Reading Ahead: October 2016, part 3

The Trespasser, by Tana French. Tana French is among my favorite suspense novelists right now. The unique blend of compelling characters and meticulous plotting in her Murder Squad series (starting with In The Woods) result in compulsively readable novels I find impossible to put down. In her latest, Detective Antoinette Conway is not having an easy time of it, being on the Murder Squad. For one, it feels like only her partner, Stephen Moran, is happy she's there. Her days seem filled with thankless cases, as well as pranks and harassment from her other squadmates. Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers’ quarrel gone bad, but the unusual part is that Antoinette is sure she's seen the woman somewhere before. While other detectives are pressing Antoinette to arrest the victim's boyfriend immediately, she must solve the case to her satisfaction, and it is nowhere near as neat and tidy a case as it originally appeared. I recommend French to fans of Linwood Barclay, The Killing, and Broadchurch.

Sex, Lies, & Serious Money, by Stuart Woods. Fresh off the runway at Teterboro, Stone Barrington arrives home to find an unexpected new client on his doorstep, anxiously soliciting his help. But everything is not as it seems, when the client reveals the true nature—and value—of his recent turn of fortune. From luxury New York high-rises to the sprawling New Mexico desert, his client is pursued from all angles . . . and Stone quickly learns that easy money isn’t always so easy.

Broken Trust, by W.E.B. Griffin. Having investigated his share of gruesome murders, Philadelphia Homicide Sergeant Matt Payne is beginning to think nothing can shock him – until the case of a young socialite’s death lands on his desk. The Camilla Rose Morgan he’d known as a teenager was beautiful and brilliant – how was it possible she’d jumped to her death from her own balcony? Her brother tells Payne she’d tragically been battling a lifetime of mental demons, and there is plenty of evidence of it, but still…something just doesn’t sit right. The more Payne digs, the more complications he discovers. Reputations are on the line here, and lives – and if Payne doesn’t tread carefully, one of them may be his own.

Night Watch, by Iris Johansen. Born blind, Kendra Michaels spent the first twenty years of her life living in the darkness. Then, thanks to a revolutionary medical procedure developed by England’s Night Watch Project, she was given the gift of sight. Her highly-developed senses (honed during her years in the dark), combined with her new found vision, have made her a remarkable investigator, sought after by law-enforcement agencies all over the country. But her newest case becomes deeply personal as she uncovers the truth about the shadowy organization that has given her so much.