Eleven-year-old Andrew Mikaelson lives in Wayveryln, New Jersey with his caring mother, annoying kiss-up stepfather, and lazy, but fun step-uncle. But when a brutal serial killer, known as “The Knife Thrower,” begins killing residents, the town of Wayveryln is rocked. The Knife Thrower is cunning, quick, and can stab someone by throwing his knife—from any distance. Andrew and fifteen other adolescents have been selected to participate in the annual Murder Mystery Race that can occur anywhere around the world. The competitors must go on a cruise that the Knife Thrower is on. The first person to capture the Knife Thrower receives the coveted award of one million dollars. Andrew makes friends and enemies, and alongside the other contestants, goes through many obstacles. For Andrew to identify the Knife Thrower, he must show ambition, resilience, and bravery.

A woman is found dead one morning, in the Mill Race, at the exact place where a young woman drowned a year previously. Are the two cases interlinked? The local police are up against it, as the local villagers are determined to say nothing, so the case is soon passed to Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard. Half of his job is convincing the locals to reveal what they know, to speak justly for the dead, an alternative title for the book itself. Eventually he begins to reap the rewards, but with locals not above fabricating evidence for a quiet life, will he discover who the killer is?

A TONIGHT SHOW SUMMER READS FINALIST An electrifying first novel from "a riveting new voice in American fiction" (George Saunders): A young woman returns to her childhood home in the American South and uncovers secrets about her father's life and death Billie James' inheritance isn't much: a little money and a shack in the Mississippi Delta. The house once belonged to her father, a renowned black poet who died unexpectedly when Billie was four years old. Though Billie was there when the accident happened, she has no memory of that day—and she hasn't been back to the South since. Thirty years later, Billie returns but her father's home is unnervingly secluded: her only neighbors are the McGees, the family whose history has been entangled with hers since the days of slavery. As Billie encounters the locals, she hears a strange rumor: that she herself went missing on the day her father died. As the mystery intensifies, she finds out that this forgotten piece of her past could put her in danger. Inventive, gritty, and openhearted, The Gone Dead is an astonishing debut novel about race, justice, and memory that lays bare the long-concealed wounds of a family and a country.

Every great play needs a drama queen. Preferably alive. The French city of Avignon is known for many things: its Papal Palace, the annual summer theater festival, its Medieval bridge of nursery rhyme fame…and now murder. When a popular actress is killed during Avignon's famous summer theater festival, all the evidence points to the police needing a fast resolution--regardless of the truth. It will be up to Maggie to find the killer who wanted the city’s most popular actress dead—and before he turns his attention on her. As Maggie desperately scours this beautiful medieval city for clues to uncover the killer's identity, it soon becomes clear that failing will put her center stage with her most ruthless adversary yet--with the final curtain about to come crashing down on everything she holds dear.

A murder mystery set in the world of European professional cycling.

“Adrenaline-pumping . . . [A] polished action mystery . . . [with] dazzling Arctic sights.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review Winner of the Macavity Award and the Anthony Award Murder on the Iditarod Trail is a gripping mystery set during Alaska’s world-famous Iditarod: a grueling eleven-hundred-mile dogsled race across hazardous Arctic terrain. It is an arduous sport, but not a deadly one. But suddenly the top Iditarod contestants are dying in bizarre ways: first a veteran musher smashes into a tree, then competitors begin turning up dead, with each murder more brutal than the last. State trooper Alex Jensen begins a homicide investigation, determined to track down the killer before more blood stains the pristine Alaskan snow. Meanwhile, Jessie Arnold, Alaska’s premier female musher, has a shot at winning for the first time. But as her position in the race improves, so do her chances of being the killer’s next target. As the mushers thread their way through the treacherous trails, Jessie and Jensen are drawn deep into the frozen heart of the perilous wild: where nature can kill as easily as a bullet and only the Arctic night can hear your final screams. “Engrossing . . . The howling winds, the snow, the ice, the dancing away from wolves, the crazing fatigue, the welcome heat and food, are almost palpable.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “Excellent . . . well-paced, well-conceived, engrossing . . . moves along like a healthy, well-trained dog team.” —The Anchorage Times “A book that will give you a feel for how the Iditarod is . . . Sue Henry has a genius for characterization, plot, and setting.” —Mystery News

When former journalist Jessica Hart returned home to the idyllic small town of Grace, Texas, she never expected to become a suspect in a murder investigation. Jessica Hart's life has taken a detour. Her journalism career in Houston came to a halt when she got laid off and her marriage failed soon after. A return to her hometown seemed to be just the thing to get her back on her feet. But, taking a job as a church receptionist was her only option. She began a lifestyle blog, Jess Sayin' and settled in to small town life.One year later, Jess was miserable at her job. That is until she got fired by the micromanaging church administrator, Sandra Dorian. Full of righteous indignation, Jess unleashed her fury in her blog. The next morning, the backlash against Jess was brutal. It seemed the whole town was against her. On New Year's Day, Sandra's body was found outside by the church wall with her skull crushed. Jess is the number one suspect. Now she has to find the real killer to clear her name and find out what's really going on. Along the way she will tangle with her lawyer ex-husband, her feisty great aunt, and a former Miss Texas. The ever growing list of suspects includes a suspicious groundskeeper, a quirky accountant, and Sandra's husband with a secret he wants to keep hidden. Before too long, there's another body found at the church. Can Jess crack the case before the killer cracks her in the head?

When former reality TV stars Georgia Thornton and her boyfriend, Scott, compete in a new show that takes them on an athletic journey across the countryside of Spain, the competition turns deadly when Scott disappears and a woman's body is found.

“For almost two decades, investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell doggedly pursued the Klansmen responsible for some of the most notorious murders of the civil rights movement. This book is his amazing story. Thanks to him, and to courageous prosecutors, witnesses, and FBI agents, justice finally prevailed.” —John Grisham, author of The Guardians On June 21, 1964, more than twenty Klansmen murdered three civil rights workers. The killings, in what would become known as the “Mississippi Burning” case, were among the most brazen acts of violence during the civil rights movement. And even though the killers’ identities, including the sheriff’s deputy, were an open secret, no one was charged with murder in the months and years that followed. It took forty-one years before the mastermind was brought to trial and finally convicted for the three innocent lives he took. If there is one man who helped pave the way for justice, it is investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell. In Race Against Time, Mitchell takes readers on the twisting, pulse-racing road that led to the reopening of four of the most infamous killings from the days of the civil rights movement, decades after the fact. His work played a central role in bringing killers to justice for the assassination of Medgar Evers, the firebombing of Vernon Dahmer, the 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham and the Mississippi Burning case. Mitchell reveals how he unearthed secret documents, found long-lost suspects and witnesses, building up evidence strong enough to take on the Klan. He takes us into every harrowing scene along the way, as when Mitchell goes into the lion’s den, meeting one-on-one with the very murderers he is seeking to catch. His efforts have put four leading Klansmen behind bars, years after they thought they had gotten away with murder. Race Against Time is an astonishing, courageous story capturing a historic race for justice, as the past is uncovered, clue by clue, and long-ignored evils are brought into the light. This is a landmark book and essential reading for all Americans.