Book Reviews

Reviews of new and upcoming books in the mystery, thriller, horror, crime, and suspense genres. Our editorial staff and reviewers choose which titles to review. All reviews meet standards of notability.

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre

Another resident drops dead

El Dorado Drive

A crime so shocking it threatens to bring everything down

The Hadacol Boogie

A local handyman warns of the ghosts who roam the shores

The Witch’s Orchard

Three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town

Stillwater

When the time was right, he got out

The Housewarming

She’s resurfaced with a book proposal claiming to expose them

Bat Eater

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

Framed in Death

A lifeless young woman has been elaborately costumed

Three Girls Gone

A third girl is taken and the clock starts ticking

Forget Me Not

An unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home

Guess Again

The case went cold, but the echoes still linger

Rules of the Heart

Here, married women often take younger lovers

The Night Collector

The abduction of two teenagers from their Vegas wedding

Gunner

He examines a body found in the wreckage

Dying Cry

Evidence indicates that the fall was no accident

The Deepest Fake

Events inside his company make him question everything

Knife in the Back

The crooks who framed her have returned

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes

She’s desperate to clear her name

Glitter in the Dark

She witnesses the kidnapping of a famous singer

The Devil’s Advocate

An innocent man faces the death penalty for the murder of a girl

We Are All Guilty Here

She turned away when her best friend’s daughter needed help

Kiss Her Goodbye

An Afghan refugee was last seen exiting her place of work weeks ago

What the Night Brings

There’s a possibility that these murders are payback

Spider to the Fly

The woman wasn’t her, but she could have been

Throwing Shadows

Local legend says there’s caches of stolen gold buried in the area

The Moonshine Women

The moonshine business is unforgiving

Sonora

She is about to be thrust into a world teeming with danger

The Last Wizards’ Ball

A dangerous dance with death that could change the world

Trouble Is My Business

A graphic novel adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s classic noir

An Inside Job

He finds himself in a desperate race to recover a lost masterpiece

Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie

She accidentally kills an unarmed man to defend her father

Forged in Battle

A vast enemy fleet is lurking somewhere in the system

We Are All Guilty Here

Two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites

The Cardinal

He became the controlling figure in all matters of church and state

Hunter’s Heart Ridge

An early season snowstorm bears down

Dead Line

They’re dealing with more than a witness who’s broken protocol

Nightshade

His investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets

The Blue Horse

They’re in the wrong place, at the wrong time

Closer Than You Know

The killer, who is dying of cancer, wants his final revenge

The Medusa Protocol

A doctor subjects her to mysterious experiments

The Ghostwriter

She’s determined to confront the one truth she’s buried for years

A Murder for Miss Hortense

An unidentified man has been found dead

Them Bones

Those behind the theft are willing to do anything to hold onto it

Beyond Her Reach

While investigating, she is attacked and left for dead

The Starving Saints

Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue

Gone Dark

She tracks down the doctor responsible for the addiction

Nemesis

A suspicious death casts a dark shadow over a peaceful lake colony

Her First Mistake

The sheriff’s office reopens everything she thought was behind her