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.

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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The Producer’s Girl, a Romantic Suspense Thriller by Michael Hughes

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Bobbi Stratos PI – everyone’s go-to girl – is thrown blind into a messy movieland multiple homicide case where the body count just keeps rising. Trouble begins when a little drug runner girl is found murdered the same night Hollywood line producer Lenny Danko’s career gets a big push—right off the rooftop over at the FilmLands buildings on Boston’s east side. Detective Ty Connell attends

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The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle, a Must-Read Thriller by Jeff Wallace

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The Bottom Line: One of the year’s best thrillers so far. A highly textured, must-read gripper that will appeal equally to fans of mysteries, military thrillers and police procedurals. Vietnam, 1970. George Tanner, an American military police investigator based in Saigon, is near the end of his final tour of duty. While trying to convince his Vietnamese girlfriend to go with him when he leaves,

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Lincoln Park, an Enthralling High-Stakes Mystery by James Westergreen

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The Bottom Line: Readers looking for a high-stakes mystery will fall hard for Lincoln Park. Blame it on the continued success of The Devil In The White City, but Chicago is having a literary moment. Mystery writers are culling the Second City — and its first iteration — for hidden stories and back-alley goings on to create stories that blend the familiar with the foreign.

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