Book picks similar to
Black-Eyed Susan by Laura Lippman


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mystery
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The Sisters


Dervla McTiernan - 2019
    A murder case that could change their lives forever. The Sisters is a gripping new thriller from one of the most exciting voices in crime fiction. In this prequel to the international bestseller The Ruin, set 10 years prior, bright-eyed Carrie Ryan is at the very start of her career. When she has a hunch about an ongoing murder investigation, she knows it could be her only chance to prove herself and truly break into the “boy’s club” of Dublin’s police force. Carrie uncovers this make-or-break moment in a case file her sister Aifric, a newly qualified barrister, leaves on their kitchen counter: Robert Collins has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend after a fight in a local pub, and all signs point towards a guilty verdict. But both sisters quickly begin to find evidence that complicates the story. All the while, Carrie is very aware that she’s crossed the line – if the detective sergeant running the investigation finds out she’s been messing around with his case, her career will be over before it has begun. Please note: This audio contains strong language, distressing situations, and descriptions of violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Discretion is advised.

The Midnight Dog of the Repo Man


W. Bruce Cameron - 2014
    Bruce Cameron’s new novel The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man, and tells how Ruddy met his best friend Jake, a lazy but lovable basset hound, during a repo gone wrong.Full of laugh-out-loud humor and thrilling adventure, The Midnight Dog of the Repo Man is a page-turning, delightful short story by the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling A Dog’s Purpose, A Dog’s Journey, and The Dogs of Christmas that shows us that unconditional love is just a tail wag away and can happen upon us when we least expect it.At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Christmas in Absaroka County


Craig Johnson - 2012
    In these four stories—“Ministerial Aid,” “Slick-Tongued Devil,” “Toys for Tots,” and “Unbalanced” (three of which have been sent to Johnson’s fans over the years in the author’s “Post-it” e-mails)—Walt is alternately at his best and his worst. He helps a somewhat delusional elderly victim of domestic abuse while sporting a bathrobe and a mean hangover on New Year’s Day. He’s sidelined by grief when his wife’s obituary reappears in the paper and there’s an unexpected knock on his door two days before Christmas. He strives to help even those who don’t want it when he picks up a young female hitchhiker, and he’s forced into some last-minute Christmas shopping by the Greatest Legal Mind of Our Time, during which he might just end up saving a young Navy chaplain’s Christmas.Full of Longmire’s dry wit and good heart, Christmas in Absaroka County is a holiday must-have for every Longmire and Craig Johnson fan, and it also includes the first chapter of The Cold Dish, the first novel in the Walt Longmire Mystery Series. Amazon review

The Yarn Woman


Brooks Mencher - 2014
    The FBI and city police call her the Yarn Woman. She's their textile forensics expert.In her first recorded case, 'Ghosts of the Albert Townsend, ' Ruth has only a blood-soaked nineteenth century shawl to unravel the link between the resurfacing of a ghostly schooner just offshore and the severe wounds on young Hauper Brown's body. A nearby fatal animal mauling only adds to her worry. In her second case in this first Yarn Woman mysteries book, 'The Fisherman's Wife, ' Ruth must decipher the meaning behind a dead man's hand-knit sweater while racing against time to save his otherworldly widow. Finally, Ruth helps identify the body of a playwright by the handwork in his shirt, and finds not only a young friend in Gabriel, a curly-haired boy with unusual abilities, she unearths a network of beggar-masters and their slaves deep in San Francisco's seamy underside.This first book, a trilogy of dramatic novellas, introduces a cast of characters who will recur as the Yarn Woman mystery series continues in 'Wailing Wood' and 'The Rusalka Wheel, ' with more cases on the horiz

The Accidental Existentialist


Joshua Graham - 2010
    Tense, action-packed and filled with more twists than the Coney Island Cyclone, THE ACCIDENTAL EXISTENTIALIST poses the question: How far would one man go to rid the world of evil, and avenge his son?

Santa Cruz Noir


Susie BrightPeggy Townsend - 2018
    Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.Featuring brand-new stories by: Tommy Moore, Jessica Breheny, Naomi Hirahara, Calvin McMillin, Liza Monroy, Elizabeth McKenzie, Jill Wolfson, Ariel Gore, Jon Bailiff, Maceo Montoya, Micah Perks, Seana Graham, Vinnie Hansen, Peggy Townsend, Margaret Elysia Garcia, Lou Mathews, Lee Quarnstrom, Dillon Kaiser, Beth Lisick, and Wallace Baine.From the introduction by Susie Bright:Every town has its noir-ville. It’s easy to find in Santa Cruz. We live in what’s called “paradise,” where you can wake up in a pool of blood with the first pink rays of the sunrise peeking out over our mountain range. The dewy mist lifts from the bay. Don’t hate us because we’re beautiful—we were made that way, like Venus rising off the foam with a brick in her hand. We can’t help it if you fall for it every time . . .“If I lived in a place like this,” visitors often say, “I’d wake up with a smile every day.”Oh, we do, thank you for that. There’s no beauty like a merciless beauty—and like every crepuscular predator, it thrives at dawn and dusk. You’re just the innocent we’ve been waiting for, with your big paper cone of sugar-shark cotton, whipped out of pure nothing. We have just the ride for you, the longest tunnel ever. Santa Cruz is everything you ever dreamed, and everything you ever screamed, in one long drop you’ll never forget.

Once Gone


Blake Pierce - 2015
    A serial killer is out there, his frequency increasing, and they know there is only one agent good enough to crack this case: Special Agent Riley Paige. Riley is on paid leave herself, recovering from her encounter with her last serial killer, and, fragile as she is, the FBI is reluctant to tap her brilliant mind. Yet Riley, needing to battle her own demons, comes on board, and her hunt leads her through the disturbing subculture of doll collectors, into the homes of broken families, and into the darkest canals of the killer’s mind. As Riley peels back the layers, she realizes she is up against a killer more twisted than she could have imagined. In a frantic race against time, she finds herself pushed to her limit, her job on the line, her own family in danger, and her fragile psyche collapsing. Yet once Riley Paige takes on a case, she will not quit. It obsesses her, leading her to the darkest corners of her own mind, blurring the lines between hunter and hunted. After a series of unexpected twists, her instincts lead her to a shocking climax that even Riley could not have imagined. A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE GONE marks the debut of a riveting new series—and a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Book #2 and #3 in the Riley Paige series are also available.

The River Seine Killings (DI Ruth Hunter #10)


Simon McCleave - 2021
    

The Best American Mystery Stories 1998


Sue Grafton - 1998
    In this volume, best-selling writers such as Mary Higgins Clark, Walter Mosley, Lawrence Block, Jay McInerney, and Donald E. Westlake stand alongside an impressive array of new talent. As Grafton writes in her introduction, "Nowhere is iniquity, wrongdoing, and reparation more satisfying to behold than in the well-crafted yarns spun by the writers represented here." Already a bestseller in its first year, this year's collection of The Best American Mystery Stories promises to keep readers intrigued and coming back for more.

Waking Kylie


Alafair Burke - 2017
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Mystery: The Isherwood Case Files


Johnny Scotland - 2015
    Although Charley doesn't like the idea, he has no choice but to put up with it. Isherwood shows the squad what difference observation makes to how a potential crime scene is viewed, when asked to help by a member of the public who is worried for the safety of her sister. Is she right? Is the girl's fiance a monster who has already killed his previous wives? The problem is that he is perceived as a high profile member of society and the Chief warns the detectives to tread carefully. Will Isherwood tread on anyone's ego as he provides insight on this potential murder case? This is the first of the series of Isherwood Case Files in which our detective gets up close and personal with homicide, showing the squad the difference between the American approach and the more reserved British approach. Mystery 2:The Case of the Ghost Writer With Jon Isherwood being asked to help in the Los Angeles Police Department's homicide division, a call is received from a landlord who has found his tenant has been murdered. In this salubrious part of town, the ghost writer has found his demise. Will the clues be sufficient to pin the murder on anyone? Since the ghost writer lived a very private life, investigation takes Isherwood and his team to the home of a rich and famous author. There are many questions unanswered, though with forensics on their side, will they be able to work out the motive that anyone could have had to kill the solitary figure? Using observation, Isherwood and his team work toward finding a conclusion to a story which spells sadness, disappointment and revenge. But whose will the revenge be and will it be easy to crack the case? Readers will need to take the journey with our detectives to find the answers to their questions. Not all is always as it seems. Mystery 3:The Case of the Dead Man with No Identity When a victim is found at the bottom of the laundry chute in a hotel, where will the inquiries begin. There is no identification on the man and nothing to say who he was. Isherwood investigates the case of the dead man with no identity with his usual flare. Should he be looking in other places or are the clues there for him to find? As the story unfolds, is the killer who they think it is? Can a killer actually be charged with murder when the victim is seemingly already dead? One of Isherwood's most irritating cases, the blandness of the whole affair baffles him. Instead of being riddled with detail for him to unfold, this crime comes with no clues, no answers and no real leads. How will the detectives find out who killed Ian Bradshaw? And what stories can the dead body tell the coroner's office about how the death occurred? Readers will discover within the pages of this story. Mystery 4: A Case of Check Mate When a murderer leaves the calling card of a chess piece, Isherwood is left to find out the significance. Does this mean something particular? The preacher who was murdered seems an unlikely victim, though Isherwood is left to do what he can to make sense of the killing. Looking through past history, perhaps there are links that may have been missed, other than for that calling card.

Snow Blind (A Joe Gunther Short Mystery)


Archer Mayor - 2012
    A classic Vermont snowstorm, a confused young man, and of course, a crime.

Under the Hill


Sheila Connolly - 2014
     Ellen Leonard is feeling both free and empty. Just out of a two-year relationship, she decides a trip to Ireland could be the perfect opportunity to shake off her lethargy and also reassert her independence. But as she settles in at a remote cottage in the Irish countryside and her days take on a comfortable routine, Ellen begins to discover that sometimes things that go bump don’t always do it just in the night. “Under the Hill” also features a sneak peek at two of Sheila’s newest books, Relatively Dead and Picked to Die. And watch for An Early Wake, the third book in the County Cork Mystery Series, coming in February! About the Author Sheila Connolly is an Anthony and Agatha Award–nominated author who writes the New York Times bestselling County Cork Mysteries, which draw heavily on her Irish ancestry and frequent trips to Ireland. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling Museum Mysteries and Orchard Mysteries. In addition, she has published Once She Knew, a romantic suspense; Reunion with Death, a traditional mystery set in Tuscany; Relatively Dead, a paranormal romance and a New York Times bestseller; and Seeing the Dead, as well as a number of short stories. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three cats.

No Time Left


David Baldacci - 2010
    When Becker takes a mysterious job, he has no idea that it will force him to delve deeply into his own past. Undeterred by obstacles he is determined to complete his assignment. But he may realize too late that his success will permanently alter his future.

Dull Knife


C.J. Box - 2011
    Game warden Joe Pickett was carefully sliding across to check the licenses of a group of ice fishermen on the lake, when he saw the strange faint yellow glow coming from beneath the surface and, when he got closer, the thin, spindly, black thing sticking up in the middle of it. His first thought was that it was a tree branch. But it wasn't. It was a frozen human hand, reaching up through the ice...