Mystery
Backfire
Catherine Coulter
FICTION Coulter, Catherine
Mystery
San Francisco Judge Ramsey Hunt, longtime friend to FBI agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich, is presiding over the trial of Clive and Cindy Cahill – accused in a string of murders – when the proceedings take a radical turn. Federal prosecutor Mickey O'Rourke, known for his relentless style, becomes suddenly tentative in his opening statement, leading Hunt to suspect he’s been threatened – suspicions that are all but confirmed when Hunt is shot in the back. Savich and Sherlock receive news of the attack as an ominous note is delivered to Savich at the Hoover Building: YOU DESERVE THIS FOR WHAT YOU DID.
A time to scatter stones : a Matthew Scudder novella
Lawrence Block
MYSTERY Block Lawrence
Mystery
Well past retirement age and feeling his years--but still staying sober one day at a time--Matthew Scudder learns that alcoholics aren't the only ones who count the days since their last slip. Matt's longtime partner, Elaine, tells him of a group of former sex workers who do something similar, helping each other stay out of the life. But when one young woman describes an abusive client who's refusing to let her quit, Elaine encourages her to get help of a different sort. The sort only Scudder can deliver.
Book 19 in the Matthew Scudder series. -Beth
The New Iberia blues
James Lee Burke
MYSTERY Burke James
Mystery
Detective Dave Robicheaux's world isn't filled with too many happy stories, but Desmond Cormier's rags-to-riches tale is certainly one of them. Robicheaux first met Cormier on the streets of New Orleans, when the young, undersized boy had foolish dreams of becoming a Hollywood director. Twenty-five years later, when Robicheaux knocks on Cormier's door, it isn't to congratulate him on his Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. Robicheaux has discovered the body of a young woman who's been crucified, wearing only a small chain on her ankle. She disappeared near Cormier's Cyrpemort Point estate, and Robicheaux, along with young deputy, Sean McClain, are looking for answers. Neither Cormier nor his enigmatic actor friend Antoine Butterworth are saying much, but Robicheaux knows better.
Book 22 in the Dave Robicheaux series. -Beth
The lost man
Jane (Jane Elizabeth) Harper
MYSTERY Harper Jane
Mystery
Two brothers meet at the remote fence line separating their cattle ranches in the lonely outback. In an isolated belt of Western Australia, they are each other's nearest neighbor, their homes four hours' drive apart. The third brother lies dead at their feet. Something caused Cam, the middle child who had been in charge of the family homestead, to die alone in the middle of nowhere. So the eldest brother returns with his younger sibling to the family property and those left behind. But the fragile balance of the ranch is threatened. Amidst the grief, suspicion starts to take hold, and the eldest brother begins to wonder if more than one among them is at risk of crumbling as the weight of isolation bears down on them all. Dark, suspenseful, and deeply atmospheric, The Lost Man is the highly anticipated book from the bestselling and award-winning Jane Harper, author of The Dry and Force of Nature .
Added by Beth
In the woods
Tana French
MYSTERY French, Tana
Mystery
s dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children. He is gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret.
The first book in the Dublin Murder Squad series. -Beth
A rule against murder
Louise Penny
MYSTERY Penny, Louise
Mystery
It is the height of summer, and Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache are celebrating their wedding anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated, luxurious inn not far from the village of Three Pines. But they're not alone. The Finney family—rich, cultured, and respectable—has also arrived for a celebration of their own. The beautiful Manoir Bellechasse might be surrounded by nature, but there is something unnatural looming. As the heat rises and the humidity closes in, some surprising guests turn up at the family reunion, and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body. It is up to Chief Inspector Gamache to unearth secrets long buried and hatreds hidden behind polite smiles. The chase takes him to Three Pines, into the dark corners of his own life, and finally to a harrowing climax.
Book 4 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. -Beth
Scales of justice.
Ngaio Marsh
MYSTERY Marsh, Ngaio
Mystery
A brutal murder with a golf club and an ingenious plot bursting with snobbery, suspicion , adultery and secrets -- to say nothing of the dreadful crime of catricide...The lives of the inhabitants of Swevenings are disrupted only by a fierce competition to catch the Old Un, a monster trout known to dwell in a beautiful stream which winds past their homes. Then one of their small community is found brutally murdered; beside him is the freshly killed trout. Both died by violence -- but Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn's murder investigation seems to be much more interested in the fish...
17th book in the Roderick Alleyn mystery series. -Beth
Dark of the moon
John Sandford
MYSTERY Sandford, John
Mystery
Virgil Flowers — tall, lean, late thirties, three times divorced, hair way too long for a cop's — had kicked around a while before joining the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. First it was the army and the military police, then the police in St. Paul, and finally Lucas Davenport had brought him into the BCA, promising him, "We'll only give you the hard stuff." He'd been doing the hard stuff for three years now — but never anything like this. In the small town of Bluestem, where everybody knows everybody, a house way up on a ridge explodes into flames, its owner, a man named Judd, trapped inside. There is a lot of reason to hate him, Flowers discovers. Years ago, Judd had perpetrated a scam that'd driven a lot of local farmers out of business, even to suicide. There are also rumors swirling around: of some very dicey activities with other men's wives, of involvement with some nutcase religious guy, and of an out-of-wedlock daughter. In fact, Flowers concludes, you'd probably have to dig around to find a person who didn't despise him
The first book in the Virgil Flowers series. -Beth
Chosen prey
John Sandford
MYSTERY Sandford, John
Mystery
Deputy Chief Lucas Davenport watched impassively as yet another body was unearthed. It was clear to him that a routine murder investigation had become the search for a monster. Associate Professor James Qatar takes in the gruesome scenes on his television in growing agitation, as he realises that his thin veneer of safety and respectability is being scratched away. Obviously, it would be prudent to cease his activities for a time, but the necks are too pretty, the desire too strong. So he kills again. But they are watching now, and his fear makes him careless. As Lucas Davenport's case comes together, James Qatar's world begins to fall apart, and a deadly game is joined, one that neither player can afford to lose. Lucas Davenport: brilliant, implacable, and determined to stop the killings. And James Qatar: vain, damaged, and capable of anything when he has cornered his chosen prey.
Lucas Davenport series, book 12. -Beth
The Late Monsieur Gallet
Georges Simenon, translation by Anthea Bell
MYSTERY Simenon Georges
Mystery
A devastating tale of misfortune, betrayal, and the weakness of family ties, newly translated for the Inspector Maigret series In the third Maigret mystery, the circumstances of Monsieur Gallet's death all seem fake: the name he was traveling under, his presumed profession, and, more worryingly, his family's grief. Their haughtiness seems to hide ambiguous feelings about the hapless man. Soon Maigret discovers the appalling truth and the real crime hidden beneath the surface of their lies.
Book #3 in the Inspector Maigret series. -Beth
Book 16 in the FBI Thriller series. -Beth