Thrillers and Suspense
March 2023

Recent Releases
The Beach House
by Beverley Jones
 
The perfect place to hide. Or so she thought . . . When Grace Jensen returns to her home in the ocean-front town of Lookout Beach one day, she finds a body in a pool of blood and a menacing gift left for her: a knife, a coil of rope and handcuffs. The community of Lookout Beach are shocked by such a brutal intrusion in their safe, close-knit community - particularly to a family as successful and well-liked as the Jensens - and a police investigation begins to find the trespasser. But Grace knows who's after her. She might have changed her name and moved across the world, deciding to hide on the Oregon coast, but she's been waiting seventeen years for what happened in the small Welsh town where she grew up to catch-up with her. Grace might seem like the model neighbour and mother, but nobody in Lookout Beach - not even her devoted husband Elias - knows the real her. Or how much blood is on her hands.
Judas 62
by Charles Cumming

What it is: an intricately plotted and action-packed story about the unintended consequences of an espionage operation gone wrong and the subsequent revenge served very, very cold.

Sequel to: Box 88, which introduced readers to the ultra-classified agency of the same name and one of its veteran agents, Lachlan “Lockie” Kite.

How it begins: Lockie learns that the case that made his career -- the extraction of a Soviet bioweapons expert at the end of the Cold War -- has earned him a spot on a kill list with other high-priority targets of the Kremlin.
The Tick and the Tock of the Crocodile Clock
by Kenny Boyle

An aspiring writer from the Southside of Glasgow, Wendy is in a rut. She tries to brighten her call-centre job by shoehorning as many long words as possible into conversations with customers. But her manager isn't amused by that and, after a public dressing-down, Wendy walks out. Jobless and depressed, she finds consolation in a surprise friendship with another disgruntled ex-colleague, wild-child painter Cat, who encourages her to live more dangerously. It's just what Wendy needs and it's also brilliant for her creative juices. But a black cloud is about to overshadow this new-found liberation, as well as to put Wendy on the wrong side of the law.
The Opportunist
by Elyse Friedman

The setup: Financially struggling single mom Alana Shropshire is estranged from her toxic wealthy family, but accepts a deal with her brothers to stop their septuagenarian father from marrying Kelly, his 28-year-old nurse.

The problem: Alana only agreed to help because she's drowning in medical bills related to her daughter's muscular dystrophy; bride-to-be Kelly has no intentions of letting anything prevent the wedding.

Reviewers say: The Opportunist is “perfectly paced” with twists that will “keep readers glued to the pages” (Booklist).
A Mother Would Know
by Amber Garza

Starring: Widowed musician Valerie, whose increasing forgetfulness might be a sign of the early onset Alzheimer’s disease that runs in her family; Valerie's troubled son Hudson, who moves home to help care for her.

What goes wrong: A young woman is found dead shortly after Hudson returns and the incident revives suspicions about his past, unsettling Valerie even more as she struggles to piece together the truth and consider her own safety.

For fans of: B.A. Paris and Camilla Way.
The Blackhouse
by Carole Johnstone

Twenty years ago: At age five, Maggie MacKay announced that a man she had never met had been killed on the tiny Scottish island community of Kilmeray, a place she had never visited.

Present day: Neither Maggie nor Kilmeray fully recovered from what happened, something that becomes abundantly clear when she travels there as an adult, determined to finally discover the truth.

Read it for: the intricate plotting, creepy gothic atmosphere, and intensifying pace that will keep you turning the pages.
The Widowmaker
by Hannah Morrissey

What it is: a second suspenseful and gritty police procedural about trauma and secrets in a decaying small town, following Hello, Transcriber.

The setting: Black Harbor, Wisconsin, where the unsolved disappearance of prominent local businessman that has haunted the town for 20 years and may have surprising connections to a recent murder.

For fans of: Walking the Bones by Randall Silvis.
All the Dark Places
by Terri Parlato

How it starts: Psychologist Jay Bradley has just celebrated his 40th birthday with his devoted wife Molly and three other couples at their suburban Massachusetts home.

What goes wrong: The next day, Jay is found in dead in his home office, with a slit throat and the start of an unanticipated new book about abnormal psychology open on his computer.

Read it for: the compelling narration, which alternates between the perspectives of Molly and the detective who interrogates her.
The Widow
by Kaira Rouda

What it's about: After the sudden death of her husband Martin, a politician with more than a dozen congressional terms under his belt, Jody Asher discovers that she's willing to do more than she realized to protect her family's name and political legacy from several scandalous, behind-the-scenes truths waiting to come to light.

How it's told: in Rouda's signature dishy, diaristic, first-person style.

Reviewers say: The Widow is a "deliciously diabolical take on marriage, politics, and the lies that bind" (Library Journal).
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