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Reviews

Reviews

by Max Allan Collins - Fiction, Hard-boiled Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery

Legendary mystery writer Dashiell Hammett only wrote one novel about detective Sam Spade: THE MALTESE FALCON, the most famous private-eye story ever told. But the case was never really solved. The priceless golden, bejeweled bird that men and women had been dying to possess turned out to be a fake. Now, Max Allan Collins brings closure to this crime classic, reuniting all the surviving members of the original cast alongside femme fatales, crooked collectors and greedy gangsters for one more thrilling, deadly chase through the streets, wharves, morgues, bars and back alleys of 1920s San Francisco --- and finally answers the question: Whatever became of the Maltese falcon?

by Lucy Clarke - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Two years ago, a small plane disappeared over Fiji. For Erin, it’s been two years of obsessing over every detail, refusing to move forward even as life does. Her sister, Lori, was on that plane, and Erin was meant to be, too. But after a bitter argument, she failed to show. Everyone thinks Lori is dead, but Erin can’t let go. Just when Erin is on the verge of losing hope, the pilot of the missing plane turns up still in Fiji, seemingly with no memory of the crash. In a final bid to find her sister, Erin travels there herself. But what she discovers is beyond anything she could have predicted.

by Arnaldur Indridason - Fiction, Mystery

A woman is found murdered in her Reykjavík home, her apartment ransacked. On her desk lies a note with retired detective Konrad’s phone number. Days earlier, she had begged him to find the child she gave up nearly 50 years ago. But Konrad, reluctant to reopen old wounds, turned her away. Now, haunted by guilt, he vows to uncover the truth --- for her and for himself. As Konrad digs into her tragic past, he is drawn into a web of secrets, lies and betrayal. Each revelation points to a hidden life that connects her death to a decades-old murder --- and to shadows from Konrad’s own family history.

by Chris Hauty - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Set in present-day, a disgraced former Secret Service officer and a Jesuit professor join forces to delve into the mysteries surrounding the events of November 22, 1963. Fixated on deciphering the conspiracies behind the history-changing assassination, they are oblivious to the fact that the cabal is still active --- and may face an end as bloody as the carnage in Dealey Plaza. Will they be able to uncover the truth in time? Or will they become two more footnotes in history?

by Eric Van Lustbader - Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

In this cutting-edge fifth installment of the acclaimed Evan Ryder series, Eric Van Lustbader thrusts readers into a world where power is being redefined by a revolutionary communication program that renders modern encryption obsolete, one that will topple global power structures and give rise to technology-driven totalitarian states. Evan Ryder races against time in a landscape where secrets can no longer hide behind digital walls. Ilona Shokova, the elusive, deadly assassin White Wolf, holds the key to mastering this unhackable method. Two powerful, deadly women. One quest. Will either one of them survive?

by Val McDermid - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Scotland, 2025. When torrential winter rain causes a landslide on a motorway, it dislodges more than mud and asphalt --- it reveals a skeleton, concealed when the road was built 11 years prior. Sam Nimmo, an investigative journalist who’d been poking his nose into the murky politics of the Scottish independence referendum, had become the prime suspect in the brutal murder of his girlfriend when he vanished. Now he’s reappeared, buried under the motorway. It’s the perfect cold case for DCI Karen Pirie, chief of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit. What was Nimmo investigating that was worth killing over? Or was it revenge for murdering his girlfriend? Meanwhile, an allegation of murder has surfaced over the supposedly accidental death of a hotel manager. It may have links to another accident on a remote Highland road.

by Gyles Brandreth - Biography, Nonfiction

SOMEWHERE, A BOY AND A BEAR tells the remarkable story of A. A. Milne, a playwright, a bestselling crime writer, a poet, a polemicist, a humorist, and the man who created Winnie-the-Pooh. Gyles Brandreth explores Winnie-the-Pooh, a bear beloved by millions: his genesis, his life across a hundred years, his special philosophy, and the reasons for his worldwide popularity. Brandreth’s book is also the intimate biography of three generations of the fascinating and troubled Milne family, which knew fame and fortune, despising both for a time, but a family that ultimately found a profound reason to be grateful for the riches Pooh brought them.

by Con Lehane - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery, Noir

July 1950: Mick Mulligan has just hung out his shingle as a private investigator in New York’s sweaty Hell’s Kitchen. A former Hollywood cartoonist who was blacklisted during a communist witch hunt, Mick is in need of a paying gig to make his child support payments. But maybe not this gig. Last year, universally reviled cab company owner Irwin Johnson was murdered. One of his drivers, an African American Communist Party member named Harold Williams, was arrested, tried and found guilty, despite scant evidence. Now his execution date is two weeks away. New York City labor leader Duke Rogowski asks Mick to find fresh evidence that might buy Harold a stay of execution. Lots of people might have wanted Irwin dead, but no one has any reason to help Mick exonerate Harold. Yet Mick can’t abandon a potentially innocent man to the electric chair. Can he pull off a miracle?

by Cara Black - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

After Libération, spring 1945: Seventeen-year-old Huguette Faure is a survivor. The war has taken everything from her --- both her parents and her sense of safety. Now, pregnant and on the lam, she cannot return to her childhood home in Paris. Forced to reinvent herself, she must outrun her father’s enemies, who want her dead. After narrowly avoiding jail time --- thanks to the help of a kindhearted police officer named Claude Leduc --- Huguette lands a job assisting a legendary film director. As her role develops from helping him with chores to cooking his books, she sees an opportunity to break free from the ghosts of her past once and for all.

by William Boyd - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

1963, Guatemala. The country is in turmoil, with a presidential election looming and a charismatic, left-wing ex-priest and trade union leader predicted to win. United Fruits, a giant American corporation responsible for a large percentage of the country’s GNP, is not pleased by this prospect. Neither is the CIA. Amid the uncertainty, Gabriel Dax arrives on orders from his MI6 handler Faith Green, who has tasked him with assessing the fallout from the election. Upon arrival, Gabriel meets Frank Sartorius, the local CIA agent. Despite Sartorius’ genial manner, Gabriel suspects something untrustworthy brewing under the surface. Soon, a political assassination with suspicions of Mafia involvement leads to riots. But when Green compels Gabriel to investigate some shady characters in West Berlin, it becomes clear that an even greater danger is afoot.