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The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives
by Elizabeth Arnott
Beverley, Elsie, and Margot are not your average housewives. They are all wives of convicted serial killers. In sun-drenched California during the summer of 1966, the three women form an unlikely friendship after the discoveries of their husbands' brutal crimes. With their exes--some of California's most infamous convicted serial killers--dead or behind bars, they are attempting to forge a new future for themselves. Headstrong Beverley compulsively tries to maintain control of everything around her, all the while raising two children. Bookish Elsie fights day in and day out for the chance to make a name for herself in the newsroom, working around the men who sneer at her journalistic career goals. Glamorous Margot refuses to take anything seriously and devotes all her energy toward maintaining appearances that everything is fine--anything to quell her shame that her husband deceived her. They know people look at them and think only one thing: how could they not have known, when their husbands were right under their noses, committing horrific crimes? How much guilt is theirs to carry? And yet, when a string of killings hits the news, the three women--underestimated, overlooked, shrewd--decide to get to work. After all, who better to catch a killer than those who have shared their lives and homes with one? For fans of The Briar Club by Kate Quinn, The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden.
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The Crossroads
by C. J. Box
Game warden Joe Pickett fights for his life as his daughters try to uncover who shot him and left him for dead in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C. J. Box. Marybeth Pickett gets the call she has always dreaded: her husband Joe is in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head. Joe was found in his pickup at Antler Creek Junction, a crossroads connecting three ranches. Each road leading to a dangerous family. Each family with a different bone to pick with the local game warden. Marybeth and the new sheriff assume that Joe was ambushed by one of the families, but they have no idea which one since Joe didn't say where he was going or why. With Joe unconscious and fighting for his life with Marybeth at his side, Sheridan, April, and Lucy split up and investigate each of families to uncover the truth of what happened to their father, before it's too late. For fans of gritty, intricately plotted stories with well-developed characters.
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To Kill a Cook
by W. M. Akers
Nobody in Manhattan eats better than Bernice Black. It's 1972, and she is the city's busiest restaurant critic, juggling her fiance and his two young sons with demands of fine dining. Bernice talks fast, walks faster, has a razor-sharp wit and no patience for anything--or anyone--that gets in her way. When she stops by the famed restaurant of her favorite chef and mentor, Laurent Tirel, early one morning, she stumbles across a horrific scene in the kitchen: Laurent's severed head, perfectly preserved in a flawless mold of jellied aspic. Her meeting with the cops assigned to the case proves only one thing-they know nothing about food or the seedy underworld that BB Black has made her home. With layoffs looming, Bernice makes the gamble of her career--she promises her editor she can catch Laurent's killer before the week is out. To Kill a Cook is a delicious, witty, fast-paced mystery with a lovable, unforgettable protagonist at it center.
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Booking for Trouble
by Jenn McKinlay
Just off the shores of the coastal Connecticut town of Briar Creek are two small islands, which library director Lindsey Norris visits with her new book-boat, inspired by the bookmobiles she's seen traveling across the country. Nothing, not even the infamous feud between the families who own the Split Islands, can stop Lindsey from getting books into the hands of readers. But when Lindsey and her boat captain husband, Mike Sullivan, discover a body on the rocky outcropping of one of the islands, Lindsey's new library venture quickly becomes a murder investigation. At news of the crime, hostilities between the two families are reignited. Long buried secrets are revealed, tensions spark, and suspects abound. As Lindsey navigates treacherous waters (both literal and metaphorical), she must use her research skills and community ties to solve the murder and bring peace to the islands before her book-boat dreams are sunk. For fans of Death Overdue by Allison Brook, Real Murders by Charlaine Harris.
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Pendergast: The Beginning
by Douglas Preston
It only took six months for the life of Special Agent Dwight Chambers to crumble around him. First, he lost his partner, and then, tragically, his wife. Returning to work at the New Orleans Field Office, Chambers is dismayed to find himself saddled with mentoring a brand new FBI agent--a certain A. X. L. Pendergast. As Chambers tries to pull himself together, his enigmatic and exasperating junior partner pulls an outrageous stunt that gets both of them suspended. Pendergast welcomes the banishment, because it gives him the opportunity to investigate a peculiar murder in Mississippi that has captured his fancy. Chambers grudgingly goes along. What starts off as a whimsical quest swiftly turns into a terrifying pursuit, as Chambers and Pendergast uncover a string of grisly, ritualistic killings that defy any known serial killer profile. Thanks in large part to Pendergast's brilliance and unorthodox methods, they solve the case and find the killer... and that is when the true horror begins. For fans of The Passage by Justin Cronin, Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper.
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Divine Ruin
by Margot Douaihy
It's a steamy, restless end of the school year in New Orleans. Sister Holiday is finishing her music classes and preparing for her permanent vow ceremony, a pivotal moment in her journey of faith. But when one of her favorite students is found dead of a fentanyl overdose, Sister Holiday and her partner-in-PI, Magnolia Riveaux, are determined to track down the drug dealers. As students continue to fall prey to this sinister drug, Sister Holiday becomes more desperate to stop the epidemic--while facing her own past with addiction, a demon that is never too far. With Douaihy's signature mix of grit, heart, and faith, Divine Ruin tests the limits of Sister Holiday's devotion in her darkest and most shocking case yet. Start the beginning of the Sister Holiday series with Scorched Grace.
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| Wolf Hour by Jo NesbøIn 2022, a Norwegian true crime writer visits Minneapolis, Minnesota, to research a set of 2016 serial killings. Back in 2016, everything starts with the sniper shooting of a gun dealer known for not asking questions. Divorced cop Bob Oz becomes obsessed with the case, working it even after he's suspended from the force, believing a taxidermist may hold the key to it all in this twisty dual-timeline standalone. Try this next: Stephen Mack Jones' August Snow series. |
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The Viper
by Brad Meltzer
Andrew Fechmeier is a master at hiding. He'd better be--he's spent decades concealing a secret that could get him killed. So when he's diagnosed with a terminal disease, he heads for the local funeral home carrying the blue suit he eventually wants to be buried in. But what no one knows is that Fechmeier secretly tucked something inside, turning the suit into a final, untraceable hiding spot. It's a perfect plan. Until Fetch is brutally murdered by a mysterious killer who will stop at nothing to find the priceless object hidden in the suit. Wasting no time, the cunning but unconventional police officer Roddy LaPointe opens an investigation into Fetch's murder, recruiting help from his friend, the brilliant "Zig" Zigarowski. But it doesn't take long for Zig to discover the real reason Roddy cares so much about this case: Fetch's death is tied to Roddy's mother, who was murdered decades earlier. As the relentless killer closes in, Roddy's twin sister--the enigmatic and volatile Nola Brown--starts investigating for herself, uncovering a sinister plot that reveals their mother's dark history, the true identity of her killer, and the shocking secret behind her death. Start at the beginning of the Zig & Nola series with The Escape Artist.
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Sleuthing with the Stars
by Lynn Cahoon
Sedona, Arizona's, New Chapter bookstore is a haven for Rarity Cole, who's survived cancer and started an exciting second act in her life. With a film festival about to open in town, she has two big author events lined up--but after a live appearance, one of them winds up very unalive . . . Business is booming as an Olympic cyclist and a famous filmmaker come to town for a film festival and schedule signings at Rarity's bookshop. Luckily, her former employee Darby is back from Scotland and ready to help out. The vivacious young staffer catches the eyes of both authors and accepts a date with the filmmaker. Unfortunately, when she goes for popcorn and returns to her seat, she finds him dead . . . Rarity is naturally an introvert who prefers escaping into a good book with her affectionate Yorkie by her side. But her bout with serious illness has taught her that life is precious. With help from her friends, her coworkers, and her sweetheart, Archer, she's determined to untangle the web of secrets and lies surrounding the director's death, and find out who wanted him out of the picture.
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The Harvey Girl
by Dana Stabenow
1890. The New Mexico Territory is a lawless frontier where criminals steal money and land alike with impunity. Everyone wears a six-gun and is ready and willing to draw it. In the new city of Montaña Roja, Fred Harvey's growing empire is threatened by the robberies plaguing his newest Harvey House restaurant. To get justice, he needs a skilled detective to go undercover and procure answers to questions the law will not ask. The assignment falls to Clare Wright, a young Pinkerton agent. Disguised as one of Harvey's famous hostesses, Clare travels west where she risks being exposed at every step of her investigation. To get answers--and to get out alive--there are only two things she can trust: her instincts, and her derringer. For fans of richly detailed, atmospheric historical mysteries.
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