Popular Mystery Books for Adults
Hundreds of books are added to the Library's collection each month. Here are the most popular Mystery books for adults.
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The Second Stranger
"An electric, locked-room suspense thriller set in the remote Scottish Highlands, where icy temperatures and a terrible blizzard prevent any ideas of escape--from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction. One bitterly cold February night at the remote MacKinnon Hotel, Remie Yorke begins her last shift at the front desk as the snow begins to fall. She has booked a one-way flight for the next day--and she's never coming back to Scotland. Or so she thinks. As the storm quickly invades the surrounding Highlands, the roads become impassable and the phone lines fall dead. When the icy temperatures plummet further, an injured man stumbles into the hotel lobby from the blizzard. Police Constable Don Gaines has been in a car accident on the mountain road, and Remie welcomes him to safety. Gaines tells her that the other survivor of the accident is a dangerous prisoner who is now at-large; and Gaines is sure he is heading their way. Then a second injured visitor arrives--also introducing himself as Constable Don Gaines. Both claim to want to protect Remie and the hotel's remaining guests. Both are convincing. Remie doesn't know who to trust. But she must endure a deadly night before dawn breaks, and if she doesn't succumb to the cold, one of these men will surely kill her first. And she has no idea why they have chosen to come to the MacKinnon Hotel..." -- Provided by publisher.
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The Last Devil to Die
"Shocking news reaches them--an old friend has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing. The gang's search leads them into the antiques business, where the tricks of the trade are as old as the objects themselves. As they encounter drug dealers, art forgers, and online fraudsters--as well as heartache close to home--Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim have no idea whom to trust. With the body count rising, the clock ticking down, and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out?"-- Provided by publisher.
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Dirty Thirty
Stephanie Plum, Trenton's hardest working, most underappreciated bounty hunter, is offered a freelance assignment that seems simple enough. Local jeweler Martin Rabner wants her to locate his former security guard, Andy Manley (a.k.a. Nutsy), who he is convinced stole a fortune in diamonds out of his safe. Stephanie is also looking for another troubled man, Duncan Dugan, a fugitive from justice arrested for robbing the same jewelry store on the same day. With her boyfriend Morelli away in Miami on police business, Stephanie is taking care of Bob, Morelli's giant orange dog who will devour anything, from Stephanie's stray donuts to the upholstery in her car. Morelli's absence also means the inscrutable, irresistible security expert Ranger is front and center in Stephanie's life when things inevitably go sideways. And he seems determined to stay there. To complicate matters, her best friend Lula is convinced she is being stalked by a mythological demon hell-bent on relieving her of her wardrobe. An overnight stakeout with Stephanie's mother and Grandma Mazur reveals three generations of women with nerves of steel and driving skills worthy of NASCAR champions. As the body count rises and witnesses start to disappear, it won't be easy for Stephanie to keep herself clean when everyone else is playing dirty. It's a good thing Stephanie isn't afraid of getting a little dirty, too.
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Judgment Prey
"Alex Sand was spending the evening at home playing basketball with his two young sons when all three were shot in cold blood. A wealthy federal judge, there's no short list of people who could have a vendetta against Sands, but the gruesome murders, especially that of his children, turn their St. Paul community on its head. Sand was on the verge of a major donation to a local housing charity, Heart/Twin Cities, and with the money in limbo, eyes suddenly turn to his grieving widow, Margaret Cooper, to see what she might do with the money. Margaret, distraught over the death of her family, struggles to move forward, and can't imagine how or why anyone would target her husband. With public pressure mounting and both the local police force and FBI hitting dead end after dead end, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to do what others could not: find answers. With each potential lead flawed, Davenport and Flowers are determined to chase every theory until they figure out who killed the Sands. But when they find themselves being stonewalled by the most unlikely of forces, the two wonder if perhaps each misdirection could lead them closer to the truth"-- Provided by publisher.
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Murder Crossed Her Mind
"The latest action-packed installment in the Nero Award-winning Pentecost & Parker Mystery series follows Lillian and Will tracking the suspicious disappearance of a woman who might have known too much"-- Provided by publisher.
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From A Far and Lovely Country
"This latest installment of the beloved No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series finds Botswana's premier detective agency as busy as ever, with no shortage of sensitive situations requiring Mma Ramotswe's keen eye and discerning input. Through it all, Mma Ramotswe will demonstrate that there are solutions to all manner of difficulties, there to be discovered as long as one is led by kindness, grace, and logic, and can rely on the wise counsel of close friends and loved ones. Sometimes, she reminds us, the best solutions to life's problems can be found with a bit of good humor, generosity of spirit, and a steaming cup of red bush tea"-- Provided by publisher.
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Bury your Dead
An obsessive historian's quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder. Could a secret buried with Champlain for nearly 400 years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it? Although he is supposed to be on leave, Chief Inspector Gamache cannot walk away from a crime that threatens to ignite long-smoldering tensions between the English and the French. Meanwhile, he is receiving disquieting letters from the village of Three Pines, where beloved Bistro owner Olivier was recently convicted of murder.
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The Man Who Died Twice
"Richard Osman is back with everyone's favorite mystery-solving quartet, and the second installment of The Thursday Murder Club series is just as clever and warm as the first-an unputdownable, laugh-out-loud pleasure of a read"-- Provided by publisher.
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Grave Expectations
"Almost-authentic medium Claire and her best friend, Sophie, agree to take on a seemingly simple job at a crumbling old manor in the English countryside: performing a su00e9ance for the family matriarch's 80th birthday. The pair have been friends since they were teenagers, and while everyone else is convinced Sophie ran away from home at seventeen, Claire knows the truth: Sophie was murdered -- and has been haunting her ever since. Despite this unconventional arrangement, Claire and Sophie are unprepared for what they encounter at the manor: a ghost, tragic and unrecognizable, and clearly the spirit of someone offed at the previous year's party. Given her obsession with crime shows -- not to mention Sophie's ability to walk through walls -- Claire decides they're the best people to solve the case. And with the help of the only obviously not-guilty members of their host family -- sexy ex-policeman Sebastian and far-too-cool non-binary teen Alex -- they launch an investigation. As Claire desperately tries to keep a lid on a shameful secret that would surely alienate her newfound friends, the gang must race against their own incompetence to find the murderer -- before the murderer finds them" -- Provided by publisher.
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The Final Curtain
"From the acclaimed author of Malice and Newcomer, a confounding murder in Tokyo is connected to the mystery of the disappearance and death of Detective Kaga's own mother. A decade ago, Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga went to collect the ashes of his recently deceased mother. Years before, she ran away from her husband and son without explanation or any further contact, only to die alone in an apartment far away, leaving her estranged son with many unanswered questions. Now in Tokyo, Michiko Oshitani is found dead many miles from home. Strangled to death, left in the bare apartment rented under a false name by a man who has disappeared without a trace. Oshitani lived far away in Sendai, with no known connection to Tokyo - and neither her family nor friends have any idea why she would have gone there. Hers is the second strangulation death in that approximate area of Tokyo - the other was a homeless man, killed and his body burned in a tent by the river. As the police search through Oshitani's past for any clue that might shed some light, one of the detectives reaches out to Detective Kaga for advice. As the case unfolds, an unexpected connective emerges between the murder (or murders) now and the long-ago case of Detective Kaga's missing mother. The Final Curtain, one of Keigo Higashino's most acclaimed mysteries, brings the story of Detective Kaga to a surprising conclusion in a series of rich, surprising twists"-- Provided by publisher.
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