

It’s spring in Bon Temps, and an urge to clean out her grandmother’s attic leads Sookie to the discovery of some life-changing secrets in Charlaine Harris’ latest Sookie Stackhouse adventure, Dead Reckoning. Lately, due to visits by her fairy kin, Cousin Claude and Great-Uncle Dermot, Sookie has been feeling more and more fae, but she doesn’t have time to dwell on it. Merlotte’s, the bar where she works, is firebombed, and later Sookie is tracked and attacked by hired thugs. It seems her archenemy, the revenge-crazed Sandra Pelt, is once again on the loose.

Meanwhile, her vampire lover Eric and his “child” Pam have decided to go up against their new vampire master Victor, and Sookie gets drawn into a plot that has only one possible outcome—a double dose of death and destruction.

If that isn’t enough for Sookie to deal with, a vampire queen has her eyes on Eric, the right to claim him and the paperwork to prove it. Is Sookie in danger of losing the one thing she values more than her own life?

Readers, prepare to be amused and entertained by Harris’ captivating characters and nonstop action in Dead Reckoning.

Fiction, Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Fiction Mystery

Small-town suspense

Review by Stephenie Harrison

by Stephenie Harrison

In his 2006 debut hit thriller, The King of Lies, John Hart made a name for himself as a must-read author. Hart’s first novel was a powerful and provocative murder mystery that earned him an Edgar nomination for Best First Novel and left readers anxiously awaiting his next book.

In Down River, Hart introduces readers to Adam Chase, a troubled man with a heavier past than most. Known for his violent temper, Adam was arrested for murder five years ago, and even though he was acquitted, no one believes he is innocent, not even Adam’s own father. Having left the town that rejected him, Adam finally returns home to Salisbury, N.C., at the request of a friend but finds that the demons of his past still lurk in the shadows, ever ready to pounce and drag him down.

Down River is a fascinating look at class issues in a small Southern town and the way a family can be driven apart through suspicion and anger. The story follows a fevered pace that drags readers along for a gripping ride filled with heart-thumping twists and turns. Readers that aren’t afraid to take a walk on the wild side will find themselves right at home here.

Fiction, Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Fiction Mystery

Tough times for the Lincoln Lawyer

Review by Arlene McKanic

by Arlene McKanic

The lousy economy of recent years, like lousy economic times of any era, has the potential to give rise to engaging, compelling works of fiction. Thus, the mortgage crisis and the Great Recession are inspirations for Michael Connelly’s The Fifth Witness.

Times are so bad that even Connelly’s attorney Mickey Haller not only has to work out of his car for a while, but has to moonlight, too. On top of his usual criminal defense work, he represents folks in less tony pockets of L.A. who are in danger of having their homes foreclosed upon. He’s not quite a sad sack—he does drive around in a chauffeured Lincoln, can still afford his Corneliani suits and nobody’s in line to take away his house. But he does have the mournful decency we’ve come to expect of the good lawyer or private eye, and his heart, natch, has been bruised by a woman or two.

One winter’s day, Haller’s roles as criminal defense attorney and delayer of foreclosures meet when one of his clients is accused of murdering the banker who wanted to take her house.

Writers of crime novels must be sneaky and Connelly is a master of sneak. The payoff comes at the very end, as we know it must. Connelly takes but a couple of sentences to set you up—“Here it comes at last,” you think—then the hammer comes down. Literally. The end of The Fifth Witness gives the reader one of the best, no-good, nasty feelings ever.

Times are so bad that…

Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Fiction Suspense Romantic Suspense

Dynamic duo tracks a killer in New Orleans

Review by Stephenie Harrison

by Stephenie Harrison

It’s been 10 years since detectives Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya first delighted readers with their New Orleans exploits, but Lisa Jackson’s dynamic duo show no signs of slowing down or getting stale in their latest venture, Devious.

Still, even the very best can use a little help from time to time, and in their latest investigation, assistance comes in the form of Valerie Houston, a tenacious young woman with a troubling past. When Valerie’s sister, Camille, turns up grotesquely murdered in St. Marguerite’s cathedral, Bentz and Montoya are assigned the grisly case. Aided by Val and her estranged husband, Slade, the four begin to uncover some shocking truths about St. Marguerite’s and the people who inhabit it. At the forefront is Father Frank O’Toole, rumored to be Camille’s lover, and a man Montoya knew in high school, along with St. Marguerite’s elusive Mother Superior. These two prime suspects may have hidden agendas that could be worth killing for in order to keep secret. As the truth behind Camille’s murder comes closer to surfacing, it becomes clear that the killer must be found before Valerie is caught in the crosshairs of vengeance.

Devious is filled with the heart-stopping action and breakneck twists that fans of Jackson have come to expect. Perhaps one of Jackson’s most sinister and provocative thrillers to date, this is a novel that will constantly keep you guessing. The ending to Devious is too good to spoil, but it is fair to say that it will leave readers restless for Jackson’s next novel, which can hardly come too soon.

Still, even the very best can use a…