Mystery Reads

Step aside, Zodiac. There’s a new serial killer on the loose in San Francisco, and the police have enlisted Poppy and Ophelia’s help to get to the bottom of it. With multiple bodies already having been found, and the killer showing no signs of stopping, Poppy knows they’re racing against the clock to save as many lives as possible. The killer has made it obvious he's after attention, but once he realizes he's got Ophelia’s, he makes it clear he thinks he's a match for her.

When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body. The highly perceptive Gemma is the police's first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman's suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance.

When Beth moves to the beautiful island of Bermuda to set up a tax haven for her family, she never expects to be drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse. As the body count on the island rises with blackmail, corruption, arson, catfishing, and sex tapes intertwined, Beth teams up with locals Tony Durant, a former attorney for the Ministry of Justice in London, and Serena Steede, a local investigator, to form a small law firm to defend the accused.

Every year, Caroline Reed takes a trip with her best friend, Esme Lamont. They’re usually accompanied by their spouses - but this year, everything’s changed. Esme has just gone through a bitter divorce, and Caroline's wondering if her own marriage is reaching its breaking point as she and her husband, John, cope with the discovery that their son has been abusing drugs. Still, the inseparable duo books a weeklong stay at a beach-front home in Shoreham, Florida, inviting Esme’s brother, Nick, and his new husband. After a blissful first night in the vacation home, tragedy strikes.

Miranda Abbott, once known for the crime-solving, karate-chopping church pastor she played on network television, has hit hard times. Turned down for a role on a cable reality show, Miranda is facing ruin when a mysterious postcard arrives, summoning her to Happy Rock, a small town in the Pacific Northwest. But when she gets there, nothing is what she expected. In dire straits, she signs up for an amateur production at the Happy Rock Little Theatre, competing against the local real estate agent for the lead role. On opening night, one of the actors is murdered, live.

The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Book Club is reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne while workers dig into the earth to repair the Lighthouse Library’s foundations. The digging halts when Lucy pulls a battered tin box containing a Civil War-era diary from the pit. Tucked inside is a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks, accompanied by a page written in an indecipherable code.

Twenty million dollars' worth of missing gems bring Carrie Singleton's long-lost and larcenous dad back into her life, and it's up to Carrie to clear his name.

A wolf shifter and a demon have both claimed me as their mate. I'm sure nothing will go wrong with that. When you hunt supernatural baddies for a living, you're used to danger. But for once, the danger I'm facing isn't my fault. Somebody killed my best friend and set me up to take the fall. Now, I've got two days to prove I'm innocent before it's open season on hunting me down. If that wasn't bad enough, I'm partnered with a royal enforcer who isn't what he seems.

Winter falls on North Carolina's Outer Banks as Lucy Richardson and her friends joyfully help her favorite cousin, Josie O'Malley, plan her wedding. The owner and head baker of Josie's Cozy Bakery and her fiance, Chef Jake Greenblatt, want a small, simple wedding. But to their horror, Josie's imperious grandmother, Gloria, descends with the "Louisiana Mafia", a gaggle of aunts and cousins who intend to take control of the wedding plans. Gloria doesn't do small and simple, and cousin Mirabelle has her own ideas for Josie's wedding, something grand and lavish.

While investigating a fairly straightforward case of a shape-shifting interdimensional child predator, Dave, John, and Amy realized there might actually be something weird going on. Together, they navigate a diabolically convoluted maze of illusions, lies, and their own incompetence in an attempt to uncover a terrible truth they - like you - would be better off not knowing.

Answering Shakespeare trivia comes with the job description for library director Lindsey Norris. But when the Briar Creek Community Theater mounts their newest production of the Bard, she has no intention of leaving the stacks for the stage. Unfortunately a villain is waiting in the wings....

Vivian, a former reporter and a newlywed, doesn’t know what to do with herself after an incident with her husband forces her to question their partnership and her future. Yearning for the ocean air and a sense of home, she retreats to Tybee Island to clear her head and visit her Nana, a retired PI who now struggles with dementia. The phone rings: Catherine Grant, a housewife living in a private development nearby, woke up to find her husband and their baby girl missing, and she is desperate for help.

Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water....

Years ago Alex Marks escaped to New York City for a fresh start. Now, aside from trips to her regular diner for coffee, she keeps to herself, gets her perfectly normal copywriting job done, and doesn’t date. Her carefully cultivated world is upended when her childhood hero, Francis Keen, is brutally murdered. Francis was the woman behind the famous advice column, Dear Constance, and her words helped Alex through some of her darkest times. When Alex sees an advertisement searching for her replacement, she impulsively applies, never expecting to actually get the job.

Emily is having the time of her life - she’s in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than ever. But on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she brought back to their room attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense.

Viktor Kornilov is a cold-blooded beast. His name alone makes my blood run cold. But his cruel touch makes my heart beat faster and faster. We're trapped in a high-stakes game of lies and violence. One wrong move, and he'll take my son away. So when he gives me his sinful offer—become his fake wife or become his latest victim—the only answer I can give is yes.

When her new editor is murdered right next to her, Poppy knows she needs Ophelia's help to get justice for Ellie. The two of them quickly find themselves in the middle of a scandal rocking the world of professional chess that could lead them to the killer.

A tale of magic, mystery and determination which is also in development for film adaptation. Emily longs to be ordinary. But when her parents disappear, she stumbles into the secret world of the Midnight Hour. A Victorian London frozen in time, the Midnight Hour is a haven for all things spooky, including monsters determined to end the world. What secrets have her parents been hiding? There's only one way Emily can find out and rescue her mum and dad: she must be brave enough to embrace her own inner magic....

Burt Reynolds reads three of Robert B. Parker's finest Spenser novels: Chance, Hush Money, and Small Vices.

Git O'Rourke is from the wrong side of the tracks - even if, in the depressed Rust Belt town of Baxter, it's not always clear where that designation begins. A single mother, she works hard to support her daughter, Charlie, but still finds time to cut loose every once in a while, to go to a local bar, drink martinis, and find a companion for the night. Which is exactly how she ends up in a hotel room with a strange man passed out on heroin and how she comes to possess the bag of money and guns that he left open as he got his fix.