New on the Shelves at Albert Wisner Public Library: Mystery & Suspense

Sometimes the power of love . . . A.J. Grayson has come a long way from adopted orphan to fast-rising executive at a cutting-edge technology firm. Now an anti-terrorist agency wants to use the revolutionary artificial intelligence system she developed to thwart a plot against Jafir's monarchy -- and handsome, dynamic Damon Toca, the region's newly crowned king, can be the most seductive weapon of all. In six short months, Damon has gone from gallery owner to controversial politician. When his cabinet hires A.J. Grayson - without his consent - he gets ready for a battle. Expecting a computer geek, and skeptical of A.J.'s highly touted secret invention, he is stunned to find a strong-minded beauty who arouses much more than his suspicions. But someone in his inner circle is in league with a treacherous adversary who threatens his throne, his nation's tenuous peace . . . and his future with a woman he'll risk everything to have and to hold.

A few years ago, David Alvarez had it all: a six-figure book deal, a loving boyfriend, and an exciting writing career. His debut novel was a resounding success, which made the publication of his second book (a total flop) all the more devastating. Now, David is single, lonely, and desperately trying to come up with the next great idea for his third manuscript, one that will redeem him. But good ideas are hard to come by – so when David connects with a sexy stranger on a dating app, he figures a wild night out in New York City may be just what he needs to find inspiration. Lucky for him, his date turns out to be handsome, confident, and wealthy, not to mention the perfect distraction from yet another evening staring at a blank screen. After one of the best nights of his life, David wakes up hungover but giddy -only to find prince charming dead next to him in bed. Horrified, completely confused, and suddenly faced with the implausible-but-somehow-plausible idea that he may have actually killed his date, David calls the only person he can trust in a moment of crisis: his literary agent, Stacey. Together, David and Stacey must untangle the events of the previous night, cover their tracks, and spin the entire misadventure into David's career-defining novel .

One morning in the late 1980’s, a group of young cousins wander deep into the woods on their family's property, drawn in by uncanny visions and the disappearance of one of their own, finding that the farther they go, the stranger their surroundings become. Lingering at the edge of a family party, a troop of cousins loses track of the youngest child among them. With their parents preoccupied with bickering about decades-old crises, the children decide they must set out to investigate themselves - to the rickety chicken coop, the barn and its two troublesome horses, and into the woods that once comprised their late grandmother's property. The more the children search, and the deeper they walk, the more threatening the woods become and the more lost they are, caught between their aunt's home in the present day, their parents' childhood home just through the trees, and the memory of the house their grandmother grew up in. Soon, what began as a quest for answers gives way to a journey that undermines everything they've been told about who they are, where they came from, and what they deserve.

A searingly provocative literary horror novel about one woman's determination to stay alive at any terrifying cost. In Osaka, two strangers, Jake and Mariko, miss a flight, and over dinner, discover they've both brutally lost loved ones whose paths crossed with the same beguiling woman no one has seen since. Following traces this mysterious person left behind, Jake travels from country to country gathering chilling testimonies from others who encountered her across the decades - a trail of shattered souls that eventually leads him to Theo, a dying sculptor in rural New Mexico, who knows the woman better than anyone - and might just hold the key to who, or what, she is. Part horror, part western, part thriller, “Old Soul” is a fearlessly bold and genre-defying tale about predation, morality and free will, and one man's quest to bring a centuries-long chain of human devastation to an end.

A man who can't feel fear is in a race against time to find a woman who knows a secret that could take down the United States; When a shocking murder and abduction on the streets of London leads investigators to open a safe in Langley for the first time in ten years, they find a note directing them to a few key individuals. Three of the people on the list are dead. The fourth is Ben Koenig. Koenig has no idea why his name is on the list. Then he realizes that he knows the woman who carried out the killings. Ten years earlier, without being told why, he was tasked with helping her disappear. Far from being a deranged killer, she is the gatekeeper of a secret that could take down America, and for the safety of the country, she has been in hiding for years - until now. And if she has resurfaced, the danger may be closer and more terrifying than anyone can imagine. Ben Koenig has to find her before it's too late. But Ben suffers from a syndrome that means he can't feel fear. He doesn't always know when he should walk away . . . or when he's leading others into danger. Fast, brutal, smart, and violent, “Nobody's Hero” is an engrossing story of contract killers, international terrorism, hard choices, and the future of the country - and the world as we know it.

Sometimes, even a first-rate ghostwriter needs to make a buck. Even if that means setting foot on a cruise ship – and to top it off, the "Get Lit Cruise" is being organized by Payton Garrett, a bestselling author, and the ghostwriter's long-time frenemy from back in their MFA days. Over the years, Payton has reinvented herself. She gained a wife while ditching her journalist husband, who is also on board. And she's acquired a rabid following. The select guests on the cruise, all female, will receive personalized instruction from experts in five different writing genres. Between mentoring guests and flirting with Payton's ex, there's plenty to keep a ghostwriter occupied. But there's one activity nobody expected: solving a murder. When an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances and several others suffer symptoms of poisoning, there are numerous motives and suspects to choose from. But could it be that the victim wasn't even the intended target? As the body count rises along with onboard tensions, no one is safe - except, perhaps, for a killer whose scruples have long abandoned ship. And of course, like every well-plotted mystery, this one has an extra twist . . .

To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself. At rock bottom following her daughter's death, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr's father never talked much about the reservation where he was raised, but the tribe needs a new marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. In the past decade, too many young women have disappeared from the reservation. Some have ended up dead, others just ... gone. Now local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter, the girl she failed to save. Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father's stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can't shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her. What she doesn't know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.

In this heart-pounding, claustrophobic thriller, financial strains force a couple to sell their beautiful home, but when a potential buyer refuses to leave, everything starts to spiral out of control. For two years Lucy and Sam renovated their beautiful Victorian home but spiraling debts are forcing them to sell. The agreement with their real estate agent is that they won't be home for viewings, but when Lucy gets a voicemail saying the Agent is running late, she realizes she will have to show the prospective buyer around herself. Suffering from extreme anxiety and claustrophobia, Lucy watches the stranger on their doorstep waiting to be let in; she wants to hide and pretend she's not home, but then she thinks of Sam working at all hours to cover their bills, of how much they need this sale, and opens the door. Lucy takes a breath and begins to show their house. He is well dressed, polite, and despite her unease everything goes well, until he starts acting strangely. Why is he asking increasingly intrusive questions about her and Sam's relationship? Why is he trying to take photographs of her? And why does he disappear into the basement and then not answer her when she calls? There is something very wrong with this stranger, and now he is refusing to leave …

“The Business Trip” is the gripping, page-turning debut from author Jessie Garcia. Stephanie and Jasmine have nothing and everything in common. The two women don't know each other but are on the same plane. Stephanie is on a business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. After a few days, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man - the messages becoming stranger and more erratic. And then the two women vanish. The texts go silent, the red flags go up, and the panic sets in. When Stephanie and Jasmine are each declared missing and in danger, it begs the questions: Who is Trent McCarthy? What did he do to these women - or what did they do to him? Twist upon twist, layer upon layer, where nothing is as it seems, “The Business Trip” takes you on a descent into the depths of a mastermind manipulator. But who is playing who?

Sometimes the world is out to get you. Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the 18-year-old music prodigy's future. Then a car swerved up beside them, the young men inside it behaving bizarrely, and Meg lost control of her own vehicle. The family road trip turned into a tragedy. Justin didn't survive the accident. Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief and guilt, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after she returns to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and Lily in increasingly terrifying ways. They are obsessed with a young adult novel titled “The Prophesy,” which was published thirty years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced that it heralds the apocalypse, and social media posts link the book - and Meg's reclusive musician father - to Satanism. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on the author – who is Meg. As the threats turn violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin's death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save her daughter, her father, and herself, Meg must get to the root of these dangerous lies, and find a way to face the believers head-on - before it's too late.

When Shelby Dawson survives a harrowing attack that should have left her dead, she tries to move past it - for herself, and for her family. Fifteen months later, with the help of her best friend, Mackenzie, she finally feels safe again in the snowy Minnesota town she calls home. But when an anonymous note appears on her windshield bearing the same threats her attacker made, Shelby realizes that her nightmare has only just begun. As new evidence surfaces, and a group of well-meaning senior citizens accidentally makes the case go viral online, the situation quickly goes from bad to worse. And with suspicious accidents targeting those closest to her happening all over town, Shelby can't shake the feeling that she's being watched. Fighting to stay one step ahead of disaster, she finds herself asking the question on everyone's lips: Who attacked her that night? But Shelby isn't the only one with questions. Mackenzie's husband, Leo, vanished without a trace on that terrible night, and over a year later, no one knows why. Until a deep dive into his finances reveals a history of debts, mismanaged funds, and hidden accounts--one of which is still active. Their suspicion that Leo is still alive only complicates things further, though, and when another person connected to Shelby goes missing, she's caught in a race against time before her attacker becomes a killer.

Her worst nightmare just returned - but this time she's ready. 1994: When Gardas Julia Harte and Adrian Clancy are called out to a sleepy housing estate in Cork to investigate a noise complaint, they are entirely unprepared for what they find. What happens next will haunt Julia for the rest of her career, leaving her plagued with nightmares and terrified of the dark. There is a serial killer at work in Cork, one as clever as he is deadly. Julia may not be a detective yet, but after the harrowing events of that night, she is determined to be the one to catch him. 2024: Julia Harte has chosen just the right place to disappear. Now retired, with an illustrious career behind her, she has moved to a tiny cottage in a remote part of Ireland, where she hopes to find peace. But then she receives a phone call from her old superintendent - two women have been murdered, their bodies marked and staged, just like in '94. It's happening again. Only this time, the stakes are even higher. Julia must return to Cork to face a vicious killer and the memories that haunt her. Yet Julia is no longer a naive junior officer but a seasoned, tough professional who proves more than a match for any murderer.

A fresh take on the classic conman chase novel following two adult siblings forced to play nice in hopes of tracking down the man they believe killed their mother and ran off with their sizable inheritance. Siblings Hazel and Kagan Bailey haven't been close for a long time, but when their mother passes under mysterious circumstances an investigation quickly follows, and the siblings are high on the list of possible suspects. As they deal with the emotional tragedy of losing their only living parent, brother and sister are forced to team up against a master con man, someone they once called "family." After the silver-tongued trickster disappears with the family fortune, Hazel and Kagan must put aside their differences to track him down. Along the way, they encounter a host of secrets, lies, and double-crosses as they dive into the murky waters of their family's past. With an unlikely ally by their side, the siblings race against time, unraveling a web of deceit that's more tangled than they ever imagined.

Don't call me a fixer. This isn't HBO. In her job as unofficial "problem solver" for Silicon Valley's most ruthless venture capitalist, Mackenzie Clyde's gotten used to playing for high stakes. Even if none of those tech-bro millions she's so good at wrangling ever make it into her pockets. But this time, she's in way over her head - or so it seems. The lightning-rod CEO of tech's hottest startup has just been murdered, leaving behind billions in "dead money" frozen in his will. As the company's chief investor, Mackenzie's boss has a fortune on the line - and with the police treading water, it's up to Mackenzie to step up and resolve things, fast. Mackenzie's a lawyer, not a detective. Cracking this fiendishly clever killing, with its list of suspects that reads like a who's-who of Valley power players, should be way out of her league. Except that Mackenzie's used to being underestimated. In fact, she's counting on it. Because the way she sees it, this isn't an investigation. It's an opportunity. And she'll do anything it takes to seize it. “Dead Money” is a brilliant sleight-of-hand mystery. Written by a longtime insider, it is also a dead-on snapshot of the Valley's rich and famous - and a glimpse at the darkness lurking behind the tech world's cheery facade.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI's hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve. When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer. Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer's identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families ... before it's too late?

From the modern master of Nordic suspense: by all accounts, Carl and Roy Opgard are doing quite well for themselves. Or at least they're doing as well as can be expected in a small town like Os. Carl manages the area's swanky and successful spa and hotel, while Roy runs a nearby gas station and harbors grand plans to build it out into an entire amusement park, complete with a roller coaster. But when news breaks about a new highway to be built nearby, bypassing Os and leaving the town cutoff and isolated, it's clear that something has to be done - even if the methods are bound to be dirty. Fortunately, Carl and Roy have experience with just that kind of work. Meanwhile, the town sheriff has gotten his hands on new technology that will enable him to take a deeper look at a slate of unsolved murders from years past, including that of his own father. And just as the sheriff reopens his investigation, the death toll begins to climb. It's like Roy says about his roller coaster: "Once it's rolling, it's too late to get off." “Blood Ties” is a tense, compulsively readable tour de force about loyalty, family ties, and love that is as destructive as it is powerful.

An exclusive thriller writer's retreat hosted on a private island turns lethal when one of the authors is found murdered; when renowned anonymous author J. R. Alastor hires former aspiring writer Mila del Angél to host a writing retreat at his private manor off the coast of Maine, she jumps at the chance - particularly since she has an axe to grind with one of the invitees. The guest list? Six thriller authors, all masters of deceit, misdirection, and mayhem. Confess the crimes, survive the tropes. Alastor and Mila have masterminded a week of games, trope-fueled riddles, and maybe a jump scare or two - the perfect cover for Mila to plot a murder of her own. But when a guest turns up dead - and it's not the murder she planned - Mila finds herself trapped in a different narrative altogether. One by one, you'll lose your turn. With a storm isolating the island, and the body count rising, Mila must outwit a killer who knows literally every trick in the book. Until only one of us remains . . .

Most family reunions end in tears. This one will end in murder. Meet the Agarwals, who have gathered on a private, luxury island off the west coast of Scotland for a much-anticipated family reunion. Raj, the patriarch and a business tycoon, is about to announce to his wife and three children the succession plan for his multimillon-dollar Delhi-based company. Shalini, the fragile matriarch, is ready to have her husband to herself after years of sacrifice to the family business. Myra, the golden child, owner of the island and host of the reunion, is, unbeknownst to her family, on the brink of bankruptcy. Aseem, the son and supposed heir, is torn between his love for his wife and his duty to family. Aisha, the youngest, a party girl whose antics are legendary, can't pass up an opportunity to wreak havoc. And then there's Zoe, Aseem's wife, the outsider whose #InstaPerfect life is built on a foundation of lies. They've all got secrets they would die to protect. Who will survive this high-stakes reunion, and who will become a victim of their own greed? One thing is certain: this family gathering will shatter more than just their illusions of unity.

Many miles from anywhere in the middle of Lake Erie, Trouble Island serves as a stop-off for gangsters as they run between America and Canada. The remote isle is also the permanent home to two women: Aurelia Escalante, who serves as a maid to Rosita, lady of the mansion and wife to the notorious prohibition gangster, Eddie McGee. In the freezing winter of 1932, the women anticipate the arrival of Eddie and his strange coterie: his right-hand man, a doctor, a cousin, a famous actor, and a rival gangster who Rosita believes murdered their only son. Aurelia wants nothing more than to escape Trouble Island, but she is hiding a secret of her own. She is in fact not a maid, but a gangster's wife in hiding, as she runs from the murder she committed five years ago. Her friend Rosita took her in under this guise, but it has become clear that Rosita wants to keep Aurelia right where she is. Shortly after the group of criminals, celebrities, and scoundrels arrive, Rosita suddenly disappears. Aurelia plans her getaway, going to the shore to retrieve her box of hidden treasures, but instead finds Rosita's body in the water. Someone has made sure Aurelia was the one to find her. An ice storm makes unexpected landfall, cutting Trouble Island off from both main lands, and with more than one murderer among them.