Book Reviews

by A.J. Finn

“The past isn’t gone; it’s just waiting.”

Twenty years ago, the wife and fourteen-year-old son of famous mystery writer Sebastian Trapp vanished. Did they choose to disappear, or are they dead? Did he kill them?

Sebastian is now dying, and has invited Nicky Hunter to write a “memory book” of his life.  She is staying in his house, along with his second wife Diana and his failed-to-launch daughter Madeleine.

Is Nicky safe? Will she uncover clues to the mystery? And then there’s another death.

by Adele Parks.

The UK is in pandemic lockdown, and Kylie Gillingham is missing. Is she dead? No body has been found, but there’s no sign of her alive, either.

A complication: Kylie had two husbands, two identities, as Leigh Fletcher and Kai Jannsen. Police discovered she was kept prisoner in an empty apartment after she disappeared. But when they showed up there, the apartment was empty.

Did one of her husbands, on discovering her deceit, abduct, punish and then kill her?

by Cara Hunter

A woman is found imprisoned in a basement, along with a two-year-old boy. She appears unable to speak, and police can’t figure out who she is: nobody with her description has been reported missing. And who is her captor — could it really be the elderly homeowner suffering from dementia?

Then police find a woman’s body hidden under the floor of a shed in the backyard. DI Adam Hawley is determined to solve both cases. Are they connected, or is their physical proximity a coincidence?

by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Anna is the widow and literary executor of a bestselling author who was accused of plagiarism. On a whim, she decides to write a novel herself, based on her real-life experience dealing with her husband’s suicide. Her book quickly becomes a bestseller and gains many fans.

But then someone starts sending her ominous notes, revealing knowledge about damaging secrets that Anna thought were long buried. Desperate to prevent those secrets from coming to light, Anna begins trying to find and silence her nemesis.

by Steve Cavanagh.

In an old Hitchcock movie, Strangers on a Train, two men discuss swapping murders — each will kill the other’s desired victim, but will get away with it since they have no apparent motive.

That’s the inspiration for a similar arrangement in this novel. Two women, each with a daughter who has been murdered. Each knows the man who killed her daughter but is getting away with it. They agree to avenge each other’s daughters; each will kill the other’s target, while the one with the motive has an alibi.

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.

by Shari Lapena.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

by Karin Slaughter

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.

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.

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.