Mystery
The Stranger Diaries
Elly Griffiths
eBOOK
Mystery
"From the author of the beloved Ruth Galloway series, a modern gothic mystery for fans of Magpie Murders and The Lake House"--
You will know me : a novel
Megan E. Abbott
This mystery set in the world of elite gymnastics also has a great plot twist. I will also stand by almost anything Megan Abbott writes. -Frannie
I let you go
Clare Mackintosh
eBOOK
Mystery
Just when I thought this mystery was a bit saccharin a plot twist draws you in! -Frannie
Lady in the lake : a novel
Laura Lippman
"New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman returns with a new stand-alone novel about a middle aged housewife turned aspiring reporter Maddie Schwartz, who is determined to solve the murder of a forgotten young woman in order to make her own reputation"--
From the Wire to Serial season 1, mysteries set in Baltimore never fail to draw me in. From the roll of women in the workplace to failing to fully investigate the murder of women of color, this novel does not shy away from difficult subject matter either. -Frannie
Conviction
Denise Mina
Anna McDonald enjoys listening to podcasts-- other people's problems are much better than one's own. But today her husband tells her he's leaving her... and the podcast is about a murdered family on a sunken yacht. Anna is convinced that she knows what really happened. The devils of her past are awakened-- and in hot pursuit. -- adapted from jacket
Tired of listening to true crime podcasts? Go meta and read this mystery where a "true" crime podcast isn't totally true. -Frannie
An elderly lady is up to no good
Helene Tursten
eBOOK
Mystery, Humor, Short Story
Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and... no qualms about a little murder. This funny, irreverent story collection by Helene Tursten, author of the Irene Huss investigations, features two-never-before translated stories that will keep you laughing all the way to the retirement home. Ever since her darling father's untimely death when she was only eighteen, Maud has lived in the family's spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. That was how Maud learned that good things can come from tragedy. Now in her late eighties, Maud contents herself with traveling the world and surfing the net from the comfort of her father's ancient armchair. It's a solitary existence, and she likes it that way. Over the course of her adventures--or misadventures--this little bold lady will handle a crisis with a local celebrity who has her eyes on Maud's apartment, foil the engagement of her long-ago lover, and dispose of some pesky neighbors. But when the local authorities are called to investigate a dead body found in Maud's apartment, will Maud finally become a suspect?
Essentially a collection of short stories this is a fascinating and occasionally macabre character study of an elderly Swedish lady. It also really captures Scandinavian city life. -Frannie
The night gardener
Jonathan Auxier
jFICTION Auxier, Jonathan
Kids, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Horror
Irish orphans Molly, fourteen, and Kip, ten, travel to England to work as servants in a crumbling manor house where nothing is quite what it seems to be, and soon the siblings are confronted by a mysterious stranger and secrets of the cursed house.
Added by Anne W
A season for the dead
David Hewson
MYSTERY Hewson, David
Fiction, Mystery
This book is the first in Hewson's series featuring Nic Costa, a Roman police officer. Rome is an old, amazing city, the modern-day inhabitants live side-by-side with the remains of thousands of years of history, and Hewson makes very good use of this. I often find myself looking up things that get mentioned (the Via Appia, the Etruscan blue demon, and Beatrice Cenci are three good examples!) and I'm better for it. The mysteries themselves, while taking place in the current day, relate to some part of Roman history. Coupled with the wonderful fact that there is so much architecture from the past still remaining makes the history, the mystery, and the city come alive in an exciting and enlightening way. -Candice
Murder in the Marais
Cara Black
MYSTERY Black, Cara
Mystery, Fiction
Aimee Leduc, the heroine of this new series set in Paris, specializes in corporate security, but with business in the toilet, she's open to working for a Jewish Nazi hunter. A woman found dead with a swastika carved into her forehead sends Aimee searching for the link between French neo-Nazis, an EU trade agreement, and a killer whose victims span 50 years. The jam-packed plot is occasionally hard to follow (and if readers miss the fact the story is set in 1993, the characters' ages will seem out of whack). But the characterizations are strong, the action nonstop, and the evocation of both occupied Paris and the contemporary city is awash in vivid detail, right down to a tour of the Paris sewers. Most of all, though, it's the rough-and-tumble Aimee who gets this series off to an explosive start.Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews
Cara Black writes mysteries that take place in different parts of Paris, and she takes the time to make the location--its history, its people, its social situation--part of the story. Murder in the Marais is the first in the series that features spiky-haired Aimee Leduc, computer programmer and somewhat unwilling private investigator. Throughout the series a world has developed around the main characters, and Paris comes alive in all of its chaotic glory. -Candice
Added by Frannie