Dust Up by Jon McGoran is the 3rd Doyle Carrick ecological thriller that finds Doyle in Haiti, investigating a murder and its connections to a big biotech company, Energene. I’m not sure what the last biotech or eco-thriller I read was—which is my knavish way of saying I've never read one, or if I had…
Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm is a psychological thriller involving an art heist, a cat-and-mouse waiting game, and a transformation of a small-town girl from Tennessee. In the seemingly endless parade of novels breathlessly proclaimed as the next Gone Girl (which is a book I adored, for the record), it’s hard not to view each newcomer…
Too Close to the Edge by Pascal Garnier is a tale of retirement and calm domesticity, with a hint of menace about to explode (Available in ebook format today, and in paperback on June 14, 2016). I’ve written about Pascal Garnier here before, so I am going to skip right past any kind of overview…
The Advocate's Daughter by Anthony Franze follows Sean Serrat, a Supreme Court lawyer on the short list to be nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, as he searches for his daughter's killer and uncovers secrets that involve some of the most powerful people in the world. Everything is looking sweet for Sean Serrat. A nomination is…
On the Road with Del & Louise by Art Taylor is a collection of six short stories that tell the tale of two criminal lovers trying to start a new life (available September 15, 2015). It’s no secret that I am a short mystery fiction addict. I am also a dedicated mystery novel fan. So…
Jade Dragon Mountain is the debut mystery by Elsa Hart set in China in 1708 featuring the exiled librarian Li Du (available September 1, 2015). Here are some of things I know about China: Ming vases, Mao Tse Tung, calligraphy, the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and they put on a spectacular Olympic opening ceremony. Not…
X by Sue Grafton is the 24th mystery in the Kinsey Millhone series about the California-based private eye (available August 25, 2015). An apt subtitle for Sue Grafton’s latest book X is the oft-repeated quote that “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” In the 24th in her series of alphabet…
Savage Lane by Jason Star is a thrilling noir that offers up a searing satire of a declining marriage, suburban life, and obsessive love (available October 13, 2015). “Every town has its secrets.” That’s the tagline that appears across the top of the cover to Jason Starr’s new crime novel Savage Lane. But some words…
Hangman's Game by Bill Syken is the debut mystery in the Nick Gallow series about a professional fooball player who gets caught up in a murder investigation after witnessing a teammate's gruesome death (available August 18, 2015). Until recently, football had always been a six-month sport, using Labor Day and Groundhog Day as approximate bookends,…
Dragon Day by Lisa Brackmann is the final book in the Ellie McEnroe trilogy about American vereran of the Iraqi War currently living in Beijing (available August 18, 2015). This novel had me hooked from the very first page, when our heroine, Ellie McEnroe, describes in her distinctively wry narrative voice not only modern China,…
