Mother Daughter Sister Stranger: Hank Philippi Ryan Tuesday, Sep 1 2026 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and family story and great read and psychological mystery and reviews and suspense thriller , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 8:00 am

Ryan knocks this one out of the park with a thriller that will have readers flipping pages long into the night.

Filled with a huge packet of lies and secrets, Eliza Ramsey tries to unravel the reality of events that have started with the plane crash that left her and her older sister orphans.

Eleven years later, Eliza is on the hunt for Bea after her sister disappears, leaving her to to care for her niece, Piper. The precocious pre-teen doesn’t understand why her mother hasn’t shown up after being away for a week—and neither does Eliza.

What starts out as a possible miscommunication from Eliza’s point of view soon morphs into something much more diabolical, when a visit to Bea’s home finds all of her clothes are missing. Has she disappeared on purpose? Been kidnapped?

Not knowing whom to trust, Eliza only knows one thing for certain: Bea would never abandon her daughter.

Ryan’s Eliza is instantly recognizable, yet a complex character after losing her parents. We watch her growth through the book as a series on unexpected twists and turns force her to face uncomfortable and even dangerous truths as the tension steadily rises.

The twists keep coming in what may be Ryan’s best thriller yet. Not to be missed.

 

Will Thomas: For Services Rendered Thursday, Aug 20 2026 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and espionage thriller and great read and historical saga and reviews and Series not to be missed and Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 6:07 pm

Will Thomas’s Barker and Llewelyn series in one one of Auntie M’s favorite historicals with good reason, as his research is meticulous and often based on real events. He returns with the newest in this long-running series with For Services Renderered.

It’s October of 1986, and Barker and Llewelyn, private enquiry agents, have a long established daily routine that is shaken to its very core when their cook, Etienne Dummolard, chef owner at Le Toison d’Or, fails to appear to cook their breakfast. When he is taking his family to Dijon to avoid clashing with his sworn enemy who ate dinner the previous night at his restaurant.

The news is particularly startling because Barker killed Seabastian Nightwine in a duel, yet Eitienne insists he’s alive.

Unfortunately, this turns out to be true. The evil man makes enemies easily and never forgets a grudge. He trained his only daughter to be an assassin, and is dangerous beyond compare as he runs through money and will do anything to earn more, even to kidnapping British citizens who have angered the Qing government years ago in China and still have a reward on their heads. Yet his charm amuses many, including the Prince of Wales, who has not seen his dark side.

So when Barker’s paramour, Lady Phillipa Ashleigh, visits to say she’s received a message from Nightwine, Barker is on instant alert. Coveting Barker’s relationship with Lady Phillipa makes Nightwine doubly treacherous. Soon she and Llewelyn’s wife and young daughter are on their way to Paris, out of harm’s way.

But not before a visitor to their office gives them another, possibly related, case. Dr. James Cantlie begs the two detectives to find his missing friend, a young doctor he mentored who has disappeared, named Sun Yat-Sen.

What follows is a double espionage situation with Nightwine at their heels as the men try to find the young kidnapped doctor, born in China but raised in Hawaii. Learning that the Qing government has declared a price on the man’s head for a letter he sent to the government complaining of their methods, Barker suspects Nightwine is at the heart of the man’s disappearance.

Their investigation will take the two men into the heart of the Cbinese embassy who are holding the young doctor, with Nightwine planning to smuggle him out of England to face execution in China. Only the wits and wiles of Barker and Llewelyn can stop this plan from coming to fruition.

Using Llewelyn as narrator adds an element of the Welshman’s pithy observations in this wholly entertaining novel.

 

Craig Higginson: Shadow Country Sunday, Aug 16 2026 

amateur sleuth and complex mystery and historical saga and reviews and thriller , , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 6:01 pm

Blending multiple genres, Higginson’s Shadow Country brings Zululand, South Africa to readers.

Writer Daniet Hawthorne has traveled to the Webster family’s pricey Rock Ridge Safari Lodge. His announced motive for the trip is to do research on a disgraced relative, Lt. Charles Hawthorne, who fought in the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War in the area. The planned biography is of the man who was his great-great-grandfather who survived the bloody battle.

But soon Daniel’s thrust becomes to investigate the disappearance of Webster’s lovely daughter, Sam, presumed drowned after a sighting of her body surfaced on the flooded Buffalo River, only to disappear again. With the family absorbed in its grief, Daniel’s amateur detecting soon uncovers different narratives–and motives for who might have wanted Sam to disappear.

The lion-shaped mountain iSadlwana is where the Webster’s land sits, the battlefield dominating the landscape and the characters, filled as it is with unburied bones of British and Zulu soldiers. It’s a haunting reminder and a physical presence that casts its shadow over everyone. When a massive storm floods the river, all of its secrets are exposed.

Daniel’s contemporary investigation into the woman’s disappearance is in direct contrast with his ancestor’s past as he delves into the family’s secrets. That Charles was a lepidopterist is a huge symbol of the delicacy of nature against the dark violence of colonial war. The novel is highly atmospheric, whatever time period the reader is in, with its dual timelines in start contrast, too.

Thought-provoking, above your usual thriller, this showcases the human condition and its unchanging foibles.

 

Donna Andrews: Probable Caws Friday, Aug 14 2026 

amateur sleuth and Award winning novelist and Continued series winner and humorous crime and mystery to die for and reviews , , , , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 1:27 pm

How does a multi-award-winning author keep a series interesting through 39 books?

By developing varied, quirky, and interesting characters, then placing them in a charming rural setting, and filling her stories with tidbits about nature, all wrapped up in a mystery that is not so much needing to be solved as proving what lead protagonist Meg Langslow suspects all along.

The blackmsith is hoping for some forge time when her family’s good friend Ragnar Ragnarsen calls with an urgent plea: can she and her family help with the many volunteers needed to care for fifty horses suddenly displaced from their equine rescue?

All of Meg’s family become involved, including her twin teen boys, her zookeeper father, her doctor dad, and her theatre director husband. Ragnar’s estate closely resembles a moated castle, complete with many of Meg’s gothic iron decorative and useful items on display. The huge fields surrounding the estate are soon broken into staging areas for the horses, many who have just been rescued from auctions and need to be triaged, while others need room to roam.

The rescue farm’s owner recently died without leaving a will, forcing Hoof and Hearth to temporarily rehome the horses as his two sons argue the legalities. While older son Abel is in favor of the rescue on the land, the younger, George, wants to sell the land for development, and isn’t above using threats and shady characters to reinforce his position.

Meg’s family camp out to keep watch over the horses after George’s thugs appear—until one of them is found murdered, and suspicion falls squarely on Abel.

Now Meg must juggle watching her family and the horses, while she helps to unmask a killer, and learns how to care and cajole horses of all personalities, including one due to deliver any minute.

The research Andrew’s brings into every aspect of a horse’s life make this story, along with its humorous bent, an entertaining read with this satisfying entry.

 

Jack Friday: Killer Vibes Thursday, Jul 16 2026 

debut and great read and humorous crime and mystery to die for and new series and reviews , , Auntie M Writes Crime 7:36 pm

Termed a “hilarious queer noir mystery,” Jack Friday’s KILLER VIBES introduces readers to Peter Key, usually stoned, who calls himself the “laziest PI in Texas” with good reason.

Peter is an unconventional yet engaging protagonist; the fact that he soon realizes he has a natural talent for investigation surprises even Peter, while Austin serves as the perfect setting. With its own weird culture, this choice is enhanced by the eccentricities of many other characters.

It’s a high-stakes inheritence mystery that revolves around Peter’s Uncle Jimmy, who has died and left Peter his historic Austin bungalow. Despite it’s crumbling condition, the neighborhood brings its worth to over a million dollars.

With pressure to sell from several quarters, Peter soon suspect Uncle Jimmy’s death was not an accident, especially when he finds a bag filled with cash. What had Uncle Jimmy gotten himself into? For that matter, what has Peter now gotten himself into?

With help from is unusual sidekicks, Peter is determined to keep his new home while he solves Uncle Jimmy’s murder.

A terrific, comedic read in a genre that might be called “stoner-noir.”

 

Carol Snow: The Girl on the Beach Tuesday, Jun 23 2026 

complex mystery and psychological mystery and reviews and suspense thriller , , Auntie M Writes Crime 7:28 am

Snow’s dark thriller begins and ends with a missing child, thought to be drowned.

Set along the Montecito coastline noted as the “American Riviera,” Roxie Starr is four years old when she disappears at the beach, and despite not being at work that afternoon, her nanny Colleen is haunted by guilt that she could have saved her.

It also destroys her parents with their tony lifestyle and open marriage. Is this a situation which any of them can survive?

Then Colleen returns to the beach house before moving away and the impossible happens: she sees a child down by the water who is the spitting image of Roxie.

Post-traumatic syndrome, guilt, trauma all are reacted to differently by the involved characters. Long-held secrets are exposed.

And then a swooping ending that contains more than one twist makes this psychological suspense novel a winner.

 

Gillian French: Restless Bones Sunday, Jun 14 2026 

complex mystery and Continued series winner and reviews and suspense thriller , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 7:28 pm

French introduced fingerprint analyst Shaw Connolly in her thrilling first in this Maine series, Shaw Connolly Lives to Tell. Along the way, readers learn the intricate work these analysts perform and how involved they become in their cases.

Still reeling from the events of that novel, where she faced down her sister’s killer after years of hunting for him, she finds herself in the midst of a new case of missing woman discovered in a submerged car.

Her only clue is a single fingerprint belonging to a dead ex-con, which leads Shaw to investigate, with startling results.

In the midst of this, still grieving and trying to find peace in her life for her remaining sister, her two sons, her elderly father, and her estranged husband who wants to reconcile, a new wrinkle occurs: she’s asked by he state police contact if she will be willing to talk to her sister’s killer, in prison awaiting trial. The diabolical Anders Jansen claims he has information on two other cold cases, both of young women, but refused to talk to anyone about them unless Shaw agrees to participate in the search for their bodies.

Pulled in many directions, and with her own misgivings at the forefront, Shaw knows the years she and her family suffered by this man’s maliciousness, and reluctantly agrees.

This is a multi-layered plot that starts out hard and has a relentless pace. Add in characters so real they jump off the page and grab you by the throat and readers will find a book that’s hard to put down.

 

The Keeper by Tana French Wednesday, May 6 2026 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and Continued series winner and great read and reviews , , , , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:47 pm

The third Cal Hooper novel finds the intrepid Chicago detective, now retired, thick in the midst of an unwanted investigation in his rural West Irish town of Ardnakelty.

A lovely young woman, Rachel Holohan, is on the cusp of an engagement to Tommy Moynihan’s Eugene. The local business man has his fingers in so many projects he has half the town beholden to him and the other half scared of him.

So when Rachel’s body is found in the river, her death sets off a chain of events that will have the town, Cal and his fiancee, Lena, and his ward Trey Reddy, more involved than any of them want.

And when Cal’s investigation gets too close to revealing Tommy’s underhanded machinations that threaten the entire town, the gloves are off as the two men match wits, with Tommy having the weight to spread rumors about Cal and Lena, while his grief-stricken son watches from the sidelines.

French’s ability to weave these disparate characters is on full display here, with the townspeople aiding or detracting, depending on whose side they’re on. Cal’s loyalty to his new neighbors will be severely tested, and impact his relationship with Lena. The emotions run high as Cal continues to find out the truth, and find justice for Rachel, sometimes forgotten as a pawn in the fight that ensues.

No one creates atmosphere and uses her setting to her advantage as much as French. Her use of language pulls the reader in to the unfamiliar landscape, and she evokes a mood with words. Her plot is cleverly constructed, too, and as the pain of loss doubles, a sense of impending doom falls over the town. It will take Cal and his mismatched band of supporters to find the real justice at the end of the day.

A brilliant end to the trilogy of Cal Hooper stories. While The Keeper certainly can be read as a standalone, if you haven’t read them all, (The Searcher, The Hunter) Auntie M urges you to do so if you are a fan of well-written, absorbing stories about people who jump off the page.

Highly recommended.

 

Guilt by Keigo Higashino Sunday, Apr 19 2026 

Award winning novelist and complex mystery and great read and police thriller and psychological mystery and reviews , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 1:21 pm

Higashino is one of Japan’s best-known novelists, and I’ve read and enjoyed many of his books. The translations retain the intricacies of social customs, while his plotting is diverse and engaging.

While the others I’ve read have featured either Detective Galileo (The Devotion of Suspect X) or the intricate mind of Kyoichiro Saga (Malice), Guilt brings homicide detective Godai of Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police to the case of a murdered lawyer.

Kensuke Shiraishi’s body has been found on a riverbank, and after much detecting, Godai finds an older man named Tatsuro Kuraki is involved. Then a strange turn of events cause Kuraki, who at first claimed only minimal knowledge of the dead, to confess to not only his killing, but that of a cold case murder twenty years before.

Despite being congratulated that he has solved two cases at once, Godai fears Kuraki’s confession doesn’t ring true, and continues to investigate, all the while facing stubborn resilences from the man in jail, whose son takes up his own parellel investigation.

Both men will delve into the history of the deceased men, as well as the man who claims to have killed them, with surprising results.

There is a tension that rises as the reader sees what Godai sees–an unraveling of lies and half-trrths, until a final, surprising truth is attained.

Guilt and redemption are the two main themes explored in this highly readable novel.

 

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