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Detective and mystery fiction

  • Zero Avenue: A Crime Novel
    Author:
    Kalteis, Dietrich
    Summary:

    “If you like your crime hard and fast, Kalteis is for you.” — The Globe and Mail

    Set to the cranking beat and amphetamine buzz of Vancouver’s early punk scene, Zero Avenue follows Frankie Del Rey, a talented and rising punk star who runs just enough dope on the side to pay the bills and keep her band, Waves of Nausea, together. The trouble is she’s running it for Marty Sayles, a powerful drug dealer who controls the Eastside with a fist.

    When Frankie strikes up a relationship with Johnny Falco, the owner of one of the only Vancouver clubs willing to give punk a chance, she finds out he’s having his own money problems just keeping Falco’s Nest open. Desperate to keep his club, Johnny raids one of the pot fields Marty Sayles has growing out past Surrey, along Zero Avenue on the U.S. border. He gets away with a pickup load and pays back everybody he owes. Arnie Binz, bass player for Waves of Nausea, finds out about it and decides that was easy enough. But he gets caught by Marty’s crew.

    Johnny and Frankie set out to find the missing Arnie, but Marty Sayles is pissed and looking for who ripped off his other field — a trail that leads to Johnny and Frankie.
  • Zara's dead
    Author:
    Butala, Sharon
    Summary:

    Fiona Lychenko, now a woman in her late sixties, has spent years researching the death of her high school classmate Zara Stanley, who was brutally murdered at the age of twenty. Determined to solve the crime, something the police weren’t able to do, Fiona interviewed everyone she could in her hometown of Ripley, but every trail led to the same dead end. She even published her findings in a book, hoping it would lead to anonymous clues from readers and outliers, and still, nothing. Now, a decade later, Fiona has finally given up hope that the killer would ever be caught. That is until a brown manila envelope turns up under her door and Fiona once again finds herself embroiled in the midst of a controversy so intricate and tangled that one wrong move could be her undoing.Inspired by the unsolved murder of a young girl in 1962 in Saskatoon, Zara’s Dead is the fictional retelling of a very real story, one that has captivated the public and eluded answers for decades.
  • Your house will pay : a novel
    Author:
    Cha, Steph
    Summary:

    A powerful and taut novel about racial tensions in LA, following two families-one Korean-American, one African-American-grappling with the effects of a decades-old crime In the wake of the police shooting of a black teenager, Los Angeles is as tense as it's been since the unrest of the early 1990s. Protests and vigils are being staged all over the city. It's in this dangerous tinderbox that two families must finally confront their pasts. Grace Park lives a sheltered existence: living at home with her Korean-immigrant parents, working at the family pharmacy, and trying her best to understand why her sister Miriam hasn't spoken to their mother in years. The chasm in her family is growing wider by the day and Grace is desperate for reconciliation, and frustrated by the feeling that her sister and parents are shielding her from the true cause of the falling out. Shawn Matthews is dealing with a fractured family of his own. His sister, Ava, was murdered as a teenager back in 1991, and this new shooting is bringing up painful memories. Plus, his cousin Ray is just released from prison and needs to reconnect with their family after so many years away. While Shawn is trying his best to keep his demons at bay, he's not sure Ray can do the same. When another shocking crime hits LA, the Parks and the Matthewses collide in ways they never could have expected. After decades of loss, violence, and injustice, tensions come to a head and force a reckoning that could clear the air or lead to more violence.
  • Young blood
    Author:
    Fields, Tricia
    Summary:

    Dr. Oscar LeBlanc is close to a medical breakthrough to cure dementia and other degenerative diseases...but in order to succeed, he needs to illegally obtain plasma from prepubescent children. He believes the ends justify the means, so two young girls are abducted. The disappearance of the girls causes a lockdown of the area, and when one of the girl's parents proves uncooperative with the police, former homicide-cop-turned-radio-presenter Maggie Wise offers to help. Maggie quickly forms a connection with the family just as the girls are recovered. LeBlanc is quickly suspected, but after he is questioned, he's found dead from an apparent suicide. However, the circumstances are suspicious, and Maggie finds herself conflicted when the families become the prime suspect.
  • You'll be the death of me
    Author:
    McManus, Karen M.
    Summary:

    From the author of One of Us Is Lying comes a brand-new pulse-pounding thriller. It's Ferris Bueller's Day Off with murder when three old friends relive an epic ditch day, and it goes horribly-and fatally-wrong. Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day. Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out from working two jobs since his family's business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up . . . again. So when the three unexpectedly run into each other, they decide to avoid their problems by ditching. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they've barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say. . . . . . until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school-and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it's about to get worse. It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common...like a connection to the dead kid. And they're all hiding something. Could it be that their chance reconnection wasn't by chance after all? Fans of the hit thriller that started it all can watch the secrets of the Bayview Four be revealed in the One of Us is Lying TV series soon to be streaming on NBC's Peacock!
  • You have a match
    Author:
    Lord, Emma
    Summary:

    When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it's mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie ... although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front. But she didn't know she's a younger sister. When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it's hard to believe they're from the same planet, never mind the same parents -- especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself. The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby's parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp's co-chef, putting Abby's growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything. But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones.
  • You don't own me
    Author:
    Clark, Mary Higgins
    Summary:

    "Queen of Suspense" Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke are back with their fifth enthralling mystery in the New York Times bestselling Under Suspicion series; You Don't Own Me finds television producer Laurie Moran stopping at nothing to solve the murder of a celebrity doctor-even as she finds herself in grave danger as a mysterious stalker plots his next move. When we last saw Laurie Moran, she had recently become engaged to her show's former host, Alex Buckley. Since then, the two have been happily planning a summer wedding and honeymoon, preparing for Alex's confirmation to a federal judicial appointment, and searching for the perfect New York City home for their new life together. But then Laurie is approached by Robert and Cynthia Bell, parents of Dr. Martin Bell, a famously charming and talented physician who was shot dead as he pulled into the driveway of his Greenwich Village carriage house five years ago. The Bells are sure that Martin's disgraced and erratic wife, Kendra, carried out the murder. Determined to prove Kendra's guilt and win custody over their grandchildren, they plead with Laurie to feature their son's case on "Under Suspicion," ensuring her that Kendra is willing to cooperate. Kendra has lived under a blanket of suspicion since Martin's death, with the tabloid media depicting her as a secretive, mentally unstable gold-digger. Laurie's show is a chance for her to clear her name. But unbeknownst to the Bells, Kendra has already refused once before to go forward with a re-investigation of her husband's murder, and her statements to the contrary only add to the appearance of guilt. But once Laurie dives into the case, she learns that Martin wasn't the picture-perfect husband, father, and doctor he appeared to be and was carrying secrets of his own. And what does the web of lies ensnaring the Bell family have to do with a dangerous stranger, who gazes at Laurie from afar and thinks, She is actually quite a lovely girl, I'm sure she's going to be missed' You Don't Own Me is the perfect, exhilarating follow up to the bestselling Every Breath You Take. The "Queen of Suspense" Mary Higgins Clark and her dazzling partner-in-crime Alafair Burke have devised another riveting page-turner.
  • You don't know me
    Author:
    Foster, Sara
    Summary:

    Tom Carruso left home soon after Lizzie Burdett disappeared under a darkening cloud of suspicion, and now he's back for the inquest into Lizzie's disappearance, intent on telling his side of the story.
  • Yellow house mystery
    Author:
    Warner, Gertrude Chandler
    Summary:

    Years ago, a man vanished from the yellow house on Surprise Island. Why? The Aldens have found a clue to the mystery!
  • Yard dog
    Author:
    Pasquella, A.G.
    Summary:

    Honourable ex-con Jack Palace struggles to repay an unstable criminal who saved his life. What does a man do when he gets out of jail? Jack Palace hits the streets, plunging back into a violent world of crime and corruption. Jack wants out, but first he must repay his debt to Tommy, the man who saved his life in prison. Tommy’s dad, an old school mob boss, is on his deathbed, and Tommy wants to take over the old man’s rackets. Jack and his new girlfriend, Suzanne, are soon caught in the middle of a mob war. Now Jack must fight to defend the people he loves from the man he has sworn to protect while he tries to get out of the criminal life alive.
  • Y is for yesterday
    Author:
    Grafton, Sue
    Summary:

    Of #1 New York Times-bestselling author Sue Grafton, NPR's Maureen Corrigan said, "Makes me wish there were more than 26 letters." With only one letter left, Grafton's many devoted readers will share that sentiment
  • X
    Author:
    Grafton, Sue.
    Summary:

    Of #1 New York Times?bestselling author Sue Grafton, NPR's Maureen Corrigan said, "Makes me wish there were more than 26 letters." With only two letters left, Grafton's many devoted readers will share that sentiment. X: The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss. X: The shortest entry in Webster's Unabridged. Derived from Greek and Latin and commonly found in science, medicine, and religion. The most graphically dramatic letter. Notoriously tricky to pronounce: think xylophone . X: The twenty-fourth letter in the English alphabet. Sue Grafton's X : Perhaps her darkest and most chilling novel, it features a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Once again breaking the rules and establishing new paths, Grafton wastes little time identifying this sociopath. The test is whether Kinsey can prove her case against him before she becomes his next victim. From the Hardcover edition
  • Wrong place, wrong time
    Author:
    Kane, Andrea
    Summary:

    When Sally Montgomery accompanies her handsome boss Frederick Pierson on a quiet country weekend, she enjoys the first evening. But when she discovers his battered body the next morning, she runs for her life. Now it's up to Pete, her ex-husband and former New York policeman, to keep her safe and find the killer.
  • Wreck at Ada's reef
    Author:
    Beil, Michael D.
    Summary:

    Lark is spending the summer on Swallowtail Island for the first time since her mom passed away. But she discovers something that others on the island would do anything to keep buried.
  • Worst fears realized
    Author:
    Woods, Stuart
    Summary:

    Stone Barrington is in a position that every ex-policeman dreads -- all around him people are dying, and he suspects the killer may be someone he'd put in prison years before.
  • Worst case scenario : a Michaelson & Marjorie mystery book 2
    Author:
    Bowen, Michael
    Summary:

    Foreign Service veteran Richard Michaelson knows that it is often better to talk to secretaries than big wigs in the political jungles of Washington, D.C. But when one such ambitious young secretary turns up dead in a locked hotel room, Michaelson suddenly realizes just how much she knew and that the killer might now be after him. Now everyone is clamoring to get their hands on the mysterious document in the dead woman's possession. Soon investigators, staffers and liaisons are coming out of the woodwork to keep things quiet. But for Michaelson, solving this mystery could be a matter of life and death.
  • Worst case
    Author:
    Patterson, James, Ledwidge, Michael
    Summary:

    Detective Michael Bennett and FBI Abduction Specialist Emily Parker reluctantly team up to stop a killer targeting not only the children of New York's wealthiest families--but the entire city of New York.
  • Wormwood
    Author:
    Albert, Susan Wittig
    Summary:

    A Kentucky Shaker village seems just the place for China to get some much-needed rest and relaxation. And getting a chance to assist with a local herbal workshop is exactly the kind of thing China relishes. Meeting with the kindly villagers, China might rightly suspect that her peaceful surroundings would be the last place on Earth to happen upon violence. But when a death occurs, China's only chance to solve the crime may lie in the history of the village.
  • Worm in the bud
    Author:
    COOK, Judith
    Summary:

    Soon after the police break up an anti-GM crops demo on a Cotswold farm, a man is found savagely murdered in circumstances chillingly reminiscent of the infamous, unsolved Meon Hill murder of 1945. Ex-policeman Latymer's professional curiosity is piqued by the similarities between the two cases, and he calls upon his old friend and colleague Keith Berry to help him with his research.
  • Working for bigfoot
    Author:
    Butcher, Jim
    Summary:

    Chicago wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden is used to mysterious clients with long hair and legs up to here. But when it turns out the long hair covers every square inch of his latest client's body, and the legs contribute to a nine-foot height, even the redoubtable detective realizes he's treading new ground. Strength of a River in His Shoulders is one of the legendary forest people, a Bigfoot, and he has a problem that only Harry can solve. His son Irwin is a scion, the child of a supernatural creature and a human. He's a good kid, but the extraordinary strength of his magical aura has a way of attracting trouble. In the three novellas that make up ''Working For Bigfoot, '' collected together for the first time here, readers encounter Dresden at different points in his storied career, and in Irwin's life. As a middle-schooler, in ''B is For Bigfoot, '' Irwin attracts the unwelcome attention of a pair of bullying brothers who are more than they seem, and when Harry steps in, it turns out they have a mystical guardian of their own. At a fancy private high school in ''I Was a Teenage Bigfoot, '' Harry is called in when Irwin grows ill for the first time, and it's not just a case of mono. Finally, Irwin is all grown up and has a grown-up's typical problems as a freshman in college in ''Bigfoot on Campus, '' or would have if typical included vampires.

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