Thrillers and Suspense
by Nicole Baart
Then: After graduating high school, Juniper Baker is enjoying the summer in her small Iowa town when her neighbors are brutally murdered and her younger brother becomes the prime suspect.
Now: Librarian Juniper reluctantly returns to the home town she fled to help her terminally ill friend manage the local library. Her timing coincides with the production of a true crime podcast about the murders, and now Juniper must decide what she's willing to do (and risk) to uncover the ugly truth.
Reviewers say: This novel about "familial ties, betrayals, and long-overdue confrontations" should "keep any Paula Hawkins, Mary Kubica, or Janelle Brown fan satisfied" (Booklist).
by Ted Flanagan
What it is: a gritty and intricately plotted debut about ambition, political corruption, and tying up loose ends set in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Featuring: shady mayor John O'Toole; graveyard shift paramedic Thomas Archer; former cop Eamon Conroy; pregnant City Hall clerk Daisy Fontana; local journalist Lu McCarthy; and conspiracy theorist Gerry Knak.
Why you might like it: This mismatched cast of characters and their disparate, competing interests are all united by an unexpected and compelling thread that readers won't see coming.
by Romy Hausmann
What it's about: Nadja Kulka gets a job at one of Berlin's top law firms working for defense attorney Gero van Hoven. Lonely Nadja is grateful for the friendship offered by Gero's wife Laura, at least until a shocking crime that hits close to the van Hoven home forces Nadja into an impossible position.
For fans of: Karin Fossum and Fiona Barton.
Reviewers say: Author Romy Hausmann "masterfully uses restraint, inserting a continual flow of small but significant clues to create tension and a heavy tone" (Library Journal).
by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
What it's about: Aspiring ballerinas Delphine, Lindsay, and Margaux first met as teens at the Palais Garnier Opera in Paris. Now 36-year-old Delphine is returning to the Palais as a choreographer, unaware that things have changed between her old friends and that a decades old secret threatens to unravel everything she's built.
Read it for: the intricate plotting and a look inside the glamorous yet cutthroat world of professional ballet.
You might also like:Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland; The Showrunner by Kim Moritsugu.
by Kwon Yeo-sun
What it is: a thought-provoking and atmospheric crime novel about the devastating ripple effects of a young woman's unresolved murder case and the long road to finding the truth.
Who it's for: suspense fans who like nontraditional storytelling styles, hauntingly dark stories, and novels that explore complex questions about grief, revenge, and trauma.
About the author: Kwon Yeo-sun is one of the most celebrated writers in the Korean language whose work includes the political novel Niche of Green and the short story collections Maiden's Skirt and The Days of Pink Ribbon.
by Tara Laskowski
What it's about: In an affluent D.C. suburb, a four seemingly perfect women are planning their annual lavish Halloween block party. When a new arrival to the neighborhood joins their clique, she sets off an unanticipated chain of events that exposes the fault lines in their friend group -- and in the carefully constructed facades of their lives.
Read it for: the twisty "too good to be true" plot, which is narrated from multiple perspectives.
Reviewers say:The Mother Next Door is "smartly paced, menacing," and offers readers a "collection of thoroughly fascinating (if sometimes a mite loathsome) characters" (Booklist).
by Jess Lourey
Starring: California teen Frankie, who is struggling to adjust to her new life in the small town of Litani, Minnesota; Frankie's estranged mother Linda, an attorney who takes her daughter in after the death of her ex-husband, Frankie's father.
Wanna play? Disaffected Frankie doesn't fit in anywhere, at least not until a group of girls draw her into something they call "The Game" and put her on a path that leads to somewhere dark, disturbing, and definitely criminal.
Inspired by: the so-called "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s and early 90s.
by Eric Rickstad
What it is: a fast-paced, compelling thriller about childhood trauma, family secrets, and the violence hiding in plain sight in a small town in Vermont.
The setup: In 1976, eight-year-old Wayland Maynard witnesses his father's suicide and finds a cryptic note that he doesn't reveal to anyone. In 1984, a now 16-year-old Wayland decides to find out what really happened with his father and discovers a connection to the town's wealthiest (and creepiest) family, the Vanders.
Who it's for: "Recommended for readers who like their thrillers dark and twisted" (Library Journal).
68 Calhoun St.
Charleston, South Carolina 29401
843-805-6930
Original source can be found here.
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