Vol 5 Issue 2
In this issue, I’m recommending the latest novel in the highly rated Ballard and Bosch series, Michael Connelly’s The Waiting. In addition, I’m including two novels by authors, lesser known than Connelly but well worth adding to your reading list.
Recommendations
The Waiting by Michael Connelly
This novel, released in 2024, is the sixth book in the Ballard and Bosch series.
Renée Ballard, head of the Open-Unsolved Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, investigates a DNA link between a recently arrested twenty-five-year-old man and a serial rapist. The genetic evidence indicates the man’s father is the rapist, who terrified the city decades earlier and still eludes the police. However, identifying the rapist proves difficult due to legal roadblocks and closely held family secrets.
At the same time, Ballard has her ID, badge and gun stolen from her car, leaving her career in a precarious position. She pursues the burglar on her own until dangerous complications lead her to seek help from now retired Harry Bosch.
Definitely a must read for fans of one of the best crime novels working today. Connelly is the author of thirty-eight novels, including the Bosch, Ballard and Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer series. He has won every major award honoring crime fiction writers.
The Far Empty by J. Todd Scott
The Far Empty introduces us to Chris Cherry, a new deputy sheriff, who recently returned to the Texas border town where he grew up.
When skeletal remains are recovered in the stark wasteland surrounding the town, Cherry investigates the death as a murder. He quickly learns the total control his boss, Sheriff Ross, has over him, the department and the town.
While solving the murder, Cherry confronts violence, lawlessness and corruption. The Far Empty is a dark, gritty novel that paints a vivid picture of the realities of living and surviving in a Texas town bordering Mexico.
Hope to Die by Cara Hunter
This novel, released in 2024, is the sixth in a series of police procedurals set in Oxford, England. It is a best-selling crime series in Britain.
DI Adam Fawley investigates a shooting death at a farm whose elderly owners claim self-defense. But, to Fawley, the evidence doesn’t back up their claim.
As his team digs deeper, they discover a link to an infant’s murder that captured widespread media attention years before.
In Hope to Die, Fawley’s team must match wits with Camilla Rowan, imprisoned for the murder of her infant son, but who still insists she didn’t kill him.
The novel is told through multiple viewpoints, news reports, investigators notes and letters, all of which mirror an authentic police investigation. Hunter handles the complex unfolding of the story with skill as the police uncover new facts that lead to more unanswered questions. Still, the plot continually moves forward with unexpected twists. All of which engages the reader until the dramatic conclusion. The seventh novel in the Fawley series is scheduled for release this May.
Feedback Welcomed
Please email me with your feedback whenever you read any of my recommendations. I’ll share your thoughts with our other subscribers. And watch for my next newsletter in March.
About Chris
Chris Quarembo is an award-winning former newspaper reporter. Her debut novel Killer Deals won an Independent Publisher Award for Excellence in 2024. Her short stories in the crime and mystery genre are available on Amazon. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Brandywine Valley Writers Group. Her website is chrisquarembo.com.
“Reading brings us unknown friends” – Honore de Balzac
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