For fans of Nordic Noir, Chilling Mysteries, and Techno-Thrillers
Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indriðason
In this thriller, the Reykjavik police are called on an icy January day to a garden where a body has been found: a young, dark-skinned boy is frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Inspector Erlendur embarks on his investigation and soon unearth tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland’s outwardly liberal, multicultural society. Soon, facts are emerging from the snow-filled darkness that are more chilling even than the Arctic night. Erlendur's introduction to English audiences was Jar City.
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. Moments later, Joanna's life is changed forever. On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie is on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound. At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. These three lives come together in unexpected and thrilling ways in this novel from the critically acclaimed author Kate Atkinson.
Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
The carefully orchestrated life of Manhattan emergency room doctor and witness-protection program participant Peter Brown unravels in the course of a high-stakes day that begins with a mugging, an elevator encounter with a sexy pharmaceutical rep, and a new patient who knows him from his previous existence.
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
Addicted to pain killers and still bound to Gretchen Lowell, the beautiful serial killer who had abducted and tortured him before turning herself in, Portland detective Archie Sheridan is caught in another deadly duel with a vicious murderer targeting teenage girls, an ambitious reporter, and Gretchen herself.
The Cruel Stars of the Night by Kjell Erissson
In the sequel to The Princess of Burundi, Police Inspector Ann Lindell and her colleagues are called in to investigate the disappearance of a local professor, a case that could be linked to the murders of several elderly men.
In the Woods by Tana French
Twenty years after witnessing the violent disappearances of two companions from their small Dublin suburb, detective Rob Ryan investigates a chillingly similar murder that takes place in the same wooded area, a case that forces him to piece together his own traumatic memories.
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
When caustic Smilla Jaspersen discovers that her neighbor---a neglected six-year-old boy, and possibly her only friend---has died in a tragic accident, a peculiar intuition tells her it was murder. As she attempts to solve the mystery, she uncovers a series of conspiracies and cover-ups and quickly realizes that she can trust nobody.
Retribution by Jilliane Hoffman
When a distinguished female prosecutor is confronted by the most dangerous predator she has ever encountered, she discovers that she must make a difficult choice between justice and retribution.
The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg
After she returns to her hometown to learn that her friend, Alex, was found in an ice-cold bath with her wrists slashed, biographer Erica Falck researches her friend's past in hopes of uncovering the truth of her death. Teaming up with Detective Patrik Hedström, who has his own suspicions about the case, Erica begins to uncover shocking events from Alex’s childhood.
The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell
Hudiksvall, January 2006. Police find eighteen people massacred in a small village. They think it's the work of a mad man, but Birgitta and August believe they were killed by the same person who killed their mother.
Red Wolf by Lisa Marklund
A spate of killings that began with the murder of a Swedish journalist prompts crime reporter Annika Bengtzon to look into the deaths, in an investigation that forces her to question her own husband’s honesty.
Garnethill by Denise Mina
When Maureen O’Donnell finds Douglas, a shady therapist with whom she is having an affair, in her apartment with his throat slit, she sets out to retrace his last few days and uncovers a horrifying scandal at a local psychiatric hospital.
Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser
Chief Inspector Van Veeteren becomes suspicious about the seemingly open-and-shut case against Janek Mitter, convicted of killing his wife while drunk, especially when Mitter also becomes a homicide victim. When a mysterious letter linked to the two cases appears, the inspector launches a full-scale investigation into both slayings to unravel the truth and find the real killer.
L. A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker
Investigating the latest crime scene of a celebrity thief who has been staging lucrative heists and donating the spoils to charity, rookie deputy Charlie Hood embarks on an affair with a key witness and is forced to make an ethics-testing decision when the thief is targeted by a professional killer.
Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry
Jane Whitefield, a Native American woman whose job is to help people disappear, assists those looking for a new identity, until she is confronted with a new client who is not what he seems.
A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read
Married outside of her blue-blood class to a genius investor who takes frequent business trips, writer Maddie Dare endures long weeks alone in her industrial-city home and becomes involved in an investigation to clear her favorite cousin from a double murder charge.
Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
In this first installment of The Story of a Crime series, Swedish police detective Martin Beck hunts for the murderer of a lonely traveler, a young woman whose body was dredged from Sweden’s beautiful Lake Vattern. With no clues Beck begins an investigation that drags on for months with Beck only managing to discover the victim’s name – Roseanna – and that she was last seen on a small cruise ship in southern Sweden.
Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter
Pediatrician and coroner Dr. Sara Linton, her ex-husband and chief of police Jeffrey Tolliver, and female detective Lena Adams are on the case when a sadistic rapist and murderer begins targeting women in Grant County, Georgia.
Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith
A triple murder in a Moscow amusement center: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is brilliant and cynical about everything except his profession. To identify the victims and uncover the truth, he must battle the KGB, FBI, and New York police as he performs the impossible--and tries to stay alive doing it.
Monkeewrench by P. J. Tracy
Grace McBride and the team at her software company are horrified when events in their murder mystery computer game are replicated in the real world by a ruthless killer, a situation that prompts them to analyze the game in order to anticipate the killer’s next move.