Books with category 🕵️ Detective
Displaying books 1-48 of 255 in total

Sparkling Cyanide

2044

by Agatha Christie

Six people reunite to remember the beautiful Rosemary Barton, who died nearly a year before. Among them are the loving sister, the long-suffering husband, the devoted secretary, the lovers, and the betrayed wife. None of them can forget Rosemary.

But did one of them murder her?

Colonel Race of the British Secret Service, a friend of Hercule Poirot, is on the scene to investigate. As secrets unravel, the truth becomes a tangled web of intrigue and suspense.

Sad Cypress

2040

by Agatha Christie

Beautiful young Elinor Carlisle stood serenely in the dock, accused of the murder of Mary Gerrard, her rival in love. The evidence was damning: only Elinor had the motive, the opportunity, and the means to administer the fatal poison.

Yet, inside the hostile courtroom, only one man still presumed Elinor was innocent until proven guilty: Hercule Poirot was all that stood between Elinor and the gallows...

The Hidden Staircase

2030

by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew is alarmed when Nathan Gombet threatens her father. Gombet sold a piece of land for a railroad bridge through Carson Drew and now believes that he was cheated.

Meanwhile, valuable objects are disappearing from rooms in the Turnbull mansion even while the Turnbull sisters, Rosemary and Florette, are at home in their locked house. Having heard about her reputation for solving mysteries, the sisters invite Nancy Drew to stay in the mansion and discover the thief.

In seeking to solve the mysterious happenings in an old stone mansion, Nancy uses her courage and powers of deduction and tackles a situation that would have appalled a far older person.

The Black Wolf

2025

by Louise Penny

Somewhere out there, in the darkness, a black wolf is feeding.


Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it. A man they called the Black Wolf.


But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned. Did he in fact arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there? Armand is appalled to think his mistake has allowed their conspiracy to grow, to gather supporters. To spread lies, manufacture enemies, and feed hatred and division.


Still recovering from wounds received in stopping the first attack, Armand is confined to the village of Three Pines, leading a covert investigation from there. He must be careful not to let the Black Wolf know he has recognized his mistake. In a quiet church basement, he and his senior agents Beauvoir and Lacoste, pore over what little evidence they have. Two notebooks. A few mysterious numbers on a tattered map of Québec. And a phrase repeated by the person they had called the Grey Wolf. A warning...


In a dry and parched land where there is no water.


Gamache and his small team of supporters realize that for the Black Wolf to have gotten this far, they must have powerful allies, in law enforcement, in industry, in organized crime, in the halls of government.


From the apparent peace of his little village, Gamache finds himself playing a lethal game of cat and mouse with an invisible foe who is gathering forces and preparing to strike.

The Hallmarked Man

The Hallmarked Man is a gripping addition to the Cormoran Strike series. A dismembered corpse is discovered in the vault of a silver shop. Initially thought to be a convicted armed robber, not everyone agrees. Decima Mullins is among those who disagree and seeks the help of private detective Cormoran Strike, convinced that the body is her boyfriend, the father of her newborn, who mysteriously disappeared.

As Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott delve deeper, the case becomes a labyrinth of twists and turns. The silver shop, located beside the Freemasons' Hall, specializes in Masonic silverware. It becomes evident that there are more missing men who could fit the profile of the body found.

Strike faces personal turmoil as well, as Robin seems increasingly committed to her boyfriend, Ryan Murphy, while his own feelings for her grow stronger.

This wonderfully complex novel takes Strike and Robin's story to a thrilling new level, making The Hallmarked Man an unmissable read for fans of this unique series.

Not Quite Dead Yet

2025

by Holly Jackson

In seven days Jet Mason will be dead.

Jet is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. Twenty-seven years old, and back living with her parents, she's still waiting for her life to begin. I'll do it later, she always says. She has time.

Until Halloween night, when she is violently attacked by an unseen intruder, suffering a catastrophic head injury. Doctors are certain that within a week, the injury will trigger a deadly aneurysm.

Jet never thought of herself as having enemies. But now she looks at everyone in a new light: her family, her former best friend turned sister-in-law, her ex-boyfriend.

She has at most seven days, and as her condition deteriorates, she has only her childhood friend Billy for help. But nevertheless, she's absolutely determined to finally finish something:

Jet is going to solve her own murder.

Heartwood

2025

by Amity Gaige

Heartwood takes you on a gripping journey as a search and rescue team races against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.


In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.


At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental.


Heartwood is a gem that tells the story of a lost hiker’s odyssey and provides a moving rendering of each character’s interior journey. The mystery inspires larger questions about the many ways in which we get lost, and how we are found. At its core, Heartwood is a redemptive novel, written with both enormous literary ambition and love.

The Grey Wolf

2024

by Louise Penny

Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning. That's only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin The Grey Wolf.

A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "this might interest you", a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list - and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching. Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. If they fail, the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages.

The Waiting

LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a terrifying serial rapist whose trail has gone cold, with the help of the newest volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: Patrol Officer Maddie Bosch, Harry’s daughter.


Renée Ballard and the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago. The arrested man is only twenty-three, so the genetic link must be familial. It is his father who was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the city of angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles.


Meanwhile, Ballard’s badge, gun, and ID are stolen—a theft she can’t report without giving her enemies in the department the ammunition they need to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, but her solo mission leads her into greater danger than she anticipates. She has no choice but to go outside the department for help, and that leads her to the door of Harry Bosch.


Finally, Ballard takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit. Bosch’s daughter Maddie wants to supplement her work as a patrol officer on the night beat by investigating cases with Ballard. But Renée soon learns that Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city’s library of lost souls.

The Wilds

2024

by Sarah Pearse

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium, comes The Wilds where Detective Elin Warner unravels the mystery behind the chilling disappearance of a young woman.

A perpetual drifter, Kier Templer lives her life on the road. Dubbed "the monster's daughter" after her mother's infamous crime, Kier has left her hometown and twin behind. Kier is haunted by the past, but one thing has always bound her to her brother, Penn: the distinctive maps she designs of the places she's explored. When Kier abruptly goes off-grid without sending him her latest, Penn knows something is seriously wrong.

Elin Warner is on vacation with her brother Isaac in a rugged national park in Portugal—the last place Kier was seen. It's supposed to be a time for the siblings to reconnect, but when Elin discovers Kier's disturbing final map, it seems the park—especially the inhabitants of a camp buried deep in the forest—holds clues to what happened to Kier, and a lot more besides.

After a sinister discovery, Elin is shocked to learn Kier's disappearance is more personal to her than she'd ever imagined. And as she seeks the truth, Elin soon finds the wilderness hides something far darker than shifting shadows…

Breaking the Dark

2024

by Lisa Jewell

In her most imaginative novel yet, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell launches the Marvel Crime series of thriller books for adults with an original story starring the private detective Jessica Jones.

Meet Jessica Jones: Retired superhero, private investigator, loner. She tried her best to be a shiny spandex crimefighter, but that life only led to unspeakable trauma. Now she avoids that world altogether and works on surviving day-to-day in Hell’s Kitchen, New York.

The morning a distraught mother comes into her office, Jessica would prefer to nurse her hangover and try to forget last night’s poor choices. But something about Amber Randall’s story strikes a chord with her. Amber is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don’t act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Amber insists her children have been replaced by something horrible, something “perfect.”

Traveling to a small village in the British countryside, Jessica meets the mysterious Belle, who lives a curiously isolated life in an old farmhouse with a strange woman who claims to be her guardian. Can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for the Randall twins’ new personas? Why does the strange little village of Barton Wallop seem to harbor dark energies and mysteries in its tight-knit community?

A mother’s intuition is never wrong. And Jessica knows that nothing in life is perfect—not these kids, not her on-again, off-again relationship with Luke Cage, and certainly not Jessica herself. But even as she tries to buy into the idea that better days are ahead, Jessica Jones has seen all too clearly that behind every promise of perfection trails a dark, dangerous shadow.

Breaking the Dark, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series, introduces fans to a grittier, street-level side of the Marvel Universe, and will continue with original novels featuring fan-favorite characters like Luke Cage and Daredevil.

The Return of Ellie Black

2024

by Emiko Jean

Detective Chelsey Calhoun's life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but Ellie's reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.

It's been twenty years since Chelsey's sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she's been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey's line of work.

Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.

But something is not right with Ellie. She won't say where she's been, or who she's protecting, and it's up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.

The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page.

Still See You Everywhere

2024

by Lisa Gardner

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner comes a harrowing new installment in the Frankie Elkin series. Frankie Elkin is an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten. However, she couldn't have anticipated the latest request—to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks' time.

No man truly fears a woman. Not even one who is her father's daughter.

The case was sensational. Kaylee Pierson had confessed from the beginning, waived all appeals. She had called herself 'death,' but people called her the devil. Despite the media's chronicling of her tragic circumstances—the childhood spent with a violent father—no one could find sympathy for 'the Beautiful Butcher' who had led eighteen men home from bars before viciously slitting their throats.

Now, with only twenty-one days left to live, Pierson has received a lead on the whereabouts of the sister who was kidnapped over a decade ago. She needs Frankie's help to find her. The Beautiful Butcher's offer: When was the last time your search ended with finding the living?

Unable to resist the chance for a rescue, Frankie takes on Pierson's request. Twelve years ago, five-year-old Leilani went missing in Hawaii. The main suspect? Pierson's tech mogul ex-boyfriend, Sanders MacManus. Now, on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific—the site of MacManus's latest vanity project—fresh evidence has appeared. To learn the truth and possibly save a young woman's life, Frankie must go undercover at the isolated base camp. A dozen strangers. Countless dangerous secrets. Zero means of calling for help. And then the storm rolls in…

End of Story

2024

by A. J. Finn

“I’ll be dead in three months. Come tell my story.”

So writes Sebastian Trapp, reclusive mystery novelist, to his longtime correspondent Nicky Hunter, an expert in detective fiction. With mere months to live, Trapp invites Nicky to his spectacular San Francisco mansion to help draft his life story . . . living alongside his beautiful second wife, Diana; his wayward nephew, Freddy; and his protective daughter, Madeleine. Soon Nicky finds herself caught in an irresistible case of real-life “detective fever.”

“You and I might even solve an old mystery or two.”

Twenty years earlier—on New Year’s Eve 1999—Sebastian’s first wife and teenaged son vanished from different locations, never to be seen again. Did the perfect crime writer commit the perfect crime? And why has he emerged from seclusion, two decades later, to allow a stranger to dig into his past?

“Life is hard. After all, it kills you.”

As Nicky attempts to weave together the strands of Sebastian’s life, she becomes obsessed with discovering the truth . . . while Madeleine begins to question what her beloved father might actually know about that long-ago night. And when a corpse appears in the family’s koi pond, both women are shocked to find that the past isn’t gone—it’s just waiting.

Holly

2023

by Stephen King

Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King's most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

"Sometimes the universe throws you a rope." — BILL HODGES

Stephen King's Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly's gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges's partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King's new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl's desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.

Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie's disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.

Treacherous Estate

2023

by Behcet Kaya

In Treacherous Estate, award-winning author Behcet Kaya introduces us to Jack Ludefance, a P.I. who lives aboard his 57-foot houseboat in the Florida Panhandle and keeps an alligator for security. Written from Jack's first-person point of view; his commentary is frequently terse and self-deprecating. He is a man who knows his limitations and honest enough to admit them, but rarely indulges in self-pity. Unlucky in love and sometimes a bit awkward with women, he has the outward scar on his face from wrestling with a gator as a kid and the inward scar of the loss of his wife to divorce.

While enjoying his usual Friday night after dinner beer at a local restaurant, Jack's evening is suddenly shattered when a beautiful young woman sits down next to him, whispers, "Can you help me, Mr. Ludef...?" then falls dead. When her death is ruled 'natural', Jack begins to investigate why she came to him desperately seeking his help. To complicate matters, her husband is a prominent, highly respected local businessman. As Jack unravels the pieces to the unsolved puzzle, the more heinous the crimes of the dead woman's husband become and Jack finds his own life is in danger.

The Big Four

2023

by Agatha Christie

Framed in the doorway of Poirot’s bedroom stood an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man’s gaunt face stared for a moment, then he swayed and fell. Who was he? Was he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? Above all, what was the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper?

Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life to uncover the truth about ‘Number Four’. The story unfolds as Poirot, alongside his faithful assistant Hastings, follows clues and outmaneuvers a cabal of international criminals.

In this action-packed mystery, Poirot's brilliance is put to the test as he faces formidable foes, including a brilliant Chinese criminal mastermind, an American multi-millionaire, a beautiful Frenchwoman scientist, and "the destroyer," a ruthless murderer with a genius for disguise. Will Poirot succeed in foiling "The Big Four" and prevent their plan for world dominance?

Silent Scream

2022

by Angela Marsons

Even the darkest secrets can’t stay buried forever…

Five figures gather around a shallow grave. They had all taken turns to dig. An adult-sized hole would have taken longer. An innocent life had been taken, but the pact had been made. Their secrets would be buried, bound in blood

Years later, a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the first in a spate of gruesome murders which shock the Black Country. But when human remains are discovered at a former children’s home, disturbing secrets are also unearthed.

D.I. Kim Stone quickly realizes she’s on the hunt for a twisted individual whose killing spree spans decades. As the body count rises, Kim needs to stop the murderer before they strike again. But to catch the killer, can Kim confront the demons of her own past before it’s too late?

The Seven Dials Mystery

2022

by Agatha Christie

Gerry Wade had proved himself to be a champion sleeper, so the other houseguests decided to play a practical joke on him. Eight alarm clocks were set to go off, one after the other, starting at 6:30 a.m.

But when morning arrived, one clock was missing and the prank then backfired, with tragic consequences. For Jimmy Thesiger in particular, the words "Seven Dials" were to take on a new and chilling significance...

Join Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brent and friends as they unravel this mystery and discover why a heavy sleeper would die of an overdose of a sleeping draught. Why were there only seven of the eight clocks found, neatly and sinisterly arranged on the mantelpiece? The answers lie within the enigmatic Seven Dials Society.

The Valley of Fear

The Valley of Fear is the last novel by Arthur Conan Doyle where the reader meets Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective. He and Doctor Watson arrive at a country manor to investigate a possible murder. After receiving a coded message, Holmes links the murder to the name in the message.

Clue by clue, our friends get closer to Holmes’ arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty. It is a brilliantly executed mystery, riddled with sufficient evidence and compelling, plot-driven structure. Detective fiction enthusiasts will not be disappointed.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. After his studies, he worked as a ship’s surgeon on various boats. During the Second Boer War, he was an army doctor in South Africa. When he came back to the United Kingdom, he opened his own practice and started writing crime books. He is best known for his thrilling stories about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. He published four novels and more than 50 short stories starring the detective and Dr. Watson, and they play an important role in the history of crime fiction. Other than the Sherlock Holmes series, Doyle wrote around thirty more books, in genres such as science fiction, fantasy, historical novels, but also poetry, plays, and non-fiction.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

2021

by Holly Jackson

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure.

When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets

2020

by Nancy Springer

Everyone knows Dr. Watson is Sherlock Holmes' right-hand man - so when he goes missing, it's a shock. Even Sherlock hasn't, well, the slightest clue as to where he could be. Enola is intrigued, but weary; she's still hiding from her older brothers - and getting involved could be disastrous.

But when a bizarre bouquet shows up at the Watson residence, full of convolvulus, hawthorn, and white poppies, Enola must act. She dons her most discerning disguise yet to find the sender - and quickly, for Enola knows the blossoms symbolize death!

Hold your breath, because Enola's about to take it away. The stakes are higher and the mystery deeper than ever before in this third installment of this Edgar Award nominated, critically acclaimed series.

The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline

2020

by Nancy Springer

Enola's landlady, Mrs. Tupper, is the closest thing Enola has to family these days, besides her occasional run-ins with her brother Sherlock. Even though Mrs. Tupper is nearly deaf and can barely cook, she's an endearing presence as Enola longs for her absent mother. So imagine her horror when Enola comes home to find Mrs. Tupper kidnapped!

Who would take her, and why? And what does Florence Nightingale have to do with it? From the master of mystery, Nancy Springer, here's another absorbing adventure for our unstoppable heroine, Enola Holmes.

The Innocence of Father Brown

2020

by G.K. Chesterton

The Innocence of Father Brown introduces readers to the charming and insightful Roman Catholic priest, Father Brown. With his shapeless clothes and large umbrella, he may appear unassuming, but he possesses an uncanny insight into human evil.

Chesterton crafted Father Brown as a character who is both amusing and ingenious, a direct challenge to the conventional detective. After publishing Orthodoxy, Chesterton moved to Beaconsfield and met Father O'Connor, whose shrewd insight into the darker side of human nature inspired the creation of Father Brown.

This first collection of Father Brown stories is a delightful read, filled with intriguing mysteries and clever solutions. Father Brown's adventures are a testament to Chesterton's love for the character and his skill in storytelling.

If Shadows Could Tell: an Aurora Steller mystery novel

2020

by Granthana Sinha

When Janet Clay's body is found in a local gym pool, every authority dismisses it as just another case of drug-overdose. Ridden by the guilt of not being able to save the young journalist while she still had a chance, Aurora Steller visits the memorial service, only to end up suspecting that things aren't as simple as they appear.

Her determination to find out the truth only draws her further into an intricate web of greed and deceit, where some will stop at nothing to protect their well-crafted masks. With several events unfolding around her, it becomes terrifyingly clear that more lives might have been lost already.

Suddenly, her beautiful, sleepy little town seems to be harvesting some sinister secrets; every fact seems tainted with lies; everyone she loves is in mortal danger.

With no evidence, no witness, and very few allies, Aurora must risk everything, including her own life, to uncover the truth and bring justice to the numerous shattered lives before it's too late...

Nine Elms

2019

by Robert Bryndza

From the breakthrough international bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice, comes a breathtaking, page-turning novel about a disgraced female detective’s fight for redemption. And survival…

Kate Marshall was a promising young police detective when she caught the notorious Nine Elms serial killer. But her greatest victory suddenly turned into a nightmare. Traumatized, betrayed, and publicly vilified for the shocking circumstances surrounding the cannibal murder case, Kate could only watch as her career ended in scandal.

Fifteen years after those catastrophic events, Kate is still haunted by the unquiet ghosts of her troubled past. Now a lecturer at a small coastal English university, she finally has a chance to face them. A copycat killer has taken up the Nine Elms mantle, continuing the ghastly work of his idol.

Enlisting her brilliant research assistant, Tristan Harper, Kate draws on her prodigious and long-neglected skills as an investigator to catch a new monster. Success promises redemption, but there’s much more on the line: Kate was the original killer’s intended fifth victim…and his successor means to finish the job.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is a gripping tale of a real-life murder that inspired the birth of modern detective fiction. In June 1860, three-year-old Saville Kent was tragically found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. This horrific crime shocked all of England and sparked a national obsession with detection. Ironically, it nearly destroyed the career of perhaps the greatest detective of the time, Inspector Jonathan Whicher.

At the time, detectives were a new invention; there were only eight in all of England, and they were rarely called out of London. Yet, this crime was so appalling that Scotland Yard dispatched its best man, Inspector Whicher, to investigate.

Whicher quickly suspected the unthinkable: someone within the family was responsible for young Saville Kent's murder. However, without sufficient evidence or a confession, his case remained circumstantial, and he returned to London a broken man. Though he would be vindicated five years later, the true legacy of Jonathan Whicher endures in fiction: the tough, quirky, knowing, and all-seeing detective archetype that has captivated readers for generations.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is a provocative work of nonfiction that reads like a Victorian thriller. In it, Kate Summerscale crafts a brilliant, multilayered narrative that is as cleverly constructed as it is beautifully written.

The 19th Christmas

It's not sleigh bells that are ringing this Christmas.

As the holidays approach, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends in the Women's Murder Club have much to celebrate. Crime is down. The medical examiner's office is quiet. Even the courts are showing some Christmas spirit. And the news cycle is so slow that journalist Cindy Thomas is on assignment to tell a story about the true meaning of the season for San Francisco.

Then a fearsome criminal known only as "Loman" seizes control of the headlines. He is planning a deadly surprise for Christmas morning. And he has commissioned dozens of criminal colleagues to take actions that will mask his plans. All that Lindsay and the SFPD can figure out is that Loman's greed—for riches, for bloodshed, for attention—is limitless.

Solving crimes never happens on schedule, but as this criminal mastermind unleashes credible threats by the hour, the month of December is upended for the Women's Murder Club. Avoiding tragedy is the only holiday miracle they seek.

The Likeness

2019

by Tana French

In the compelling (The Boston Globe) and pitch perfect (Entertainment Weekly) follow-up to Tana French’s runaway bestseller In the Woods, it's six months later and Cassie Maddox has transferred out of the Dublin Murder Squad with no plans to go back—until an urgent telephone call summons her to a grisly crime scene. The victim looks exactly like Cassie and carries ID identifying herself as Alexandra Madison, an alias Cassie once used as an undercover cop. Cassie must discover not only who killed this girl, but, more importantly, who was this girl?

The Red Hand

Someone is experimenting with...Death! Rookie detective Frank Nagler has barely had time to arrange his desk, when a new homicide case is assigned to him. Could a serial killer be stalking his hometown of Ironton, N.J.?

One by one the bodies pile up. Nine victims are killed over several months, all from different walks of life and different parts of Ironton. Each killed in a different way, forming no clear pattern, as might be expected from a single killer.

The Red Hand is the prequel to The Swamps of Jersey, the book that launched the Frank Nagler Mysteries. This investigation takes place before economic hard times, political corruption and a government money scandal hit the former industrial center of Ironton, N.J.

This story is atmospheric, moody, dark and thrilling.

Lethal White

Lethal White is a gripping mystery and a thrilling installment in the ongoing story of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. Written by the international bestselling author Robert Galbraith, this novel is a masterpiece of suspense and intrigue.

When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike's office, he asks for help investigating a crime he believes he witnessed as a child. Billy is clearly mentally distressed and cannot recall many concrete details, yet there is something sincere and compelling about his story. Before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from the office in panic.

Determined to uncover the truth behind Billy's story, Strike and Robin Ellacott—once his assistant, now a partner in the agency—embark on a twisting journey. Their investigation leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.

Throughout this labyrinthine investigation, Strike's own life is far from straightforward. His newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Moreover, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than ever. Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much trickier than that.

This novel is a testament to Galbraith's wizardry as a writer, offering readers both a captivating mystery and an engaging continuation of the Cormoran Strike series.

One Small Sacrifice

2019

by Hilary Davidson

An apparent suicide. A mysterious disappearance. Did one man get away with murder—twice?

NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has had her eye on Alex Traynor ever since his friend Cori fell to her death under suspicious circumstances a year ago. Cori’s death was ruled a suicide, but Sheryn thinks Alex—a wartime photojournalist suffering from PTSD—got away with murder.

When Alex’s fiancée, Emily, a talented and beloved local doctor, suddenly goes missing, Sheryn suspects that Alex is again at the center of a sticky case. Sheryn dislikes loose ends, and Cori’s death had way too many of them.

But as Sheryn starts pulling at the threads in this web, her whole theory unravels. Everyone involved remembers the night Cori died differently—and the truth about her death could be the key to solving Emily’s disappearance.

Thin Air

2019

by Lisa Gray

She investigates missing persons—now she is one.

Private investigator Jessica Shaw is used to getting anonymous tips. But after receiving a photo of a three-year-old kidnapped from Los Angeles twenty-five years ago, Jessica is stunned to recognize the little girl as herself.

Eager for answers, Jessica heads to LA’s dark underbelly. When she learns that her biological mother was killed the night she was abducted, Jessica’s determined to solve a case the police have forgotten. Meanwhile, veteran LAPD detective Jason Pryce is in the midst of a gruesome investigation into a murdered college student moonlighting as a prostitute. A chance encounter leads to them crossing paths, but Jessica soon realizes that Pryce is hiding something about her father’s checkered history and her mother’s death.

To solve her mother’s murder and her own disappearance, Jessica must dig into the past and find the secrets buried there. But the air gets thinner as she crawls closer to the truth, and it’s getting harder and harder to breathe.

Blood for Blood

2019

by Victoria Selman

Ziba Mackenzie profiles killers. Now one is profiling her.

Rush hour, London. A packed commuter train is torn apart in a collision. Picking through the carnage, ex-special forces profiler Ziba MacKenzie helps a dying woman who passes on a cryptic message: He did it. You have to tell someone.

When a corpse is found bearing the gruesome signature of a serial killer dormant for twenty-five years, Ziba is pulled into the hunt for the perpetrator. As the body count rises it becomes clear he’s on a new spree. But what’s brought the London Lacerator back after such a long hiatus? And does his sudden return have anything to do with the woman on the train?

Ziba scrambles to profile the killer in the hope of predicting his next move. But time is running out. And the closer she gets to uncovering his identity, the closer he gets to destroying hers.

The Scopas Factor

A Hmong "story cloth," a Revolutionary War battle flag, forged Picassos and a Russian drug dealer—finding the link between these disparate elements is the challenge Mike Hegan faces in The Scopas Factor, the latest mystery from Vincent Panettiere.

After his last investigation ends tragically, Detective Mike Hegan returns to Chicago from St. Kitts, hoping to put everything behind him. But his girlfriend, Diana, has other plans, and although he has no interest in the job opportunity she presents him—in a small northern California town, no less—he wants to please her. Upon his arrival in Weedley, he's caught up in a kidnapping and two murders. A visit to Diana's family in San Francisco only serves to deepen the mystery, as her father might be the link to a gang of antiquities thieves that might have something to do with the crimes in Weedley. And when Diana's father disappears, Hegan takes off for Antibes in southern France, where he discovers that the mystery has only just begun.

Long Road to Mercy

2018

by David Baldacci

Introducing a remarkable new character from #1 New York Times bestselling writer David Baldacci: Atlee Pine, an FBI agent with special skills assigned to the remote wilds of the southwestern United States who must confront a new threat... and an old nightmare.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by its toe.
It's seared into Atlee Pine's memory: the kidnapper's chilling rhyme as he chose between six-year-old Atlee and her twin sister, Mercy. Mercy was taken. Atlee was spared. She never saw Mercy again.

Three decades after that terrifying night, Atlee Pine works for the FBI. She's the lone agent assigned to the Shattered Rock, Arizona resident agency, which is responsible for protecting the Grand Canyon. So when one of the Grand Canyon's mules is found stabbed to death at the bottom of the canyon—and its rider missing—Pine is called in to investigate.

It soon seems clear the lost tourist had something more clandestine than sightseeing in mind. But just as Pine begins to put together clues pointing to a terrifying plot, she's abruptly called off the case. If she disobeys direct orders by continuing to search for the missing man, it will mean the end of her career. But unless Pine keeps working the case and discovers the truth, it could spell the very end of democracy in America as we know it...

Dark Sacred Night

LAPD Detective Renée Ballard teams up with Harry Bosch in this thrilling novel by the #1 NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly.

Renée Ballard is working the night beat again and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours, only to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. This intruder is none other than retired detective Harry Bosch, who is working on a cold case that has deeply affected him.

Ballard initially kicks him out, but her curiosity and empathy soon lead her to delve into the case herself. The investigation centers around the tragic death of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally murdered and discarded like trash.

Now, Ballard joins forces with Bosch to uncover the truth behind Daisy's murder and to bring her killer to justice. Together, they navigate through a complex web of clues and danger, driven by a shared determination to solve the case.

Past Tense

2018

by Lee Child

Jack Reacher plans to follow the autumn sun on an epic road trip across America, from Maine to California. He doesn't get far. On a country road deep in the New England woods, he sees a sign to a place he has never been - the town where his father was born. He thinks, what's one extra day? He takes the detour.

At the very same moment, close by, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians are trying to get to New York City to sell a treasure. They are stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. It's a strange place ... but it's all there is.

The next morning in the city clerk's office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He's told no one named Reacher ever lived in that town. He knows his father never went back. Now he wonders, was he ever there in the first place?

So begins another nail-biting, adrenaline-fuelled adventure for Reacher. The present can be tense, but the past can be worse. That's for damn sure.

Hangman

2018

by Daniel Cole

How do you catch a killer who's already dead?

Eighteen months have passed, but the scars the Ragdoll murders left behind remain. DCI Emily Baxter is summoned to a meeting with US Special Agents Elliot Curtis of the FBI and Damien Rouche of the CIA. There, she is presented with photographs of the latest copycat murder: a body contorted into a familiar pose, strung up impossibly on the other side of the world, the word BAIT carved deep into its chest.

As the media pressure intensifies, Baxter is ordered to assist with the investigation and attend the scene of another murder to discover the same word scrawled across the victim, carved across the corpse of the killer - PUPPET.

As the murders continue to grow in both spectacle and depravity on both sides of the Atlantic, the team helplessly play catch up. Their only hope: to work out who the 'BAIT' is intended for, how the 'PUPPETS' are chosen but, most importantly of all, who is holding the strings.

The 17th Suspect

Sergeant Lindsay Boxer puts her life on the line to protect San Francisco from a shrewd and unpredictable killer.

When a series of shootings exposes San Francisco to a mysterious killer, a reluctant woman decides to put her trust in Sergeant Lindsay Boxer. The confidential informant's tip leads Lindsay to a disturbing conclusion: something has gone horribly wrong inside the police department.

The hunt for the killer lures Lindsay out of her jurisdiction and impacts her in dangerous ways. She suffers unsettling medical symptoms, and her friends in the Women's Murder Club warn her against taking the crimes to heart. But with lives at stake, the detective can't help but follow the case into terrifying terrain.

A decorated officer, loving wife, devoted mother, and loyal friend, Lindsay has always acted with unwavering integrity. But now she is confronting a killer who is determined to undermine it all.

The Robots of Dawn

2018

by Isaac Asimov

A millennium into the future, two advances have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the Galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together.

Detective Elijah Baley is called to the Spacer world Aurora to solve a bizarre case of roboticide. The prime suspect is a gifted roboticist who had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to commit the crime. There's only one catch: Baley and his positronic partner, R. Daneel Olivaw, must prove the man innocent.

For in a case of political intrigue and love between woman and robot gone tragically wrong, there's more at stake than simple justice. This time Baley's career, his life, and Earth's right to pioneer the Galaxy lie in the delicate balance.

The Midnight Line

2017

by Lee Child

Reacher takes a stroll through a small Wisconsin town and sees a class ring in a pawn shop window: West Point 2005. A tough year to graduate: Iraq, then Afghanistan. The ring is tiny, for a woman, and it has her initials engraved on the inside. Reacher wonders what unlucky circumstance made her give up something she earned over four hard years. He decides to find out. And find the woman. And return her ring. Why not?

So begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness.

The deeper Reacher digs, and the more he learns, the more dangerous the terrain becomes. Turns out the ring was just a small link in a far darker chain. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Some lines should never be crossed. But then, neither should Reacher.

Close to Home

2017

by Robert Dugoni

New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni’s acclaimed series continues as Tracy Crosswhite is thrown headlong into the path of a killer conspiracy.

While investigating the hit-and-run death of a young boy, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite makes a startling discovery: the suspect is an active-duty serviceman at a local naval base. After a key piece of case evidence goes missing, he is cleared of charges in a military court. But Tracy knows she can’t turn her back on this kind of injustice.

When she uncovers the driver’s ties to a rash of recent heroin overdoses in the city, she realizes that this isn’t just a case of the military protecting its own. It runs much deeper than that, and the accused wasn’t acting alone. For Tracy, it’s all hitting very close to home.

As Tracy moves closer to uncovering the truth behind this insidious conspiracy, she’s putting herself in harm’s way. And the only people she can rely on to make it out alive might be those she can no longer trust.

The Fourth Monkey

2017

by J.D. Barker

For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive.

As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.

With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out and the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written fast-paced thriller.

Say You're Sorry

2017

by Melinda Leigh

In a new series from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh, former prosecutor Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she’s finally found peace and a promising career opportunity—until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.

Tessa was the ultimate girl next door, and the community is outraged by her death. But Morgan has known Nick for years and can’t believe he’s guilty, despite the damning evidence stacked against him. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye, for help. Taking on the town, the police, and a zealous DA, Morgan and Lance plunge into the investigation, determined to find the real killer. But as they uncover secrets that rock the community, they become targets for the madman hiding in plain sight.

The Last of August

Watson and Holmes: A match made in disaster. Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are looking for a winter-break reprieve after a fall semester that almost got them killed. But Charlotte isn’t the only Holmes with secrets, and the mood at her family’s Sussex estate is palpably tense.

On top of everything else, Holmes and Watson could be becoming more than friends—but still, the darkness in Charlotte’s past is a wall between them. A distraction arises soon enough, because Charlotte’s beloved uncle Leander goes missing from the estate—after being oddly private about his latest assignment in a German art forgery ring.

The game is afoot once again, and Charlotte is single-minded in her pursuit. Their first stop? Berlin. Their first contact? August Moriarty (formerly Charlotte’s obsession, currently believed by most to be dead), whose powerful family has been ripping off famous paintings for the last hundred years.

But as they follow the gritty underground scene in Berlin to glittering art houses in Prague, Holmes and Watson begin to realize that this is a much more complicated case than a disappearance. Much more dangerous, too. What they learn might change everything they know about their families, themselves, and each other.

Tiger and the Robot (Chandler Gray #1)

2017

by Grahame Shannon

She lives in the cloud, and travels in a phone. She’s Saga, Artificial Intelligence Detective. The exciting action of the Swiftsure Yacht race launches an adventure which ranges from the urban landscape of Vancouver to the wild islands of Alaska. Chandler Gray, a sailor and software developer, has created Saga (Say-Gah), an Artificial Intelligence app which emulates the powers of fiction’s greatest detectives.

A chance encounter with the wealthy, glamorous Gina Lee, leads to an invitation to sail on her yacht in the Swiftsure race. When Gina is kidnapped, Saga falsely claims Chan is a Private Investigator, and he takes on the rescue. Sometimes bumbling, but always determined, Chan and Saga roll through adventures in flight, at sea, and on the ground. With a band of friends providing support, and sometimes derision, Chan doggedly pursues the truth, no matter where it leads.

The quest leads to piracy in the Aleutians, a Land Rover attacked in the backwoods of Vancouver Island, and a lover’s betrayal. Saga’s remarkable abilities don't always lead in the right direction, and her sassy attitude sometimes annoys Chan, but in the end, they make an effective team.

The Kept Woman

2016

by Karin Slaughter

Husbands and wives. Mothers and daughters. The past and the future.

Secrets bind them. And secrets can destroy them.

The author of Pretty Girls returns with an electrifying, emotionally complex thriller that plunges its fascinating protagonist into the darkest depths of a mystery that just might destroy him. With the discovery of a murder at an abandoned construction site, Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is brought in on a case that becomes much more dangerous when the dead man is identified as an ex-cop.

Studying the body, Sara Linton—the GBI’s newest medical examiner and Will’s lover—realizes that the extensive blood loss didn't belong to the corpse. Sure enough, bloody footprints leading away from the scene indicate there is another victim—a woman—who has vanished . . . and who will die soon if she isn’t found.

Will is already compromised, because the site belongs to the city’s most popular citizen: a wealthy, powerful, and politically connected athlete protected by the world’s most expensive lawyers—a man who’s already gotten away with rape, despite Will’s exhaustive efforts to put him away.

But the worst is yet to come. Evidence soon links Will’s troubled past to the case . . . and the consequences will tear through his life with the force of a tornado, wreaking havoc for Will and everyone around him, including his colleagues, family, friends—and even the suspects he pursues.

Relentlessly suspenseful and furiously paced, peopled with conflicted, fallible characters who leap from the page, The Kept Woman is a seamless blend of twisty police procedural and ingenious psychological thriller—a searing, unforgettable novel of love, loss, and redemption.

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