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Celebrate Black History Month in February
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Edge
by Tracy Clark
Chicago's finest are scouring the city for a tainted new opioid making the rounds, but they're coming up empty. With five people already dead--a college kid, a new mother, and three poker players--all they really know is the drug's name: Edge. Where it's coming from is still anyone's guess. Detective Harriet Foster doesn't have time for guessing games. She needs answers. And when the next overdose hits Homicide where it hurts most, Harri is determined to get what she wants. But keeping her eyes squarely on the prize proves harder than expected. Still reeling from her last case (and the stain of suspicion it left on her career), Harri finds herself at a tipping point ug isn't the only edge she needs to worry about. If she can't come back from her own, there's no telling whether this investigation will lead to a satisfying conclusion...or her own demise--
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King of Ashes
by S. A. Cosby
When eldest son Roman Carruthers is summoned home after his father's car accident, he finds his younger brother Dante in debt to dangerous criminals and his sister Neveah exhausted from holding the family--and the family business--together. Neveah and their father, who run the Carruthers Crematorium in the run-down central Virginia town of Jefferson Run, see death up close every day. But mortality draws even closer when it becomes clear that the crash that landed their father in a coma was no accident and Dante's recklessness has placed them all in real danger. Roman, a financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, has some money to help buy his brother out of trouble. But in his work with wannabe tough guys, he's forgotten that there are real gangsters out there.
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Watch Where They Hide
by Tamron Hall
After dropping her child off at preschool, Marla Hancock, a stay-at-home mother, disappears. She had recently left her verbally abusive husband in rural Indiana and moved in with her sister, Shelly, who simply can't believe that her sister would ever willingly vanish without her children. But with limited support from the town's police department or media resources, Shelly fears that Marla's disappearance won't get the attention it deserves, or worse, will go unsolved. So, several weeks after filing a missing person's report, she reaches out to TV journalist Jordan Manning for help. After her investigative and reporting skills helped solve multiple murders, Jordan Manning's career in the newsroom is on the rise yet she still feels pressure to prove herself as a young Black professional. When Shelly reaches out, she feels compelled to do all she can to find Marla. Jordan's search twists and turns in ways she could never have imagined, illuminating scandals and secrets that place her own life in grave danger.
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While We Were Burning
by Sara Koffi
After her best friend's mysterious death, Elizabeth Smith's picture-perfect life in the Memphis suburbs has spiraled out of control-so much so that she hires a personal assistant to keep her on track. Composed and elegant, Brianna is exactly who she needs and slides so neatly into Elizabeth's life, almost like she belonged there from the start. Soon, the assistant Elizabeth hired to distract her from her obsession with her friend's death is the same person working with her to uncover the truth behind it. Because Brianna has questions too. She wants to know why the police killed her young Black son. Why someone in Elizabeth's neighborhood called the cops on him that day. Who took that first step that stole her child away from her. And the only way she's ever going to be able to find out is to entwine herself deep into Elizabeth's life, where the answers to her questions lie. As the two women hurtle towards an electrifying final showdown, and the lines between employer and friend blur, it becomes clear that neither of them is what they first appear.
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Guide Me Home
by Attica Locke
Facing a possible indictment, Black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews quits his job. Then his estranged mom tells him the only Black member of the sorority she cleans for has disappeared, leading Darren to investigate in this atmospheric finale to the Highway 59 trilogy.
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The Kill List
by Nadine Matheson
He will come for them, one by one...Five shocking murders Twenty-five years ago, DCI Harry Rhimes arrested Andrew Streeter for the brutal murders of five young people. Streeter's kill list of victims was found in his home, and he was convicted of all five crimes. A legacy under threat Now, Streeter's convictions are being overturned, as new evidence implies the original investigation was corrupt. No one is more shocked than DI Henley. Because this case is personal; Rhimes was her old boss, and he's no longer alive to defend himself. But when the killings start up again, Henley must face the truth: Rhimes got it wrong twenty-five years ago. A hunt for a killer Henley and her team reopen the original murder cases, but they must put their personal feelings to one side. Because the real killer is still out there, and he's working his way through a new kill list.
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Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right
by Walter Mosley
In his 3rd outing, New York PI Joe King Oliver juggles complex family cases. First, a billionaire hires him to locate his young daughter, whom his 2nd wife has disappeared with. Then, Joe's 94-year-old grandmother wants him to find her ex-con son, who's the father Joe hasn't seen in years.
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Murder in Berkeley Square
by Vanessa Riley
On Christmas Eve 1806, biracial Lady Abigail Worthing is given a carriage ride across snowy London by her handsome neighbor. But a supposedly quick stop finds them snowed in at the home of Lord Charles Duncan, a powerful magistrate, and then they find a body in this 3rd Lady Worthing mystery.
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Eagle Rock
by Ian K. Smith
Billionaire Elliott Kantor, who ruled over a mammoth real estate portfolio in Chicago, was a creature of habit. His trainer came to his house three mornings every week for a five-thirty workout. By six-thirty he was in the car and his driver drove him down into the city where he'd get a shave and trim from his barber every morning, then head over to his offices on Wacker. He always ate breakfast at his desk, had two young assistants who tended to his every whim and demand, then spent all day in and out of meetings growing a business that had already made him one of the wealthiest men in the country. There were few surprises in his world. Or so everyone thought, until Kantor died in his sleep at age 77, leaving behind a vast fortune and grieving wife, son, and five grandchildren. When Simon Kantor enlists Ashe Cayne to explore his father's death, the probing private investigator learns there was plenty of activities Elliott participated in after hours, including a sex traffic ring. And as Ashe and readers will discover this is only the beginning, and as our hero dives deeper and deeper into Elliott's hidden world, this may be the end for the intrepid Mr. Cayne.
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Hunting Ava
by Kiki Swinson
She was once the best luxury car thief in the game, but Ava Frost paid a high price when her children were stolen. Forced to confront her ruthless ex-boss Nick, she uncovered his devious silent partner in the kidnapping: her seemingly loving, seemingly wealthy husband Kevin. Now Ava is making a new life with her children several states away from her former suburban life. She's also struggling to help her young son heal from their traumatic ordeal. So when her soon-to-be ex-husband pressures her to return his part of the ransom, Ava pushes back hard. Along with a secret life insurance policy Kevin took out on her, Ava soon realizes she's worth way more to him dead than alive. And when she learns he's set Nick's vengeful sister and her murderous gangster husband on her trail, she must go up against an overwhelming enemy who will never stop hunting her or her kids.
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The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum
by Valerie Wilson Wesley
1926: Harriet Stone, a liberated, educated Black woman, and Lovey, the orphaned, biracial 12-year-old she is bound to protect, are Harlem-bound, embarking on a new, hopefully less traumatic chapter in their lives. They have been invited to move from Connecticut by Harriet's cousin, Junetta Plum, who runs a boardinghouse for independent-minded single women. It's a bold move, since Harriet has never met Junetta, but the fatalities of the Spanish flu and other tragedies have already forced her and Lovey to face their worst fears. Alone but for each other, they have little left to lose--or so it seems as they arrive at sophisticated Junetta's impressive brownstone. Her cousin has a sharp edge, which makes Harriett slightly uncomfortable. Still, after retiring to her room for the night, she finally falls asleep--only to awaken to Junetta arguing with someone downstairs. In the morning, she makes a shocking discovery at the foot of the stairs. What ensues will lead Harriet to question Junetta's very identity--and to wonder if she and Lovey are in danger, as well. It will also tie Harriet to five strangers. Among them, Harriet is sure someone knows something. What she doesn't yet know is that one will play a crucial role in helping her investigate her cousin's murder . . . that she will be tied to the others in ways she could never imagine . . . and that her life will take off in a startling new direction.
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| The Queen Who Came in from the Cold by S.J. BennettIn 1961 England, Queen Elizabeth II and her private secretary Joan discreetly investigate after a lady-in-waiting claims she saw men disposing of a body on the royal train. Before it's all sorted, the queen travels on the royal yacht around the Mediterranean and helps a Soviet defector. This fun 5th outing for the queen and Joan works for newcomers. |
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| Everyone in the Group Chat Dies by L.M. ChiltonA year after the death of Esme, a true-crime influencer obsessed with a 1990s serial killer, a text arrives from her: "Everyone in the group chat dies." The group, made up of former 20-something flatmates in small-town England, includes aspiring journalist Kirby Cornell, and when members start dying, she tries to figure out what's going on. |
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| The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie GodfreyIn 1979, 12-year-old Miv lives with her lonely father, her opinionated Aunty Jean, and her mother, who had a breakdown and no longer speaks. With the (real-life) Yorkshire Ripper terrorizing the area, curious Miv investigates with her loyal best friend. Though steeped in crime, this isn't as much a traditional mystery as an atmospheric coming-of-age tale. Great for book clubs, it explores friendship, community, prejudice, and loss. |
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| Fever Beach by Carl HiaasenDale Figgo has been kicked out of the Proud Boys for stupidity (he mistakenly vandalized a Confederate statue), but propped up by a congressman and a couple of billionaires, he aims to make the new far-right Strokers for Liberty a success. Mix in money laundering, child labor, a disgruntled wealth director, a rich social justice warrior, fake dating, and more. |
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| Silent Bones by Val McDermidIn 2025 Scotland, a motorway landslide unearths the body of investigative journalist Sam Nimmo, who'd gone missing 11 years ago after his girlfriend was murdered. In her compelling 8th outing, DCI Karen Pirie of Police Scotland's Historic Cases Unit digs into the case that has ties to Scottish independence, gambling, and Edinburgh's the Scotsman Steps. |
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| The Burning Grounds by Abir MukherjeeIn 1920s Calcutta, India, where the dead are burned by the river, a popular British philanthropist is found murdered. Police detective Sam Wyndham is assigned to the case, giving him a chance to reignite the career he sacrificed to help his wrongly accused colleague, Surendranath Banerjee. Meanwhile, Banerjee has returned from Europe to look for his missing cousin, leading the two to reunite in order to help each other in their gritty, intricately plotted 6th outing. |
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| The Botanist's Assistant by Peggy TownsendRoutine-loving 50-something Margaret Finch is dedicated to her job helping a talented botanist at a small university. But when he dies and it's said to be natural causes, Margaret disagrees, noticing small things that make her sure it was murder. With the help of a former journalist turned custodian, Margaret investigates, turning her precise world upside down. |
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| Beartooth by Callan WinkIn Montana's rugged Beartooth mountains, two brothers, 27-year-old Thad and 26-year-old Hazen, try to survive while burdened by their dead father's medical bills and a falling-apart off-the-grid house. Luckily, they know how to hunt and deal with the elements. Not so luckily, their long-gone mom reappears and a local man tempts Hazen into illegally gathering elk horns in this gritty, evocative crime novel. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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