Book Reviews

by Tana French.

Four years after abandoning his family to rural poverty in a remote community in western Ireland, Johnny Reddy has returned. And he has a get-rich-quick scheme to propose to his neighbours.

His 15-year-old daughter Trey doesn’t trust him one bit, but for her own reasons decides to help him with his multi-layered scheme. But things quickly get much more complicated than either of them expects. Conflicting loyalties collide with ideas of justice and revenge, forcing some wrenching choices.

by Laura Lippman.

Amber Glass gives birth to a 28-week baby in a hotel bathroom on prom night, while Joe Simpson, her prom date, goes to the after party. When discovered, the baby is dead.

22 years later, they meet again, back in Baltimore. Joe is a wealthy real estate developer married to Meredith, a plastic surgeon. Amber has just opened a folk art gallery. It’s 2020 and they’re just realizing there’s a pandemic…

by Jessica Strawser.

Katie is looking for a fresh start after her marriage fails — and when her best friend offers her a job as a caretaker at a remote nature preserve, it seems ideal.

But what happened to the previous caretaker? Most of her stuff is still in the house.

When an abused wife shows up in the middle of the night expecting Katie to take care of her, Katie wonders just what she’s gotten into.

by Nina Simon.

When Lana Rubicon, a high powered and stylish real estate developer, is diagnosed with cancer, she has to fall back on her semi-estranged daughter Beth and fifteen-year old granddaughter Jack for help.

Then Jack, a skilled kayak tour guide, is involved in finding a dead body, and Jack herself becomes a suspect. A story of three women who become a force to be reckoned with, told with wit and humour.

by Iris Yamashita.

A remote Alaskan town where everyone lives in a single highrise building. A teenager who finds a hand and a boot — with a foot in it — on the beach. A detective who believes this is a murder. A woman who hears voices and has a pet moose.

The only access to town is blocked by an avalanche. What could go wrong?

by Amy Tector.

A young woman who works for the Dominion Archives in Ottawa is found dead, hanging in a remote, vault-like building where flammable photo negatives have been stored. Coroner Cate Spencer has to decide whether the woman committed suicide or was murdered. And she herself is in danger when she starts uncovering a series of murky circumstances.

by Lisa Brideau.

Imagine waking up with no memory of your past. You don’t know your name or how you got here. You are alone on a sailboat near a remote island off the B.C. coast. And a note tells you not to make yourself known, and to “start over:” this is the only way out alive.

by J. Woollcott

It’s Belfast in 2017. DS Ryan McBride is back, this time investigating the brutal murder of a retired senior officer, Chief Inspector Patrick Mullan.

Is the perpetrator someone from Mullan’s past? Or have present circumstances led to his bloody death?

Ryan’s boss wants him to focus on Mullan’s past cases, but Ryan wants to keep his investigative options open.

by Anthony Bidulka.

Toronto chef Jake Hardy’s life is shattered when his husband, Eddie, is found dead. Following a trail of Eddie’s last wishes, Jake travels to Beautiful, Saskatchewan: a small Ukrainian community where he finds acceptance along with some long-hidden secrets, along with a new beginning.

by Nicole Lundrigan.

It’s 1958, and eleven-year-old Tommie is on trial, accused of shooting a wealthy couple and their teenage son. The couple were his mother’s employers: she was their live-in housekeeper. Did Tommie commit this crime? The story is told from his point of view, interspersed with transcripts from his trial.

by Jane Pek.

Claudia Lin works at an agency whose clients hire them to secretly find out if their online-dating “matches” are lying. Then one of Claudia’s clients dies. Police say it’s suicide, but Claudia believes it’s murder.

by Michael Robotham

Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven is drawn into the search for a missing woman, whose disabled father has been viciously beaten to death. Cyrus is helped, or hindered, by his former patient Evie Cormac, who’s now a tenant in his house. Her ability to detect lies does come in handy— if it could be trusted.

by Jane Harper.

A young mother disappeared a year ago, abandoning her baby at an outdoor festival. Aaron Falk was one of the last people to see her. Did she commit suicide or go into hiding? The third book in Jane Harper’s trilogy featuring Australian Federal Police officer Falk.

by Nicci French.

Jude Winter is a successful doctor, with an upcoming wedding. Then Liam shows up; he was her first love, back when they were teenagers. He asks her for a favor; she agrees. Then everythiing goes wrong.

by Bonnie Garmus.

“Children, set the table; your mother needs a minute to herself.” It’s the early 1960s. Elizabeth Zott, the host of the afternoon TV cooking show Supper at Six, is a brilliant scientist, but male privilege has denied her a PhD or recognition for her subsequent research work. Yet Zott’s cooking show proves to be more than the lightweight fluff her program director expects.

by Dervla McTiernan.

A young girl abducted off the street in Galway, Ireland. A team of police detectives spread thin while their colleagues focus on a drug task force. Suspicions of police corruption. Third in a series featuring Garda Detective Cormac Reilly.

by Hayley Scrivenor.

A 12-year old girl goes missing on her way home from school. Police are called in to investigate. More is going on in this small town than is at first apparent; secrets and misunderstandings need to be unwound before the truth can emerge.

by J. Woollccott

A young woman dead on a river bank in Northern Ireland. A team of police officers investigating her death—including DS Ryan McBride, who isn’t mentioning his prior acquantance with her. A raft of suspects. All to say, an entertaining and fast-moving novel with characters that you won’t easily forget.

by Kimberly Belle.

A home invasion. Jade and her two kids are taken hostage. Cam, her celebrity chef husband, must pay $734,296 in cash by 7 pm, or his family will be killed. But Cam doesn’t have that kind of money, especially since his flagship restaurant has just gone up in flames.

by Adrian McKinty.

The Baxter family—father, stepmom, and two teenage kids— want to see kangaroos and koalas on their trip to Australia. Some locals take them on a ferry to a private island. Then the Baxters make one fatal mistake, and their trip turns into an unrelenting nightmare.

by Chris Pavone

Arial’s husband is gone when she wakes up in their Lisbon hotel. When he doesn’t show up for breakfast and she can’t reach him by phone or text, she goes to the police to report him missing. But neither the police nor the American Embassy seem ready to help her. And she’s sure he’s in trouble.

by Bonnie Kistler.

Two women enter an elevator at the 30th floor. As they descend, the power goes out and they are trapped in the dark. When the elevator finally opens on the ground floor, one of the women is dead. She’s been shot. Was it suicide or murder?

by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.

Marissa and Matthew Bishop appear to be a golden couple, but their therapist, Avery, believes secrets are hidden behind that golden façade. And when she begins digging below the surface, things keep getting more complicated.

by Shari Lapena.

Wealthy entrepreneur Fred Merton and his wife Sheila have been found brutally murdered in their elegant house in an exclusive enclave. Could one of their three grown children have killed them?

by Jesse Q. Sutanto.

Meddy Chan accidentally kills her blind date, and calls on her mother and Chinese-Indonesian aunties to help her hide the body. But they are pressed for time—their wedding planning business has a big weekend ahead.

by Lisa Unger.

She met him on a dating app, but he didn’t just want a quick hookup. She falls in love, and when he says he wants to ask her something at dinner, she is anticipating…what? Not that he would stand her up and disappear.

by Michelle Hillen Klump.

This should have been Samantha’s wedding night, but her fiance backed out three weeks ago. Instead, she’s spending the evening preparing cocktails at a society gala. But when one of her customers dies and she’s the top suspect, what is she to do?