"In the year 2060, cutting-edge investigative tools can help catch a killer. But there are some questions even the most advanced technologies cannot answer ..." "At the most solemn moment of a Catholic funeral Mass, the priest brings the chalice to his lips. Seconds later, he is dead on the altar. For the mourners packed into the pews, Father Miguel Flores's sudden demise is an unimaginable shock. When Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained enough potassium cyanide to kill a rhino, she's prepared to plunge in and find out why, despite her discomfort with her surroundings. It's not the bodegas and pawnshops of East Harlem that bother her, though the neighborhood is a long way from the stone mansion she shares with her billionaire husband, Roarke. It's all that holiness flying around at St. Cristobal's that makes her uneasy." "A search of the victim's simple, sparsely furnished room reveals few personal touches, except for a carefully hidden religious medal with a mysterious inscription, and a couple of underlined Bible passages. The autopsy reveals much more: faint scars of knife wounds, a removed tattoo - and evidence of plastic surgery suggesting "Father Flores" may not have been the man his parishioners thought. Now, as Eve pieces together clues that suggest identity theft, gang connections, and a deeply personal act of revenge, she hopes to track down whoever committed this unholy act. Until a second murder - in front of an even larger crowd of worshippers - knocks the whole investigation sideways." "The way Eve sees it, vengeance may be the Lord's business, but if there's going to be any earthly justice in this case, it's up to her."--BOOK JACKET.

A hurricane hinders a kidnapping and Spenser goes on a search for the infamous Gray Man.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

This first book in what appears to be a series finds the rich-but-down-to-earth Kiki learning that her husband George has died naked in a St. Louis motel room.  The reader knows it's murder and not something as lurid as a heart attack during an afternoon delight, but Kiki doesn't.

Kiki not only has to deal with George's two-timing death, but he's left her without a penny to her name.  She has to sell her gold Lexus and find a way to support herself and her daughter, Anya.  It doesn't help that there isn't enough money for the staples, but Anya's private school costs more than Kiki could possibly make in a year.  George's mother is willing to do anything for Anya, but she despises Kiki.

Kiki, a scrapbooker extraordinaire, turns to her hobby for income.  She gets a freelance gig at the store she frequented when she had money.  One of her first jobs is as the instructor at a bridal shower.  Kiki makes a supposedly cutting remark to one of the shower's guests.  When the guest, also an old flame of George's turns up dead, Kiki is the primary suspect.

Nonetheless, Kiki not only has two murders to solve, but someone has broken into the shappby place she and Anya now call home.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

"It's about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden ... and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder." "It's about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance ... and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age - and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it - who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism - and an unexpected connection between themselves." "It's a novel about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives."--BOOK JACKET.

A medical examiner finds that a mummy is actually a recent murder victim.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

This historical murder mystery takes place in 1818, and centers on a torture-murder case.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

Ian Rankin introduced his Edinburgh detective John Rebus in the 1980's, in the novel Knots & Crosses.  This book is the seventeenth book featuring Inspector Rebus; the years have brought him to the end of his official career.  The exit music is playing for Rebus's retirement from the force.  The meshing of big city crime and international finance with departmental politics and interpersonal relationships makes for a compelling story.  Readers familiar with Rebus will enjoy his last stretch in uniform; those who have not yet encountered him will be pleased to make his acquaintance.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

"C. J. is an expert at spinning her clients' image - the perfect lawyer to deflect suspicion from Rick Slater, formerly Army Special Forces, now a driver for an influential U.S. congressman. A young model named Alana Martin has vanished from a glitzy party on South Beach, and cops want to question Slater, the last person seen with her, C. J. has reasons to dislike Slater's boss, but if she takes this case, the congressman can get her a job hosting a show on a major news outlet. For a woman who grew up dirt-poor, the celebrity life has its appeal, C. J. hopes to make the case go away quickly, but the story is too hot. Reporters and paparazzi descend, and soon C. J. finds herself in the glare of the spotlight." "When Rick Slater tells her that a friend of Alana's could be his alibi, C. J. realizes the girl is someone she knows: Kylie Willis, a seventeen-year-old runaway from the same north Florida town where C. J. was born. The problem is, Kylie won't talk, and Slater isn't coming clean, either." "C. J. finds a disturbing connection between Alana and a pornographer who uses underage girls. Is Kylie involved too? Or is the truth more about Alana's link to a group of investors in a project on environmentally sensitive land? One of them is a VIP client of C. J.'s, elusive architect Milo Cahill, who may be bribing the congressman. Another is C. J.'s lover, Billy Medina. But when C. J. asks Billy for answers, he claims not to know. Seductive as Billy is, his love of the lush life is dangerous for a woman who's trying to stay sober." "The disappearance turns to a homicide, and C. J., wonders if she can trust Rick Slater, a man she is drawn to, a man with secrets of his own. As the media close in, C. J. weighs her desire for fame against the risk of losing everything she values most."--BOOK JACKET.

"The house was deathly quiet. That was the first sign that something was terribly wrong. Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge woke that morning to find herself alone. Her family - mother, father, and brother - had vanished without a word, without a note, without a trace. Twenty-five years later, Cynthia is still looking for answers. Now she is about to learn the devastating truth." "From critically acclaimed author Linwood Barclay comes a new suspense thriller that strikes to the core of our most primal fear. What if you woke one day to find your entire life had changed? If everyone you loved had disappeared overnight without so much as a chance to ask why?" "Cynthia and Terry Archer still live in Milford, Connecticut, not far from the old Bigge house on Hickory Street. With a solid marriage and a young daughter, the Archers seem on track for a successful future. But the questions raised by Cynthia's past still haunt her, and her obsession to find the answers threatens to destroy everything they've worked for. For Cynthia, there can be no closure until she finds out why her family disappeared - and how they could have left her behind." "Terry thinks the segment on the popular TV crime-stopper program Deadline is a mistake. But his wife hopes that someone watching will have a lead to her missing family. Sure enough, it's Cynthia who spots the strange car cruising the neighborhood, hears the untraceable phone calls, and discovers the ominous "gifts." And as Cynthia's nerves begin to unravel, no one's innocence is guaranteed, not even her own. By the time the first body is found, it's clear that her past is more of a mystery than she ever imagined - or may ever survive. Someone has returned to this Connecticut town to finish what was started twenty-five years ago. And by the time Terry and Cynthia discover the killer's shocking identity, it will be too late even for goodbye."--BOOK JACKET.

"The picture possessed a frightful beauty, one which burned so brightly that, once witnessed, could never be unseen ... No one could take their eyes off the painting. Even the presence of two corpses, one clearly murdered, the other dead in strange and suspicious circumstances, did nothing to distract their attention from the canvas at that moment..." "In a hidden studio in Ortaccio an area of Rome where the Vatican liked to keep an eye on the city's prostitutes, a young and attractive art expert from the Louvre is found dead in front of one of the most beautiful paintings that Nic Costa has ever seen - an unknown Caravaggio masterpiece." "But before long tragedy will strike Nic far closer to home. The main suspect's identity is known, but he remains untouchable - protected in his grand palazzo by a fleet of lawyers and a sinister cult known as the Ekstasists." "If Costa and his team can crack the reasons for the cult's existence, he may well stand a chance of nailing the double-killer. But the mystery will take him right back to Caravaggio himself and the reasons he had to flee Rome all those centuries before..."--BOOK JACKET.

"Billionaire genius Genoa Greeves never got over the shocking death of her favorite teacher, Bennett "Dr. Ben" Alston Little, murdered execution-style and stuffed into the trunk of his Mercedes-Benz. No arrests were ever made, no killer charged for the brutal crime. Fifteen years later, the high-tech CEO reads about another execution-style murder; this time the victim is a Hollywood music producer named Primo Ekerling. There is no obvious connection, but the case is eerily similar to Little's and Genoa feels the time is right to close Dr. Ben's case once and for all - offering the L.A.P.D. a substantial financial "incentive" if justice is finally served for Little." "Lieutenant Peter Decker resents having to commit valuable manpower to a fifteen-year-old open case simply because a rich woman says "Jump!" Still, the recent murder of Primo Ekerling does bear a disturbing resemblance to Little's case, even though two thug suspects are currently behind bars for the Ekerling murder. Decker can't help but wonder about a connection. His first phone calls are to the two primary investigators in the Little case, retired detectives Calvin Vitton and Arnie Lamar. Lamar is cooperative, but Vitton is not only reluctant to talk, he winds up dead of a suspicious suicide twelve hours later. Plunging into this long-buried murder, Decker discovers that even though the two slayings are separated by a decade and a half, there is still plenty of greed, lust, and evil to connect the dots." "Decker's team of top investigators not only includes his favorite homicide detectives, Scott Oliver and Marge Dunn, but also his newly minted Hollywood detective daughter, Cindy Kutiel, whose help proves to be invaluable. His wife, Rina Lazarus, continues to be his backbone of support, offering a cool, rational outlook despite her growing concern for her husband's welfare and safety. Rina's worries and fears begin to build at a fevered pitch as past and present collide with a vengeance, catapulting an unsuspecting Peter Decker closer and closer to the edge of an infinite dark abyss." "A relentlessly gripping tale spun by a master, Faye Kellerman's The Mercedes Coffin races through a dangerous urban world of fleeting fame and false dreams, making heart-pumping hairpin turns at each step of a terrifying journey, where truth and justice are fine lines between life and death."--BOOK JACKET.

"It's fire season, and the hills of Los Angeles are burning. When police and fire department personnel rush door to door in a frenzied evacuation effort, they discover the week-old corpse of an apparent suicide. But the gunshot victim is less gruesome than what they find in his lap: a photo album of seven brutally murdered young women - one per year, for seven years. And when the suicide victim is identified as a former suspect in one of the murders, the news turns Elvis Cole's world upside down." "Three years earlier Lionel Byrd was brought to trial for the murder of a female prostitute named Yvonne Bennett. A taped confession coerced by the police inspired a prominent defense attorney to take Byrd's case, and Elvis Cole was hired to investigate. It was Cole's eleventh-hour discovery of an exculpatory videotape that allowed Lionel Byrd to walk free. Elvis was hailed as a hero." "But the discovery of the death album in Byrd's lap now brands Elvis as an unwitting accomplice to murder. Captured in photographs that could only have been taken by the murderer, Yvonne Bennett was the fifth of the seven victims - two more young women were murdered after Lionel Byrd walked free. So Elvis can't help but wonder - did he, Elvis Cole, cost two more young women their lives?" "Shut out of the investigation by a special LAPD task force determined to close the case, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike desperately fight to uncover the truth about Lionel Byrd and his nightmare album of death - a truth hidden by lies, politics, and corruption in a world where nothing is what it seems to be."--BOOK JACKET.

Jonathan Santlofer is a recognized NYC artist who has found a fascinating way of incorporating his own expertise into the mystery genre.  This novel features Nate Rodriquez, a sketch artist associated with the New York City police department.  We get the familiar TV news sketches of unidentified suspects, but we also get the complicated process of putting them together, along with the intermediate versions that turn into the final sketch.  The study of fleshing out sketchy visual memories leads to a persuasive view of human beings:  "Our faces can't help but register emotions automatically--and truly."  To this subset of police procedural, Santlofer adds departmental politics, generational tensions, love interest, and even a taste of Puerto Rican other-worldly santeria.  The package is well conceived and executed; it's a pageturner.

Annotation by: St. Louis Public Library staff.

"When Patricia Cornwell introduced the quicksilver, cut-to-the-bone style and extraordinary cast of characters of At Risk, the result was electrifying." "At Risk featured Massachusetts state investigator Win Garano, a shrewd man of mixed-race background and a not inconsiderable chip on his shoulder; D. A. Monique Lamont, a hard-charging woman with powerful ambitions and a troubling willingness to cut corners; and Garano's grandmother, who has certain unpredictable talents that you ignore at your peril." "And in The Front, peril is what comes to them all. D. A. Lamont has a special job for Garano. As part of a new public relations campaign concerning the dangers of declining neighborhoods, she's sending him to Watertown to come up with a "drama," and she thinks she knows just the case that will serve. Garano is very skeptical, because he knows that Watertown is also the home base for a loose association of municipal police departments called the FRONT, set up so that they don't have to be so dependent on the state - much to Lamont's anger. He senses a much deeper agenda here - but he has no idea just how deep it goes. In the days that follow, he'll find that Lamont's task, and the places it leads him, will resemble a house of mirrors - everywhere he turns, he's not quite sure if what he's seeing is true."--BOOK JACKET.

"In the latest installment of this infinitely enjoyable and best-selling series, Precious Ramotswe is doing what she does best - helping people with their problems and enjoying the simple pleasures of life." "Mma Ramotswe is busy investigating her latest case: a woman who is looking for her family. The problem is, the woman doesn't know her real name of whether any members of her family are now living. Meanwhile, Phuti Radiphuti has bought Mma Makutsi a glorious new bed. Unfortunately, it will inadvertently cause her several sleepless nights. And life is no less complicated at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, where Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni - Mma Ramotswe's estimable husband--has fallen under the sway of a doctor who has promised a miracle cure for his daughter's medical condition, which Mma Ramotswe finds hard to believe. But Precious Ramotswe deals with these difficulties with her usual grace and good humor, and in the end discovers that the biggest miracles in life are often the small ones."--BOOK JACKET.