Closed Casket

 Fiction by Sophie Hannah

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Lady Playford is a famous children's book author who has an assistant and a nurse in her household. She has invited two lawyers and two detectives (one of whom is of course Hercule Poirot) to spend the weekend at her manor, and her son and daughter will also be in attendance with their spouse and fiancé, respectively. She intends to stage a dramatic scene, but she doesn't anticipate that the result will be a murder!

This was a good story, faithful to the style of Agatha Christie's character Hercule Poirot. It definitely held some surprises.

I also read by this author: The Mystery of Three Quarters

The Mystery of Three Quarters

 Fiction by Agatha Christie and Sophie Hannah

http://barnesandnoble.com

This book is one of a new series of Hercule Poirot books written by a modern author "in the style of" Agatha Christie. Sophie Hannah is apparently endorsed by the late author's estate, and she does a really good job of capturing the character of M. Poirot while coming up with her own story lines.

In this book, four strangers receive letter purporting to be from Hercule Poirot that accuse them of murdering a certain man, a man who died from what appeared to have been an accident. But M. Poirot had sent no such letters. Still, he will be enticed into investigating, of course.

This was a good story with a surprise ending.

I also read by this author: The Monogram Murders

The Kept Woman

 Fiction by Karin Slaughter

https://www.amazon.com

This is number EIGHT in the Will Trent series, which merged up with Grant County series back in book four (I think) and just kept going. GBI Agent Will is still dating medical examiner Sara Linton (protagonist of the previous series) at the beginning of this story, but trouble is coming...

Will not-quite-ex-wife Angie is coming back to stir things up, and there's been a body found in an abandoned building in downtown Atlanta. Plus, Will has failed to make a rape charge stick to a famous athlete; his months of hard work failed to overcome the mountain of money thrown at the case by the athlete's management. Could all of these things end up being connected?

This was an exciting mystery with several surprises.

I also read recently by this author: Criminal

The Program

 Fiction by Gregg Hurwitz

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is apparently #2 in the Tim Rackley series, which I wasn't aware of when I picked it up. I didn't need to have read The Kill Clause (the first book) to understand this one; however I do think reading this one might have ruined the prospect of reading the first one by giving everything away...

In this story ex-state trooper Tim Rackley is tasked with trying to rescue a girl called Leah from a cult. It's kind of upsetting to read; I don't like to think that a cult could really suck normal people in like that.

This was an exciting story but very dark.

I also read by this author: The Survivor

Destructive Reasoning

 Fiction by Scott Meyer

https://www.audible.com

This is the second book in the "Authorities" series (see below), and it is as funny and interesting as the first. In this story, Detective Rutherford and the other members of the Authorities travel from their native Seattle to Los Angeles, trying to catch a killer who is targeting actors.

I also read recently by this author: The Authorities

The Reaping

 Fiction by Jess Louery

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This the second book by this author featuring cold case detective Evangeline "Van" Reed and investigator Harry Steinbeck and it is as creepily exciting as the first. (see below for #1)

This case takes the duo to a small insular town in rural Minnesota called Alku, where everybody is related to everybody else and the main industry is a secure mental hospital for the criminally insane. Like I said, creepy....

This was an exciting story with some surprises and good characters. The conclusion did stretch plausibility a bit, but not too much. 

I also read by this author: The Taken Ones

The Taken Ones

 Amazon Prime Kindle Fiction by Jess Lourey

https://www.amazon.com

This is the first book in the "Steinbeck and Reed" series and it's definitely hooked me to read the next one.

Detective Evangeline "Van" Reed works in the cold case division of the Minnesota BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) and volunteers at the animal shelter in her spare time. Van is a former Minneapolis police officer who operates strongly on hunches, many of which are uncannily correct. In this story she is assigned to reopen the case of "The Taken Ones," a pair of little girls who disappeared in the woods of suburban Minneapolis in 1980. She enlists the help of colleague Harry Steinbeck, who is a by-the-book man opposite her in temperament. Surprisingly, they work well together.

This was an exciting mystery with good characters and several surprises.

I also read recently (FREE!) from Amazon Prime Kindle: Don't Let Her Stay

A Thief of Time

 Fiction by Tony Hillerman

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, apparently #8 in a series, Lieutenant Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee are looking for missing archeologist Dr. Eleanor Friedman-Bernal, and at the same time trying to solve the mystery of tribal relics being sold illegally.

This was a pretty good story, although It was a little slow. It did have a surprising ending.

I also read by this author: The Blessing Way

The Authorities

 Audible Original Fiction by Scott Meyer

https://www.audible.com

Sinclair Rutherford is new to the Seattle police force, but he's sharp. He hopes to become a homicide detective, but for now, as a rookie, he has to settle for being needled and hazed by the current detectives. But then he gets a lucky break and is noticed by someone important... or is it so lucky after all? Time will tell.

This was a hilarious and exciting story with great characters. I highly recommend it!

I also listened to recently from Audible Originals: When the Moon Hits Your Eye

I also read recently by this author: That's Not Right

Thirteen

 Fiction by Steve Cavanagh

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Attorney Eddie Flynn has a strict policy: he will only defend clients that he genuinely thinks are innocent. In this story, he's given the opportunity to gain a major paycheck by defending Bobby Solomon, a Hollywood star accused of murdering his wife and her bodyguard, but he needs to be convinced that Bobby is truly not guilty, and the actor is definitely lying about something. 

And then there's the crazy guy who has infiltrated the jury, who may be the real killer....

This was an exciting thriller with several surprises. I will look for more by this author; this is apparently #3 in the Eddie Flynn series.

Secrets to the Grave

 Fiction by Tami Hoag

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is book two in the "Oak Knoll Series" (see below for the first one). It begins with a woman brutally murdered in her kitchen beside her four-year-old daughter. The child is alive, but just barely. It's up to Detective Tony Mendez to find out who is responsible for this terrible crime, but this time his mentor Vince Leone has retired from the FBI and will be available to help full-time. 

This was an exciting mystery with a surprise ending.

I also read recently by this author: Deeper than the Dead

Deeper than the Dead

 Fiction by Tami Hoag

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

It’s 1985, and a serial killer is stalking the small town of Oak Knoll, California. Detective Tony Mendez is sure of it, but his supervisor Sheriff Dixon is hesitant to label the murders that way and possibly bring in the FBI. But Tony has a friend in the Bureau who takes an interest in the case, and Agent Vince Leone comes to town on an unofficial basis. Will they be able to solve the case and stop the killer before he strikes again?

This is the first book in the Oak Knoll series, of which I recently read the last.(See below.) It was an exciting mystery thriller with several surprises. Now I have to find the book in between!

I also read by this author: Down the Darkest Road

Criminal

 Fiction by Karin Slaughter

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, number six --#5 was Fallen-- in the Will Trent series, Will and Sara have finally gotten together but face trouble from Will's past. The reader learns a lot more about Will's origins than has ever been reveled before.

Also there's a serial killer to stop, of course...

I also read by this author: Fallen

The Surgeon

 Fiction by Tess Gerristen

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is listed a the first in the Rizzoli and Isles series, and I suppose it is; however, it actually just features detective Jane Rizzoli before she teams up with the other woman. 

This story is about a serial killer called "The Surgeon" who kills women and then removes their wombs. Ewww....

It's a pretty good mystery, but there's a bit more ick (and also more boring parts) than I like. I've read a few by this author and some I like better than others.

I also read by this author: Playing with Fire

End of Watch

 Fiction by Stephen King

https://www.audible.com

This is the third book in the Bill Hodges series. (I read the first two a while ago.) 

I just found out this one existed, and I was pleased to fill in what happened between the book Finder's Keepers and the beginning of the Holly Gibney series in the book The Outsider.

It was an exciting thriller with great characters.

I also read recently by this author: If It Bleeds

Fallen

 Fiction by Karin Slaughter

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is the fifth in the Will Trent series, and the sequel to Broken. (see below)

At the beginning of this exciting story, Will's partner Faith Mitchell goes to pick up her baby from her mother's house and finds the baby hidden in the shed and a bloody handprint on the front door. Faith's mother Evelyn, a former police chief, is nowhere to be found.

I was definitely intrigued by this book.

I also read recently by this author: Broken

Broken

 Fiction by Karin Slaughter

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is the fourth book in the Will Trent series, which has recently been made into a successful TV show.

The story overlaps into the "Grant County" book series that I just finished reading, incorporating many of those characters as Will is called to investigate trouble in the police department of Grant County.

This was a good story but not great.

I also read recently by this author: Beyond Reach

Beyond Reach

 Fiction by Karin Slaughter

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is book number six in the Grant County mystery series, in which detective Lena Adams goes to the rural town of Reese, Georgia, to check on her Uncle Hank and gets accused of murder. Soon her boss, Police Chief Jeffery Tolliver, and his wife Sara Linton show up, but can they help? Or is Lena a lost cause this time?

This was an exciting story but very dark. The ending was a surprise.

I also read recently by this author: Faithless

Love You More

 Fiction by Lisa Gardner

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, detective D. D. Warren has to solve a mystery involving Tessa Leoni, a woman who has apparently shot and killed her abusive husband after a severe beating. But she is more concerned about her nine year old daughter, who is inexplicably missing from the house.

But the picture doesn’t add up: Did Tessa’s husband actually beat her? And where is her little daughter?

This was a pretty good mystery story. 

Faithless

 Fiction b y Karin Slaughter

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is book number five in the Grant County series (see below). In this novel, county coroner Sara Linton and police chief Jeffery Tolliver investigate the case of a girl buried alive. Ugh.

It's a pretty dark story but it does hold surprises, along with a bit of a cliffhanger that means there's at least one more book in the series...

I also read by this author in this series: Indelible, A Faint Cold Fear, Kisscut, and Blindsighted