Mystery
August 2026*
Recent Releases
The Shadow Step: A Detective Miller Novel by Mark Billingham
The Shadow Step
by Mark Billingham

When a body is found in a park, the dog walker who'd had a violent encounter with the victim the previous evening believes he's responsible and confesses. But with the dead man linked to a drug queenpin, DS Declan Miller and his partner DS Sara Xiu keep digging. As another killing and a kidnapping occur, Miller consults with his dead wife's ghost, whom only he can see, in his 3rd outing. Try these next: Tim Sullivan's George Cross novels; Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks mysteries.
Killer Vibes: The First Peter Key Mystery by Jack Friday
Killer Vibes
by Jack Friday

Unemployed stoner Peter Key has been justifiably kicked out of the place he was crashing after sleeping with both the owner's girlfriend and his brother. So when Peter inherits a million-dollar house in Austin, Texas, he's sad about his great uncle's death but happy to have a home. Then he learns about missing money, meets sketchy people who want the house, and decides his uncle might have been murdered. For fans of: funny, fast-paced mysteries; twisty series starters.
The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian
The Amateur
by Chris Bohjalian

1978: It is the first Thursday in August and temperatures are flirting with ninety when Mira Winston, eighteen years old, drives a golf ball from her tee toward the practice net near the clubhouse and caddy shack. The golf ball, weighing 1.6 ounces, tears through the net, traveling 150 miles per hour, and slams, with sickening force, into the temple of a high school junior named Kenny Foster, rupturing an artery and unleashing a torrent of blood. Kenny brings his hand to the side of his head, then topples onto his side. He's dead before the ambulance even arrives. In the wake of this terrible accident--and everyone, at first, agrees it was an accident--Mira looks for comfort in all the wrong places: In her lover, Theo Catton, a married man three decades her senior. In her mother, a well-kept woman with secrets of her own. In the dead caddy's little sisters, girls bewildered by grief. But when the investigators look more closely at the torn net, when a detective recalls Mira's history of recklessness, and when Kenny's father spies Mira with her married lover, the affluent and mannered community turns on this once-promising young woman. A gripping story that takes the reader from the sun-soaked greens of a tony Westchester country club to the fluorescent-lit stand of a county courtroom, The Amateur asks: What happens when one small moment--a swing, a ball, a piece of string--changes the course of an entire life?
Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd
Murder at the Spirit Lounge
by Jess Kidd

In 1950s Kent, England, former nun Nora Breen resides in a shabby coastal boarding house while creating a new life for herself. In her 2nd outing, her close friend DI Rideout attends a séance where the spiritualist is mysteriously murdered. When other attendees are soon killed, Nora is desperate to catch the murderer and keep Rideout alive. Try these next: Don't Upstage the Body by Naomi Stephens; The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery.
Rules for Aging and Larceny by Julia London
Rules for Aging and Larceny
by Julia London

Frances Deluca was once part of a gang of four who stole from those who deserved it, but that ended decades ago with some drama. Now she's 74, widowed, and bored. Deciding she'll pull one last heist, she gathers the gang, and they target a young crypto-loving con artist in Las Vegas who swindled one of women's granddaughters. For fans of: Spencer Quinn's Mrs. Plansky's mysteries; Laura Jensen Walker's The Alphabet Sleuths.
The Cloak and Dagger Club by Jackie McMahon
The Cloak and Dagger Club
by Jackie McMahon

In 1930 London, Lucy Hubbard's acclaimed debut mystery garners an invitation to the elite Cloak and Dagger Club, led by the king of crime fiction, Horace Hazelmoor. When Horace is murdered shortly thereafter, Lucy's handsome ex Frank, the club's rising star, is accused of the crime, so Lucy and Frank team up to clear his name in this witty 1st in a series. For fans of: Golden Age crime novels; cozy historical mysteries with charm and romance.
The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts by Robert Thorogood
The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts
by Robert Thorogood

After the murders of a famous footballer and a bestselling writer, DI Tanika Malik turns to the Marlow Murder Club for help. But before elderly crossword maker Judith, dogwalker Suzie, and vicar's wife Becks can do much, Tanika is unfairly placed on leave. Meanwhile, the daughter of Judith's long-dead Greek husband turns up accusing Judith of murdering him. Despite all obstacles, the trio search for a killer in their fun 5th outing. For fans of: the PBS TV adaptation of the series; Richard Osman.
Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Wisdom Corner
by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Though he's hoping to escape his past as a hired vigilante on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, Virgil Wounded Horse gets pulled back in when a legendary figure from the reservation is murdered. Complicating things, a street gang from a neighboring reservation wants to expand into Rosebud in this gritty follow-up to the award-winning Winter Counts. For fans of: S.A. Cosby; Craig Johnson.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Madison County Public Libraries
1335 North Main Street
Marshall, North Carolina 28753
828-649-3741

https://www.madisoncountylibrary.net/