There’s nothing like a favorite mystery book or show to cozy up with during the spookiest month of the year. Everyone has their favorite genre of mystery, whether it’s a chilling, suspenseful nail-biter or a cozy, small-town affair. Here are some staff and patron picks of mysteries in our collection that we think you’ll find intriguing.
If I Disappear
By Eliza Jane Brazier
Fiction
If I Disappear is about a woman who investigates the disappearance of the host of her favorite true crime podcast. This book is creepy, sinister, and strange—perfect for spooky season! With shocking twists and turns you would never expect, this book is anything but predictable. It will keep you on the edge of your seat with a fast-paced ending guaranteed to surprise. If you’re looking for an eerie mystery, this is the book for you!
Review by Katie, Circulation
Poppy Harmon Investigates
By Lee Hollis
General Fiction (available as eBook and eAudiobook)
Lee Hollis begins a delightful new series in which Poppy Harmon and her friends find that life after retirement can be much busier—and deadlier—than any of them ever anticipated . . . When Poppy goes from complacent retiree to penniless widow in a matter of weeks, the idea of spending her golden years as the biggest charity case in Palm Springs renders her speechless. With no real skills and nothing left to lose, Poppy uses her obsession with true crime shows to start a career as a private eye . . . . But after opening the Desert Flowers Detective Agency with help from her two best friends, Violet and Iris, Poppy realizes that age brings wisdom, not business—until she convinces her daughter’s handsome boyfriend, Matt, to pose as the face of the agency. It’s not long before Matt’s irresistible act snags a client desperate to retrieve priceless jewelry burglarized from an aging actress at the Palm Leaf Retirement Village. Or before Poppy stumbles upon the bloodied body of the victim’s arch rival . . . In a flash, Poppy’s innocent detective gig is upstaged by a dangerous murder investigation riddled with slimy suspects and unspeakable scandal. As she and her team uncover the truth, Poppy must confront the secrets about her late husband’s past and swiftly catch a killer lurking around the retirement community—even if it means turning her world upside down all over again.
Review by Nathalie, Circulation
Heirs of Falcon Point
By Traci Hunter Abramson, Sian Ann Bessey, Paige Edwards, & A. L. Sowards
General Fiction
The Nazis have taken control of Austria, and wealthy widower Leopold Lang faces a difficult decision: join the ranks of the foreign power that has taken over his homeland or flee with his children to safety. Leopold makes his choice—but too late. His family is ripped apart, never to be reunited. But decades later, fate brings together the descendants of this broken dynasty in the place where it all began—Falcon Point. Anna, Cole, and Tess have never met, each relying on fractured pieces of information to understand their Austrian heritage. But when unforeseen opportunities draw these Lang cousins to Falcon Point, they soon discover they are not alone in their quest to claim the coveted property and the fabled treasure hidden within. Unfortunately, another claimant, one with a much darker heritage, is determined to eliminate the Lang family once and for all. This book blends generations together beautifully as a mystery continues to unfold throughout the book. All of the authors have brought the characters to life in this suspenseful novel.
Review by Heidi, Circulation
The Library of the Dead
By T. L. Huchu
General Fiction
Ropa Moya can communicate with ghosts when she plays her mbira, and like the precocious 14-year-old she is, she decides to go into business delivering messages to the ghosts’ living loved ones. She has standards, however, and the most important one is that she doesn’t work for free. A girl (and her sister and her nan) gotta eat after all. She won’t compromise until a desperate (and deceased) mother begs Ropa to find her missing son even though she has no money. Ropa agrees to investigate and is sent on a wild, oftentimes perilous journey through an underground library, the realm of the dead, a living house, and an abandoned petting zoo. Oh, and apparently she can do magic, too. Ropa has to protect her family, but she can’t help but worry about the kids who don’t have any family left. Who will protect them? Ropa Moya, that’s who. Ropa is fiercely brave and also fiercely stubborn. With the help of her friends, she’ll do whatever it takes to solve the mystery and help these kids, even when she risks their home and her reputation by working this case for free. The Library of the Dead is a fascinating supernatural mystery novel and an interesting new spin on the idea of ghosts as ordinary even as they remain distinct from the living. I think it would be perfect for readers who enjoy the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud!
Review by Erin, Circulation
Castle
TV Show
Mystery
Castle is the perfect show for anyone who loves crime shows but also a good comedy! Richard Castle, a wildly successful and clever murder mystery writer, follows and consults on homicide cases with Kate Beckett, a strong and intelligent NYPD homicide detective. The stories and characters are well developed and interesting. Each episodic plot pulls you in, and the underlying and continuous stories keep you hooked! Viewers quickly come to love Beckett, Castle, and their witty banter. The supporting roles are also delightful.
Castle really pulled me in; I binged the first season in just a few days! I found the cases very interesting and complex, but the witty humor kept it light enough that it wasn’t too scary or depressing.
Review by Whitney, Circulation
The Silent Patient
By Alex Michaelides
General Fiction
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening, her husband, Gabriel, returns home late from work, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. This is a suspenseful mystery that takes you through twists and turns of whether Alicia really killed her husband. She refuses to talk to either accept guilt or defend her innocence. You will go back and forth between suspects as you try to solve the mystery. This is all I can say so I don’t spoil anything.
Review by Esther, Patron
