XO – Jeffrey Deaver. Jeffrey Deaver is the author of more than 30 books,
including nine in the acclaimed Lincoln Rhyme series. In XO, the third installment
in the ...
MYSTERY & THRILLERS Kirkus And When She Was Good – Laura Lippman Lippman (The Most Dangerous Thing, 2011, etc.), who specializes in tales of feckless parents and their luckless kids, puts a madam at the center of her latest dysfunctional family. The Broken Ones – Stephen M. Irwin In the strange, devastating aftermath of Gray Wednesday, when the Earth's poles suddenly switched, the world is in even greater chaos, climatic distress and financial ruin than it is now. Buzzard Table – Margaret Maron Every family has secrets. Some are even worth telling. (MYS) Cliff Walk – Bruce DeSilva Fresh from the Most Corrupt State competition comes a second persuasive entry that links pretty much every citizen of Providence to a child-snuffporn ring. Defending Jacob – William Landay Landay does the seemingly impossible by coming up with a new wrinkle in the crowded subgenre of courtroom thrillers. The Girl Next Door – Brad Parks No one's supposed to hate the girl next door. (MYS Istanbul Passage – Joseph Kanon In 1945 Istanbul, Allied veteran Leon Bauer is running spy missions under the cover of a U.S. tobacco-importing business. *Poison Flower -- Thomas Perry Jane Whitefield's latest attempt to hide someone other people are looking for puts her in even more danger than usual, and that's not easy. The Professionals – Owen Laukkanen A fast-moving debut thriller with enough twists to fill a pretzel bag.
The Prophet – Michael Koryta Friday Night Lights meets In Cold Blood in this powerful tale of distant brothers whose torment over the murder of their sister when they were teens is compounded by the murder of another targeted teenage girl--a killing one of the brothers is determined to avenge even if that means committing murder himself. Say You’re Sorry –- Michael Robotham Australia-based writer Robotham's insightful psychologist Joe O'Loughlin once again tackles a tough case involving crimes that, at first blush, do not seem related. Simple – Kathleen George George's Pittsburgh cops (Hideout, 2011, etc.) investigate a robbery-murder that's a lot less routine and more sordid than it looks. (MYS) The Solitary House – Lynn Shepherd Shepherd's latest detective story (Murder at Mansfield Park, 2010) is a Victorian tour de force that borrows characters from Charles Dickens' Bleak House and Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. Library Journal The Blackhouse – Peter May Edinburgh detective Fin Macleod’s investigation of a homicide in his home village on the Isle of Lewis results in a cascade of life-altering personal revelations. This thrilling opener to a new trilogy resonates long after the final page. (MYS) Catch Me – Lisa Gardner A woman approaches Det. D.D. Warren with a bizarre request to solve her upcoming murder. The skillful point-of-view switch between Warren and the soon-to-be victim only intensifies the puzzling mystery and scare-your-socks-off suspense. The Cutting Season – Attica Locke The discovery of a murdered woman on a Louisiana plantation brings out long-held secrets harbored by the owners. Caren, Belle Vie’s manager, taps into her own lineage to solve the
current case and another one that harks back to the Reconstruction in Locke’s genre-transcending novel.
online, the brothers uncover a deadly conspiracy. An exhilarating and breathtaking thrill ride.
A Fatal Winter – G. M. Maillet When rich, elderly twins are murdered in their castle, it’s time to bring in the talented vicar to spy on the grieving relatives. Malliet’s artfully plotted puzzler subtly dazzles with its sly humor and astute observations. (MYS)
Publisher’s Weekly
Force of Nature – C. J. Box Fugitive Nate Romanowski’s rogue past returns to haunt him as cold-blooded assassins pursue him over three states, ending up in game-ranger Pickett’s Wyoming backyard. With falconry as a running metaphor, this is a stunningly fresh entry in a long-running series. (MYS) Into the Darkest Corner – Elizabeth Haynes Catherine Bailey escapes an abusive relationship but now is trapped in her home owing to fear. When she learns that her abuser has been released from prison, the terror only intensifies. A chilling debut thriller. Night Rounds – Helene Tursten When a nurse is hanged where one of her predecessors died some 60 years earlier, the Swedish hospital staff wonders if the resident ghost is seeking revenge. More spine-tingling events haunt a case that Inspector Huss despairs of solving by logic alone. (MYS) *Survivor – Gregg Hurwitz Nate Overbay, standing on the ledge of the 1lth floor window of a bank, is set to kill himself when a robbery ends up making him a hero. The robbery’s mastermind will make Nate wish he had jumped, though. An emotional roller coaster that will resonate long after the final page is turned. Trust Your Eyes – Linwood Barclay Ray Kilbride cares for his schizophrenic brother, Thomas, who is obsessed with a computer program similar to Google Street View called Whirl360.com. When Thomas witnesses a murder
Afterwards – Rosamund Lupton A fire at a suburban London school during sports day leaves Grace Covey and her 17-year-old daughter, Jenny, a teaching assistant, gravely injured. Even worse, Grace's son, Adam, a student at the school, is accused of setting the blaze in this intricate psychological thriller. Agent Six – Tom Rob Smith The final volume of Smith's trilogy set in the Soviet Union takes former KGB agent Leo Demidov from Moscow to Manhattan, where tragedy strikes a Russian delegation intended to ease cold war tensions in 1965. Smith shows the toll a police state can take on those caught in its meshes. *Black Box – Michael Connelly The 18th Harry Bosch novel opens in 1992, as L.A. residents outraged by the acquittal of the cops who beat up Rodney King go on a rampage. Twenty years later, the LAPD detective gets a second chance to solve the case of a Danish photojournalist shot dead during the riots. (MYS) Creole Belle – James Lee Burke In the 19th entry in what may be the most consistently satisfying series in contemporary American crime fiction, New Iberia, La., sheriff Dave Robicheaux and his pal Clete Purcel face off against a number of formidable foes, including a possible Nazi war criminal. (MYS) *Dead Anyway – Chris Knopf In this inventive tale of revenge, market researcher Arthur Cathcart manages to have himself declared dead in his quest to discover the who and the why behind a hit at his Stamford, Conn., home that left his wife dead and him in a coma for months. (MYS) The Gods of Gotham – Lyndsay Faye
Set in 1845, this first in a new series introduces Timothy Wilde, a former bartender and member of New York City's newly formed police force, whose investigation into the murder of a 12-year-old Irish boy leads him deep into the heart of human darkness. *Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn When Amy Elliot, on the surface a privileged Gotham golden girl, disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary, her husband, Nick Dunne, becomes the prime suspect in her presumed murder. Both Amy and Nick prove to be far from blameless in this compelling story of a marriage gone horribly wrong. Kill You Twice - Chelsea Cain Incarcerated serial killer Gretchen Lowell says she has some useful tips for Det. Archie Sheridan in the case of two Portland, Ore., murders that appear to be the work of another serial killer. But can Archie take Gretchen at her word? Four previous books featuring these two damaged souls suggest not. (MYS) Live by Night – Dennis Lehane Set in Prohibition-era Boston, Florida, and Cuba, this epic crime novel charts the rise of IrishAmerican Joe Coughlin, from petty crook to creator of a huge empire in the illegal rum trade. Naturally, this idyllic existence can't last forever. *Phantom -- Jo Nesbǿ Former police officer Harry Hole returns to Oslo from Hong Kong to take on his most personal case yet in his seventh outing to be published in the U.S.—trying to help his estranged 18-year-old son, who has fallen in with a group of drug users and allegedly shot dead another teenager. (MYS) The Wall Street Journal *American Spy – Olen Steinhauer Retired CIA man Alan Drummond, agonizing over the assassination by Chinese counterparts of several U.S. agents, plans a rogue retaliatory mission. It's not long before trouble comes calling in the form of a shrewd Chinese spymaster. The action spins from
Manhattan to London to China, and the mysteries multiply—most of them cleverly solved by book's end. Angelmaker -- Nick Harkaway Global peril is put to a more rococo purpose in Nick Harkaway's "Angelmaker," a head-spinning cliffhanger that reads a bit like a "Harry Potter" book for grown-ups.21st century noirish tale. The Thief - Fuminori Nakamura "The Thief," by the Japanese author Fuminori Nakamura, brings to mind Highsmith, Mishima and Dostoevsky. The unnamed narrator is a Tokyo pickpocket who approaches his craft in an almost abstract manner—except for the excitement he feels. Life becomes more menacing when he is drawn into the crew of an evil boss. Vengeance – Benjamin Black In "Vengeance," the fifth installment of a series, set in 1950s-era Dublin, involving a pathologist named Quirke and his colleague, Detective Inspector Hackett. The sleuthing here centers on a suicide at sea and a later death, but the absorbed and absorbing Quirke, "a great man for a drink," is as much concerned with the mystery of his own and others' existence as he is with solving the crime. (MYS) Bookmarks The Affair – Lee Child Award-winning British thriller writer Lee Child returns with the 16th installment in the best-selling Jack Reacher series. The Beautiful Mystery – Louise Penny After the events in A Trick of the Light, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Inspector JeanGuy Beauvoir are called to investigate the murder of a Gregorian monk. (MYS) The Fear Index – Robert Harris With wide ranging bestsellers that include Pompeii and The Ghost former journalist and reporter Robert Harris has been in the first rank of thriller writers for two decades. Here he examines
technology’s evolution and its frightening consequences. Death Comes to Pemberley – P. D. James Under the ballroom banter and heartfelt correspondence runs something of a sinister thread in Pride and Prejudice…. The celebrated British mystery novelist P. D. James addresses these questions by staging a murder mystery at the main locale of her favorite novelist’s best known novel. (MYS) The End of the Wasp Season – Denise Mina When a young woman is murdered in an exclusive Glasgow neighborhood, Detective Inspector Alex Morrow, five months pregnant with twins, is called to investigate. The Inquisitor – Mark Allen Smith After waking up on a Greyhound bus in New York City with no memory of his past, a man possessed of an uncanny ability to discern the truth from lies soon establishes himself as a professional torturer specializing in “information retrieval” for wealthy, unscrupulous clients. XO – Jeffrey Deaver Jeffrey Deaver is the author of more than 30 books, including nine in the acclaimed Lincoln Rhyme series. In XO, the third installment in the Kathryn Dance series, an unstable fan stalks his favorite country singer. (MYS)
These titles were chosen by, Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Bookmarks, and The Wall Street Journal You can find all of them here at
The Ridgefield Library (*Designates books found on “best books” lists of more than one publication) (Annotations taken from publications)
