READ @ MPL

The Queen's Man : A Medieval Mystery by Sharon Kay Penman, 1996

In 1193 Justin de Quincy becomes Eleanor of Aquitaine’s’ confidant. He diligently pursues secret traitors and murderers. Exciting action, adventure and friends lead Justin to uncover and solve dangerous plots against the queen and save the day… until next time. This book is the first in a series. Check catalog for availability.

I'd rate this one fun, light and entertaining.

- Submitted by Paula @ MPL Central

After the suicide of a friend, sixteen year old Adam has quit his beloved hockey team and withdrawn to his room where his only interest is his computer. Concerned about their son's behavior, Mike and Tia Baye decide to install software on Adam's computer that allows them to monitor his activities. But do they really want to know? As the Baye family descends into a world of deceit, drugs and murder, the ethics of spying are questioned. How much should a parent know about their teenager? This and other moral questions are examined in this tense thriller. Parents beware! This book may scare the socks off you! So turn off the TV, unplug the phone and enjoy this well written psychological shocker. Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

The Barbarous Coast by Ross Macdonald

Originally published in 1956, this deliciously hard-boiled detective yarn features private eye Lew Archer slapping and kicking his way to a smashing climax. Hester Campbell has disappeared from the exclusive Hollywood club where she was a swimming instructor and, besides her husband, it seems not everyone is concerned about her vanishing act. Follow the bruising exploits of gumshoe Archer in this journey to a not so nice conclusion of murder and deceit. Fans of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler will delight in this salute to Phillip Marlowe, Sam Spade and other famous flatfoots of the literary past. Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

Fletch by Gregory McDonald

The first of nine novels in the Fletch series and a winner of the Edgar Allan Poe award for the best mystery novel of 1974, Fletch is as fun as a detective novel can be! Though the story is pure grit and gravel, McDonald writes with a lighthearted pen and sense of witty irony that moves the story along at a brisk pace. I.M. Fletcher is an investigative reporter looking into widespread drug dealing at a local beach. While posing as a beach bum, he is approached by a wealthy businessman who asks Fletch to murder him for $50,000. As Fletch looks into this bizarre request, webs are woven, shadows get long and deceit abounds. This novel was also made into a popular movie starring Chevy Chase in 1985.
Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

Contest by Matthew Reilly---Ever dream of being locked in a library overnight? One man unwillingly finds himself, his daughter, and several "contestants" from all across the universe in the middle of a nightmare. The New York City Public Library is the setting for this competition. How do you win "The Contest"? Just stay alive!

Check catalog availability

Submitted by Alison @ Central

Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey

Hilarious hijinks abound from madcap serial killer Serge Storms and his inebriated sidekick Coleman in the tenth installment of this popular series. This time out, Serge and company foil a South American drug ring while house sitting on a zany street in Tampa named Lobster Lane. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Dan @ Central

Down River by John Hart
After being falsely accused of murder by his stepmother five years earlier, Adam Chase reluctantly agrees to return to the family farm in North Carolina after being summoned by a childhood friend's plea for help. Upon his return home, Adam is welcomed by slamming doors, assault, murder and deceit. A horrible secret has been lurking in the Chase family and only Adam can unravel the clues, but can he stay alive long enough to solve the puzzle?
Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

Steppin' On A Rainbow by Kinky Friedman

The 14th entry in this engaging and bawdy series from the former country music star has detective Kinky jetting off to Hawaii in search of his missing buddy McGovern. Joined by his platonic (much to his chagrin!) friend Stephanie, Kinky encounters ancient myths, cults, treachery and the occasional lei! Touching, outrageous and thoroughly engaging, Kinky Friedman's books are as hot as Texas salsa!

Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber
Despite needing money to pay his son’s medical bills, painter Chaz Wilmot, Jr. refuses to compromise his talent and pander to the trends of the modern art marketplace. Instead, Wilmot struggles along churning out illustrations for magazines (and infuriating his ex-wife) until he agrees to take part in a medical experiment to test the effects of a drug that is supposed to enhance creativity. His first dose seems to transport him back to the seventeenth century and into the body and mind of a Spanish boy. Soon after, in a sudden burst of brilliance and energy, he finds himself effortlessly painting exactly like Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velazquez. His unexplainable new paintings attract the attention of Krebs, a mysterious German patron of the arts and Wilmot quickly becomes ensnared in the dangerous, high priced world of meticulous fakes and Nazi-looted masterpieces. Check catalog for availability.

The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier
When researching the history of her own home on the English coast, author Daphne Du Maurier became inspired to write The House on the Strand. While vacationing in Kilmarth, the six hundred year old home of his long time friend, Magnus Lane, protagonist Richard Young is persuaded to try a "time travel" drug of Lane's making. Since Young’s wife and stepsons aren’t due to arrive for several days, he accepts the challenge and is plunged into the entrancing, sometimes brutal, world of fourteenth century Cornwall. A best seller when published in 1969, this riveting, intricately plotted thriller has certainly stood the test of time. Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Christine @ Central

Fans of Mystic River and The Lovely Bones have a new star in the thrillers of Tana French. Her first novel, In the Woods takes place in 1984 when mothers in a Dublin suburb call their children home for the evening. Three do not return from the dark and silent woods. Police search and find only one child gripping a tree in fright, wearing bloody sneakers and unable to remember anything from the preceding hours.

Now, its 20 years later and the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a Dublin Murder Squad detective. In the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox find a 12 year old girl murdered and find themselves investigating a case alarmingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Check the catalog for availability.

In her second novel, The Likeness, it's six years later and Detective Cassie Maddox is transferred out of the murder squad and starts a relationship with Detective Sam O’Neill, but she’s too badly shaken from the events of In the Woods to make a commitment to him or to her career. Then Sam calls her to the scene of his new case: a young woman found stabbed to death in a small town outside Dublin. The dead girl’s ID says her name is Lexie Madison—the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective—and she looks exactly like Cassie. Should Cassie go undercover to find information and tempt the killer out of hiding? What kind of secrets will be uncovered? Check the catalog for availability.

When former Texas Ranger and current attorney Billy Bob Holland is invited to visit his friend Doc in Montana, he grabs his flyrod and looks forward to some quality R & R. All hopes of a quiet vacation are shattered after Doc's daughter is raped by a group of brutal bikers. Soon, the bikers involved with the crime are turning up dead and Doc is charged with murder. In addition, a psychopath rodeo clown named Wyatt Dixon, who has a grudge against Billy Bob for prosecuting his sister for murder back in Texas, shows up and adds to the mayhem. The beautiful Montana setting and equally majestic prose from Burke are in direct contrast with the violence that erupts. Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ MPL Central

Published in 1966 during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, Run Man Run tells the story of Jimmy, an African American worker who witnesses Walker, a caucasian police detective, murder two coworkers while in a drunken rage. After identifying the detective to the authorities, Jimmy finds himself targeted by Walker because he's the only one who can testify about the shootings. This racially charged novel focuses on the inability of the establishment to take Jimmy's word as truth against one of their own. The dirty streets of Harlem offers the perfect backdrop for this gritty, hard-boiled tale of truth, deception and eventually, redemption. Check catalog for availability.

Himes also created the first two African American detectives in literature, Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones, who appeared in many detective novels that were labeled "The Harlem Cycle." His most famous work from that series is Cotton Comes to Harlem.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

Based on the true story of Bondurant's grandfather and two granduncles, this is a story of brotherhood, greed, and murder. White mule, white lightning, firewater, popskull, wild cat, stump whiskey, or rotgut -- whatever you called it, Franklin County, Virginia was awash in moonshine during Prohibition. When Sherwood Anderson, the journalist and author of Winesburg, Ohio, was covering a story there, he christened it the "wettest county in the world."

In the twilight of his career, Anderson finds himself driving along dusty red roads trying to find the Bondurant brothers, piece together the clues linking them to "The Great Franklin County Moonshine Conspiracy," and break open the silence that shrouds Franklin County. Check catalog for availability.

Characters from prior Connelly novels, Detective Harry Bosch and Defense Attorney (Lincoln Lawyer) Mickey Haller, colloborate for the first time in this jarring and suspenseful best seller. After the murder of an attorney representing a Hollywood film mogul, defense attorney Mickey Haller gets assigned the case. The impending consequences of this assignment leave Haller fighting for his very life! Well written, shocking and with more twists and turns than a refrigerator coil, this engaging courtroom drama will satify the most demanding fans of the genre. The surprise ending is a doozy and well worth the wait! Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

The Overlook by Michael Connelly

Originally published as a serial in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the 13th novel in this mystery series will satisfy fans of unconventional homicide detective Harry Bosch. This time around, Harry investigates the murder of a nuclear physicist and the theft of a large amount of radioactive cesium. With the potential for a nuclear disaster on the horizon, Harry races against time, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to thwart a plot against national security. Can Harry figure out the caper and bring the guilty to justice before it's too late?

Check catalog availability

Submitted by Dan @ Central

Dark of the Moon by John Sandford

Minnesota detective Virgil Flowers solves a series of small town murders with the clue "I saw the man in the moon" that was uttered by a deranged resident. Though not part of the "Prey" series from Sandford, this novel will leave you howling!

Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Detective Dave Robicheaux searches for the murderer of some looters in the chaos of a devastated New Orleans. As he investigates the shootings, it seems the murdered looters may have invaded the home of the reigning mafia chief and stolen some counterfeit money and diamonds. The more Dave uncovers, the higher the risk to himself and his family by a crazy hitman who is also searching for the lost diamonds. The action unfolds at a breakneck pace in this thrilling drama.

Check catalog availability

Submitted by Dan at Central

A Darker Domain by Val McDermid
Cold Case Review Team Inspector Karen Pirie finds remarkable new evidence linking the cases of a missing strikebreaker and a kidnapping gone awry—more than 20 years after the national miners’ strike in Scotland. Check catalog for availability.

Drood by Dan Simmons
The final years of Charles Dickens life inspire this tale. Dickens life is forever altered during a violent train trip with his mistress that begins a fixation with the London underworld as observed by his adversary, Wilkie Collins. Check catalog for availability.

Spade & Archer: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon by Joe Gores

Spade and Archer offers up a slice of pure gumshoe nostalgia for fans of Dashiell Hammett's super sleuth Sam Spade and for fans of classic Noir in general. Gores emulates the writings of Hammett by flatteringly copying the style and characters of one of pulp fiction's greatest writers. This story of Sam Spade's investigations prior to his greatest caper is told through three intertwined episodes that pay homage to all things Spadeian! Many of the main characters from the Maltese Falcon are all here in perfect homage. Though not a great novel in and of itself, this blast of nostalgia was fun and familiar, like seeing old friends at a high school reunion. Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Dan @ Central

The Hotel Dick by Axel Brand (c2008)

The setting for this engaging mystery is Milwaukee in 1948. As a period piece, this mystery about a hotel detective that is murdered by, according to an eyewitness, Spencer Tracy, works on many levels. It includes references to most of the Hollywood stars of 1948, has an abundance of local references and locales, and makes some interesting observations on the morals, laws and society of post-war Milwaukee.

That being said, the mystery itself was rather unfulfilling. The motives of the killer were never fully explained and I felt cheated at the end. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book based on it's local interest and Noir-ish storytelling. Highly recommended for people who enjoy Milwaukee history. Check catalog for availability.

- submitted by Dan @ MPL Central

Ashes by Kenzo Kitakata (c2003)

Kenzo Kitakata ranks among Japan's most popular and prolific contemporary authors and his work has been the recipient of numerous literary awards. In Ashes, what many consider to be his masterpeice, Kitakata explores the inner world of the yakuza (i.e. the Japanese mob), focusing on a middle-aged, mid-career member named Tanaka. Tanaka is a complex man - muttering, brooding and violent, yet at the same time intensely meditative and reflective. The text is sparse to the point of being at times poetic but simmers along enticingly, hitting a full on boil on key occassions.

Highly recommended - especially to fans of hardboiled fiction. Check catalog for availability.

- submitted by Tom @ MPL Central

Good satire has to be based on some semblance of fact for it to work and this wickedly twisted mystery scathingly satirizes the televangalism industry.

When backhoe operator Hollis Farley is found dead from an arrow injury on a construction site owned by an expanding televangist organization, Blanco County Game Warden John Marlin is assigned the case. In the fine tradition of Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey, Rehder creates a slapstick world of deceit, violence and foolishness.

If you're looking for a fun read that spoofs and skewers religion, academia and archaelogy, look no further than this page turner. Check catalog for availability.

- submitted by Dan @ Central

The Big Sleep/Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Published in 1939 and 1940 respectively, these groundbreaking examples of crime fiction and Noir brought sleaze to the mainstream and introduced one of the great literary detectives, Philip Marlowe, to popular culture. In The Big Sleep, we find hard-boiled Marlowe hired by General Sternwood to thwart a blackmailer. Marlowe's investigation leads to pornography, gambling, misdirection, drugs and murder.

The second Marlowe novel, Farewell, My Lovely, has the shamus trolling through the grotesque and volatile underworld of Los Angeles for the girlfriend of ex-con Moose Malloy. Along the way, Marlowe gets involved in the recovery of a expensive jade necklace. Through the pistol whippings, beatings, murders and lies, Marlowe stomps through the underbelly of L.A. to a twisted climax of deceit and violence.

Both of these novels are considered landmarks in American crime fiction and are staples in hard-boiled detective circles. After reading the novels, why not check out the great film Noir versions of these books! The Big Sleep starred both Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in 1946. Check catalog availability and Farewell, My Lovely was renamed Murder My Sweet and filmed in 1944 starring Dick Powell. Check catalog availability

To search for copies of this book click here:
Check catalog for availability

Submitted by Dan @ Central

Portland, Oregon homicide detective "Skin" Kadash, out on medical leave while fighting bladder cancer, is asked by his partner to look over some of her case notes on a few suspicious suicides of local prominent men who are also fighting cancer. It seems all the suicides have a common link with Kadash's doctor. As Kadash fights "the rat clawing his stomach," he also fights for his life against his own police force and a shrewd killer. This tale of personal hardship, relentless dedication to duty and deceit offers fans of wisecracking, flawed detectives a morsel of fine Noirish fiction worth lighting up.

Check catalog availability

Submitted by Dan@Central

On a calm August morning in Iowa, two families awake and find their little girls have disappeared overnight. Seven year old Calli Clark suffers from selective mutism as a result of tragedy as a toddler. Her mother, Antonia, tries to be the best mother she can, especially because her husband is mostly gone, and usually angry when around. But she's certain he's not involved in the possible abductions.

Petra Gregory is Calli's best friend and is often also her voice. But neither of them are being heard from now. Martin, Petra's father, is anxious to find his child and finds a side of himself he wasn't expecting. The two families are joined together as a result of what happened to their children and as they search for answers a number of unspoken family secrets are revealed. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central