Twelve Great Mystery Reads of 2016
So now that the Holidays are over and I wait to see if Clemson can somehow upset mighty Alabama, Hey I attended both the University of Florida and the University of Georgia, so while I am not a big fan of Clemson, I certainly would prefer that they win the National Title!
Anyway, after seeing this list of the Best of 2016 from the Mysterious Bookshop . I decided to put together a list of my favorite mystery reads of 2016. I love books that are part of a mystery series. Therefore, the vast majority of the books I read are part of a series Here are in my 2016 favorites.The books are listed, for the most part, in the reverse chronological order in which they were read!
1. Reckless Creed – (Ryder Creed #3)- Alex Kava
This is the third of Kava;s Ryder Creed novels. Kava again features both Ryder and Maggie O’Dell in this novel. Maggie and Ryder are on the trail of a rogue scientist, who is attempting to make a new strain of bird flu that is airborne. And she is using people to test spreading the disease. Can Maggie and Ryder and his dogs stop her before there is a new pandemic!
2. Blind Sight – (Mallory # 12) – Carol O’Connell
I still need to read a few books in the middle of this series, but this last one is pretty good. Mallory and Riker in the middle of a mess. Four bodies have been sent to the Gracie Mansion each with there hearts cut out. One is a former hooker turned nun. Her blind nephew is still missing and my be the next victim. Can Mallory save the nephew and stop the killings?
3, Home – (Myron Bolitar # 11) – Harlan Coben
Myron helps Win try to discover what really happened to his nephew Rhys and his friend Patrick when they wee kidnapped from Patrick’s home ten years earlier. Win gets a tip that Patrick has been spotted in London. Patrick is saved, but Rhys is still missing. Win and Myron return to NJ to discover what really happened!!
4. Coffin Road – Peter May
A man washes up on the shore of a Scottish Island with no memory of who he is. He soon discovers that he is a write researching a book on the disappearance of the lighthouse keeper on one of Scotland’s outer islands. But is that who he truly is? What does he know about the bees out on the Coffin Road? He senses he knows something about them. And also about the man on the island who was murdered? Did he do it??
5. The Kept Woman – (Will Trent # 8) – Karin Slaughter
Angie Polaski estranged wife of GBI agent Will Trent and thorn in the side of Will’s new love Sara Litton, returns to turn Will and sara’s life upside down. She is the center of a murder investigation. The investigation involves a bad cop who is found murdered in a blood splattered room in a half finished Atlanta nightclub. Angie’s blood type matches the blood splattered in the room. The nightclub is owned by a star basketball player, who just beat a rape charge, Will had worked the case! So where’s Angie? Did she kill the man? And will she ever divorce Will so that he and Sara can get on with their lives.
6. Redemption Road – John Hart
This may be my favorite read for the year! John Hart is flat-out great! From Goodreads:
Now after five years, John Hart is back with a stunning literary thriller.
Imagine:
A boy with a gun waits for the man who killed his mother.
A troubled detective confronts her past in the aftermath of a brutal shooting.
After thirteen years in prison, a good cop walks free. But for how long?
And deep in the forest, on the altar of an abandoned church, the unthinkable has just happened… Read More
7. Without Mercy – (The Body Farm # 10) – Jefferson Bass
Forensic anthropologist and director of the Body Farm and the University of Tennessee is called to consult on a murder in a county near Knoxville. Based on the man’s skeletal remains, he was chained to a tree, then attacked and killed by a bear. What happened? Was this a hate crime and who is the victim? Bill Brockton and his graduate assistant Miranda are out to discover the truth. Miranda is also out to get a job with the FBI and leave the body farm after graduation! Oh, no!!
8. Manitou Canyon – (Cork O’Conner # 15) – William Kent Krueger
A man’s family hire Cork O’Connor to investigate the man’s sudden disappearance in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota. Cork’s two clients are the granddaughter and grandson of the missing man. Cork sets off on his mission, promising his daughter Jenny, he’ll be back in plenty of time for her wedding, Right! Soon Cork and the granddaughter disappear and Cork’s family and Henry Miloux set out to find Cork!
9. The Second Life of Nick Mason – (Nick Mason #1) – Steve Hamilton
I have been a fan of Steve Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series for a long time. This book is the beginning of a new series featuring Nick Mason. From Goodreads:
Nick Mason has already spent five years inside a maximum security prison when an offer comes that will grant his release twenty years early. He accepts — but the deal comes with a terrible price.
Now, back on the streets, Nick Mason has a new house, a new car, money to burn, and a beautiful roommate. He’s returned to society, but he’s still a prisoner. Whenever his cell phone rings, day or night, Nick must answer it and follow whatever order he is given. It’s the deal he made with Darius Cole, a criminal mastermind serving a double-life term who runs an empire from his prison cell. More
10. Off the Grid – (Joe Pickett # 16) – C.J. Box
One of my favorite characters in the Joe Picket series enigmatic Nate Romanowski. Nate has saved Joe’s butt more than once, but he has a shadow past and a Federal warrant out for his arrest. At the end of Book 15 a wounded Nate escaped into the night. This book opens with Nate off the grid, recuperating from those wounds. A team of elite professional operators suddenly surround Nates But rather than threatening him, the team leader offers Nate a deal. If he helps them destroy a domestic terror cell in Wyoming’s Red Desert, they’ll make his criminal record disappear. Th offer that may be too good to be true and it may just destroy Nate , Joe and Joe’s daughter Sheridan?
11. & 12 Far From True & The Twenty Three – (Promise Falls 2 & 3) – Linwood Barclay
Things have been topsy-turvy in Promise Falls. The events in Promise Falls include:: three murders, several attempted rapes,a found baby, 23 dead squirrels, mannequins in car 23 at a closed amusement park. In The Twenty Three, when the town’s water supply is sabotaged everyone in Promised Falls is threatened!
Both books are great! Start the series though with Broken Promise – Book 1 in the series and work your way through the whole trilogy!!
A Concluding Thought
I thought it was interesting that seven of the books were released in the fall of 2016. September saw the release of five of the books. While one each was released in October and November. Since many authors seem to release their books at the same time each year, I better get ready for another pile of books coming next fall!! Just saying!