The Drowned, by John Banville
Those touched by a possible drowning on the Irish coast guard their secrets so closely that Detective Inspector John Strafford is baffled. The truth lies in what isn’t said, notably by the husband who acts as if his wife’s disappearance is a naughty trick she’s playing and by a passerby who has everything to lose by getting involved. The Drowned is simultaneously sinister and heartbreaking.
Havoc, by Christopher Bollen
It’s hard to say who’s more wicked, the manipulative widow Maggie Burkhardt or her nemesis, an eight-year-old bad seed named Otto. When these two face off amid the faded grandeur of a hotel in Luxor, it’s bad news for those who accidentally cross their path. Christopher Bollen brings a Hitchcockian sense of humor and taste for the macabre to the twisted proceedings.
The Waiting, by Michael Connelly
Renée Ballard, head of the L.A.P.D.’s cold-case unit, juggles three cases in The Waiting, one of which is brought in by Harry Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, now a patrol cop. If it pans out, the rookie will have solved the most notorious cold case in the history of L.A. Pro that he is, Michael Connelly steers easily among the cases, keeping us riveted by all three.
The Midnight Feast, by Lucy Foley
A deliciously juicy blend of folk horror, psychological thriller, and social satire with a love-to-hate villainess. Bad blood arises when a posh “Goopy yoga princess” prepares to open a luxury resort near an ancient English forest considered sacred by the locals. She has buried secrets there, which her enemies refuse to forget.
The Hunter, by Tana French
The picture-postcard glow of a quaint Irish town is a cover for the malevolence of its inhabitants, as Chicago transplant and former cop Cal Hooper learns in this follow-up to The Searcher. Tana French deepens Hooper’s character and has him trying to control a con that turns deadly. As ever, French is expert at finding the black heart beneath the wry twinkle and the banter.
The Examiner, by Janice Hallett
Using text messages, essays, e-mails, etc., Janice Hallett creates a dossier that tells the story of a fine-arts master’s course headed for disaster. Her clever epistolary technique is perfect for this satire of commercialized academia crossed with thorny murder mystery. Resist the temptation to zip through it and you’ll be amply rewarded.
The Blue Hour, by Paula Hawkins
A troubled artist leaves behind a mess after her death, and it’s up to a curator with the museum that inherited her estate to clean it up. Standing in his way is the artist’s longtime companion and caregiver, who’s got her own agenda. Paula Hawkins writes insightfully about an artist’s life and chillingly about its aftermath.
Burn, by Peter Heller
A hunting trip to Maine turns into a dystopian nightmare when two old friends find themselves struggling to survive in the wake of a scorched-earth battle between secessionists and U.S. troops. It’s a bold leap by the gifted outdoor specialist Peter Heller, with eerily beautiful periods of stillness and reverie floating above the ever present threat of death.
Guide Me Home, by Attica Locke
Attica Locke wraps up her too-brief Highway 59 series featuring the Black Texas Ranger Darren Matthews with this penetrating excavation of his tormented past, as his mostly absent mother tries to make amends with some sleuthing of her own. It’s also a hawkeyed look at Trump’s Texas, circa 2019, that nails the MAGA-fication of some Black and Latino men five years later.
What Happened to Nina?, by Dervla McTiernan
The answer to the titular question, about the fate of a vibrant college student, pierces the heart. That, and the victim-shaming smear campaign that targets her family, bring Greek tragedy to the hills of Vermont. Dervla McTiernan makes it impossible to look away from the injustice that seethes in the gap between the haves and have-nots.
Lisa Henricksson writes a column about mystery books at AIR MAIL
