Delusion by James Patterson and James O. Born

 Detective Michael Bennett investigates a series of bombings in NYC.

This was one of the better books from the Patterson factory.

4 stars.

The Lost Summer by Wendy Corsi Staub

 Three teenage friends agree not to tell when a fourth friend wants to disappear from her family.  They spend years wondering if she is alive and well, or whatever happened to her.  When the grown women meet up years later, the truth is revealed.

4 stars.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

 A portrait of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain growing up with an absentee father and an alcoholic mother.  Very sad.

Never would have picked this up based on the title.  It was part of a Goodreads challenge.

4 stars.

A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz

 Hawthorne investigates when an actor is murdered on the set of a movie based on one of his books.  He and Horowitz discover the actor had many enemies, but which was mad enough to kill him.

4 stars.

Served Him Right by Lisa Unger

 Ana Blackwell is accused of poisoning her ex-boyfriend.  She tries to uncover the truth as the police and The Cove pursue her.

4 stars.

26 Beauties by James Patterson

 Women's Murder Club members Lindsay Box and Cindy Thomas investigate a possible human trafficking ring.

4 stars.

First Do No Harm by S. J. Rozan

 Bill Smith and Lydia Chin are private eyes retained by a lawyer to look into the murder her client has been charged with.

I forgot about this series and happily stumbled upon it in the library new books section.

4 stars.

Two Kinds of Stranger by Steve Cavanagh

Lawyer Eddie Flynn defends a young woman in a triple homicide case.  

4 stars.

The Mad Wife by Meagan Church

 1950's housewife's descent into "madness".  

I really enjoyed this novel.  Unreliable narrator is one of my favorite devices.

4 stars.

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

 Audio.  10.5 hours.

Duchess, 13, has to parent both her mother and her younger brother, Robin.  When her mother is murdered, Duchess and Robin are sent to live with an unknown grandfather who is also murdered, possibly by the same man?  

4 stars.

The Adjunct by Maria Adelmann

Audio.  10.5 hours.

Read by Suehyla El Attar-Young.

Sam is an adjunct professor at two Baltimore Colleges and still can't make ends meet.  I hope this is an exaggeration of life as an adjunct because it was a really sad story of how little they're paid after spending so much money to get a PhD.

4 stars.

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 Audio.  11 hours.

Read by Eunice Wong.

Vera Wong finds a distressed young woman outside the police station and brings her home for tea.  The woman confesses her friend Thomas is missing and Vera sets out to find him.

4 stars.

Judge Stone by Viola Davis and James Patterson

 In rural Alabama, a doctor is arrested for performing an abortion, now a felony since the Supreme Court overturned Roe.  Judge Mary Stone finds herself in the middle of a storm as protestors from around the south descend on her small town.

4 stars.

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

Audio.  14.5 hours.

Read by Edoardo Ballerini.

Patch saves a girl from being abducted, but then ends up being the one taken.  He spends a year locked away in the dark with a girl named Grace.  When they are rescued, Grace disappears and Patch spends years trying to find her.

This was a beautifully written story.  The only part I couldn't accept was why he made finding this girl his life's work.  It would have been 5 stars but for this.

4 stars.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 Audio.  10.75 hours.

Read by Eunice Wong.

When a dead body shows up in Vera's tea shop, she's intent on proving it was murder and finding the culprit.

4 stars.

It's Not Her by Mary Kubica

Two families go to a resort in the woods.  When one couple is murdered and their teenaged daughter goes missing the police (and the other mother) try to find the missing girl and the killer.

The first part was kind of dull, but it picked up at the end.

4 stars. 

The Invisible Woman by James Patterson and Susan DiLallo

 Former FBI agent, Elinor Gilbert, is recruited by her former boss to go undercover as a nanny for a suspected money launderer.

Quick read.  Very little gore.

4 stars.

Never Flinch by Stephen King

 Audio.  14.5 hours.

Read by Jessie Mueller.

P.I. Holly Gibney is back, this time acting as a bodyguard to a women's rights activist.  On the side, she's helping her detective friend, Izzy, work a serial killer case.

No supernatural stuff in this one, just plain old human evil.

4 stars.

Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon

 Disgraced and stripped of her medical license, Maggie McCabe, grieving the murder of her husband, agrees to fly to Russia to perform surgery on an oligarch and his mistress.

4 stars.

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

 A mother's disappearance has lasting effects on a family.  When the youngest child gets involved with drug dealers, his older brother must return home to Virginia from his prosperous life in Atlanta.  

I was surprised at how unflatteringly Black characters are portrayed by this Black author: drug dealing, drug using, adultery, murder, securities fraud.  

4 stars.