BLOODY GENIUS a Tangled New Crime Tale by John Sandford

Bloody Genius by John Sandford is the latest offbeat crime novel in the series that features Minnesota State Police detective Virgil Flowers. Virgil is a laid back rural type, who sometimes pulls his boat behind his truck on the way to crime scenes, in case he gets time to do some fishing.

His latest case is strictly an urban affair in the Twin Cities. A university professor is sneaking into the library at night when he is unexpectedly attacked by someone and murdered. Virgil Flowers is left with a handful of puzzling questions. Why was the professor hiding there at night at the library in the first place? Who would want to kill him? Did it have anything to do with his lucrative scientific research? Or was it the result of a bitter academic feud with another professor?

The novel follows Flowers through a tangled trail of false leads, red herring clues, and multiple possible suspects. It takes Virgil a while to realize that someone is leading him on a chase of planted distractions away from the actual murderer.

Bloody Genius is filled with a few too many plot twists and minor characters to follow and the eventual uncovering of an unlikely culprit with an equally unlikely motive for the murder. This one isn't John Sandford's best effort, but the novel is entertaining with a running stream of quirky humor and the laconic character of Virgil Flowers himself.

Ruth Ware's new Suspense Novel Is a Sinister Enigma

The Turn of a Key is the latest novel by popular Psychological Suspense author Ruth Ware. This new offering is an ambiguous one. The novel has jarring narration and plot twists which may leave many readers uncertain, depending on how they interpret the final pages.

The opening story setup is promising. Rowan Caine takes what seems a cushy, high paying job as a family nanny in a remote manor house in the Scottish Highlands. But troubles for Rowan begin almost immediately. The parents must leave on a work assignment in Europe. The three small children left with Rowan are an unruly handful. Then there's the house itself, which seems to have a sinister presence about it.

There are faint echoes of the Henry James classic The Turn of the Screw. The children whisper vaguely about ghosts somewhere. The novel works overtime to build Gothic creepiness, from phantom footsteps in the night to an ominous locked door.

The structure of the novel has the story narrated by Rowan in letters to an attorney as she is being held in jail after a death in the house. But the plot takes a wrenching turn in the last third when vital new information is suddenly given to the reader that has been withheld from the beginning. Talk about an unreliable narrator! Things turn even more upside down at the conclusion when more new revelations make the reader question the validity of the entire prior narrative.

The Turn of a Key is a psychological enigma which offers one direct answer at the end. But is it the right answer?

THE BITTEROOTS a Rugged Montana Crime Thriller

The Bitterroots by C.J. Box is the author's fourth Western-set crime novel to feature investigator Cassie Dewell, who appeared previously in The Highway and Badlands and Paradise Valley. Cassie is mid-thirties, not very tall, and somewhat overweight. But she's a sharp investigator and a good shot when she has to be. This combination makes her character both realistic and appealing.

Cassie is a former sheriff's detective in Montana and North Dakota, but she left law enforcement after bad experiences in two departments. She's now a private investigator based in Bozeman, Montana. A local attorney has a defendant in a sexual assault case and hires Cassie to dig into the background of the charges.

Cassie travels to the isolated town of Horston, where the alleged assault took place, set below the rugged Bitterroot Range in western Montana. Once there, she runs into early trouble. A powerful local ranching family wants her to quit poking into the rape charges and leave town. But Cassie finds some details of the case don't add up. As she keeps digging, she ends up arrested in the local jail. Then it gets even more dangerous for her.

 The Bitterroots is a western crime novel as tough edged as its rugged setting. Author C.J. Box has another compelling read in the Cassie Dewell series.

KNIFE by Jo Nesbo a New Norwegian Crime Thriller

Knife by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo is the latest crime novel in the series that features obsessive Oslo police detective Harry Hole (pronounced Hoo-leh). Harry is a police legend for his past hunting down of fiendish serial killers, portrayed in previous Nesbo novels such as The Snowman and The Leopard.

A new case is devastating for Harry when someone personally close to him is brutally murdered. At first, it appears that a recently released convict Harry arrested a decade earlier is behind the murder in revenge against Hole. But then new suspects emerge with their own twisted motivations. Even though Harry is suspended from working on the murder case because of his connection with the victim, he is driven to pursue the killer on his own.

Knife is a heavy read at 450 pages that sometimes bogs down in too much involvement with Harry's own complex psychological obsessions. That said, Jo Nesbo fans will enjoy seeing iconic character Harry Hole on the case again.

Thomas Harris is Back With Ruthless Crime Thriller CARI MORA

Thomas Harris is famous for thrillers like Black Sunday, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal. He's back with a long awaited new one in the taut crime tale Cari Mora.

Set in Miami Beach, the novel follows a ruthless hunt for an elusive treasure. A vacant house once owned by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar is rumored to have a thirty million dollar gold hoard stashed secretly somewhere inside it. Two competing criminal gangs want that gold and will take whatever brutal means necessary to get to it.

Cari Mora is a Nicaraguan immigrant who works as caretaker for the empty house. She was a former captive soldier of the guerilla army in her native country and she is well trained in violent tactics. When the vicious thugs make their plans to take control of the house, they don't reckon with the implacable factor of Cari Mora becoming involved.

Cari Mora is a colorful, swiftly moving story filled with visceral violence and sudden deaths. It's a welcome return by Thomas Harris that makes for some entertaining summer reading.  

NEON PREY an Epic Fugitive Chase Thriller

U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport is back in Neon Prey, a new crime thriller in the popular series by author John Sandford.

The novel opens in Louisiana, where violent felon Clayton Deese has jumped bail and gone on the run. Lucas and his Marshal team of Bob and Rae track Deese to a remote swamp cabin. Deese is long gone, but they find a patch of victim graves near the cabin. Deese is now a wanted serial killer.

Lucas and his team track Deese to Los Angeles, where he has joined up with his brother in a gang that stages brutal home invasion robberies in high end homes. When the Marshals and LAPD close in on the gang house, a violent shootout ensues, and Lucas himself is seriously wounded. But once again, Clayton Deese escapes capture.

Deese runs next to Las Vegas, where he plans to resume more home invasions. The Marshal team follows him there, as the epic fugitive chase leaves behind a trail of dead bodies. But the ruthless Deese has still more tricks up his sleeve.

Neon Prey is a high speed read that fans of the Lucas Davenport series will devour. Once again, author John Sandford does not disappoint.

WOLFPACK a New Wyoming Crime Thriller

Wyoming state game warden Joe Pickett returns in Wolfpack, a new crime thriller from C.J. Box. The popular series is set against a rugged Western landscape as Joe Pickett finds himself involved in often dangerous criminal situations.

New trouble for Joe starts when he investigates the illegal use of a drone to chase elk and antelope herds, leading to panic and deaths among the animals. But when Joe tries to track down the drone owner, he runs up against a stone wall. The drone user is a mystery man protected by Federal authorities for classified reasons.

But Joe Pickett isn't the only one after this mystery man. A vicious gang of drug cartel killers, called the Wolfpack, is also looking for the same man. When this pack arrives in the small town of Saddle String, they move to ruthlessly take out anyone in their way, including Joe Pickett and anyone he is working with.

Wolfpack is a taut thriller that builds at high speed toward a violent showdown in the Wyoming mountain country. C.J. Box has created a riveting series with the Joe Pickett novels and this latest entry is one of his best. An absolutely great read.