We know how the detective novel is supposed to play out. A crime leads to an investigation that leads to a solution. But sometimes this seemingly simple structure can be derailed by narrative forces. What if the decisive clue can’t be found? What if the exact crime committed is unclear? Are some mysteries simply unsolvable?…
The old-money Lingate family has very rigid ideas about their reputation. Ever since the scandal surrounding the death of playwright Sarah Lingate in 1992, they’ve closed ranks even more tightly than before, presenting a strictly enforced united front against the world. Sarah’s daughter Helen finds this suffocating, even if it looks to the entire world…
A new Nora Roberts thriller is a cause for celebration and Hidden Nature is no exception. It opens with a bang: “The day Sloan Cooper died began before dawn and ended shortly before midnight.” Sloan Cooper is “a corporal in the Natural Resources Police” and she and her partner Joel Warren have spent three days…
Maggie Dunn has always been something of a control freak. She’s pretty sure it was due to her beloved mother dying from a rare, hereditary blood condition when she and her younger sister Lizzie were only in their teens, leaving their entire family both bereft and adrift. Kate McCormick had done her best to prepare…
Camilla Deschamps is spending what should be a banner day in her small family’s life feeling deeply annoyed instead. Her infant daughter Polly is about to attend nursery school for the very first time, freeing Camilla herself to go back to work at her literary agency. Her husband Luke, however, has suddenly gone missing. He’s…
Readers have a reason to rejoice—Paul Doiron is releasing a new Mike Bowditch short story, “Sheep’s Clothing.” “Sheep’s Clothing” is one of eight Mike Bowditch short stories in the Skin and Bones collection. We’re in familiar territory—Maine game warden Mike Bowditch has managed to tick off the higher ups to whom he reports to such…
Dead Money is impossible to pin down. Is it a roman à clef set in the Bay area? Definitely. You’ll wonder, is that Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Kara Swisher, or Sheryl Sandberg, to name a few über-famous denizens of the Bay area tech community. From Silicon Valley to Burning Man, Oakland lawyer Jakob Kerr has…
PROLOGUE May 12, 2012 The bonfire was starting to die out. It had been a pitiful attempt at a fire to begin with, fueled by optimism and vodka. The few skinny, damp branches they’d managed to find on the island had barely agreed to catch flame after half an hour of gentle coercion at the…
A verse from a blues song “about girl troubles,” by bluesman Furry Lewis, encapsulates Professor Neil Weber’s life: the 1928 anthem “I Will Turn Your Money Green” is a bluesy anthem to the troubles Neil feels. I been down so long It seem like up to me Woman I love She done…
Deputy Sheriff Ben Packard has certainly gone through a lot since returning to Sandy Lake at the behest of its dying sheriff Stan Shaw. Packard just couldn’t say no when his mentor asked him to take on the role of acting sheriff. After Stan passed, Packard was persuaded to run for sheriff himself. He looked…
