As we dismantle the giant yard skeleton, pluck fake cobwebs from bushes, and polish off the leftover Halloween candy, we know that “spooky season” has come to an end. But that doesn’t mean we can’t keep a few thrillers at the ready to balance out all of the good cheer, gratitude, and Costco pumpkin pie coming at us in November. So embrace full dark at 5:30 with a fleece blanket and beverage of choice, and escape for a bit into these twisty thrillers.
Truth to Power: A Luke Cage Marvel Crime Novel, opens a new window by S.A. Cosby
Admittedly, I don’t keep up with the Marvel world, but I’ll read anything that Virginia native S.A. Cosby writes. As a bonus, the audiobook version is narrated by Adam Lazarre-White, one of my favorites. In this third Marvel Crime novel, a series of hard-boiled thrillers for adults, Luke Cage heads to rural Virginia to investigate a shadowy manufacturing plant and seek answers regarding his cousin’s suspicious death. Superhero or no, the town of Majestic isn’t welcoming to Luke, and danger lurks at every turn. Luke begins to uncover a massive conspiracy as evil takes over the town and must rely on his powers to protect the community and bring an end to the violence and hate.
Exposure by Ramona Emerson
Crime thriller with a supernatural twist? Yes, please. This sequel to Emerson’s Shutter, opens a new window finds Navajo forensic photographer Rita Todacheene laying low after being ostracized by her department after exposing corruption, while also being viewed with suspicion for her ability to see ghosts. But then she’s called to an unsettling crime scene where Jose Montaño, the teenaged son of a retired Albuquerque detective, appears to have killed his entire family. At the scene, the ghosts of Jose's siblings appear to Rita, pointing instead to the father as the killer. Rita retreats again, not wanting to get involved with another case that implicates fellow law enforcement officers. But when the ghosts of vulnerable Native people being preyed on by a serial killer begin to haunt her, Rita suspects the two cases are connected, and she’s forced into an unauthorized investigation.
The Last to Drown, opens a new window by Noelle W. Ihli
I love a good thriller set in the wilderness. Kaia is ready for a five-day whitewater rafting adventure, navigating more than eighty isolated miles of river with twenty strangers. Then a string of incidents, small at first, seems to mimic the pattern of a grisly series of murders on the same stretch of river seven years before. Though the killer’s body was reportedly recovered, it becomes apparent that someone in their group intends to finish the original crime. Cut off from modern communication, Kaia and the other rafters are in the ultimate fight for their lives as there is no way out but through the miles of rapids.
What You Leave Behind, opens a new window by Wanda M. Morris
Returning to coastal Georgia to regroup after a nasty divorce, her mother’s passing, and job loss, attorney Deena Wood looks into the sudden disappearance of an elderly landowner who refused to sell his family estate. Wood uncovers a shady operation taking advantage of “heirs’ rights,” historically used by white developers to dispossess Black families of their property against their will. Similar cases keep turning up around Brunswick, and Wood is determined to find out who is responsible–and whether they would kill for the chance to turn a profit. Morris deftly blends culture and character development, incorporating the Gullah language of the Lowlands, into a riveting mystery. In the afterward, Morris notes that over $30 billion of generational wealth has been lost by this predatory practice.
Heather, opens a new window by Caitlin Mullen
This is another one I recommend on audio, which features multicast narration. In 1990, twin sisters Annabelle and Sabrina mysteriously vanished into the New Jersey Pine Barrens after Annabelle attempted to uncover Sabrina’s secret involvement with an older man. Decades later, newly appointed police chief Callie Hauser makes a routine arrest that causes details of the tragic cold case to emerge. As Callie digs deeper, past and present collide, revealing layers of secrets that many of the town’s residents, including fellow law enforcement, don’t want brought to light.
The Women in White, opens a new window by Sarah Pekkanen
Apparently I’ve come to enjoy dual-timeline narratives, and, while I read a fair share of print books, the audiobook version of Pekkanen’s latest psychological thriller is another great listen. Decades after four participants in a secretive 1960s parapsychology study disappeared without a trace, a newly hired caregiver accepts a position attending to an eccentric widow living entirely insulated from modern technology. As Riley begins piecing together her employer’s link to the abandoned experiments, she exposes a decades-old cover-up that puts her own safety in jeopardy.
Connect with new friends over a shared love of reading with over 20 adult book groups to choose from at Central Rappahannock Regional Library. Visit librarypoint.org/book-groups, opens a new window to find your group.
Tracy McPeck is the Director of Adult Services at Central Rappahannock Regional Library. This column first appeared in the Free Lance-Star newspaper.
