MYSTERIES

that was the place to find it.”

3. “Lady in the Lake” by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

The daring decision of a Baltimore housewife to leave her husband evolves into a look at

mid-1960s culture, including racism, sexism and ambition, and is a paean to newspapers and the struggle of women reporters. This unconventional mystery eschews adrenalinelike action for the internal rage that drives its complicated characters. In this era, the times are a-changin’, but the evolution of gender and racial roles don’t come quick enough.

4. “Heaven, My Home” by Attica Locke (Mulholland)

African American Texas Ranger Darren Mathews walks a tightrope of as a good man with the “fear of falling off the cliff of his own morality.” The search for a missing 9-year-old boy, who is the son of an imprisoned captain in the Aryan Brotherhood, leads to a community with an economy based on its antebellum history and a group of white supremacists who live close to the descendants of the town’s original black and Native American settlers. The second in this series by Edgarwinning Locke — who also was a writer and producer for the Fox drama “Empire” — soars.

5. “The Night Fire” by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

Retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch and LAPD Detective Renée Ballard are now full-fledged partners — albeit off the books — as shown by the subtitle “A Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch Novel.” Harry gets second billing but he certainly isn’t in the background as the two look into the unsolved killing of an ex-con, shot to death in his car while parked in an alley nearly 20 years ago. The case was left for Harry by his recently deceased mentor. Insightful and tenacious investigators, Harry and Renée both have “that fire” to solve cases, no matter how many years ago the crimes occurred. Yet their differences make for good tension and a plot that again showcases Connelly’s high standards.

6. (tie) “City of Windows” by Robert Pobi (Minotaur)

A decade ago, brilliant astrophysicist Lucas Page was an insightful FBI agent able to reduce crime scene details to figures and algorithms. But a near-fatal shooting ended his FBI career and his first marriage, but not his mental acuity. Lucas’ ability to calculate crime scenes and cities into geometrical landscapes is again needed by the FBI when a seemingly impossible shooting occurs.

6. (tie) “Deception Cove” by Owen Laukkanen (Mulholland Books)

A Marine veteran and a newly released convict unite in their love for a mixed-breed dog named Lucy in this launch of a new series. Former Marine Jess Winslow returned to her home of Deception Cove, Washington, with a severe case of PTSD and massive debt because of her late husband. Only Lucy keeps the veteran grounded, so in tune is the dog with Jess’ moods she can tell when Jess is about to have an attack or is in the midst of a nightmare. Jess’ sanity is threatened when Lucy is seized by a corrupt sheriff ’s deputy. Lucy also was a salvation for Mason Burke, who trained the dog when he was imprisoned, and he will do anything to help Lucy. “Deception Cove” is more than a story about

Burke

Kortya

the power and love of a devoted canine — though it does feature that. It’s an insightful view of the recovery of former soldiers, prisoners reentering society and how one’s tough exterior can obscure fragile emotions.

7. “The Stranger Inside” by Laura Benedict (Mulholland Books)

A woman returns from a brief vacation to find a stranger claiming he is renting her St. Louis home. When she accidently knocks him down, he has her arrested for assault, but not before whispering, “I was there. I saw what you did,” which may refer to the death of her sister more than 20 years before. Using the unreliable narrator motif, a heroine with a complicated personality and unusual family life drives the excellent plot.

8. “The Better Sister” by Alafair Burke (Harper)

Two estranged sisters — both of whom had been married to the same man — reunite when the teenager they both love is accused of killing his father. This insightful, exciting family thriller looks at unconditional love. Plausible twists abound as readers try to figure out just who is the better sister — the successful businesswoman or the unstable alcoholic.

9. “If She Wakes” by Michael Koryta (Little, Brown)

A sophisticated plot melds with intense characters, even when the heroine is in a coma. She is suffering from the lockedin syndrome, able to hear what is going on around her in the hospital room but unable to communicate. An investigation into the attack on the college student becomes a story about rebuilding one’s life and not giving up despite insurmountable odds.

10. “The Wolf Wants In” by Laura McHugh (Spiegel & Grau)

The sudden death of their normally healthy brother links two grieving sisters and a teenager trying to distance herself

Krueger

from her family in an opioidravaged rural town. The intelligent thriller focuses on wellsculpted characters struggling to rise above preconceived notions others have about their limitations.

11. “They All Fall Down” by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge)

Hall delivers a unique spin paying homage to Agatha Christie’s classic “And Then There Were None” in which strangers are lured to an isolated island and then start dying. Racially diverse characters with contemporary sensibilities bring a new perspective to this timeless plot.

12. “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger (Atria)

Four orphans escaping a brutal institution travel down the Minnesota River, planning to connect onto the Mississippi River and a better life in St. Louis. Set during the Depression, this beautifully written, compassionate story offers a tale of hope while overcoming a bad childhood.

13. “The Hidden Things” by Jamie Mason (Gallery Books)

A razor-sharp thriller about a con artist whose plan for a fresh start goes awry when the video of a teenager fending off an attacker in her home goes viral. Sly humor elevates the character studies of criminals and the criminally inclined — all of whom are more interested in what that video shows in the background.

14. “Nothing More Dangerous” by Allen Eskens (Little, Brown)

A gripping coming of age novel melds with a solid mystery as a teenager reevaluates the attitude of local whites against blacks during 1976 in his small Missouri town. Boady Sanden’s friendship with a black classmate whose father has just been named head of the local manufacturing plant shows him just how dangerous “sheer ignorance” can be. A heartfelt story about boys on the verge of becoming men.

15. “Thirteen” by Steve Cavanagh

Lippman

(Flatiron)

The tagline is the key — “The Serial Killer Isn’t on Trial… He’s on the Jury.”

Top debuts

In alphabetical order:

“The Ninja Daughter” by Tori Eldridge (Agora/Polis)

This action-packed thriller introduces Lily Wong, of Chinese Norwegian descent, who secretly studied to be a ninja. She is willing to take on the Los Angeles Ukrainian mob, sex traffickers and her own family to save two women and a child. While the plot may seem over the top, Eldridge’s fine storytelling makes Lily a heroine of our times.

“Temper” by Layne Fargo (Scout)

Set in the Chicago theater scene, an ambitious actress and an abusive director engage in a power struggle with a disastrous outcome. A clever psychological thriller in which toxic people prey on the insecurities of others.

“Miracle Creek” by Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton Books)

A tense courtroom drama about a Korean immigrant family and a mother accused of murdering her autistic son leads to a poignant look at justice, parenthood and xenophobia.

“The Widows” by Jess Montgomery (Minotaur)

Exploited workers, Prohibition and women’s rights fuel the atmospheric story set in Appalachian Ohio coal-mining country in 1925. Beautifully plotted, “The Widows” draws on historical incidents as two women — one a newly elected sheriff, the other a union activist — prove their strength and intelligence in trying to save their community.

“The Nowhere Child” by Christian White (Minotaur)

A young woman’s life is upended when she learns that she may have been kidnapped from Kentucky more than 28 years ago. The tense plot builds as she tries to find out the truth about her life

Locke

and what brought her to Australia where she now lives. She wonders if her happy childhood was a lie and what secrets were kept by her parents, whom she loved very much.

“The Escape Room” by Megan Goldin (St. Martin’s Press)

Those popular escape rooms become a metaphor for ambition, gossip and betrayal when the game involves four investment bankers stuck in a high-rise elevator. Plenty of clues hint at why these four who can’t stand each other are there, but escape may not be the end result in this tense and claustrophobic story.

Trends

Mystery fiction has always delivered stories that are onpoint with contemporary issues. Two major trends have been developing for several years and 2019 saw an uptick in these types of stories.

Diversity: Authors of various backgrounds, heritage, sexual orientation and ethnicity have been telling their unique stories. Among these authors are Tracy Clark, Cheryl Head, Naomi Hirahara, Ellen Hart, Greg Herren, Angie Kim, Michael Nava, Jonathan Brown, Tori Eldridge, Patricia Shanae Smith, John Vercher, Rachel Howzell Hall, Edwin Hill, Stephen Mack Jones, Vivien Chien, Steph Cha, Gar Anthony Haywood, S.A. Cosby, Alex Segura, Sujata Massey, Kellye Garrett. And, yes, the list could go on.

Veterans: For decades, mystery fiction and thrillers have shown how former soldiers cope with returning to civilian life. These include Charles Todd, Ace Atkins, Nick Petrie, Brad Taylor, Julia Spencer-Fleming, James Rollins, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Andrew Grant, among others.

Connelly