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Sharp Force
by Patricia Cornwell
During the early hours of Christmas morning, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta receives a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher has struck again. The serial killer has terrorized Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims' homes and watch their every move. They wake up to a ghost-like hologram before being murdered in their beds. Scarpetta is summoned to Mercy Island, the site of a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from Scarpetta's past. It soon becomes apparent that she could be next.
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The Hallmarked Man: A Cormoran Strike Novel
by Robert Galbraith
A dismembered corpse is discovered in the vault of a silver shop. The police initially believe it to be that of a convicted armed robber--but not everyone agrees with that theory. One of them is Decima Mullins, who calls on the help of private detective Cormoran Strike as she's certain the body in the silver vault was that of her boyfriend--the father of her newborn baby--who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. The more Strike and his business partner Robin Ellacott delve into the case, the more labyrinthine it gets. The silver shop is no ordinary one--it's located beside Freemasons' Hall and specializes in Masonic silverware. And in addition to the armed robber and Decima's boyfriend, it becomes clear that there are other missing men who could fit the profile of the body in the vault.
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The Quiet Mother: A Detective Konrad Novel
by Arnaldur Indridason
In the Quiet Mother by Arnaldur Indridason, retired detective Konrad returns to Reykjavik. A woman is found murdered in her Reykjavik home, her apartment ransacked. On her desk lies a note with detective Konrad's phone number. Days earlier, she had begged him to find the child she gave up nearly fifty years ago. But Konrad, reluctant to reopen old wounds, turned her away. Now, haunted by guilt, he vows to uncover the truth-for her and for himself. As Konrad digs into her tragic past, he is drawn into a web of secrets, lies, and betrayal. Each revelation points to a hidden life that connects her death to a decades-old murder-and to shadows from Konrad's own family history.
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In the Time of Five Pumpkins: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (26)
by Alexander McCall Smith
The rains are coming, but not just yet. When they do, there will be green shoots of growth throughout Botswana. Pumpkins will flourish--particularly those of Mma Potokwani, matron of a children's home and old friend of Precious Ramotswe. Mma Potokwani and Mma Ramotswe have many other things to talk about, including a new friendship that Mr J.L.B. Matekoni has struck up with Mr Freddie Mohlala, a prominent figure in the motor trade. In the meantime, Mma Ramotswe looks into what seems to be a straightforward matter involving a husband who thinks his wife may be having an affair. But there is a surprise in store--she, it transpires, suspects that he himself has a lover. This is obviously a case that will require tact--which of course is a quality Mma Ramotswe has in abundance.
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The Black Wolf
by Louise Penny
Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montreal, 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 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, 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.
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And to All a Good Bite: An Andy Carpenter Mystery
by David Rosenfelt
Andy Carpenter can't wait for Christmas - he's mostly excited to finally relax and catch a football game. But when there's a murder related to an old case, Andy puts the game on pause. Two years ago, a gas leak in an office building led to an explosion that killed seven people. Jeff Wheeler was there to pick up his girlfriend and ran into the building to help, saving only a pup named Rufus, who he eventually adopts from the Tara Foundation. But the accident never sat right with Jeff. He believed that one of the building owners was responsible for the tragedy. Now that owner has been murdered and Jeff is arrested for the crime, Rufus is left with Jeff's sister, who begs Andy to take the case. Andy remembers Jeff's tremendous bravery and with the lingering Christmas spirit, decides to help reunite the two. With David Rosenfelt's signature humor and hijinks, it's time to close this case for good and bid it a good night.
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A Season for Spies: A Lane Winslow Prequel
by Iona Whishaw
In the prequel to the Lane Winslow mystery series, Lane has been pulled out of her studies at Oxford and spends her days in London translating for the war office. Things are grim, and it looks like no one is going home for Christmas--that is, not until Lane's commanding officer orders her to drop everything to do just that. An important agent needs an escort into the country from an isolated cove in Scotland, and Lane's family connections in the north are the perfect cover for this mission. Meanwhile, Lane's grandparents are delighted by the news that she'll be up for the holidays, but their cheery preparations are interrupted by clues suggesting a mysterious visitor has dropped right down into the forest outside their cottage. Cozy and action-packed, A Season for Spies shows readers just where Lane got her mettle.
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The Widow
by John Grisham
Simon Latch is a lawyer in rural Virginia, making just enough to pay his bills while his marriage slowly falls apart. Then into his office walks Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Apparently, her husband left her a small fortune, and no one knows about it. Once he hooks the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar. But soon her story begins to crack. When she is hospitalized after a car accident, Simon realizes that nothing is as it seems, and he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn't commit: murder. Simon knows he's innocent. But he also knows the circumstantial evidence is against him, and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. To save himself, he must find the real killer.
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Evil Bones
by Kathy Reichs
Small creatures have been turning up throughout Charlotte, North Carolina, mutilated and bizarrely displayed. Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan eventually receives a disturbing call; the perp is upping the ante. This time, the victim is a dog. Tempe agrees to help apprehend the person responsible, and she acquires an equally outraged ally in semi-retired homicide detective Erskine Skinny Slidell. Needing a better understanding of possible motives, Tempe seeks input from a forensic psychologist, who offers several possibilities, warning that the escalating pattern of aggression suggests even more macabre discoveries and a shift in the perp's focus to humans. And then a woman is found disfigured and posed in a manner that mimics the animal killings. People Tempe cares about begin to go missing until it becomes clear she is being taunted, the target in a sick game that has her and Slidell racing against a ticking clock and facing a terrifying question: What is pure evil?
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Book 'Em, Eddie
by Laurie Cass
The Chilson library bookmobile has a new stop on its route--Honey Hollow Adult Foster Care. When Minnie learns that Honey Hollow is just down the road from an enclave of gorgeous Victorian homes, she decides she has to take a look, especially after she learns about identical houses that stood side by side, and were owned by twin siblings. But when Minnie and Eddie and the bookmobile take their scenic detour, Eddie uncharacteristically escapes from the bookmobile--and finds a woman in the woods, horribly wounded with an arrow. Though Minnie desperately calls 9-1-1, all too soon she realizes she was too late. The police seem ready to call the death a hunting accident, but Minnie can't shake the feeling that foul play was involved, particularly given the woman's final whispered words. With evidence lacking, Minnie and Eddie will have to claw their way through a thicket of suspects to find the truth.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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