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North Of Nowhere, Allison Brennan
Published by Minotaur, 368 pages
I regularly get thrillers falsely promising that “I won’t be able to stop reading.” But North Of Nowhere is the real deal. I started this novel on a Friday afternoon and didn’t stop until the final pages.
Kristen and Ryan McIntyre are children in hiding. For five years they’ve been on a ranch in rural Montana with the man they call father but their real father is a Los Angeles crime boss who has been in prison. Now he’s out and he wants his kids back but they don’t want him. That’s the opening background for this chase thriller but as Kristen and Ryan (who is deaf) escape in a small plane, there’s a crash. They are alone in the Montana wilderness with a blizzard approaching and three people are hunting them. One is a friend, one is a killer and one is their aunt, an Oregon architect. Someone is going to get to them, but meanwhile, the kids have to survive and stay on the run and it’s Kristen who’s got to carry the game.
Can any 17-year-old be smart and cunning enough to make this run? It’s a testament to Brennan’s ability to create a character that I fell for Kristen in 10 pages and cheered on her every move. If you need an airplane read, this is it.
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An Evil Heart, Linda Castillo
Published by Minotaur, 320 pages
Castillo’s Kate Burkholder series is long-running but it’s not close to being out of steam. Set in rural Ohio in Amish country, An Evil Heart is a fresh story that shows Castillo’s strong mystery-writing skills through her descriptions of solid, hard-grinding police work. This is a procedural without urban grit and, like the other Burkholders, it’s a treat.
The beginning is blunt and horrible. A young Amish man riding his bicycle to work is cut off on a rural road. Castillo pulls no punches: The boy is shot in the back with a crossbow and then savagely murdered.
Ten thrillers to read in the heat of summer
The body is found as Kate is being fitted for her wedding dress. She’s come to terms with her Amish history and family and while she’ll never be one of them, they’ve learned to co-exist. Kate knows the family of the dead boy Aron, a lively, handsome member of the community who was engaged to be married and is a much loved friend. Obviously, someone somewhere hated this perfect young man and with her small local force, she’s got to ferret out the why of a particularly evil crime. Uncovering the motive requires slogging police work and Castillo walks us through it as the clues tax even Kate’s strength and intelligence.
That’s the gist of one of the best of the Burkholder books so far. And yes, there is a twist. More than one, in fact.
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None of This Is True, Lisa Jewell
Published by Simon & Schuster, 384 pages
Two women turn 45 on the same day. By coincidence, they both choose to celebrate in the same upscale London restaurant. One is Alix Summer, a beautiful wealthy wife and mother with a successful podcast career. The other is Josie Fair, mother of two, wife of a much older retired man. She works as a seamstress in a walk-in tailoring shop and her life is very, very quiet. But all that is about to change because Alix and Josie were born on the same day in the same hospital in the same London neighbourhood and, although their lifestyles are drastically different, they still live close to one another. Josie instantly sees a message here and makes a point of “meeting” Alix in the washroom. Within days, she’s approached her with a podcast idea. Josie’s life is about to change radically. What if Alix documents that change in a new podcast?
In no time, Josie and Alix are at work on the podcast. Two women from two different worlds. For Alix, it’s a creative challenge but it’s far more to Josie and, as we discover, there are ramifications to the chance restaurant meeting that lead to murder. Whose? What? Jewell moves slowly, ratcheting up the suspense until the surprise confrontation. Be warned. This one doesn’t end with all the bits neatly tied up.
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Voices of the Dead, Ambrose Parry
Published by Canongate, 401 pages
A medical-historian friend put me onto this series and I was hooked from the first page. My friend was dazzled by the medical accuracy and surprised that he found the mystery good too. Not so strange when you learn that one of the two partners that comprise “Ambrose Parry” is the brilliant Chris Brookmyre. The other member is his equally talented wife, Dr. Marisa Haetzman. Together they’ve written four superb novels set in Victorian Edinburgh: Voices of the Dead is the latest and best.
It’s 1853 and science is on the march. Queen Victoria has just given birth to a healthy baby boy assisted by the newly discovered anesthetic, chloroform. Florence Nightingale is readying women to go to war and form what will become the nursing profession. In the midst of all this, Dr. Will Raven has crimes on his hands. Body parts are appearing in Surgeon’s Hall, bringing back bad memories of body snatchers and opening the door to scandal. Meanwhile, Raven’s own life is changing; married and a father, he’s ready for advancement. A new practice of his own means leaving Simpson, his boss, and the Hall behind.
All the while, aspiring doctor Sarah Fisher’s life is stalled. There is no way she’ll be admitted to the medical profession she wants. Meanwhile, quackery abounds as the new “science” of mesmerism is gaining adherents and pseudoscience offers women both promise and cure. This book has everything: atmosphere, setting and a feeling of a world about to change.
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Prom Mom, Laura Lippman
Published by HarperCollins, 320 pages
I loved all Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan books but I’m not sorry she’s given Tess a rest and has concentrated on stand-alones since 2015. Prom Mom is another superb story set in Lippman’s hometown of Baltimore, Md., but it’s really the United States in microcosm.
We begin in 1997 as Amber Glass, a high-school junior, gives birth in a hotel toilet. It’s prom night and Amber’s date, high-school hero Joe Simpson, is dancing away with his ex-girlfriend. Amber, who didn’t even realize she was pregnant (yes, this is possible), went to the toilet with a “stomach ache.” Terrified and alone, forgotten by Joe, she washes up and heads home, leaving the very premature infant to die. When she’s found out, it all hits the news. She’s “Prom Mom” and Joe has become “Cad Dad.” She ends up in juvenile jail and he goes to Texas to learn real estate from a relative.
Six thrillers to heat up the summer
Cut ahead 20 years and Amber is back in Baltimore. She’s discovered a lot about the world since that prom. She majored in French at university and learned about art and culture in New Orleans. She’s inherited some money and is opening a gallery to assist people who, like her, don’t always have happy histories. Joe, meanwhile, is married to Meredith, a prominent plastic surgeon who knows and forgives his past. He’s made a career in real estate and his only concession to Cad Dad is that he wants no children.
Lippman is a wonderful storyteller and she lets the characters move the action. Joe seems a bit of a cliché but Meredith and Amber carry the action well. Then COVID comes to town and wrecks the real estate market and George Floyd riots charge the atmosphere. We are leading to something but what? Prom Mom ends with a bang. Do not read the last chapter first.
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Deadlock, James Byrne
Published by Minotaur, 368 pages
This sequel to The Gatekeeper brings back Desmond Aloysius Limerick, a man with a shady past and an uncertain future. “Dez” is retired from a past that enabled him to develop some very useful survival skills and hone some equally useful contacts. In this novel, he’s approached by Raziah Swann for help; her sister Jaleh has been attacked and seriously injured. Jaleh is a business journalist who was working on a story about an auditor who has been murdered. The auditor worked for an international tech company called Clockjack, located in Portland, Ore. Raziah wants Dez to come to Portland and protect her sister.
Dez is barely on the case when the sisters are attacked by hired thugs. It’s clear that someone, somewhere wants the Swann women dead. The only clues lead to Clockjack, a firm with billions to spend and international connections that lead everywhere. I found this one a lot of fun and I raced out and got The Gatekeeper, which is just as good. Dez Limerick is here to stay.