mystery

Books of Note – June, 2025

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“Blood Run” by Jamie Freveletti An internationally bestselling author, Freveletti writes the multi-award winning Emma Caldridge Series. Emma Caldridge is a brilliant biochemist who enjoys extreme distance running. She uses both skills while undertaking missions around the world that would reduce the ordinary person to a puddle of fear and mumbling.

In “Blood Run,” Caldridge is tasked with delivering vaccines to villages in Africa, but the big pharma CEO accompanying her and providing the financial and logistical support for the operation, can’t be counted on. They find themselves in the middle of a war zone between brutal African factions with no way out except through even more dangerous territory. If that weren’t enough, an extra challenge involves an international terrorist who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal, complete with a target on Emma’s back. This pulse-pounding story will keep you turning the pages and wondering how in the world Caldridge will make it out alive.

 

“Saguaro Sanction” by Scott Graham Book #8 in the National Park Mystery Series thrusts the murder of a cousin squarely into the lives of the Bender family. Graham explores the southern Arizona National Park and its archeological mysteries while addressing the cultural impact of the U.S./Mexico border hostility.

Graham’s books are especially topical given our real-world loss of national park acreage to (IMO) misguided earlier administration policy, which chipped away at the protected lands, potentially losing ancient sites, all for the search for oil and other energy sources.

 

The Silent Patientby Alex Michaelides “Silent Patient” is an intense read, centered around a successful artist who shoots her husband in the face and never says a word after the deed, not to explain herself, not even to save herself from prosecution.

The criminal psychotherapist who tells the tale is obsessed by the case and works his way onto the staff at her psychiatric institute so that he can solve the mystery of her silence. Michaelides delivers shocking revelations, clever twists in the plot, and characters so well-drawn that they could be people we know. Don’t read “The Silent Patient” before bed, because you won’t get a wink of sleep as the pages fly by.

 

“Rope Burn” by Bruce M. Most Nick DeNunzio, a former Baltimore police detective turns in a corrupt cop, gets into a deadly shootout, and leaves town for parts unknown. Life on the road is not as glamorous as it might seem, and money is tight as he lives off the grid to avoid death by bad guy. When the car breaks down in Wyoming, he must stay in one place long enough to pay for the repairs, and a job finds him. He must chase down a cattle rustler/potential murderer and nobody likes what DeNunzio discovers.

“Rope Burn” is set amid the ranches of Wyoming and steeped in the reality of the disappearance of family held operations. Desperation, greed, loyalty, revenge…all play a part in this tautly written modern Western. This great first line hooked me: “It’s time you paid up for your sins, Jack.” Entertaining from beginning to end.

 

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Books of Note – April 2024

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The Plea” by Steve Cavanagh – Excellent legal thriller with a ‘no way he can win this’ case. Smart writing, clever solution.

 

Apollo Murders” by Chris Hadfield- fantastic reimagining of Apollo space shuttle history. ‘What if?’ is explored in a page-turner from real life astronaut Hadfield with an entertaining look at the competition between Russia and the U.S. in the Space Race. Not sure if I could ever go into space after reading this one. Whew! 

 

Rum & Choke” by Sherry Harris – latest entry in Agatha nominated Seaglass Saloon series. Chloe Jackson, a librarian from Chicago, inherits part ownership of a bar in Florida. She’s an unexpected heroine who didn’t anticipate she would love the life at the beach, while solving a murder or two. She’s a runner, can sail, and has a soft spot for a hunky local. Great series.

 

Portrait of a Thief” by Grace D. Li – terrific art heist book dealing wonderfully with Chinese influences and national art crimes. Debut novel, nominated for multiple awards, also explores revealing character studies of the participants who seem to be in it only for the thrills.

Stay tuned for more.  🙂

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KN, p. 284 “2021 Kerrian’s Notebook Book Drawings”

2021 was a great year for the Kerrian’s Notebook subscribers to win a book (or two if they also subscribed to Nightstand Book Reviews. Winners were chosen randomly during quarterly drawings, using random.org. The winners were then notified through Facebook and/or the email addresses they had provided. A list of at least ten books was sent to the winners, from which they picked their prize(s). The majority of the books have been (and will continue to be in 2022) mysteries, thrillers, and novels of suspense, in keeping with the Kerrian’s Notebook theme. Many of the books were stay-awake reads, many were bestsellers, some were donated by the authors, and some were passed along to other readers.

Looking for a great read? Take a look at the terrific books the Kerrian’s Notebook subscribers chose in 2021:

Ellie Alexander “Mocha, She Wrote”

Kate Atkinson “Transcription”

 

Steve Berry “The Malta Exchange”

Terri Blackstock “Night Light”

Bethany Blake  “Something Borrowed, Something Mewed”

Laura Bradford “Assaulted Pretzel”

Laura Bradford “Suspendered Sentence”

Eileen Brady “Saddled with Murder”

Allison Brennan “Cold as Ice”

Sandra Brown “Smash Cut”

James Lee Burke “New Iberia Blues”

 

Lee Child “61 Hours”

Lee Child “Echo Burning”

Lee Child “One Shot”

Lee Child “Running Blind”

Karen Cleveland “Need to Know”

Bruce Coffin “Within Plain Sight”

Brandilyn Collins “Violet Dawn”

Sheila Connolly “Murder at the Mansion”

Cate Conte “Witch Hunt”

Patricia Cornwall “Scarpetta”

Bernard Cornwell “The Archer’s Tale”

Robert Crais “The Wanted”

Jessie Crockett “Drizzled with Death”

 

Jeffery Deaver “Skin Collector”

Robert Dugoni “8th Sister”

Robert Dugoni “Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell”

 

Jessica Estavao “Whispers Beyond the Veil”

 

Alice Feeney “I Know Who You Are”

Joanne Fluke “Chocolate Cream Pie Murder”

Joanne Fluke “Cinnamon Roll Murder”

Joanne Fluke “Wedding Cake Murder”

William R. Forstchen “48 Hours”

 

Robert Galbraith “Lethal White”

Tess Gerritsen “I Know A Secret”

Christie Golden “Stars Wars: Inferno Squad

Sue Grafton “W is for Wasted”

Mark Greaney “Agent in Place”

JD Griffo “Murder at Veronica’s Diner”

 

Victoria Hamilton “Bran New Death”

Sherry Harris “From Beer to Eternity”

Jane Harper “Force of Nature”

Jane Harper “The Lost Man”

Erin Hart “Haunted Ground”

Noah Hawley “Before the Fall”

Dee Henderson “Danger in the Shadows”

Dee Henderson “Protector”

Dee Henderson “Rescuer”

Julia Henry “Digging Up the Remains”

Gregg Hurwitz “Into the Fire”

Gregg Hurwitz “Out of the Dark”

 

JA Jance  “Field of Bones” 

Iris Johansen “The Shattered Mirror”

 

Jan Karon “To Be Where You Are”

Philip Kerr “Greeks Bearing Gifts”

Jayne Ann Krentz “Promise Not to Tell”

 

Con LeHane “Murder at 42nd St Library”

Linda Lovely “No Wake Zone”

 

Debbie Macomber “Window on the Bay”

David Maraniss “When Pride Still Mattered”

Steve Martini “Guardian of Lies”

Kate Moretti “Thought I Knew You”

 

TJ O’Connor “Dying for the Past”

Richard Osman “The Thursday Murder Club”

 

Katherine Hall Page “Body in the Birches”

Gigi Pandian “Artifact”

B.A. Paris “Bring Me Back”

Louise Penny “How the Light Gets In”

Thomas Perry  “The Burglar”

Richard Preston “Hot Zone”

 

Reference “Malicious Intent”

JD Robb “Connections in Death”

MJ Rose “Cartier’s Hope”

Barbara Ross  “Sealed Off”

Carla Rossi “Unlikely Praise”

Hank Phillippi Ryan “Her Perfect Life”

John Sandford “Bloody Genius”

John Sandford  “Easy Prey”

John Sandford “Naked Prey”

Michael Sears “Tower of Babel”

Sarah Shaber “Simon Said”

Karin Slaughter “Fractured”

Karin Slaughter “The Last Widow”

Alexander McCall Smith “A Distant View of Everything”

Danielle Steel “The Good Fight”

 

Brad Thor  “Takedown”

Charles Todd “Racing the Devil”

 

David Weiden “Winter Counts”

Andy Weir “Project Hail Mary”

Jeri Westerson “Booke of the Hidden”

Tina Whittle “Blood, Ash & Bone”

Lynn Willis “Unholy Covenant”

Beth Wiseman “Listening to Love”

 

Happy Suspenseful Reading in 2022!

 

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