‘The Final Score,’ by Don Winslow (William Morrow)
The problem with a Winslow short story is that you get settled in and it’s over, way too fast. But six short stories is a good tradeoff, and these show the author’s great versatility.
“The Lunch Break” is about a bodyguard crew of surfers hired to look after an entitled movie star. Nobody believes the diva’s claim that she’s being stalked, but of course she is. “The Final Score” is centered around a famous robber who’s been sentenced to life in prison. He wants to pull one final caper that will ensure his legend as well as provide for his wife. The novella-length “Collision” tells of one impulsive decision by a brilliant hotel executive that sends his world crashing. Just when he thinks he’s put things back together, the consequences threaten to destroy him and his family.
The book has something for every Winslow fan — suspense, danger, humor and some of the funniest dialogue to appear in the pages of a mystery.
‘Innocence Road,’ by Laura Griffin (Berkley)
Detective Leanne Everhart, recently returned to her Texas hometown where her father was a well-known lawman, is assigned the case of a brutally murdered young woman. As she investigates, Leanne discovers the victim may be one of several unidentified women killed and dumped along a highway. Her police chief is almost hostile to her theory and gives Leanne just 48 hours to find the killer. The chief is worried about the overturned conviction of a man imprisoned for years for killing a local girl. The released man claims he confessed at gunpoint. Both the chief and Leanne’s father were detectives in the case.
“Innocence Road” is a fast-paced, unputdownable mystery that grabs the reader from the first pages. Leanne is a fully developed character — strong, dedicated, angry, filled with self-doubt — and you can’t help but hope Griffin will start another series centered around Leanne.
‘What Darkness Does,’ by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush (Blackstone)
When Samantha Browdey’s body is found chained to a cement block, lying at the edge of a lake, detectives not only want to solve the murder but also find the woman’s infant daughter.
Coroner Emily Hartford believes the killer is Colton Chauncey, who’s on trial for raping the baby’s mother. Colton believes he’s the infant’s father, but that’s not why he grabbed the baby, Brooklyn. He wants to sell her in Canada.
Meanwhile, Emily’s boyfriend, FBI agent Nick Larson, shows up after having disappeared for a year. He’s sick and suffering, victimized in China by forced organ harvesting. That doesn’t stop him from taking charge of the case, since Samatha’s body was found on federal land, but he’s a loose cannon, and Emily not only wants to find the killer and the baby, she also needs to save Nick from himself.
‘The Gallagher Place,’ by Julie Doar (Zibby Publishing)
Marlowe Fisher is staying on her family’s vast vacation estate when she and her brothers discover a dead man on their property. Detectives identify him as a descendant of the farm’s original owners. Their search for a killer leads them to reopen a 20-year-old cold case in which Marlowe’s best friend, Nora, disappeared.
Marlowe is torn between helping the detectives and protecting the family’s privacy and their secrets. Using a then-and now format, author Julie Doar depicts Nora as a beloved companion, at least in Marlowe’s memory. But is that memory accurate? Did she overlook Nora’s actions that might have led to her death? It’s a nicely written mystery that goes beyond whodunit.
‘The Midnight Carousel,’ by Fiza Saeed McLynn (Park Row Books)
Maisie is a throw-away child in 1910, captivated by a poster of a magical French carousel, when an aunt snatches her out of poverty and takes her into the home of her wealthy employer, a British lord. The aunt dies, and heartbroken Lord Marlowe decamps for America. In Chicago, Maisie catches a glimpse of the carousel and begs her benefactor to purchase it.
Unbeknownst to Maisie, the carousel has a sordid history. Four children riding it in Paris suddenly disappeared. A worker was found guilty and beheaded for abducting them. When hard times hit Lord Marlowe, Maisie, now an adult, steps in and establishes an amusement park on his estate. Then two more children disappear while riding the carousel, and Maisie is jailed. The detective credited with solving the French carousel mystery suddenly shows up. He arranges for Maisie’s release, and the two join forces to solve the mysterious disappearances. And, of course, they fall in love.
“The Midnight Carousel” is a well-written story but has a disingenuous conclusion.
‘The Method,’ by Matthew Quirk (William Morrow)
Anna Vaughn is in a life-and-death struggle with a gunman when she drives a knife between his ribs in a killing blow. Well, OK, so she’s an actress, and this is a made-for-TV scene. Still, it isn’t long before Anna is involved in a real-life drama with a mob of Third World bad guys who’ve kidnapped her best friend.
When she discovers Natalie is missing, Anna tracks her friend to an elegant hotel and ingratiates herself with a sophisticated bunch of mobsters who are involved in an international scheme. A shadowy FBI agent enlists Anna as a spy, supplying her with lots of high-tech gear to keep her safe. When Anna at last rescues Natalie, and the two team up, they seem to have nowhere to turn. Who are their friends and who are the real bad guys? “The Method” is a fast-paced thriller at its best.
‘A Gift Before Dying,’ by Malcolm Kempt (Crown)
As punishment for botching a murder case, Eldrick Cole is transferred to a police station in a remote Arctic town. As he marks his days amid bitter cold and sunless skies, Cole deals with drunks, vandals, domestic violence and suicide. His first thought when he cuts down the frozen body of a young native woman known as Pits is that she hanged herself. But something is off. Cole suspects the woman was murdered.
The only one who cares about Pits is her young brother, who was horribly disfigured in a fire and is the target of bullies. The one constant in his life is his grandfather, who teaches him the old ways, including how to hunt seals. The boy forms a bond with Cole as the two deal with Pits’ death.
Tautly written, this first novel by a former criminal lawyer who spent 17 years in the Arctic is a hard look at the desolate lives of people resigned to life in the bleak far north.