October thriller & mystery roundup
Romantic suspense, magical realism and historical locked room thrillers highlight this month's round up of newly arrived thrillers and mysteries.
Detective John Bowie is a cop haunted by a three-year-old cold case involving a missing teenage girl, Crissy Mellin. John's career and personal life are in shambles, and he's convinced the wrong person was blamed. His life takes a dramatic turn when Beth Collins, an ambitious TV show producer, arrives in town to film an episode on the case. Beth believes she has uncovered a pattern: a string of disappearances of young women, all on the night of a "blood moon." With another blood moon just days away, John and Beth must race to find the killer before he strikes again. A fast-paced plot, plenty of suspense, and a steamy, irresistible romance between the two main characters.
Master con woman Quinn Le Blanc is the reigning "Queen of Fives," London's most talented thief, following a strict, five-day plan to orchestrate her cons. To reach her current and most ambitious target yet, the wealthy and reclusive Duke of Kendal, Quinn infiltrates high society, using her wit and disguises to trick him into marriage and steal his family's fortune. A cat-and-mouse game ensues, where Quinn's seemingly perfect plan is complicated by the fact that the Kendal family has its own secrets and nothing in high society is what it seems.
A housewife in suburban late 1970s Australia desperately cleans up blood after her husband murders their neighbour. As news of the murder spreads, gossip and suspicion mount among the residents of Warrah Place. Twelve-year-old Tammy, a sharp and inquisitive girl, takes it upon herself to investigate the murder and through her eyes, we see the meticulously crafted façade of her community start to crumble. Kemp's debut novel is a claustrophobic and tense examination of social dynamics and the dark undercurrents that lie beneath even the most perfect suburban veneer.
The listeners - Maggie Stiefvater
At a luxury hotel in rural West Virginia 1942, the US government has housed it's Axis diplomats and hotel manager June must navigate a complex moral landscape. She and her staff, many of whom have loved ones fighting in the war, are forced to provide impeccable service to their enemies. An element of magical realism adds a layer of depth, hinting at the idea that the land itself is "listening" and absorbing the secrets and tensions of its inhabitants. "The Listeners" is a captivating and atmospheric story that delves into the human heart in a time of war, showcasing how politics and history can collide with personal loyalties and desires.
The Empress murders - Toby Schmitz
1925, the ocean liner Empress of Australia sets sail from London to New York. Onboard, a body is found, and a detective, the world-weary Inspector Archie Daniels, must find the killer among a ship full of suspects. However, the murders quickly escalate into a brutal and bloody spree. Using the murders as a metaphor for arrogance of empire, the privileged passengers display a casual indifference to the deaths of those below deck, a theme that grows increasingly potent as the body count rises. A classic locked-room mystery with an excellent twist.
The confessions - Paul Bradley Carr
In a terrifyingly plausible near-future society utterly dependent on an all-knowing AI named LLIAM to make every decision, from career choices to romantic partners fragility is exposed when LLIAM inexplicably goes offline. The resulting chaos is compounded when millions of letters arrive worldwide, sharing people's darkest secrets and crimes. As society unravels, the story follows a desperate CEO and a former nun who taught the AI what it means to be human, in a race to understand why the supercomputer has turned against its creators.
Everyone is lying to you - Jo Piazza
When the husband of a popular 'tradwife' influencer Rebecca is brutally murdered and she vanishes, her estranged friend and journalist Lizzie delves into the fundamentalist movement. Unpacking the couple's seemingly idyllic life of homesteading and family, she is pulled into a cutthroat world of deceit and betrayal. Taken right from the pages of social media, Piazza explores the influence of the Christian right in America, the poisonous world of monetised family bloggers and breaks through the façade of the perfect public images these people portray in this fast paced mystery.
After a career-ending injury and a long coma, ex-Navy seal Salam "Fade" al-Fayed is offered a second chance at life by a shadowy organization run by a group of the world's most powerful and wealthy people. Having decided that governments are no longer capable of handling global threats they have formed their own paramilitary unit to fix the world's problems. Fade, now a weapon in their arsenal, is tasked with stopping a deadly, highly contagious pathogen that has exploded out into the world. Mills expertly blends an investigation into the ethical and moral dilemmas of trading freedom for security, with a high stakes thrill ride across the globe.
