Caged by Ellison Cooper is a debut police procedural and the first in a new series featuring FBI Agent Sayer Altair. FBI Special Agent (and neuroscientist) Sayer Altair really just wants to work on her special project: proving that serial killer brains are physically different from normal ones in hopes of… Read more
Delving into the paranoia surrounding satanic cults in the 1980s, Big Woods by May Cobb is an emotionally wrought, propulsive thriller about the enormity of grief, the magical bond between sisters, and a small town’s dark secrets. A missing-person story, particularly when it’s an innocent child, is a reader’s worst nightmare. How… Read more
The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente is an illustrated mystery that will appeal to comic book fans and anyone who appreciates an unconventional whodunit. For those on the outside looking in, the business of making comic books can seem like a dream job full of fun, wonder, and imagination. However, I’m… Read more
The Unfortunates by Bram Stoker Award-winner Kim Liggett is a haunting tale of privilege, guilt, and redemption, perfect for fans of Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars. Some of my favorite crime fiction tales are ones of redemption, where characters try to atone for the blood on their hands or a lifetime of bad choices…. Read more
In the Valley of the Devil by Hank Early is the second book in the Earl Marcus Mystery series, where the private investigator—who thought he’d conquered his demons after vanquishing the malevolent spirit of his fundamentalist preacher father—must face something much more terrifying than the devil he knew. Hank Early’s Earl… Read more
Shelved Under Murder is the second installment in Victoria Gilbert’s Blue Ridge Library Mystery series, where autumn leaves aren’t the only things falling in the historic Virginia village of Taylorsford―so are some cherished memories, and a few bodies. Victoria Gilbert’s clever, well-paced Shelved Under Murder shines at its heart—the character’s relationships… Read more
A blend of science fiction and stylish mystery noir featuring a robot detective, I Only Killed Him Once is the newest stand-alone installment in Adam Christopher’s Ray Electromatic mystery series. Take a visual tour of I Only Killed Him Once with GIFnotes! I do love a good mashup, and Adam Christopher’s Ray Electromatic… Read more
Twenty-nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln has spent his entire adult life running from his past―from the poverty of the dirt-floor log cabin where he was raised, from the dominion of his uneducated father, and from a failed early courtship—but in Final Resting Place, Lincoln’s past is racing back to haunt him. Suddenly,… Read more
The Girl from Blind River by Gale Massey is a debut novel and a gritty tale of how far we’ll go to protect the ones we love. Crime fiction often falls into terrain where psychogeography is ignored and bad people do bad things because that’s what bad people do. When psychogeography… Read more
A deadly fire exposes the dark side of Amish life in A Gathering of Secrets, the 10th thriller in the New York Times bestselling Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo. Chris Wolak’s introduction to her review of Sworn to Silence, the first in Linda Castillo’s Kate Burkholder series, perfectly captures Castillo’s appeal. The story… Read more
