| The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn ClarkeSix struggling authors are invited to the private Scottish island of bestselling novelist Arthur Fletch, a recluse known for his fiendish plot twists. Upon arrival, they are told Fletch has died and left an unfinished manuscript. It's up to one of them to write the best ending in 72 hours, and whoever wins gets money and publicity. But then a real murder occurs. For fans of Ande Pliego's "You Are Fatally Invited." |
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| Guilt by Keigo Higashino; translated by Giles MurrayAfter a lawyer is killed, the police talk to a man named Tatsuro Kuraki, who quickly confesses to this murder and a decades-old one, too. Tokyo detective Godai arrests Kuraki, but doubts remain for him as well as the confessed killer's son and the victim's daughter, leading them to separately investigate. This twisty complex standalone tale studies guilt in all its guises. For fans of: suspenseful Japanese mysteries. |
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| Dirty Metal by Allison LamotheIn 1992 New York, pill-addicted journalist Parker Snow messed up a story and was bumped from reporting on street crime to covering organized crime. While writing about the new influx of Russian gangsters, she can't help but also investigate the deaths of two women found in different parts of the city and wonder if a serial killer is at work. For fans of: atmospheric 1990s New York settings; gritty noirish debuts. |
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| The Best Little Motel in Texas by Lyla LaneLibrarian Cordelia West never planned on returning to the hometown she last saw as a ten-year-old, but then she inherits the Chickadee Motel. To her shock, she discovers the motel is actually a brothel and home to three "chicks," 60-somethings Daisy, Arline, and Belinda Sue. When an elderly pastor is fatally poisoned and dies in Daisy's bed, hijinks ensue as Cordelia investigates and clashes with the pastor's handsome FBI agent son. Try this next: Jo Nichols' "The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective." |
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| The Star from Calcutta by Sujata MasseyPerveen Mistry, the only woman lawyer in 1922 Bombay, agrees to help famous actress Rochana in a contract dispute after she leaves her old studio for one owned by her new husband. But at an advance screening party, murder enters the picture and Rochana disappears from the scene. Though this is the atmospheric 5th in the Perveen Mistry novels, readers can start here. Read-alikes: Kate Khavari's Saffron Everleigh mysteries; Harini Nagendra's Bangalore Detectives Club books. |
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| Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin StevensonWriter and amateur sleuth Ernest Cunningham has gone to the bank hoping to get a loan to bankroll a new PI business. When Ernest and everyone else inside is taken hostage, he manages to nose around, learning that more than one person planned to rob the bank that day. Then a murder occurs. Kirkus Reviews raves, "nobody from Agatha Christie to Anthony Horowitz beats Stevenson for cleverness." This is the 4th in a delightful series by Australian author Benjamin Stevenson. For fans of: Richard Osman.
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A Violent Masterpiece
by Jordan Harper
A story of LA power brokers and those at the edge, and a single shattering incident that threatens to bring it all crashing down. A city ready to explode: A Hollywood pedophile is arrested, and is ready to tear down the city to get his freedom. A young woman goes missing - and men in black rubber gloves who look like cops clean out her apartment in the middle of the night. And the serial killer known as the LA Ripper is on the loose, leaving tragic/graphic/brutal crime scenes in his wake. Three people trying to keep their heads above the dirty water will find themselves coming together.
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A Deadly Episode
by Anthony Horowitz
They're making a major feature film of the first Hawthorne/Horowitz mystery novel. Except--they're behind schedule, they've run out of money and . . . oh The star has just been murdered. Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne is dead. Or, rather, the actor playing him in the film adaptation of "The Word is Murder" is. A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, "A Deadly Episode" is an intriguing page-turner that once again demonstrates why Anthony Horowitz is the reigning king of the modern whodunit.
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You'll Never Forget Me
by Isha Raya
In this captivating cat-and-mouse thriller, a struggling actress is only just beginning to enjoy the life she's always wanted after inadvertently killing her rival-but now she must contend with the woman who threatens to take it all away. With their careers at risk, both women must fight the potent chemistry drawing them closer together. Dimple needs Saffi dead and for her theories to die with her. And Saffi needs Dimple behind bars, but catching her elusive prey won't be so easy--especially as emotions begin to cloud her judgment. When ambition and desire collide, only the most cunning will survive.
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Good Guys
by Sharon Bala
A page-turning moral drama about money, the dark side of philanthropy, and what happens when you try to change the world for all the wrong reasons. Claire Talbot is the publicist at Children of the World, an international aid charity. Morally burnt out after decades working in reputation management, Claire is relieved to finally use her PR skills for good. Too bad the organization is on the verge of bankruptcy. In a last-ditch effort to keep them afloat, Claire arranges for an A-list actress to volunteer at one of their overseas orphanages. When the actress decides to adopt a baby and promises a massive donation, it seems as if Claire has single-handedly saved the day. But after a journalist digs into their operations and reveals a shocking crime, Claire and her colleagues must reckon with their complicity and all the ways their work abroad has harmed the very people they set out to save.
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