Mystery Book Reviews

The best mystery book reviews. Mysteries are typically crime stories in which readers follows a detective or amateur sleuth attempting to solve a criminal puzzle. Compared with “crime thrillers,” mysteries often feature less graphic violence and shocking subject matter.

Prelude, an Unforgettable Thriller About The Afterlife

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The Bottom Line: Impossible to put down. This riveting mystery about the greatest of all mysteries is an unexpected treasure. Death pays all debts, or so William Shakespeare had thought. Prelude, the formidable novel by Cheryl A. Malakoff and Robert A. Clampett, calls the finality of death into question by putting the notion of reincarnation on trial. Thankfully, it manages to do so in the […]

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The Missing Boys

The Missing Boys, an Engrossing Small Town Mystery by G. Richard Hoard

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The Bottom Line: An engrossing, chilling and intricate small-town mystery. Hoard has created a clever amateur sleuth that mystery fans will rally around. Hoard is a master at transforming personal experience into explorations of humanity’s darker facets. Drawing from his experiences in rural Georgia in the ‘50s and ‘60s, he’s taken singular moments and expanded them into entire novels. With The Missing Boys, he does

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Camino Island, a new Crime Novel from John Grisham

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The Bottom Line: Don’t expect a lot of Grisham’s trademark courtroom drama, but there’s trouble in paradise as only he can deliver it. Brilliantly narrated by January LaVoy. A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is priceless, but Princeton has insured it for twenty-five million dollars. Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in

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The Woods, a First-Rate Erotic Mystery by Amanda McKinney

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The Bottom Line: A sexy, small town murder mystery that’s guaranteed to resonate with fans of Nora Roberts and Karin Slaughter. The rustic charm of Berry Spring, Arkansas’s dense forests, mountains and small town living is a powerful draw. But like all tiny Ozark towns, it can also be suffocating and secretive, and that’s precisely what makes it a perfect setting for Amanda McKinney’s debut

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Come Sundown, a Brilliant Romantic Suspense Novel from Nora Roberts

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The Bottom Line: This one isn’t a #1 bestseller just on Roberts’ reputation alone. It’s a bona-fide page-turner, and by the end of the book, you’ll be praying for a sequel. The Bodine ranch and resort in western Montana is a family business, an idyllic spot for vacationers (and readers, thanks to Roberts’ gorgeous landscapes). A little over thirty thousand acres and home to four generations, it’s

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The Last Train, an Unforgettable Crime Thriller Set in Tokyo

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The Bottom Line: Set in Tokyo, this exotic crime thriller is a lightning-fast chase to the finish line that you won’t soon forget. Mystery novels are known for far-flung locations, but Tokyo isn’t often on the map. With The Last Train, Michael Pronko takes his adopted hometown and uses it as the setting for this unconventional take on the whodunit, which turns the genre on

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Hellmouth, a Compelling Blend of Romance, Murder and Corruption by Meredith Anthony

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The Bottom Line: An enjoyable romp of romance, murder, and corruption that belie the trappings of small-town America. They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but when Helen Goode starts to channel the scorn that comes from learning that her husband, Beau, may be cheating on her — and it’s her fourth one, no less — that fury opens up much

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The Secret Wife, a Haunting Mystery by Gill Paul

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The Bottom Line: Haunting, moving and beautifully written, The Secret Wife effortlessly crosses centuries, as past merges with present in an unforgettable story of love, loss and resilience. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Dinah Jefferies. A Russian grand duchess and an English journalist. Linked by one of the world’s greatest mysteries . . . Love. Guilt. Heartbreak. 1914 Russia is on the brink of collapse,

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The Ice Maiden

The Ice Maiden, a Must-Read Police Procedural by BD Smith

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The Bottom Line: This small town murder mystery is a must-read for fans of police procedurals. Like most good small town murder mysteries, the core of BD Smith’s The Ice Maiden is a gifted detective beset by personal problems. Smith’s Detective Douglas Bateman, who serves with Maine’s Major Crimes Unit, confronts one tragedy after another in the line of duty, and his personal life is

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