Buried Road
by Katie Tallo.
Third in a series featuring Gus Monet, this book jumps ahead a dozen years and is told through the eyes of Gus’ twelve-year-old daughter Bly.
Three years ago, Gus’s longtime partner, Howard, vanished during a camping trip. Though police, and Howard’s parents, have given up finding him alive, Gus insists on continuing to investigate. Her impetuous nature brings her and Bly into peril and twisty situations on the way to a terrifying climax.
What Have You Done?
Popular teenager Diana Brewer is found, naked and strangled, in a farmer’s field in rural Vermont. Her mother, who works nights at the local hospital, is bereft, and the small town of Fairhill is stunned.
Could her boyfriend Cameron have killed her? What about the creepy customer at Home Depot who was harassing her? Or maybe the gym teacher who was being way too friendly?
Murder in the Family
by Cara Hunter
Twenty years ago Luke Ryder was found bludgeoned to death in his London back yard. His teenage stepdaughters discovered his body late at night after they returned from a movie.
The killer was never identified. Now a true crime TV series is re-examining the case. Six experts are taking a fresh look and revealing their discoveries live, week by week.
The novel reads like a screenplay, with multimedia commentary interspersed between each week’s script.
Fatal Harvest
by Brenda Chapman.
Stu and Devina Petrie live in a farmhouse near Ashton, a small village nestled in farming country west of Ottawa. Eleven-year-old Matt has been staying with them this summer.
But when a neighbour stops by to give Stu a ride to the local pub, he discovers that the Petries have both been shot dead, and Matt is missing.
Ottawa Police Detective Liam Tate is called to head up the investigation, and once again he collaborates with journalist and podcaster Ella Tate.
Lightning Strikes the Silence
by Iona Whishaw.
It's 1948. A little girl has been injured in an explosion on a deserted mountain near a tiny B.C. hamlet. A jewellery store has been robbed and its owner killed.
Star-crossed lovers, Japanese Canadians forcibly interned, Doukhobor settlers protesting unfair treatment, and family secrets from an earlier war, all play a role.
All the plot threads come together in another exciting and satisfying novel with Lane Winslow and her husband, police Inspector Frederick Darling.
The New Couple in 5B
by Lisa Unger.
Two couples, living decades apart, in the same New York apartment. In a building with more than its share of deaths and tragedies.
Can the past influence the present? Are the relationships that shaped the past still active in the present?
There may be ghosts in this story, or it might be imagination. Regardless, it’s real people and the secrets they try to hide that prove deadly in this fast-paced novel.
After That Night
When Dr. Sara Linton was an ER doctor, she witnessed a dying declaration from Dani, a young woman who was beaten and raped.
Three years later, as Medical Examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Sara is asked to testify against the wealthy young man accused of the rape. Together with her partner, GBI Detective Will Trent, Sarah dives into a behind-the-scenes investigation to find out how Dani’s case connects to her own past.
The Housemaid’s Secret
by Frieda McFadden.
Millie’s been hired to cook and clean for a wealthy New York couple in a luxurious penthouse opposite Central Park. Though she’s only met the husband; the wife, Wendy, stays in her bedroom, and Millie is told not to bother her since she’s often ill.
Millie becomes increasingly concerned about Wendy — expecially when she sees Wendy’s bruised face and concludes that she’s being abused. Millie can’t stand aside: when Wendy asks for help, Millie steps forward.
The Hunter
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.
Prom Mom
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…
The Last Caretaker
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.
Mother-Daughter Murder Night
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.
City Under One Roof
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?
Speak for the Dead
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.
Adrift
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.
Blood Relations
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.
Going to Beautiful
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.
An Unthinkable Thing
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.
The Verifiers
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.
Lying Beside You
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.