Daddy Soda


Mira Gibson - 2015
    For years, Hannah has hardly spoken to her overbearing mother or the half-sisters she barely knows: shy Candice, and Mary, a stunning fifteen year old with an eerie grip on the town. But when she learns her mother has been kidnapped, she returns home to the shack on Hermit Lake and the step-father she's never trusted. Detective Cody McAlister has never seen a case like this. The kidnapper has planned every detail with exquisite precision and when body parts begin to arrive at his department, the glaring reality becomes all too clear: Kendra won't be alive for long. The key to the deranged kidnapper's motive and identity may be held in the unsteady hands of a twelve-year old girl. But Candice hasn't spoken a word since that tragic night.As Hannah and Cody's investigation takes them from abandoned strip malls to the outer reaches of the marsh, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Hannah finds herself reliving hellish memories of the shack she thought she'd never have to face. If she doesn't unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past, she won't find her mother in time. In small-town New Hampshire where what you see is what you get, no one is who they seem.

Until the End


Christopher Pike - 1993
    But hooking up and hanging out are the farthest things from their minds when the unthinkable happens: Someone doesn't make it out of the party alive. The death is declared a suicide, but nothing quite adds up. Convinced there’s a murderer on the loose, no one knows who they can turn to or who they can trust. Nowhere is safe, not the homecoming dance, not even graduation. The truth will terrify them, but it must be revealed. Their lives depend on it.

The Mirror Crack'd / A Caribbean Mystery / Nemesis / What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! / The Body in the Library


Agatha Christie - 1980
    McGillicuddy Saw! (aka 4:50 from Paddington), andThe Body in the Library.Librarian's note: this entry is for the collection of five novels. Each of them individually, as well as the other seven Miss Marple novels, and the 20 short stories, can be found elsewhere on Goodreads.

The Concrete Blonde & The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch, #3-4)


Michael Connelly - 2008
    

The Racketeer


John Grisham - 2012
    Job status? Former attorney. Current residence? The Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland.On paper, Malcolm’s situation isn’t looking too good these days, but he’s got an ace up his sleeve. He knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and he knows why. The judge’s body was found in his remote lakeside cabin. There was no forced entry, no struggle, just two dead bodies: Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. And one large, state-of-the-art, extremely secure safe, opened and emptied.What was in the safe? The FBI would love to know. And Malcolm Bannister would love to tell them. But everything has a price—especially information as explosive as the sequence of events that led to Judge Fawcett’s death. And the Racketeer wasn’t born yesterday . . .Nothing is as it seems and everything’s fair game in this wickedly clever new novel from John Grisham, the undisputed master of the legal thriller.

French Silk


Sandra Brown - 1991
    The founder of French Silk, a fabulous lingerie company, she has fought hard to make it a worldwide success. Then a TV evangelist attacks French Silk's erotic sleepwear as sinful. And when he is killed, Claire becomes the prime suspect. District Attorney Robert Cassidy knows Claire is damning herself with lie after lie about the murder, even as he feels her drawing him into her world and her very soul. But neither Cassidy nor her protests of innocence can save Claire unless she reveals a shocking truth—one she has sworn to take to the grave...

Devil's Corner


Lisa Scottoline - 2005
    Attorney Vicki Allegretti goes to meet a confidential informant and finds herself facing a loaded 9 mm Glock semiautomatic weapon, wielded by a panicky teenager. Violence is the last thing this neophyte lawyer expects. The case is easy, the kind given to new ADAs to help them cut their teeth. Yet almost before she has time to react, her partner is dead, shot in the chest.From that high-octane introduction to her job, Vicki vows to continue with the case, protect her informant, and find the shadowy figure behind the death of her partner. This decision will take her to the depths of the federal detention center’s “bowl,” to a row house on the street where she grew up, and to the posh suburbs where her parents now live. Set against the gritty backdrop of a modern American city and imbued with Lisa Scottoline’s trademark style and wit, Cater Street is the story of a determined young lawyer seeking justice.

Ghost of a Chance


Yasmine Galenorn - 2003
    She never set out to be a detective, but once word gets out that she can communicate with the dead, there's no turning back... When the ghost of Susan Mitchell asks for Emerald's help in convicting her own murderer, Emerald can't refuse. Along with her friends-an ex-supermodel and a cop-and her new love interest, Emerald must search for clues to put the killer behind bars, and Susan's tortured soul to rest.

Two Complete Novels: Disclosure / Rising Sun


Michael Crichton - 1996
    An up-and-coming executive at DigiCom, Tom Sanders is a man whose corporate future is certain. But after a closed door meeting with his new boss--his former lover who has been promoted to the position he expected to have--Sanders is caught in a web of deceit where he is branded the villain. As Sanders scrambles to defend himself, he uncovers an electronic trail into the company's cynical and manipulative secrets.Rising SunOn the forty-fifth floor of the Nakamoto Tower in downtown L.A.--the American headquarters of the immense Japanese conglomerate--a grand opening celebration is in full swing. On the forty-sixth floor, in an empty conference room, the dead body of a beautiful woman is discovered. The investigation begins...and immediately becomes a headlong chase through a twisting maze of industrial intrigue. With a no-holds-barred conflict in which control of a vital American technology is the fiercely coveted prize, the saying "business is war" takes on a terrifying reality.Now for the first time ever, two of Michael Crichton's most captivating and controversial novels are combined in one exciting volume. Her is America's top suspense writer at the top of his form.--jacket

Stateline


Dave Stanton - 2013
    The groom is dead. When a tycoon’s son is murdered the night before his wedding, the grief-stricken father offers private detective Dan Reno a life-changing bounty to find the killer.Reno, nearly broke, thinks he’s finally found himself in the right place at the right time. But when a band of crooked cops get involved, Reno finds himself fighting for his life.Who committed the murder, and why? Which cops can he trust, if any?Haunted by his murdered father and a violent past, Reno wants no more blood on his hands. But a man’s got to make a living, and backing off is not in his DNA.Traversing the snowy alpine winter in the Sierras and the lonely deserts of Nevada, Reno must revert to his old ways to survive. Because the bounty won’t do him much good if he’s dead.

The Enemy Within


Noel Hynd - 2006
    This hopefully will cure many Kindle-related format and spellcheck problems in earlier editions. If you buy a download and continue to have significant problems, please contact me at NH1212f@yahoo.com. Many thanks. Noel Hynd November 16, 2014. Rave reviews: “The Enemy Within is loaded with fascinating details about how federal-level investigations can waste time and lives. . . . A muscular story with great bones.”—USA Today“The Enemy Within is a great story, written intelligently and introducing a very sympathetic main character.”—The Dallas Morning News“[A] high-octane thriller,,, Hynd is a solid, dependable writer with enough literary flair to move him up a few notches above the Ludlums and Clancys of the world. —BooklistFrom Publishers WeeklyIn this exhaustive political action thriller, it's 2009, and Secret Service agent Laura Chapman is pulled off her White House detail to identify and thwart an assassin... The only clues: the assassin is male and he's a Secret Service agent himself. Laura, who has spent more than a decade on duty at the White House, is not your standard, black suit and earplug-wearing poker-faced agent: she drinks too much, smokes pot, sees apparitions and gets depressed. Noel Hynd knows the ins and outs of Washington's agencies both public and secret. He meticulously describes Laura's investigation step by frustrating step. There are subplots dealing with an American attack on Libya, sleazy American spies, Laura's love life and the question of whether those ghosts she keeps seeing are real or not. When the ending finally lopes onstage, it's not as spectacular as most readers would wish, but Hynd ties up all his loose ends, freeing the likable Laura for duty in subsequent volumes. (Mar.) Copyright © 2004 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistDescribed by the publisher as " 24 meets Alias meets The Day of the Jackal," this tightly plotted novel features a female intelligence agent assigned to ferret out a would-be presidential assassin who may be lurking in the ranks of the Secret Service. But Laura Chapman isn't a clone of Alias' Sydney Bristow; the story bears only the slightest resemblance to Day of the Jackal; and there is no 24 -like episodic structure (or single-day story, either, for that matter). Hynd, whose previous efforts have mixed horror and crime ( A Room for the Dead, 1994), is a solid, dependable writer with enough literary flair to move him up a few notches above the Ludlums and Clancys of the world. With the right kind of word of mouth--something beyond facile comparisons to TV shows--this high-octane thriller with just enough political edge should find the eager audience it deserves. -- American Library Association. Product DescriptionIt is early summer of 2009, an uneasy time in the American capital. Washington is tense over a showdown between the United States and the new ruler of Libya.Laura Chapman is a U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to the White House. She is quirky, solitary, and frequently unorthodox. She is sexy and fit, adept with a pistol as well as with a hundred-pound Everlast bag. But she is also a brilliant intelligence analyst. That’s why she has been assigned to the Presidential Protection Detail for the past eleven years.The CIA assigns Laura to a case that borders on the unthinkable: an assassination plot against the new president. Shockingly, the trigger man will be a member of the United States Secret Service.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Other Stories


Arthur Conan Doyle - 2011
    Who is it, you ask? Why, it's elementary! Sherlock Holmes, the famous gumshoe of 221B Baker Street. And Sir Arthur Conan Doyle--the man who made him famous in such tales as The Hound of the Baskervilles and A Study in Scarlet--changed the world of mysteries, inspiring legions of devoted fans. Whether you're a devotee or you've yet to be awed by Holmes's powers of deduction, you'll love this Canterbury Classics edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous works, including The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of Four, The Valley of Fear, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. The perfect book to complete any bookshelf, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Other Stories features an eye-catching leather-bound cover with gold foil stamping, as well as fine ivory paper with gilded edges. You'll be spellbound by Conan Doyle's descriptive prose, and then delight in displaying this beautiful book in your home. A classic keepsake for fans of detective novels, as well as all great literature, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Other Stories  is the perfect addition to any library.

Long Lost


David Morrell - 2002
    He wondered who took him, or if Petey had simply run away. Now, on a Denver street, Brad is jolted by a man calling out his name. A man claiming to be his long lost brother. Twice Burned But the reunion is short-lived. Suddenly, Petey is gone again. And so is Brad's family. This time, Brad is going after him: to find the truth, to find his family. To enter a murderous game that stretches into the past...and will culminate in one final moment of revenge.

The Second Sister


Claire Kendal - 2017
    An intoxicating cocktail of loyalty and secrets, lies and betrayal, reminiscent of Rosamund Lupton’s Sister and Kimberly McCreight’s Reconstructing Amelia.A decade ago, Ella Brooke’s older sister, Miranda, vanished without a trace. With every passing year, Ella has come to resemble more closely the sister she lost—the same dark hair, the same piercing blue eyes—and now she’s the same age Miranda was when she disappeared.Ella has never let go of her sister. She can still feel Miranda’s presence, still hear her voice. She still talks to her. What holds Ella together is her love for her sister’s ten-year-old son and her work as a self-defense expert helping victims.Ella is certain that Miranda was taken, and that one man is key to her disappearance: Jason Thorne. The tabloids report that a new link has been found connecting Miranda to this sadistic serial killer locked away in a psychiatric hospital. Ignoring warnings from the police and the disapproval of her parents, she seeks Thorne out. Ella will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth—no matter how dangerous…

A Grant County Collection: Indelible, Faithless and Skin Privilege


Karin Slaughter - 2009
    But they decide to take a detour via Jeffrey's hometown and things go violently wrong when Jeffrey's best friend Robert shoots dead an intruder who breaks into his house.Jeffrey and Sara are first on the scene and Jeffrey's keen to clear his friend's name, but for Sara things aren't so simple. The sear marks around the bullet-hole don't tally with Robert's story. Robert's wife, Jessie, is incoherent and confused. And when Jeffrey appears to change the crime scene, Sara no longer knows who to trust.Twelve years later, Sara and Jeffrey are caught up in a shockingly brutal attack which threatens to destroy both their lives. But they're not random victims. They've been targeted. And it seems the past is catching up with both of them ...FaithlessThere are many ways to die. But some are more terrifying than others ...A walk in the woods takes a sinister turn for police chief Jeffrey Tolliver and medical examiner Sara Linton when they stumble across the body of a young girl. Incarcerated in the ground, all the initial evidence indicates that she has, quite literally, been scared to death.But as Sara embarks on the autopsy, something even more horrifying comes to light. Something which shocks even Sara. Detective Lena Adams, talented but increasingly troubled, is called in from vacation to help with the investigation - and the trail soon leads to the neighbouring county, an isolated community, and a terrible secret ...Skin PrivilegeLena Adams has spent her life struggling to escape her past. She has only unhappy memories of Reece, the small town which nearly destroyed her. She's made a new life for herself as a police detective in Heartsdale, a hundred miles away - but nothing could prepare her for the violence which explodes when she is forced to return. A vicious murder leaves a young woman incinerated beyond recognition. And Lena is the only suspect.When Heartsdale police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, Lena's boss, receives word that his detective has been arrested, he has no choice but to go to Lena's aid - taking with him his wife, medical examiner Sara Linton. But soon after their arrival, a second victim is found. The town closes ranks. And both Jeffrey and Sara find themselves entangled in a horrifying underground world of bigotry and rage - a violent world which shocks even them. A world which puts their own lives in jeopardy. Only Jeffrey and Sara can free Lena from the web of lies, betrayal and brutality that has trapped her. But can they discover the truth before the killer strikes again?