Den of Iniquity by J.A. Jance

Retired Seattle cop J.P. Beaumont now has his private investigator's license. When he's asked by a friend to look into the death of Darius Jackson, who authorities had determined died of an accidental drug overdose, he agrees to help. Soon, Beau discovers other deaths similar to Darius' and wonders if they are all connected. In Beau's personal life, his grandson Kyle, has come to stay with Beau and his wife, Mel. Kyle, in his senior year of high school, doesn't want to live with his father, Jeremy and his new girlfriend, Caroline. As a favor to Kyle, Beau agrees to look into Caroline's background. In Den of Iniquity, Jance writes another solid entry in this long-running series.

Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring

It's the summer of 1995, five years after the events in The Road to Dalton. Nate lives with his young daughter, Sophie, and works at the mill that's owned by Marshall Frazier. Marshall, meanwhile, wonders how he can help his wife, Annette, who has become an alcoholic after the death of their daughter. Other inhabitants of Dalton, Maine that feature in the novel include Rose (who is raising her boys on her own) Vera (a nurse who's taken a job at the local clinic) and Greg (a college student who would like to pursue a career in horticulture rather than taking over the family hardware store). A great choice for readers who enjoy novels about life in a small town.

The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen

It's Susan's and her teenager Zoe's first visit to Purity, Maine after Susan married Ethan Conover. Soon after their arrival, Zoe disappears. Acting police chief Jo Thibodeau wonders what could have happened to her. The Martini Club (four retired CIA agents--Maggie, Declan, Ben, and Ingrid) decide to get involved, much to Jo's dismay. Could Zoe's disappearance be connected to murders over fifty years ago one July day? The Summer Guests continues the adventures of the Martini Club. I loved the first book in the series and had high hopes for this one, but it's a miss for me. The book focused on too many characters instead of developing a few of them really well. In addition, the mystery itself wasn't that interesting. It will be published in March.

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak

Frank Szatowski, estranged from his daughter, Maggie, gets a call inviting him to her wedding. Maggie is marrying artist, Aidan, son of wealthy businessman Errol Gardner. The wedding will be held at the Gardner estate in New Hampshire. As Frank gets to know Aidan and his family, he becomes more and more uneasy about the marriage, but his pleas to Maggie to reconsider fall on deaf ears. Even Frank's sister, Tammy, who accompanies him to New Hampshire, tells Frank to keep his feelings to himself, lest his relationship with Maggie becomes even more fractured. As two deaths circle around the Gardners, Frank cannot let his suspicions rest. The Last One at the Wedding is a page turner with humor, heart, and a great read-alike for Harlan Coben. I loved that I couldn't predict what was going to happen! It will be published in October.

The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson

It's 1965 and Hazel Bates works as the tea lady at Sydney's Empire Fashionwear in the garment district in Surry Hills. In her job travelling between the floors of the dress company, Hazel gets to know the dressmakers, the machinists, the people in accounts, and the owners--the Karps. One day Hazel sees a woman in the window at the abandoned bond store across the street. Soon after, the bond store is on fire and one of Hazel's coworkers is found dead. It's up to Hazel and her fellow tea ladies, Betty, Irene, and Merl to find a murderer. The Tea Ladies is the first book in the series and gives the reader a great sense of place of working class 1960's Sydney.

Wordhunter by Stella Sands

Living in Florida, Maggie is working on her Master's in forensic linguistics and has a real gift in interpreting and finding patterns in the written word. After the local police department asks for her assistance in a stalking case and Maggie succeeds in pointing them in the right direction, she becomes part of the team when the mayor's teenage daughter goes missing. However, all of Maggie's demons lie just below the surface--her best friend Lucy's disappearance when they were teenagers, her mother's death from cancer, and Maggie numbing herself from the pain by drinking too much. Jackson, a cop in his 40's, becomes a friend and a confidant, and just might give Maggie the support she needs. An interesting debut that leaves the story open for a sequel.

Highway Thirteen: Stories by Fiona McFarlane

In this collection of linked short stories, the common thread is the twelve murders committed by killer Paul Biga. Biga is loosely based on the real life serial killer Ivan Milat. Laid bare to the reader is how violence and trauma can affect so many. There's Simon from England, whose older sister was backpacking in Australia and disappeared. While Eva and her husband, Gerald, lived across the street from Biga when he was young and are witness to the tearing down of the home many years later. In another story, May lives with her boyfriend and suspects that he could be the one the authorities are looking for. Other stories feature a famous actor playing Biga in a miniseries, a politician running for re-election with the bad luck to have the last name Biga, and a group of English schoolgirls' trip to Rome that has a connection to the case. The stories, spanning over 70 years with characters of a wide variety of ages, are thought provoking and hard to forget.