Meg's Picks for March 2017, part 2

Need a thriller a little off the beaten path to keep you company on a rainy spring weekend? Or some cutting-edge suspense? Never you fear, I have just what you need. Read on!



A Twist of the Knife, by Becky Masterman. I'm a big fan of Masterman's Brigid Quinn series, which started with 2013's Rage Against the Dying, so this is at the top of my To-Read list this spring. Ex-FBI agent Brigid Quinn, now happily settled in Tucson, doesn’t visit her family in Florida much. But her former partner on the force, Laura Coleman―a woman whose life she has saved and who has saved her life in turn―is living there now. So when Laura calls about a case that is not going well, Brigid doesn’t hesitate to get on a plane.

On leave from the Bureau, Laura has been volunteering for a legal group trying to prove the innocence of a man who is on death row for killing his family. Laura is firmly convinced that he didn’t do it, while Brigid isn’t so sure―but the date for his execution is coming up so quickly that they’ll have to act fast to find any evidence that may absolve him before it’s too late…

A Simple Favor, by Darcey Bell. Bell's debut is a domestic thriller being likened to hugely popular titles in the genre like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. I'm expecting this to be one of the big reads of 2017, so get your requests in now!It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over. Or is it?
If you're a fan of thrillers that twist at every turn, this should make your list for sure.

Celine, by Peter Heller. Heller is the bestselling author of novels like The Dog Stars and The Painter, and his latest is a deeply personal novel based on the adventures of his own remarkable mother. Celine follows an aristocratic, elegant private eye who specializes in reuniting families, in an attempt to make amends for a loss in her own past. Celine, in fact, has a better record in her field than the FBI. But when a young woman, Gabriela, asks for her help, a world of mystery and sorrow opens up. Gabriela's father was a photographer who went missing on the border of Montana and Wyoming. He was assumed to have died from a grizzly mauling, but his body was never found. Now, as Celine and her partner head to Yellowstone National Park, investigating a trail gone cold, it becomes clear that they are being followed--that this is a case someone desperately wants to keep closed. If you're looking for something engrossing but different than your usual fare, this is the one to pick up.