Book Groups

This standalone novel by Krueger, author of the Cork O’Conner series, brings us a post-World War II tale that begins with a murder in small town Minnesota. Exploring the wounds left from war abroad and from struggle at home, Krueger weaves a mystery that is “deeply moving…intimate and epic in equal measures” (Minneapolis Star Tribune).

In what Michael Connelly calls a “thriller not to be missed,” comes the story of Breanna, who’s on a romantic weekend getaway with her new boyfriend, Ty. But when the body of a missing woman the Internet has become obsessed with turns up in the foyer, and with Ty nowhere to be found, Breanna quickly finds herself out of her depth.

Forensic archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway lives alone in a desolate area near Norfolk, England. Her routine days of digging up ancient objects are abruptly when the bones of a child are found on a remote beach. Find out why Kirkus Reviews says “the first-rate characters and chilling story are entrancing from start to finish.”

It is winter in 1789 in Hallowell, Maine, and when the Kennebec River freezes over, the body of a man is found in the ice. The dead man is one of two who were alleged to have raped the parson’s wife, who becomes pregnant as a result. Martha Ballard, the local midwife, insists that the man was murdered, putting her in conflict with a doctor who insists the death was a result of suicide. This compelling and atmospheric historical mystery was inspired by the diaries of the real Martha Ballard.

Killers of a Certain Age is a thriller about four older female assassins who become targeted by their own organization once they reach retirement age. The four must band together and rely on their experience in order to survive. “This Golden Girls meets James Bond thriller is a journey you want to be a part of” (Buzzfeed).

Walsh was a New Zealand writer who wrote crime fiction during the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction,” along with Agatha Christie and many others during this time. A Man Lay Dead was her first in her Inspector Roderick Alleyn series, and centers around a weekend party at a country house where the entertainment of the day is an elaborate murder game where one of the guests is actually murdered.

This thriller tells the story of an Australian writer who, after a murder in the Boston Public Library, becomes friends with four strangers who each have their own secrets. While exploring the ins and outs of complicated friendships, the story within a story is “a page-turner from beginning to end” (NY Times Review of Books).

Stéphane Bréitwieser, the most prolific art thief ever, stole more than 200 items, often in broad daylight with his girlfriend serving as his accomplice. The value of his stolen collection was worth somewhere around $2 billion. He never sold a piece, instead displaying them in his attic bedroom. This is a true story of one man’s obsession to possess beautiful art no matter the cost.

When teenager Jack finds a body along the coast and becomes the prime suspect, her mom and grandmother step up to help prove her innocence. To do this, they must try and figure out who the real murderer, in a town filled with wealthy ranchers and conservationists, is. The best way for them to solve the murder is to do the one thing they really hate: depend on each other.

It is 1975, and an empty bunk at summer camp starts a panicked search for a 13-year-old girl, who’s brother disappeared in a similar manner fourteen years before. The girl is the daughter of the wealthy Van Laar family, which supports many jobs in this working-class community. Booklist calls The God of the Woods a “compulsively readable novel that will appeal to fans of mysteries and historical fiction alike.”

On his deathbed, a famous mystery writer with a mysterious past invites his longtime pen pal and fan, Nicky, to stay with him and his family in San Francisco to write a personal memoir for his family. She agrees and, when a body is found in the pool, she soon realizes that the past wasn’t buried, but that it was just lying in wait.

It is 1965, when teenager Frances Adams visits a fortune teller tells her that, one day, she will be murdered. It takes 60 years before this prediction comes true, leaving Annie Adams to find her great-aunt’s killer. A “spellbinding cozy mystery layered with so many twists and turns that readers…will keep changing their minds about whodunnit and why” (Shelf Awareness).