Staff Picks by Tag

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Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide By Rupert Holmes Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9781451648218
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster - February 21st, 2023

Cliff attempts to murder his loathsome boss by pushing him into the path of a train. He's picked up by two plain clothes cops, who aren’t actually cops. Cliff is taken to The McMasters Conservatory of the Applied Arts, a school in an unknown location on a vast and beautiful acreage. He can choose to stay… or be eliminated. Cliff’s been given a full scholarship from an unknown benefactor to learn all the arts of “deletion” and to complete his “thesis” back in the real world. Two of his classmates also plan to murder their employers, following McMaster’s strict rules and ethics. Very arch, with snappy wordplay. Laugh out loud. 


Review by Laura

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Sometimes People Die By Simon Stephenson Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781335429254
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Hanover Square Press - September 20th, 2022

A medical mystery is a rare and fun sub-genre and this one also brings suspense! Our protag is a very average Scottish student doctor and also a recovering addict on probation, newly hired at a chaotic – and inferior – London hospital. When there is a death that doesn't make sense and the police are called in, our protag feels like he's under suspicion and unnerved by it. He’s sort of fallen into all of this, including friendships and relationships, and his reluctance and low expectations fight with the fear he’ll end up accused, disgraced, maybe imprisoned, or something worse. Tiny, gruesome -- and true -- stories of real medical murderers throughout history are interspersed – an unexpected extra!


Review by Laura

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A Forgery of Roses By Jessica S. Olson Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781335418661
Availability: Out of stock, usually available in 3-10 days
Published: Inkyard Press - March 29th, 2022

A moody and atmospheric murder mystery with a unique setting and magic system. This book does a great job representing anxiety and chronic illness without making them hurdles for the characters to overcome.


Review by Sarah B.

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1979 By Val McDermid Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780802159021
Availability: Out of stock, usually available in 3-10 days
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press - October 5th, 2021

Allie Burns is a junior reporter at a Glasgow tabloid, investigating leads with her new pal Danny Sullivan and typing out copy at deadline. Well-paced and detailed, this journalistic mystery develops a great cast of characters and captures the era.


Review by Laura

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Notes on an Execution: A Novel By Danya Kukafka Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780063052741
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - January 24th, 2023

This is a deeply humanistic character study of a serial killer AND the people affected by his crimes. Readers know who the murderer is on page one and the other typical driving questions of who/what/when/where/why are all secondary in this book. Instead, Kukafka creates a fascinating portrait of several women who have to survive the aftermath of one man's actions. This is a wonderfully profound and empathetic thriller. 


Review by Kalani

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Three Hours in Paris (A Kate Rees WWII Novel #1) By Cara Black Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781641292580
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Soho Crime - March 30th, 2021

Cara Black has entertained us for over twenty years with her series featuring Aimee Ledue, a young, stylish PI who knows 1990's Paris inside and out. Who better to write a World War II thriller set in Paris starring young American widow Kate Rees who has been selected by the British and trained as a sniper with one goal: to assassinate Hitler on his brief, 3 hour stop in Paris.

If you love mysteries but also enjoy The Nightingale or The Alice Network, Cara Black has written a book for you! 


Review by Deborah

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His & Hers: A Novel By Alice Feeney Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781250266095
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Flatiron Books - March 30th, 2021

There is a complex web surrounding the characters in "His & Hers" stretching back twenty years to the night five sixteen year-old girls went into the woods together and two of them came out changed forever.  Now the sticky strings of the we have reached out and ensnared the grown women those girls have become.  Ringleader Rachel Hopkins has been killed in the very same woods and on the scene is BBC presenter Anna Andrews, one of the five original friends, as well as DCI Jack Harper who also has reasons to want Rachel dead.  Told in alternating chapters, "His & Hers" will keep you guessing until the very end.


Review by Deborah

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The Windsor Knot: A Novel (Her Majesty the Queen Investigates #1) By SJ Bennett Cover Image
$28.99
ISBN: 9780063050006
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: William Morrow - March 9th, 2021

An absolutely delightful read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Alan Bradley, where Queen Elizabeth must step in to solve a mysterious death at Windsor Castle when England's top investigators have failed.  On the eve of the Queen's 90th birthday celebration, the Castle is full of guests, including a dashing young Russian pianist found dead in his guest room.  Is it an accident, suicide, a jealous husband or Putin's secret agents?  Only Her Majesty can solve this puzzling case!


Review by Deborah

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Amari and the Night Brothers (Supernatural Investigations #1) By B. B. Alston Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780062975164
Availability: Out of stock, usually available in 3-10 days
Published: Balzer + Bray - January 19th, 2021

Amari's adventure begins when she receives a package from her missing brother. Before he went missing, he nominated her for an elite summer camp with the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. She has a lot of catching up to do if she wants to fit in with her supernatural peers and solve her brother's disappearance!


Review by Sarah B.

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One by One By Ruth Ware Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781501188824
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Gallery/Scout Press - May 4th, 2021

Ruth Ware is the master of the contemporary locked room mystery and I would follow her anywhere.  Murder amongst frenemies in an isolated cabin? Check. Disappearing woman overboard on a luxury yacht? Check. Mysterious happenings at a secluded Highland manor house? Check. So when she packed her bags to join a corporate retreat in the Alps, I threw warm clothes and my deductive reasoning in my suitcase to join her.  Since we can’t travel in real life, it’s the next best thing.  Just watch your back!


Review by Deborah

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