Night Watcher by Daphne Woosoncroft

 

The plot:  Nola Strate is a late-night call-in radio host in Portland, Oregon, whose favorite babysitter was murdered by a serial killer known as the Hiding Man when she was only eight. His masked face has haunted her ever since. Now, twenty years later, a radio caller makes her suspect that the Hiding Man is back. And this time, he's coming for her. 

My thoughts:  This book is tautly plotted and very suspenseful. Nola is a relatable and sympathetic character. (Though I really didn't like her father.) Her creeping suspicion that she's being watched while not knowing by whom, along with her growing sense of unease as she senses the Hiding Man closing in on her is truly unsettling. This novel is well-written, has fast pacing, and keeps you guessing about what's really the truth and who Nola can trust. I liked that about it. It's a compelling psychological thriller.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Head Cases by John McMahon

 

First lines:  Riddles. Those are my specialty. That is, when I'm not studying patterns. Or decoding enigmas. Some might say that solving puzzles is all I'm good for. That leaving my desk in the Jacksonville office of the FBI to interact with real people is not the best use of my time or talent. And I would agree with them. 

The plot:  FBI agent Gardner Camden is a genius, except when it comes to his social skills. And he's just one of the quirky agents that make up the FBI's Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit. They get called in when a recently murdered man is discovered to be a serial killer the FBI thought died years ago. The death of a second serial killer who was just paroled makes Camden realize they have a unique killer on their hands:  a serial killer of serial killers. And one who leaves behind a trail of enigmatic clues and riddles. Let the cat-and-mouse game begin.

My thoughts: When I check out a book like this I'm always hoping for a thriller that's both riveting and unexpected. And this book blew me away! I loved Gardner Camden with all his quirks and amazing analytical abilities. The other members of PAR were also engaging and likable. I was drawn in with those first lines and could not put this one down. It reads so fast, and the mystery is so compelling! I loved how McMahon wove all the threads together...and how Camden figures it out. This will definitely be on my favorite reads list at the end of the year. And I really hope McMahon writes a sequel.

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

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Hearts of Darkness by Jana Monroe

 

When Jana Monroe was growing up all she wanted to do was right the wrongs of the world. This desire led her to become one of the few female police officers in Long Beach, California. A few years later, she applied for and got accepted into the FBI where she made a mark as one of only a few women in a male-dominated world. She worked cases in New Mexico and Florida before starting training with the FBI's world-renowned Behaviorial Science Unit. With the BSU, she consulted on more than 850 homicide cases, profiling serial killers and helping to catch murderers. She even coached Jodie Foster on her role as Clarice Starling in the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

Her biography, Hearts of Darkness, was my nonfiction read for this month, and it's such a compelling book! Monroe chronicles her time in the FBI with both honesty and humor. And her writing feels very conversational as she relates her most memorable cases and experiences. And she certainly saw the worst of humanity in her job. But she never stopped working to make a difference. Her resilience and intelligence shines through on every page. She's a remarkable woman. And this book is a mix of memoir and true crime that I found very interesting. 4/5 stars.

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The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

 

The plot:  She was eleven when her father, Aaron Nierling, was arrested. In their locked basement, police found bones from seventeen victims. Now, twenty-six years later, Dr. Nora Davis doesn't tell anyone her father is a serial killer. She never opens his letters. She's a surgeon who saves people! Then one of her patients is found murdered, her hands disturbingly cut off just like all of Aaron Nierling's victims. Is it a copycat killer playing a sick game on Nora? She doesn't know what to think. And the police seem to suspect her. Because after all, Nora is her father's daughter. 

My thoughts:  What a great cat-and-mouse mystery! McFadden creates a mounting sense of menace and dread as the first murder is followed by a second, the police start closing in, and Nora's own past begins to unfold. It kept me guessing until the end. I loved the suspense and the unexpected twists. It's one of those unputdownable books I read in a day. (Thank goodness it's summer and I have more time to read!) And a big Thank You to Nadia @ A Bookish Way of Life for recommending this author. I can't wait to check out her other books!

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I Know Who You Are by Barbara Rae-Venter

 "All my life, mysteries have called out to me to be solved."

From the blurb:  In I Know Who You Are, Barbara Rae-Venter reveals how she went from researching her family history as a retiree to hunting for a notorious serial killer--and how she became the nation's leading authority on investigative genetic genealogy, the most dazzling new crime-fighting weapon to appear in decades. 

My thoughts:  Talk about a fascinating look at how far investigations have come in the use of DNA, especially in solving cold cases. I loved Rae-Venter's story and how she went from researching her own family history, to helping adopted children search for their biological parents using commercial DNA sites, to volunteering her time to help police hunt down the Golden State Killer using one DNA sample and the latest methods of genetic genealogy. 

There's A LOT of science in this book, but Rae-Venter explains it well. I learned the difference between autosomal and mitochondrial DNA; that a centimorgan is the unit of measurement for how much DNA two people share; and about DNA segment triangulation and how they can build family trees down from the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) found between two people to figure out the identity of a third person. It's time-consuming work requiring diligence and attention to detail, and Rae-Venter does it well. 

All the cases Rae-Venter chronicles in this book are so interesting! I loved her investigative process, and how she uses pieces of DNA to solve the most baffling of puzzles. It's true crime writing at its best.

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Spring Girls by Karen Katchur

 

First line:  Drowning is a quiet death.

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Setting:  Minsi Lake, Pennsylvania

Rating:  3.5/5 stars

Main characters:  Detective Geena Brassard, who is part of the team investigating the three Spring Girls murders, and her new partner, Detective Parker Reed. And Janey Montgomery, a single mom who has already survived one nightmare and who is about to become embroiled in another. Because Geena just found out that Janey was the Spring Strangler's first victim, and she needs Janey's help to catch him...only Janey doesn't remember anything about her attacker.

My thoughts:  This mysery is very readable and the two main characters are interesting, though I didn't really warm up to either one of them. Geena's very dogged in her investigatioon; Janey is fragile and struggling not only with her own fear but with her six-year-old son's behavioral issues. I liked Detective Reed the best, and he's more of a side character in this one. As with any thriller, there are several twists, but I felt like I saw most of them coming. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. This one reads fast and has a good ending. 

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The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

 "That summer, the summer of '77, everything had edges. Our laughter, the sideways glances we gave and got. Even the air was blade-sharp. I figured it was because we were growing up. The law might not recognize it, but fifteen's a girl and sixteen a woman, and you get no map from one land to the next. ... But it turns out the sharpness wasn't because we were growing up. Or it wasn't only that. I know, because three of us didn't get to grow up."

 The plot:  Heather, Brenda, and Maureen are best friends. They're even in a band together. But their friendship is beginning to fray because Maureen is keeping secrets. When Heather and Brenda chance upon one of them, it's so shocking they vow they'll never tell what they saw. Then Maureen disappears, the second girl in Pantown to disappear in a week. Only no one seems to be looking for either Maureen or Beth. And while Heather and Brenda didn't really know Beth, they're sure Maureen didn't run away. When Heather starts investigating on her own, she uncovers more secrets than she ever knew existed about the men in Pantown. Including the sheriff and her very own father. Even the boys she's known her whole life can no longer be trusted.  

My thoughts:  Wow! Talk about a riveting read. This novel is part coming-of-age, part psychological thriller, and I could not put it down. Lourey does an excellent job of capturing that 1970s setting, along with creating an undercurrent of danger directed at these young women. After a few mediocre books in a row, it was a relief to read something so well-written and well-plotted. I loved it! This is one of the best books I've read this year. And I will definitely be checking out more by this author. 

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Winter's Mourn by Mary Stone

When Winter Black was thirteen, her parents were killed by a serial killer known as The Preacher, and her six-year-old brother was taken. The severe head injury she received that night gave her some unexplainable talents--like remembering every detail of a crime scene, or knowing where a suspect will attack next, or where a body is buried. She calls these abilities her 'hunches' and tries not to tell anyone about them, though she does let fellow FBI Agent Noah Dalton in on her secret, mostly because they've been partnered up on a case that's brought her back to Harrisonburg, Virginia, the town where she grew up and where her parents died. It's a lot for Winter to deal with, but she's determined to do her job...and to track down The Preacher, too. 

The case Winter and Noah are investigating in this first book is a sad one involving the buried remains of children who were born with severe physical defects and then later murdered. They died years ago, which means finding any witnesses or evidence is challenging. But Winter suspects their deaths have something to do with the religious cult that used to live on a nearby farm. Proving it is another matter. Luckily, Winter as the help of her strange psychic gift, and the unwavering support of her partner. 

I liked this mystery a lot. Winter's an interesting character, and I look forward to reading more about her and her unusual gift. I hope Noah's in the next book, too; he's good with Winter, he's cute, and his Texas drawl is endearing. And the ongoing threat of the Preacher that's hanging over Winter makes for some good added suspense. This book was published in 2019, but Stone has already written nine more books about FBI Agent Winter Black. Talk about starting out behind in a series! At least my library has all of them, so that's good. If they read as fast as this one did, I just might have a chance of catching up. 

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A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

 "...monsters don't hide in the woods; they aren't shadows in the trees or invisible things lurking in darkened corners. No, the real monsters move in plain sight. I was twelve years old when those shadows started to form a shape, a face ... When I began to realize that maybe the monsters lived among us. And there was one monster in particular,  I learned to fear above all the rest."

 

Chloe Davis is a medical psychologist with her own practice. She lives in Baton Rouge and is engaged to Daniel Briggs who seems like the perfect guy. She has one older brother, Cooper, who is very protective of her. And twenty years ago, her father was arrested in connection with six teenage girls who went missing the summer she turned twelve. When he confessed to killing all six, Chloe Davis's entire life changed. She still struggles with what happened in the past. It doesn't help that reporters like Aaron Jansen keep calling her about it. When two local teenage girls go missing in Baton Rouge, it feels eerily reminiscent to those other girls twenty years ago. And Chloe starts to question everything and everyone around her.

My thoughts:  I would describe this psychological thriller as intense and twisty. It's also hard to put down; I read it in a weekend. Chloe is guarded and struggles with anxiety, often self-medicating, which means she doesn't always make the best decisions. But I still liked her. I also appreciated the fast pacing of this book and the way Willingham weaves in Chloe's past memories with the present. And I thought the last twist at the end was a good one. Stacy Willingham is an author I would happily try again.

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American Predator by Maureen Callahan

 

Eighteen-year-old Samantha Koenig went missing from her job working as a barista at a coffee kiosk in Anchorage, Alaska on February 1, 2012. Was she kidnapped? Or did she just run away? The Anchorage Police Department and the local FBI agents had differing opinions, but their joint investigation eventually led to a man named Israel Keyes...and the chilling realization that Samantha was not his first victim.

Maureen Callahan has written a fascinating and unputdownable book about the investigation that uncovered a serial killer "likely responsible for the greatest string of unsolved disappearances and murders in modern American history." So why have we never heard of Israel Keyes? Probably because most of his crimes have never been connected or proven, his victims never found. But what he does so matter-of-factly confess to the FBI after he's caught is downright disturbing.

"The Bureau's top criminal profilers were at a loss. The only thing they could tell the team was that Keyes was one of the most terrifying subjects they had ever encountered. There was no precedent for a serial killer with this MO: no victim type, no fixed location for hunting, killing, and burying, putting thousands of miles between himself and his victims; caches (of killing kits) buried all over the United States. He avoided detection through travel. Travel!"

Are you supposed to rave about a book written about a serial killer? Because this true crime narrative is amazing. It's so well-written, and so compelling; I could not put it down. Keyes is one scary psychopath. It's too bad so much of his life and heinous acts remain unknown and untold.  I feel bad for the families of all his victims who may never know the truth about what happened to their loved ones. That's the heartbreaking part of this book. His victims. But what a story Callahan has written! American Predator is definitely one of the best nonfiction books I've read this year. 

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Find Me by Anne Frasier

 

"You couldn't expect a psychopath to play by the rules. Psychopaths made the rules, or at least that's what they thought."

"Reni still had mixed feelings about becoming involved in the case, but she didn't think she could sit home wondering what was going on and whether her father had or hadn't played a part in it. She needed answers. Answers probably wouldn't relieve her guilt and suffering, but being instrumental in giving victims' families closure would get her some points, at least in her own mind. Still, she was sure she would go to her grave feeling complicit. And that was okay. She was complicit."

Reni Fisher is the daughter of Benjamin Wayne Fisher, the Inland Empire Killer. When she was five, he used her to lure in the young women he killed. She hasn't seen or spoken to him since he was arrested over thirty years ago. Now he wants to see her again. In return, he's promised to tell the police where in the Mojave Desert he buried the bodies of his victims, something homicide detective Daniel Ellis wants more than anything else. Because his mother disappeared over thirty years ago, and he thinks she might have been one of Fisher's victims.

Reni's memories of those years with her father are a bit hazy, and she's not sure she wants to revisit the past that still haunts her. Then she and Daniel find a newly murdered body out in the Mojave, and she can't help but wonder if it's somehow connected to her father. And that question leads Daniel and Reni on a chilling search for the truth.

Find Me by Anne Frasier is a gripping psychological thriller. Reni is both fragile and strong. I liked how Frasier weaves her childhood memories in with their present investigation. Daniel has his own past memories to contend with. I liked him, and Reni, too. They're both interesting and well-developed characters. I hope Frasier writes more books about them. And the mystery? I liked the way it builds over the course of the book to a very suspenseful ending. And that last twist? It's a good one.

Happy Reading!

 

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava

From the blurb:
Ryder Creed and his dogs have been making national headlines. They’ve intercepted several major drug stashes being smuggled through Atlanta’s airport. But their newfound celebrity has also garnered some unwanted attention.  To make matters worse, Creed helps one of the cartel’s drug mules escape—a fourteen-year-old girl who reminds him of his younger sister who disappeared fifteen years ago.

Meanwhile, FBI agent Maggie O’Dell is investigating a series of murders — the victims tortured, killed, and dumped in the Potomac River. She suspects it’s the work of a cunning and brutal assassin, but her politically motivated boss has been putting up roadblocks.  By the time she uncovers a hit list with Creed’s name on it, it might be too late. The cartel has already sent someone to destroy Creed and everyone close to him.

But Creed and his dogs have a few surprises in store on their compound in Florida. 


What I liked:  Ryder Creed and all his dogs! Creed is an ex-marine, one of those ruggedly handsome guys with a penchant for taking in strays. He has a compound in Florida where he trains cadaver dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and even drug sniffing dogs. That's what Grace, his Jack Russell terrier, does. She can also air scent, and she loves her pink elephant squeaky toy. Then there's Bolo, his overly protective Lab and several more. Ryder and ALL his dogs are awesome. I also liked FBI agent Maggie O'Dell. She's got an eye for detail and is trained as a profiler. She and Ryder make a great team. (Apparently Kava has written several mysteries with Maggie as the main character, but I haven' read any of those.)

This book is well-written. The mystery is compelling. And it reads fast. But it's the characters who made it a 4-star read for me.

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Bookish Suspense...

"Five women have disappeared from Gideon County, Texas, in the last six months. The latest was two nights ago. The victims have all vanished on Saturday night. And the period between abductions is diminishing. Commonalities between the abductions indicate that we're dealing with a single offender. Someone who's growing bolder, more confident."

Three FBI agents from the BAU--C.J. Emmerich, Brianne Rainey, and rookie Caitlin Hendrix--head to Texas to help chase down this escalating serial killer. Into the Black Nowhere by Meg Gardiner is a compelling cat-and-mouse game  between Caitlin and the killer. The suspense really picks up towards the end, making the last half unputdownable. I thought it read a lot like an episode of Criminal Minds, but without the overly graphic crime scenes. Caitlin, the main narrator, is very well developed. She has flaws and fears, grit and stick-to-itiveness, and a complicated past; I liked her a lot. The secondary characters were all good, too. And the killer is scarily manipulative, which made the book even better. And even though this is Gardiner's second UNSUB novel, you don't necessarily need to read the first one in order to enjoy this one. I didn't. Though I intend to go back and read it in the very near future. Gardiner's a great author. I'm excited to check out her many other novels.

Happy Reading!

Similar Read:  Blood Mist by Mark Roberts

                        The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen
                        Color Blind by ColbyMarshall

Bookish suspense...

Title & Author:  The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen

The Characters:
ELLERY HATHAWAY-- Fourteen years ago she was abducted by a serial killer. She was his seventeenth victim.  She survived. Now she's a police officer in the small town of Woodbury, Massachusetts, where three people have gone missing in three years, all disappearing in the same week of July. She thinks there's a serial killer in town, only her boss doesn't believe her. Neither does anyone else.  Except Agent Reed Markham.

REED MARKHAM--Fourteen years ago he was the FBI agent who found Ellery and saved her life. Now he's in the middle of a divorce and on a temporary "stress leave" from the BAU. He's also drinking too much. But when Ellery calls asking for his help, he heads to Woodbury to help track down this mysterious killer that seems to know more about Ellery's past than anyone else in town. 

My thoughts:
Both of these characters are flawed and imperfect. In fact, when I first started reading this book I wasn't sure I was going to like either one of them. But while each has their own faults, neither is stupid or frustratingly stubborn, and I ended up liking them both. (I really liked Ellie's basset hound, Bump, too!)

As for the mystery, it's interesting without being predictable; the author had me suspecting a couple of different characters along the way. And while this book won't change anyone's life, it is a compelling and enjoyable mystery of psychological suspense. I'm looking forward to reading the next book that Schaffhausen writes....especially if it's as a good as this one. (And it has Ellie and Reed in it again.)

Happy Reading!

Bookish suspense...

"I'm tired of collecting the dead."

Known as The Human Bloodhound, Magnus "Steps" Craig is part of the FBI's elite three-man Special Tracking Unit. He can find the lost and abducted. He can even find the dead. And he doesn't need physical clues or footprints in order to track them down; he can follow the essence they leave behind.

"...my special gift. I see the hidden; I see the shine, every touch, every footfall, every hand on a wall. Some might call it an aura, I just call it life energy; either way it leaves its soft glowing trace on everything we come in contact with... sometimes it's chartreuse, or muddy mauve, or flaming coral, or crimson baked-earth. Every shine is different and specific to a person..."

So when Steps stumbles across a distinctive black shine at his local mall, he quickly recognizes it as belonging to a killer he's seen before; a killer he's been trying to catch for ten years. Now he and his partner are not only on the trail of this elusive murderer from Step's past, the one they've dubbed "Leonardo", but they've got another serial killer to hunt down in the Pacific Northwest. This one has been abducting and killing young women with brunette hair and leaving a sad face behind at each scene as his calling card. And they've got to hurry before the Sad Face killer murders his latest victim, a young woman named Lauren whose shine is pure gold.  No wonder Steps can't sleep at night.

Collecting the Dead by Spencer Kope is a crazy good mystery/thriller. I love Magnus "Steps" Craig; he's such an appealing character:  complicated, a bit haunted, smart, and funny. His secret tracking ability is pretty cool, too. And I really like his friendship with his partner, Special Agent Jimmy Donovan. They make a great team! Besides having great characters, this novel is also suspenseful, fast-paced, smart, well-written, and very entertaining. I was hooked from the first page to the last. I hope Kope hurries up and writes his next book about this unforgettable and completely awesome character because I already can't wait to read it.

Happy Reading!