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.

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.

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.

“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.

From the #1 international bestselling author of True Crime Story comes a gripping new novel of a con-artist who is dragged into the lavish London underbelly and must use his lifetime of unique skills to make it out. On the run from his shady past, Lynch has just arrived in London, still looking over his shoulder to make sure he isn't being followed. His phone is dead, he has no money, no contacts, no one at all. Until he runs into a young woman named Bobbie who mistakes him for her brother, Heydon Pierce, who disappeared five years ago without a trace. At Bobbie's suggestion, Lynch goes to the Pierce family home, posing as Heydon to try and con some money out of them. But far from tricking them, his subterfuge is instantly discovered. He strikes the devil's bargain with them - their silence for his cooperation in finding out what really happened to Heydon. But Lynch's investigation goes too deep and uncovers the fact that Heydon Pierce was tangled up with some dangerous and powerful people in London. Everyone has their own motives to keep Heydon well buried in the past. In such a conspiracy of mirrors, there's only one thing Lynch know for certain: the only person he can trust is himself.

From highly acclaimed author Alice Henderson comes the eagerly anticipated and electrifying fourth book in the Alex Carter series, in which the wildlife biologist encounters anti-immigrant vigilantes, rugged terrain, and threatening intruders in search of a sleek, powerful, and furtive animal--the jaguar. When wildlife biologist Alex Carter is tasked with locating jaguars on a vast desert preserve in New Mexico, she is ecstatic. While jaguars once roamed throughout the Southwest, they are now endangered, with only a handful remaining, and Alex hopes some of the sleek and elusive creatures have found their way to the protected sanctuary. Meanwhile, an archaeological team is excavating the gravesite of a sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador on a neighboring piece of land. Curious about the dig, Alex meets the team and, while learning about their discoveries, she encounters a dangerous group of anti-immigrant vigilantes roaming the area, threatening the archaeology team, demanding they leave. And when the militants learn of Alex's mission, they become bent on stopping her. Because jaguars are federally endangered, the vigilantes worry that if Alex finds them, concessions will be made so that wildlife can cross the border wall. And they want no one crossing it... And then there are the strange holes that keep appearing on the preserve--Who is digging them, and what are they looking for As tensions mount, Alex soon finds herself in a fight for her life against those who would prevent her from restoring jaguars to their historical habitat.