Mystery and Suspense Magazine

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 War Nurse

Sixty-five nurses to relieve the British before reinforcements can arrive

Project Hail Mary

Three astronauts embark on a last-chance mission to save humanity

The Bath Conspiracy

Stolen loot in the trunk of their car after a trip to Stonehenge

Our Last Echoes

A girl’s hunts for the truth about her mother’s disappearance

The Saboteurs

An attempted assassination and the sabotage of the Panama Canal

Did I Say You Could Go

Families and friendships torn apart by obsession, secrets, and betrayal

The Royal Secret

A secret so explosive it could change the entire face of Europe

Bone Rattle

Gruesome murders in Alaska set a Deputy US Marshal on the hunt

Hairpin Bridge

Her sister drove to a remote bridge and jumped. Or did she?

The Devil May Dance

An investigation into Frank Sinatra leads to a world of Hollywood scandals

Death on Ocean Boulevard

Two mysterious deaths ten years ago, investigated in this true crime story

Mr. Campion’s Coven

A luxury yacht beaches on a mudbank, its captain very dead

The Radio Operator

A German immigrant becomes embroiled in a Nazi spy ring

When The Stars Go Dark

A detective hides from the world while disappearances reach into her past

Arsenic and Adobo

A nasty food critic drops dead moments after a confrontation

The Dinner Guest

Four people walked into the dining room; one would never leave

M, King’s Bodyguard

Assassination in Edwardian London and one detective’s mission to save the king

Crimson Lake Road

A prosecutor races to catch an art-obsessed serial killer

Widespread Panic

The 1950s Hollywood underground teems with FBI finks, smut films & more

Passenger 23

A transatlantic crossing becomes a nightmare

The Lake

A mother’s falls apart when her teenage son drowns in the waters by his school

Tender is the Flesh

Working at the local processing plant, in the business of slaughtering humans

Howls From Hell

A horror anthology with a foreword from Grady Hendrix

Jackpot

Two young men are framed for cheating in a Macau casino

When A Stranger Comes To Town

Terrifying encounters with strangers from bestsellers in crime fiction

Forest of Secrets

A former spy investigates rumors of a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth

The Great Mistake

The rise of one of NYC’s famed planners, and his murder

Coincidence of Spies

Posted to an embassy in Moscow and witness to a murder

Instinct

A small town, a police chief’s absence, and a mystery that thrills to the core

The Mirror Man

The pharma company creates a clone, and he begins to doubt himself

Fugitives of the Heart

An orphan and a man with a dangerous past strike up an unlikely friendship

Near The Bone

A woman attempts to survive more than one kind of monster

The Friend

A stranger approaches with offers of revenge in this police procedural

The Drowning Kind

A pool, a death, and secret horrors that span generations

A Dark and Secret Place

Her late mother had been secretly corresponding with a serial killer

This Is Why We Lie

The popular cheerleader drowned, but it was no accident

House Standoff

Murder and the “fixer” for the House of Representatives

Pup Fiction

Her ex-husband is dead and dogs are on the loose

A Slow Fire Burning

A group of damaged, hurt, and miserable people—one a killer

The Ice Swan

A princess flees the murderous flames of the Russian Revolution

Deadly Ever After

An engagement ceremony interrupted by murder

Silent Ridge

A detective comes across a brutalized murder victim who she knows

Grave Reservations

A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective team up against murder

Thief of Souls

An investigator hunts for the murderer of a young woman in rural China

The Last One Home

A domestic thriller with twist, turns, and a serial killer

The Bell in the Lake

A young woman’s fate plays out against her village’s mystical church bells

Bones of Hilo

A novice detective uncovers ancient secrets at the heart of a murder

The Lost Village

Mysterious happenings in an old mining town

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