Book Reviews

2024 Year In Review: SMSA’s Top 10 Mysteries

Mystery & Crime lovers abound at SMSA, so we have highlighted the top books from that genre this year. Which have you read?

We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Sections

Top 10 Books

Click the title to see the book in the Library Catalogue

1

A Refiner’s Fire by Donna Leon

When two teenage gangs are arrested after clashing violently in one of Venice’s campi, the son of a local hero is implicated. But when Commissario Guido Brunetti is asked by a wealthy foreigner to vet this man, Dario Monforte, for a job, he discovers that he might not be such a hero after all. This seeming contradiction, and a brutal attack on one of Brunetti’s colleagues by a possible gang member, concentrate Brunetti’s attentions.

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2

Tipping Point by Dinuka McKenzie

Weeks from Christmas in the sweltering heat of summer, Detective Kate Miles’ estranged brother, Luke Grayling, returns home to Esserton to farewell a childhood friend – Ant Reed, dead by suicide. Within days of the funeral, another young man, Marcus Rowntree, is found shot dead in the back paddock of his property.
Almost twenty years ago, Luke, Ant and Marcus were best mates in high school and now two of the three friends are dead. A tragic coincidence? Or is there something more sinister connecting the three men?

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3

They thought I was dead by Peter James

Some will know how it begins. Her name is Sandy. You might know her as the loving wife of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. But there’s more to her than meets the eye. A woman with a dubious past, a complicated present and an uncertain future. Then she was gone. Some will think they know how it ends. Her disappearance caused a nationwide search. Even the best detective on the force couldn’t find her. They thought she was dead. But nobody knows this. Where did she go? Why did she run? What would cause a woman to leave her whole life behind and simply vanish?

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4

Reykjavik by Ragnar Jonasson and Katrin Jakobsdottir

What happened to Lára? Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland’s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there? Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára’s case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lára’s disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved

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5

The Traitor among us by Anne Perry

As Hitler’s influence spreads across Europe, the future of Britain is at stake. It is late summer 1934 when retired MI6 agent John Repton’s body is found near Wyndham Hall in the Cotswolds. Repton was killed while investigating the Wyndham family’s ties to fascist sympathisers, and Elena Standish is assigned to discover if one of them resorted to murder. Meanwhile, Elena’s sister Margot is courting Lady Wyndham’s brother and, unaware that Elena is a spy, Margot invites her to attend a house party at Wyndham Hall along with her colleague James Allenby, who masquerades as her suitor.

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6

The Hunter by Tana French

It’s a blazing summer when two men arrive in the village. They’re coming for gold. What they bring is trouble. Cal Hooper was a Chicago detective, till he moved to the West of Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or less — in his relationship with local woman Lena, and the bond he’s formed with half-wild teenager Trey. So when two men turn up with a money-making scheme to find gold in the townland, Cal gets ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey. Because one of the men is no stranger: he’s Trey’s father. But Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge. Crackling with tension and slow-burn suspense, The Hunter explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.

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7

The Cryptic Clue by Amanda Hampson

Welcome back to Zig Zag Lane in the heart of Sydney’s rag-trade district, where our intrepid tea ladies, Hazel, Betty and Irene, have their work cut out. Solving a murder, kidnapping and arson case, and outwitting an arch criminal, earned them the respect of a local police officer. Now he needs their assistance to help solve a plot that threatens national security.As if that’s not enough, Irene gets a coded message directing her to the spoils of a bank robbery, which sends the tea ladies on a treasure hunt with an unexpected outcome.There’s also trouble brewing within the walls of Empire Fashionwear, where an interloper threatens not just Hazel’s job but the very role of tea lady. It’s up to Hazel to convince her friends to abandon their trolleys and take action to save their livelihoods – before it’s too late.

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8

The Basel Killings by Hansjorg Schneider

The event of the Perigord tourist season is the re-enactment of the liberation of the historic town of Sarlat from the English in 1370. But it all goes wrong when the man playing the part of the victorious French general collapses in a pool of blood. The question for chief of police Bruno is was this an accident – or deliberate? The stakes rise when Bruno learns that the man, Kerquelin, was running Frenchelon, the secret French electronic intelligence base nearby, after being recruited from a brilliant Silicon Valley career.

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9

Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah

It’s December 19, 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are looking forward to a much-needed, restful Christmas holiday, when they are called upon to investigate the murder of a man in a Norfolk hospital ward. Cynthia Catchpool, Edward’s mother, insists that Poirot stay with her in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while he solves the case. As Poirot digs into the mystery, he discovers that the murdered man was a retired post office master, and by all accounts very well-liked. The local constabulary’s investigation failed to uncover how someone could have entered a hospital room and killed him under the noses of the staff. Cynthia’s friend Arnold is soon to be admitted to that same hospital, and his wife is convinced he will be the killer’s next victim, though she refuses to explain why. With no obvious motive or suspect, Poirot has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders, if he is to escape from this nightmare scenario and get home in time for Christmas. Meanwhile, someone else–someone utterly ruthless–also has ideas about what ought to happen to Hercule Poirot…

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10

Fire and bones by Kathy Reichs

Always apprehensive about working fire scenes, Tempe is called to Washington, D.C., to analyse the victims of a deadly blaze and sees her misgivings justified. The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighbourhood with a colourful past and present, and Tempe becomes suspicious about the property’s ownership when she delves into its history. The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams up with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle. Soon the duo learns that back in the thirties and forties the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang. Though interesting, this fact seems irrelevant – until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attacks? So many questions. As Tempe and Ivy dig deeper, an arrest is finally made. Then another Foggy Bottom Gang-linked property burns to the ground, claiming one more victim. Slowly, Tempe’s instincts begin pointing to the obvious: somehow, her moves since coming to Washington have been anticipated, and every path forward seems to bring with it a lethal threat.

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Honorable Mentions

Click the title to see the book in the Library Catalogue

 

Most Held/Reserved Books

James by Percival Everett

Most Popular eBook

What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan

Most Popular Audiobook

The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro

Most Popular Magazine

Hello! Magazine

 

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We’d love your suggestions

Have you read something you loved this year, but it’s not part of our collection? Or maybe there’s a book you wish we had? We’re always happy to hear your suggestions! You can share your book recommendations by writing in the suggestion book at the library desk, or submit online via the library catalogue or suggest a book for the library to purchase

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2024 Year In Review: SMSA’s Top 10 Mysteries
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