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Final Girls (2017) by Riley Sager is an intense, fast-paced psychological suspense. Quincy is a "final girl," the only survivor of a college camping trip gone wrong. 10 years later, when another "final girl" who survived her own horror story, Lisa, is found dead, Quincy reconnects with Samantha, a third "final girl" who is just as interested/horrified to learn of Lisa's fate.

I finally read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but it did, and more. What a thrilling story! The story’s setting and main character were fascinating, and the way Owens unfolded the mystery was perfect – I didn’t want to put the book down. When I finished the book, I had one of those “Wow” moments.

I’m kind of obsessed with the author Tana French. She writes dark murder mysteries set in Ireland. The most interesting thing I find is how she introduces her main characters in stages that lead you to see them in one way, and then another. Oftentimes the ending is a twist. The latest book of hers that I’ve I read was Broken Harbor (2012).

As soon as I heard that The Marriage Portrait(2022), a new novel by Maggie O'Farrell, was to be added to our library collection, I added my name to the Hold List.

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman (author of Something in the Water) is a fun and fast-paced psychological suspense novel.

Described by the New York Times as “a love letter to old-fashioned department stores,” and by author Hillary Mantel as “the book I most often give as a gift to cheer people up,” The Women in Black (2020) by Madeleine St. John explores the lives of five women who work in the Ladies’ Frocks department of a fictional high-end retail establishment, F.G. Goode, during the 1950s.

I started reading the novel Anywhere You Run (2022) because I was soon to interview the author, Wanda Morris, for WPL’s Thriller Author Panel. I wanted to be prepared, of course, but by the end of the book I was far more than that.

Sarah Addison Allen delivers again with her tale of found family entrenched in magical realism. Filled with memorable characters and a lush setting, this lovely and lyrical novel will draw readers in immediately.

Motherthing is author Ainslie Hogarth's third novel, and it's about a married couple's descent into darkness after the main character's husband loses his mother. A great suggestion for people who love dark humor, unreliable narrators, and disturbing domestic horror. Deals with mental illness, family relationships, dysfunctional families, and death. 

V.E. Schwab has written numerous novels for teens and younger folk, many of them best-sellers. But it is her latest novel, her first intended for adult readers, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, that has firmly established her as a writer to be watched.

This novel may be short but it packs a punch. Set in rural Ireland in the 80s, Small Things Like These (2021) is an inspirational read about the struggles of the poor and working-class Irish.

A wonderful series for fans of Terry Pratchett's Discworld.