Who doesn’t love a good mystery? People enjoy reading, writing, and watching mysteries. Library shelves are packed with mysteries of all kinds. Real life gives us perhaps some of the best and most confusing mysteries of all. Who is your favorite mystery author, character, or series?
In past years, we have brought you classic mysteries, cozy mysteries, procedurals, amateur sleuths, hard-boiled private investigators , and works by up-and-coming mystery authors. This year, we have an eclectic mix of talent. We’re especially proud of our Pittsburgh contingency of mystery authors. Enjoy!
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell – In an idyllic communal garden setting in urban London, everyone feels safe. Within this oasis, they allow their children to play together and run in and out of each other’s homes. No one thinks there could be danger lurking. When young Pip finds her thirteen-year-old sister, Grace bloody and unconscious in the corner of the rose garden during a neighborhood party, their illusion of safety vanishes. Who would hurt Grace? Is anyone safe?
The Peacock and the Sparrow by L.S. Berry – While on his final tour of duty in Bahrain, world-weary C.I.A. operative, Shane Collins, is ready to come back to the U.S. and retire. Collins has little enthusiasm for his mission; he just wants it to be over. When his trusted informant becomes embroiled in a murder, He realizes this may be his most difficult assignment yet.
The Family Plot by Megan Collins – a family obsessed with true-crime mysteries gathers to bury their patriarch only to find a body already in his grave. The body is Dahia’s twin brother, Alex who disappeared a decade ago. Can this family discover the real murderer? What if it’s one of them?
Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda – Hazel Sharp, the daughter of Mirror Lake’s beloved detective is also the daughter of the town’s most notorious criminal, her mother. When Hazel’s father leaves her the family home in his will, she must return to Mirror Lake, the place she escaped from a decade ago. The community is experiencing a drought, and the waters of the lake become low enough to reveal one of its secrets, a car resting at its muddy bottom. Will this car help explain the disappearance of her mother?
Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia – A father and son become lost while hiking in the Minnesota wilderness. Searchers find their campsite. A bear has ravaged it, and they are presumed dead. A decade later, the son, violent and uncommunicative, is found ransacking a wilderness store. He’s sent to a psychiatric facility where Maya Stark the assistant language therapist is assigned to help him recover his language skills. The young man refuses to answer questions about his father or the last ten years of his life. Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has sympathy for her patient. If his father is still alive, she wants desperately to reunite them, but can she solve this mystery without his help?
What Comes Around By Annette Dashofy (Pittsburgh area Mystery Author) This title will be released May 7, 2024, but is available for preorder on Amazon. Book 13 in the Zoe Chambers Mystery series. Just as Zoe Chamers-Adams, the Monongahela County coroner is about to fire her insubordinate chief deputy coroner, Dr. Charles Davis, the county’s only other forensic pathologist is severely injured in a car accident. Zoe has no choice but to keep Davis for a while longer. Zoe and her husband Pete, the Vance Township chief of police respond to a brutal homicide. The victim, the ex-wife of Dr. Davis, was on her way to see Zoe with important information to share. As Zoe and Pete discover more about the victim, they realize she is connected to several cold cases in the area. One in particular leads them into the crosshairs of a killer.
Keep Your Family Close by Annette Dashofy (Pittsburgh area Mystery Author) – Book two in the Detective Honeywell Mystery series set in Erie, Pennsylvania. Erie police detective Mattias Honeywell is sent to investigate when a badly decomposed body is found in the basement of an abandoned warehouse. Freelance photographer Emma Anderson is searching for her drug-addicted sister, Nell. When the identification on the body belongs to Nell, Emma must face the possibility her sister is dead. Honeywell reaches out to Emma and enlists her assistance to help close the two cases, but as the investigation proceeds they find more questions than answers.
Taken By Kathleen George (Johnstown Mystery Author writing books set in Pittsburgh) – Book one in the Richard Christie Series – A child, the son of a famous athlete, is taken in broad daylight in downtown Pittsburgh. Marina Benedict was there. She saw the child with his mother and then with a man who clearly was not his father. Haunted by a past failure, Marina is determined to rescue the boy. While battling his own demons, Detective Richard Christie is assigned to find the missing child and return him to his parents alive and unharmed. Will they help or hinder each other?
Thicker Than Water by Liz Milliron – (Pittsburgh area Mystery Author) Pennsylvania State Trooper Jim Duncan responds to a call about a missing young man with autism. The boy is found quickly, and Duncan thinks his work is done until the boy begins insisting they help the “sleeping blue lady.” The boy leads the authorities to an abandoned shack and the body of a woman clad only in her underwear. The woman matches the description of defense attorney Sally Castle’s missing client. When Sally and Jim investigate, they discover the victim was leading a double life with ties to the young boy who led them to her body. This case drags Sally and Jim through the seamy underbelly of sex work in a desperate race to stop a killer.
Just Between Us by Rebecca Drake (Pittsburgh are Mystery Author) – Four suburban mom conspire to cover up a deadly crime. Alison, Julie, Sarah, and Heather seem to have it all, beautiful homes, good friends, adorable children, and loving husbands. When the friends begin to notice bruises around Heather’s wrists and other tell-tale signs of abuse, they beg their friend to leave her abusive spouse. No matter what he does or what they say she stays. Alison, Julie, and Sarah live in fear of the phone call telling them Heather has been killed, but when the frantic call comes Heather is not the victim. What lengths will they go to helping their friend? What happens when lies and secrets take over their carefully curated lives?