Booklist Mystery Month 2019!

May is Mystery Month at Booklist, and we’re celebrating along with them with our favorite chills, thrills, and kills (bum-bum-BUM) from newcomers and fan favorites alike:

ALMOST MIDNIGHT by Paul Doiron

In this thrilling entry in Edgar Award finalist Paul Doiron’s bestselling series, a deadly attack on one of Maine’s last wild wolves leads Game Warden Mike Bowditch to an even bigger criminal conspiracy. “Fans of outdoors procedurals, like those by William Kent Krueger or C. J. Box, will be delighted to get to know the consistently strong Mike Bowditch series, now in its tenth installment.”–Booklist

HEART OF BARKNESS by Spencer Quinn

The latest in the New York Times bestselling series that the Los Angeles Times called “nothing short of masterful” sees Chet the dog and P.I. Bernie encounter heartache and much worse in the world of country music.

THE RIGHT SORT OF MAN by Allison Montclair

Two starred reviews! In London, 1946, the two women who recently started The Right Sort Marriage Bureau find their new livelihood endangered when a client is arrested for the murder of another. “The Right Sort Marriage Bureau’s debut is exactly the right sort to have readers hoping for a second date.”–Kirkus Reviews, starred review

THE SHALLOWS: A Nils Shapiro Novel by Matt Goldman

New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning writer Matt Goldman obliges by bringing the Minneapolis private detective back for another thrilling, stand-alone adventure in THE SHALLOWS. “Goldman seasons the complicated puzzle with healthy doses of dry wit and meaningful secondary stories for his characters. Hopefully, Nils and company will return soon.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

WE WERE KILLERS ONCE by Becky Masterman

Becky Masterman’s unputdownable thrillers featuring unique heroine Brigid Quinn continue with this fascinating alternative look at one of America’s most famous crimes. “[T]he plot never loses its drive, and the characters are truly intriguing.”–Booklist

CITY OF WINDOWS by Robert Pobi

“In his first thriller, the author of BLOODMAN introduces us to former FBI agent Lucas Page, who’s tasked with the near-impossible: find the sniper who killed an FBI agent in the midst of a horrific New York City blizzard that quickly wiped out all evidence. That Page, now a professor and best-selling author, lost a leg, an arm, and an eye in a horrific incident that compelled his departure from bureau does set a challenge.”–Library Journal, Pre-Pub Alert

THE ESCAPE ROOM by Megan Goldin

“In this debut thriller, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are hyper-competitive Wall Streeters who wouldn’t refuse a summons to a meeting at corporate headquarters on a weekend eve, where they are thrown into a team-building exercise requiring escape from a locked elevator. But the exercise isn’t what it seems, and soon dark secrets—and blood—are spilling.”–Library Journal, Pre-Pub Alert

THE STORIES YOU TELL by Kristen Lepionka

The third installment in the Shamus Award winning and Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated Roxane Weary series. “Roxane herself, a remarkably well-drawn and interestingly flawed character, continues to command interest.”–Booklist

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALISTAIR AINSWORTH: A Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Leonard Goldberg

In the third book of this critically-acclaimed series, Sherlock Holmes’ daughter faces a new unsolvable mystery with spies and a threat to the crown. “Fans of the original mysteries will get a chuckle out of the antic language, and there is a mercurial Mary Poppins appeal to this not-to-be-trifled-with heroine that will appeal to fans beyond Baker Street.”–Booklist

THE FIRST MISTAKE by Sandie Jones

From Sandie Jones, the author of Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club + LibraryReads pick AND New York Times bestseller THE OTHER WOMAN, comes an addictively readable new domestic suspense about a wife, her husband, and the woman who is supposedly her best friend. “The twisty plot builds to a shocking conclusion. This puzzler reinforces Jones’s status as a rising suspense star.”–Publishers Weekly

THE NIGHT BEFORE by Wendy Walker, LibraryReads author of ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN and EMMA IN THE NIGHT

The night before and the nightmare after… “Skilfully manipulating tension and using breathless pacing, Walker keeps that question in the air until the final twist unmasks secrets about Laura’s disappearance and the murder in her past.”–Booklist

DARK SITE: A Sam Dryden Novel by Patrick Lee

Two starred reviews! From the author of RUNNER, Sam Dryden comes under attack from unknown forces as an unremembered episode from his past threatens more than just his life. “Breakneck pacing, of course, but somehow Lee manages to build character and create an audacious premise without ever taking his foot off the throttle.”–Booklist, starred review

THE BURNING CHAMBERS by Kate Mosse

From New York Times bestseller Kate Mosse comes an epic story of love, loss, and war. “The mystery, the love story, and the incendiary nature of both setting and plot will keep readers turning the pages and eagerly awaiting the next volume.”–Booklist

A NEARLY NORMAL FAMILY by M. T. Edvardsson

In this twisted narrative of love and murder, a horrific crime makes a seemingly normal family question everything they thought they knew about their life—and one another. “An intense legal thriller that successfully plays realistic, gripping emotion against a shocking legal twist.”–Booklist

BARK OF NIGHT by David Rosenfelt

“Learning that his veterinarian has been instructed to euthanize a perfectly healthy French bulldog named Truman, understandably angry defense lawyer Andy Carpenter quickly agrees to his dog-rescue organization, the Tara Foundation, as an alternative. Then Truman’s microchip reveals that the man who dropped him off was not his owner, who has in fact been murdered. From the Edgar Award–nominated and Shamus Award–winning author.”–Library Journal, Pre-Pub Alert

SHAMED: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo, LibraryReads author of AMONG THE WICKED

In this gripping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo, a devastating murder exposes an Amish family’s tortured past. “If they haven’t already, readers looking for a fierce-female-fronted procedural should check out Catillo’s best-selling series, from the get-go.”–Booklist

THIRTEEN by Steve Cavanagh

In the breakout legal thriller Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and Ruth Ware are raving about, the serial killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury. “A knockout legal thriller with a doozy of a twist.”–Booklist, starred review

THE MURDER LIST by Hank Phillippi Ryan

In this cat and mouse game, the battle for justice becomes a battle for survival. “A compelling legal thriller from the popular author of the Jane Ryland mystery series, this will have readers’ sympathies shifting from one character to another as it winds to an unsettling end.”–Booklist

THE BITTERROOTS by C.J. Box

“Once a police officer, newbie private eye Cassie Dewell is managing despite overnight stakeouts and regret that she can’t spend more time with her son. Then a friend asks her to help exonerate a man accused of assaulting a girl from an influential family, and Cassie learns that the hidden backstory to this case looms as big as Montana’s sky.”–Library Journal, Pre-Pub Alert

DEATH OF A NEW AMERICAN by Mariah Fredericks, author of the Library Journal Best Book of the Year and Edgar Award nominee A DEATH OF NO IMPORTANCE

Two starred reviews! The atmospheric, compelling follow-up to the stunning debut A DEATH OF NO IMPORTANCE, featuring series character, Jane Prescott. “With an astute amateur sleuth whose evaluation of the roles and positions of women is a crucial element, and a topical story line that emphasizes the immigrant experience and women’s lives, this title comes highly recommended.”–Library Journal, starred review