Best Traditional Detective Mysteries

“Penny’s absorbing, intricately plotted 13th Gamache novel proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with compassion and grace.” — PEOPLE “Louise Penny wrote the book on escapist mysteries.” — The New York Times Book Review “You won't want Louise Penny's latest to end….Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls short of conveying the dark magic of this series.... ‘Glass Houses,’ along with many of the other Gamache books, is so compelling that, for the space of reading it, you may well feel that much of what’s going on in the world outside the novel is ‘just noise.’” —Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. In Glass Houses , her latest utterly gripping book , number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. - AudioFile Editor's Pick "In his third narration of Louise Penny's popular Three Pines series, Robert Bathurst emphasizes the humanity and compassion of Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache . AudioFile , Earphones Award Winner "The audio book is splendidly read by Robert Bathurst." "Robert Bathurst puts his own indelible stamp on Chief Inspector Armand Gamache in Louise Penny's twelfth Three Pines puzzle. LOUISE PENNY is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels ( Still Life, A Fatal Grace, and The Cruelest Month ).

By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again. “A brilliantly ingenious story.” (Dorothy L. Sayers, Daily Herald (UK)). “It’s tempting to say that Agatha Christie is a genius and let it go at that, but the world’s had plenty of geniuses. Agatha Christie is something special.” (Lawrence Block, New York Times bestselling author). Mrs Christie makes an improbable tale very real, and keeps her readers enthralled and guessing to the end.” ( Times Literary Supplement (London)). “Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.” (Tana French , New York Times -bestselling author of the Dublin Murder Squad novels). “Agatha Christie taught me many important lessons about the inner workings of the mystery novel before it ever occurred to me that I might one day be writing mysteries myself.” (Sue Grafton, #1 New York Times -bestselling author of the Kinsey Millhone novels). “Agatha Christie’s indelibly etched characters have entertained millions across the years and a love of her work has brough together generations of readers—a singular achievement for any author and an inspiration to writers across the literary landscape.” (Jacqueline Winspear, New York Times -bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs novels).

Her lover, Alex Dunn, a porcelain dealer in London’s bustling Portobello Market, appears absolutely devastated by her death, but Gemma’s the main focus of investigation is soon Karl Arrowood, who had the most powerful motive for killing his unfaithful wife. But this case sets off warning bells for Duncan: it’s far too similar to an unsolved murder in which an antiques dealer was killed in precisely the same way and when the escalating violence claims yet another victim, he and Gemma find themselves at increasing odds with each other--as two separate investigations become linked in the most startling of ways. The life of Scotland Yard's Gemma James is changing in major ways--she's just been promoted to Inspector, she's pregnant, and she and her young son are about to move into spacious new digs with her lover, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid. Then the beautiful young wife of a Portobello Road antiques dealer is murdered in the driveway of her Notting Hill home and the case lands in Gemma's disappearing lap. When someone does in Dawn Arrowood, the young, pregnant wife of a wealthy antiques dealer, in her soign Notting Hill home, Inspector Gemma James is put in charge of the investigation. Crombie keeps the action moving throughout, providing a cook's tour of London, from Tower Bridge to Portobello Market, as well as plenty of gruesome detail ("Kincaid felt the bile rise in the back of his throat as he squatted, using his pocket torch to illuminate Dawn Arrowood's motionless form").

“Penny’s absorbing, intricately plotted 13th Gamache novel proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with compassion and grace.” — PEOPLE “Louise Penny wrote the book on escapist mysteries.” — The New York Times Book Review “You won't want Louise Penny's latest to end….Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls short of conveying the dark magic of this series.... ‘Glass Houses,’ along with many of the other Gamache books, is so compelling that, for the space of reading it, you may well feel that much of what’s going on in the world outside the novel is ‘just noise.’” —Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. In Glass Houses , her latest utterly gripping book , number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. - AudioFile Editor's Pick "In his third narration of Louise Penny's popular Three Pines series, Robert Bathurst emphasizes the humanity and compassion of Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache . AudioFile , Earphones Award Winner "The audio book is splendidly read by Robert Bathurst." "Robert Bathurst puts his own indelible stamp on Chief Inspector Armand Gamache in Louise Penny's twelfth Three Pines puzzle. LOUISE PENNY is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels ( Still Life, A Fatal Grace, and The Cruelest Month ).

Twenty years before, amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors sold Cleveland’s largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers and employees, and thwarting a looming federal investigation. Iris, a young engineer working her first job out of the office, finds herself assigned to map out a floor plan for the bank building which has been empty for two decades. Just as Beatrice did 20 years before her, Iris quickly recognizes that there’s something not quite right at the bank and she soon learns that the building is not as empty as everyone thinks.

Medical science and governments around the world scramble in an effort to solve the problem, but twenty-five years later there is no cure, and an entire generation grows up with a population of fewer than a thousand women. She's been held in the prison her entire life, along with a few other girls who disappear after the coming-of-age ceremony. Zoey and her new friends must break into the compound and rescue the other female prisoners.

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone finds shocking connections between two seemingly unrelated deaths in this #1 New York Times bestselling mystery in the Alphabet series. Wasted lives, wasted time, and wasted opportunities are at the heart of this twenty-third entry in the long-running Kinsey Millhone series, which reveals how the deaths of two very different men impact Kinsey’s life. --Stephanie Zvirin Praise for W is for Wasted “Grafton is a writer of many strengths—crisp characterizations, deft plotting, and eloquent dialogue among them—and she has kept her long-running alphabet mystery series fresh and each new release more welcome than the last.”— Louisville Courier-Journal “Further proof—as if it were needed—of Grafton’s immense talent. And her ability to give equal weight to the story of the detective and the detective story sets her apart in the world of crime fiction.”— Richmond Times-Dispatch “Involving, amusing and fast-paced.”— The Wall Street Journal “Nearing the conclusion of this celebrated series, Grafton continues to shape Millhone’s character, toughened by circumstance but still both understanding and forgiving.”— Booklist “Grafton has lost none of her ability to bring her character vividly to life: Kinsey is as witty and engaging as ever.”— Library Journal (starred review) More Praise for Sue Grafton and the Alphabet Series.

Germany, 1660: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is at. play in his small Bavarian town. Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Author Oliver PötzschQuestion: What initially inspired you to write this story? But I also look up to many authors of the fantasy genre such as Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, and the almost forgotten Fritz Leiber. In his life he built an enormous archive of information about my ancestors and the hangman profession, and I have been allowed free use of this resource. Also, during my career as a journalist I made several radio programs on this topic, talking to herb women and guardians of cultural heritage and searching in many archives of Bavarian cities for my ancestors. Oliver Pötzsch: After the thriller about Ludwig II, I am writing the fourth novel in the Hangman series. "A brilliantly-researched and exciting story of a formative era of history when witches were hunted and the inquisitors had little belief in their methods beyond their effect in pacifying superstitious townspeople . Pötzsch, actually descended from a line of hangmen, delivers a fantastically fast-paced read, rife with details on the social and power structures in the town as well as dichotomy between university medicine and the traditional remedies, which are skillfully communicated through character interactions, particularly that of Magdalena and Simon. The shocking motivations from unlikely players provide for a twist that will leave readers admiring this complex tale from a talented new voice."

His drug-addicted sister has just been released from prison and his mother is succumbing to Alzheimer's, but Dillard's commitment to the case never wavers despite the personal troubles and professional demands that threaten to destroy him. "Pratt's richly developed characters are vivid and believable, especially the strong Southern women who fight their male-dominated culture from behind a facade of vulnerability in this brilliantly executed debut."

Hoping to clear his name, Dawn returns to Starlight Cove, her idyllic hometown on Lake Michigan, where the doomed vessel sleeps beneath the beam of a ramshackle lighthouse. “I wanted to stay in Starlight Cove—Cynthia Ellingsen’s fictional town is magical, and its people and its mysteries, both past and present, are too much fun to leave behind.” —Alison Atlee, author of The Typewriter Girl.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Lee Child returns with a gripping new powerhouse thriller featuring Jack Reacher, “one of this century’s most original, tantalizing pop-fiction heroes” ( The Washington Post ). Reacher takes a stroll through a small Wisconsin town and sees a class ring in a pawn shop window: West Point 2005. Reacher wonders what unlucky circumstance made her give up something she earned over four hard years. So begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Praise for The Midnight Line “Puts Reacher just where we want him.” — The. New York Times Book Review. “A gem.” — Chicago Tribune “A timely, suspenseful, morally complex thriller, one of the best I’ve read this year . Child weaves in a passionately told history of opioids in American life. I don’t know another author so skilled at making me turn the page, at putting me in the thick of it all.” — The Times “Reacher is the purest distillation of the white knight in contemporary mystery fiction. As always in a Child novel, pace is fast, twists and turns surprise, characters are well-developed, dialogue is exactly right, and the plot is very plausible. One of the best thrillers I’ve read this year.” — The Washington Post “Jack Reacher has become arguably the most iconic fictional hero we have.” — Men’s Health “Compelling and moving . bold and mysterious.” — Associated Press “This, Child’s twenty-second book in the series, has heart to spare, and it proves the franchise has plenty of gas left in its tank.” — Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Compulsively readable.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “[A] multifaceted novel about dealing with the unthinkable . It’s automatic: Reacher gets off a bus, and Child lands on the New York Times bestseller list.” — Booklist “The book is very smart . [and] suggests something that has not been visible in the series’ previous entries: a creeping sadness in Reacher’s wanderings that, set here among the vast and empty landscapes of Wyoming, resembles the peculiarly solitary loneliness of the classic American hero. “Child does a stellar job this time by not following his customary formula; his usually stoic hero who rarely displays softness and compassion is hit hard emotionally by this case.”’ — Library Journal (starred review). A native of England and a former television director, Child lives in New York City.

A South Florida Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery of 2017. An Amazon Book of the Month Harry Bosch is back as a volunteer working cold cases for the San Fernando Police Department and is called out to a local drug store where a young pharmacist has been murdered. Meanwhile, an old case from Bosch's LAPD days comes back to haunt him when a long-imprisoned killer claims Harry framed him, and seems to have new evidence to prove it. "[Connelly's] immaculate plotting and gift for bringing procedural intricacies to life now seem as strong as ever...he writes the best detective novels around. "Harry Bosch is a one-of-a-kind hero who started out pretty wild when he returned from Vietnam to become a cop, but over the years he's developed into someone you want to ride with. "Connelly's immaculate plotting and gift for bringing procedural intricacies to life now seem as strong as ever...he writes the best detective novels around. "[Two Kinds of Truth] is a reflection of Connelly's talent that after 19 books chronicling Bosch's career, this iteration feels fresh and authentic. "Expertly juggling both plots, Connelly mines the double murder for fascinating and frightening details...Connelly remains atop a heap of contemporary crime writers thanks to his rare ability to combine master plotting and procedural detail with a literary novelist's feel for the inner lives of his or her characters.