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Victims: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

One of our finest contemporary mystery series is built around the unlikely team of LAPD Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis and consulting psychologist Alex Delaware. VICTIMS, the latest book in the series --- and certainly one of the best --- finds the duo investigating a serial killer whose victims are seemingly being chosen randomly, without any common denominators such as sex, age, economic standing, or the like, thus making the killer almost impossible to catch. Sturgis and Delaware --- driven, intense, and dedicated --- slowly come to realize that what very few clues they have intersect with Delaware’s own past.

Vermilion Drift by William Kent Krueger

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

This fine series, set in the Midwest, features a low key protagonist named Cork O’Connor has improved exponentially over time. My favorite book among them all is VERMILLION DRIFT, where all of the elements --- plot, characterization, pacing, and prose --- come together perfectly. O’Connor is handling security for a mining project which is unpopular with the usual suspects, discovers a mass grave deep inside the mountain. Some of the victims have been shot with Cork’s own gun, which he inherited from his father. His subsequent investigation will change Cork’s life and his perspective of himself forever.

Think of a Number by John Verdon

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

How do you stop a killer who is seemingly clairvoyant, with the apparent ability to read minds from a distance and disappear into thin air? That question plagues Dave Gurney, a retired NYPD homicide investigator who just can’t quit. Set against a deceptively placid New England background, THINK OF A NUMBER takes a party game you have undoubtedly played and utilizes it as a tool for murder in this brilliantly conceived and well-plotted novel which will leave you wanting more. John Verdon’s ability to breathe life into the driven Gurney --- and his enigmatic wife --- is an added plus.

The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes by Marcus Sakey

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

Anyone who has ever had one of those mornings after the night before when they don’t remember what happened, how they got where they are, or even who they are will immediately identify with fine tale from the author of THE BLADE ITSELF. A guy wakes up naked on a beach, with an immense body of water stretching out in front of him. He has no idea who he is. His only clue is a parked car, which provides a slender clue, which leads to another thread, which leads to a mystery or three that tantalizingly unravels on two coasts.

The Little Death by P. J. Parrish

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

This latest installment in the Louis Kincaid series is set among the rich and famous in West Palm Beach, Florida. Kincaid is one of the more well-defined private eyes in the genre, and his efforts to clear a man who is all but pre-ordained as a suspect in the killing say as much about human nature as the value of dogged persistence. P. J. Parrish, a pen name for the collaborative effort of sisters Kristy Montee and Kelly Nichols, scores yet another winner with this dark story of murder and privilege.

The Jaguar: A Charlie Hood Novel by T. Jefferson Parker

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

Each of T. Jefferson Parker’s fine mystery and crime novels have been populated by memorable characters, but none more so than THE JAGUAR, the fifth and latest of his novels to feature L.A. County Deputy Sheriff Charlie Hood. When the musician-wife of a badly bent fellow deputy is kidnapped by a ruthless Mexican drug lord a result of his crooked activities, Hood is drawn into the middle of a personal vendetta that will almost certainly end badly. While you are reading, keep your eye out for the devious and manipulative Mike Finnegan, one of contemporary fiction’s most interesting supporting characters.

The Drop by Michael Connelly

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

THE DROP is the latest installment to date of Michael’s Connelly’s iconic Harry Bosch series. Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective --- and single father --- assigned to the Open-Unsolved Unit, is confronted with a difficult case. DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches that of a twenty-eight year old convicted rapist, who would have been eight years old when the 1989 crime was committed. At the same time, Bosch is also assigned to a fresh case, which involves the death - either murder or suicide --- of the son of a powerful political enemy. It’s one of the best in the series to date.

The Burning Soul: A Charlie Parker Thriller by John Connolly

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

The Charlie Parker series has combined mystery, horror, and the supernatural since John Connolly introduced the character in the memorable and haunting EVERY DEAD THING. THE BURNING SOUL, the latest book in the canon, finds the troubled private investigator working on behalf of Randall Haight, a man with a secret. Convicted of the murder of a young girl, he has been living quietly in Pastor’s Bay, Maine, his past a secret. Someone, however, is attempting to blackmail him. Haight hires Parker to negate the threats, but it won’t be easy. Read with the doors locked and leave the nightlight on.

Taken by Robert Crais

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

Elvis Cole is a smoothly competent southern California private investigator with a penchant for getting his clients out of trouble and himself into it. So it is that when Cole is retained by a wealthy industrialist to retrieve her missing son --- and, incidentally, his secret Hispanic girlfriend --- and soon finds himself up to his neck in difficulties with some ruthless border kidnappers who have a murderous racket going. Cole’s loyal pal Joe Pike is a quietly dangerous force of nature himself, but even he is challenged in this latest installment of a long-running and deservedly popular series.

Stay Close by Harlan Coben

A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

If you don’t think that your actions today will affect your life tomorrow, you will think again after reading STAY CLOSE. The disappearance of a wealthy man’s adult son brings together three people --- a one-time stripper who is now a suburban soccer mom, a photographer at the nadir of his career, and a police detective haunted by an unsolved case --- who unknowingly each hold the key to a mysterious chain of events which have been occurring for almost two decades. Coben, best known for his Myron Bolitar series, outdoes himself with this memorable stand-alone work.

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