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Showing posts with the label mystery

Library book: The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh

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Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books Published: May 19, 2026 Pages: 362 Genre: Mystery, Thriller Review: Library book  Amazon Carrie and Johan marry on a beach in Thailand only months into their whirlwind romance. Carrie, a British surgical intern, knows she’s being impulsive but is too happy to care. Then, as the wedding festivities stretch into the night, a group of armed men suddenly swarm the beach, taking Johan away. She never sees him again. Twelve years later, Carrie is living in the English countryside with her husband, Robin, and their six-year-old twins, running a holiday cottage rental. One night, she stumbles across an online post in which she discovers that Johan escaped from Thailand years ago and has been living in Stockholm ever since. As the memories of their passionate relationship flood her, she becomes obsessed with discovering exactly what happened on their wedding day. But just when Carrie thinks she knows what she must do, a shocking twist explodes, tearing apart ...

Kindle Unlimited: The Divorce by Freida McFadden

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Publisher: Hollywood Upstairs Press Published: 5/26/2006 Pages: 372 Genre: mystery/thriller Review: Kindle Unlimited Amazon What is a happily ever after really worth? Naomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house, start a family... Then—he kicks her out, hires the city’s best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a 20-something. It’s a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life. Except, why should she? Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband’s new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession—and then into something far darker. As Naomi uncovers secrets she never imagined, she realizes her own life may be in danger. But if it keeps her perfect family intact, isn’t it worth it?

NetGalley: All Eyes on Him by Iliana Xander

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Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press Published: 12/2/2025 Pages: 370 Genre: Mystery/Thriller Review: ARC from NetGalley and Publisher Amazon He’s the Man of the Year. But is he really a monster? When Natalie saw her best friend leaving the club with a handsome stranger, she never would have thought that the next morning, her friend would be discovered unconscious at a bus stop. What happened that night? Only her best friend knows. And until she recovers from her coma, she won’t be able to tell her side of the story. Natalie is desperate for answers – so she can’t believe her luck when she comes across a photo of the man her friend left with. Except he’s on the cover of a magazine, being heralded as the ‘Man of the Year’. This man appears untouchable. He’s a millionaire. He’s famous. But Natalie suspects he’s dangerous. To prove it, she takes up a job as the housekeeper at his mansion. Her plan is simple. Watch his every move. Gather the evidence. And make him pay. But when she discovers that...

NetGalley: Sundown Girls by L.S. Stratton

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Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Published: 1/27/2026 Pages: 310 Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Paranormal Review: NetGalley ARC and publisher Amazon When sixteen-year-old Naomi Stoakes and her family head to a secluded cabin in the Shenandoah Valley for summer vacation they don’t know the small, mountainous town of Sparksburg, Virginia has a dark and twisted past. But when they arrive, Naomi can’t shake the feeling that something about Sparksburg just isn’t right. When she learns Sparksburg had once been a Sundown Town—a town where Blacks weren’t allowed after sunset lest they be murdered—well Naomi’s unease starts to make sense. As Naomi digs more into Sparksburg’s violent origins, she finds herself haunted by the ghost of a girl, appearing nightly outside her window. Then she learns of two girls who’ve recently gone missing and suspects the past may still be present in Sparksburg and beneath the quaint façade of this tourist town is a palpable danger. When Naomi decides to track the disap...

Library book: Eddie Flynn #5 Fifty Fifty Steve Cavanagh

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Publisher: Atria Books Published: 6/3/2025 Pages: 384 Genre: Thriller/Mystery Review: Amazon Two sisters on trial for murder. They accuse each other. Who do you believe? “911 what’s your emergency?” “My dad’s dead. My sister Sofia killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help.” “My dad’s dead. My sister Alexandra killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help.” One of them is a liar and a killer. But which one?

NetGalley: Wild Instinct by T. Jefferson Parker

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Publisher: Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press Published: 11/11/2025 Pages: 336 Genre: mystery, thriller Review: ARC from NetGalley Amazon Lew Gale, a former Marine sniper, now an Orange County, California Sheriff’s detective, is assigned to track and shoot a mountain lion that has killed a man in Caspers Park, located in the rugged country east of Laguna Beach, California. The victim is Bennet Tarlow, a rich developer and man-about-town in upscale coastal Orange County. The investigation takes an unexpected—and chilling—turn when Lew and his deputy sheriff arrive at the kill site in the Santa Ana mountains, only to discover that Bennet was dead before the lion got to him. And while Bennet might have been the first to die, he certainly will not be the last.

Edelweiss: The Scammer Tiffany D. Jackson

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Publisher: Quill Tree Books Published: 10/7/2025 Pages: 366 Genre: Thriller/Suspense Review: ARC from Edelweiss and Publisher  Amazon Out from under her overprotective parents, Jordyn is ready to kill it in prelaw at a prestigious, historically Black university in Washington DC. When her new roommate’s brother is released from prison, the last thing Jordyn expects is to come home and find the ex-convict on their dorm room sofa. But Devonte needs a place to stay while he gets back on his feet—and how could she say no to one of her new best friends? Devonte is older, as charming as he is intelligent, pushing every student he meets to make better choices about their young lives. But Jordyn senses something sinister beneath his friendly advice and growing group of followers. When one of Jordyn’s roommates goes missing, she must enlist the help of the university’s lone white student to uncover the mystery—or become trapped at the center of a web of lies more tangled than she can imagin...

NetGalley: In Death #46 Dark in Death J.D. Robb

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Publisher: St. Martin's Press Published: 1/30/2018 Pages: 386 Genre: Mystery/Futuristic  Review: NetGalley, copy from publisher Amazon It was a stab in the dark. On a chilly February night, during a screening of  Psycho  in midtown, someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Rylan’s neck, then disappeared quietly into the crowds of drunks and tourists in Times Square. To Chanel’s best friend, who had just slipped out of the theater for a moment to take a call, it felt as unreal as the ancient black-and-white movie up on the screen. But Chanel’s blood ran red, and her death was anything but fictional. Then, as Eve Dallas puzzles over a homicide that seems carefully planned and yet oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source: an author of police thrillers who recognizes the crime—from the pages of her own book. Dallas doesn’t think it’s coincidence, since a recent strangulation of a sex worker resembles a scene from her writing as well. Cops look for...

NetGalley: Echoes in Death #44 An Eve Dallas Novel by J. D. Robb

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Publisher: St. Martin's Press Published: 2/7/2017 Pages: 371 Genre: Mystery/Futuristic Review: NetGalley, copy from publisher Amazon As NY Lt. Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke are driving home, a young woman—dazed, naked, and bloody—suddenly stumbles out in front of their car. Roarke slams on the brakes and Eve springs into action. Daphne Strazza is rushed to the ER, but it’s too late for her husband Dr. Anthony Strazza. A brilliant orthopedic surgeon, he now lies dead amid the wreckage of his obsessively organized town house, his three safes opened and emptied. Daphne would be a valuable witness, but in her terror and shock the only description of the perp she can offer is repeatedly calling him “the devil”... While it emerges that Dr. Strazza was cold, controlling, and widely disliked, this is one case where the evidence doesn’t point to the spouse. So Eve and her team must get started on the legwork, interviewing everyone from dinner-party guests to professional co...

KU: All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban

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Publisher: HarperCollins Published: 3/17/2020 Pages: 386 Genre: Thriller/Teen/Mystery Review: Kindle Unlimited Amazon Welcome to dinner, and again, congratulations on being selected. Now you must do the selecting. What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it’s a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill … or else everyone dies. Amber Prescott is determined to get her classmates and herself out of the room alive, but that might be easier said than done. No one knows how they’re all connected or who would want them dead. As they retrace the events over the past year that might have triggered their captor’s ultimatum, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something. And with the clock ticking down, confusion turns into fear, and fear morphs into panic as they ra...

Library book: The Man Made of Smoke Alex North

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Publisher: Celadon Books Published: 5/13/2025 Pages: 307 Genre: Thriller/Horror Review: Library book Amazon Dan Garvie’s life has been haunted by the crime he witnessed as a child—narrowly escaping an encounter with a notorious serial killer. He has dedicated his life since to becoming a criminal profiler, eager to seek justice for innocent victims. So when his father passes away under suspicious circumstances, Dan revisits his small island community, determined to uncover the truth about his death. Is it possible that the monster he remembers from his childhood nightmares has returned after all these years? With his signature shock and suspense, Alex North brings us  The Man Made of Smoke . In turn emotional, introspective, and utterly terrifying, this is a story of fathers and sons, shadows and secrets, and the fight we all face to escape the trauma of the past.

Library book: Stalked Through the Mist by Carla Cassidy

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Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue  Published: 4/1/2025 Pages: 203 Genre: Mystery/Romance Review: library book  Amazon The fog conceals a killer who’s hunting them both The disappearance of five people in Angel Marchant’s marshland town has left everyone terrified they’ll be next. And when a voodoo doll with a knife through its heart is left hanging on her front door, Angel turns to the only person she can trust. Ever since she rescued him from the swamp, injured New Orleans photographer Nathan Merrick has been falling hard for Angel. But now the beautiful fisherwoman is the target of a predator whose vendetta of violence will end only when Angel belongs to him forever… From Harlequin Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.

NetGalley: Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

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Publisher: Scholastic Press Published: 7/1/2025 Pages: 272 Genre: Mystery, teen, thriller Review: ARC from NetGalley and Publisher  Amazon This summer, there's blood in the water...watch out for sharks! Kaylani is a born-and-bred Brooklyn girl. She expects to feel like a fish out of water spending the hot and sticky summer on Martha's Vineyard with family friends, the Watsons. But her mother insists, especially since Kaylani still spends long hours on the phone with her imprisoned father. The Watsons live in the town of Oak Bluffs, a place with a rich Black history that fascinates Kaylani. Though the Watsons' daughter, London, is snobby and unfriendly, Kaylani ends up connecting with some other kids in the town, who show her around. The beach IS really nice, and there's good ice cream to be had. Maybe there's something to Martha's Vineyard... But then a shocking murder--or was it a drowning? A shark attack?--rocks the community to its core. Kaylani is determine...

Library book: Perfect #2 The Perfect Divorce Jeneva Rose

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Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Published: 4/15/2025 Pages: 304 Genre: Mystery, Thriller Review: Library book Amazon Till death do us part. Yours. Not Mine. It’s been eleven years since high-powered attorney Sarah Morgan defended her husband, Adam, against the charge of murdering his mistress. Sarah has long since moved on, starting a family with her new husband, Bob Miller, and changing careers. Her life is back to being exactly how she always wanted … or is it? After discovering Bob engaged in a one-night stand, Sarah wastes no time filing for divorce. However, amid their ugly separation, new DNA evidence is uncovered in the case against Adam, forcing the police to reopen the investigation and putting Sarah right back in the spotlight. Everyone wants to know what really happened, most of all former deputy Marcus Hudson, who is hell-bent on finding the truth. But when the woman Bob slept with is reported missing, he and Sarah start to fight dirty, and a high-stakes game of cat and m...

Library book: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

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Publisher: St. Martin's Press Published: 7/6/2010 Pages: 342 Genre: Thriller/Mystery Review: Library book Amazon On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old realtor, had three goals - sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. Still Missing  interweaves the year Annie spent as the captive of a psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfold through sessions with her psychiatrist, with a second narrative following the events after her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.

Amazon First Reads: Into the Fall by Tamara Miller

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Publisher: Thomas and Mercer Published: 2/1/2025 Pages: 250 Genre: Mystery Thriller/Suspense Review: Amazon First Reads Amazon For better or for worse, Sarah Anderson has it a thriving career, a nice home in Ottawa, two young kids…and a marriage coming apart at the seams. Then her husband, Matthew, vanishes without a trace during a family vacation up north. Sarah and her children are nearly lost among the slumbering lakes, treacherous cliffs, and brooding forests of the Canadian Shield. A glacier-scraped realm of ancient beauty and terror, it’s a world away from the safety of the suburbs. And a big storm is brewing. A kind rural lawman comes to their aid and takes an interest in the case. The trail goes cold, however, launching Sarah into a yearlong odyssey to find her husband. On the way, she must reconnect with her estranged sister and duck the suspicions of a slick city police officer. But that’s nothing compared to unearthing the dark secrets buried deep in the granite of her marr...

NetGalley: White Line Fever by KC Jones

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Publisher: Tor Publishing Group Published: 3/18/2025 Pages: 342 Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror Review: ARC from NetGalley Amazon At a passing glance, County Road 951 is an entirely unremarkable stretch of blacktop, a two-lane scar across the Cascade foothills of Central Oregon. But the road is known by another name, coined by those who’ve had to clean up after all those scenic detours went horribly wrong: The Devil’s Driveway. When Livia and her long-time friends take the Driveway as a shortcut to a much-needed weekend getaway, what begins as a morning joyride quickly becomes anything but. Soon, they’re driving for their lives, pursued by a horror beyond anything they ever imagined. The Devil’s Driveway might be only 15 miles long, but with danger at every turn, it will take the four women to the very limits of their friendships and their sanity. And there’s no telling what else lies in wait just beyond the bend.