Some of these books I’ve listed are not very well known but I found them to be quite captivating reads! I am a huge crime buff and always have loved a good mystery. These are some books I have loved. One even has become a very popular television series from Showtime that I also enjoyed equally.
Let me know if I should do more Murder Monday post. What do you think? I could do murders in history, short-stories, and other book stuff involving and centered around this theme. I am also planning on doing an historical current events news real segment coming up very soon!
#1 — SHADOW MAN BY CODY MCFADYEN
I picked this book because honestly I do not think there has ever been such a thrilling crime book I have ever read than this one. Smoky Barrett is such a dynamic and unique main character. She is tragic, pitiful, sad, bad-ass, clever, and so easy for us to relate with. She works as an FBI agent and the struggle has been real. As Smokey slowly begins to take her life back and recover from tragedy. Is she ready to return to crime fighting?
McFadyen didn’t just create a perfect main character and hero, he wrote the ultimate villain as well. Honestly, it is the villain that makes this book captivate its readers and keep them on the edge of their seat with every word. This was a favorite. It is quite a twisting rollercoaster ride when Smokey and her team go about against none other than Jack the Ripper!
More accurately, they are up against a crazy madman who thinks he is the descent of that infamous serial killer and thinks Smokey is his worthy adversary. He leads her team on the most intense game of Russian Roulette ever played. Who will win this battle? I will leave that for you to discover!
Synopsis:
Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead but her life was shattered forever.
#2 — 1ST TO DIE BY JAMES PATTERSON
This is book number one in a massive series titled Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson and what is not to like? A bunch of murderous women embarking on fatal pastimes?… Just Kidding! The murder club isn’t exactly how it sounds like at all.
The women’s murder club surrounds itself around a detective, a medical examiner, and various women in law enforcement of some sort. It is quite an attention grabbing series in its own unique way. I highly recommend reading the series especially if you enjoy Patterson’s Alex Cross books. They have the same feel but very different!
As a reader, I really fell in love with Lyndsey and her colleagues. These women are unique and strong willed ladies with determination to uphold justice and do what is right. Catching the bad guy is very important and always a must. They go through so much!
Synopsis:
Each one holds a piece of the puzzle: Lindsay Boxer is a homicide inspector in the San Francisco Police Department, Claire Washburn is a medical examiner, Jill Bernhardt is an assistant D.A., and Cindy Thomas just started working the crime desk of the San Francisco Chronicle.
#3 — WHITE OLEANDER BY JANET FITCH
This book was particularly difficult to add to my Murder Monday list simply because it is not exactly like the others. Janet Fitch weaves the tale of what happens to a young girl after her mother poisons an ex-boyfriend in a crime of passion. The girl faces tragedy, hardship, upheaval, and disappointment at a consistent rate while her mother is imprisoned rightly so for her crimes. I picked it to add to my list because it is one of my favorite books that show the burdens carried and lives affected by the choices of their loved ones. Children of murderers are all too often an overlooked victim of the horrible deeds committed by their parents.
Synopsis:
White Oleander tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes-each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned-becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.
#4 – IF YOU REALLY LOVED ME BY ANNE RULE
This was one of the first books I thought of when I decided to write this post. It is so very cruel and twisted but at the same time really expresses a realism I have never seen in a book before. It shows everything truly dark in the human soul. It captures how greed and lust are very much a deadly sin. The book had my attention from the first sentence and I do not believe I put it down until the end. The story plays and acts upon every emotion a human could possibly have. It is at the very top of my recommend list for those who love a good crime detective story. This will not be the first nor the last Anne Rule book readers will find me suggesting here on the blog. She is truly an under appreciated but vastly talented author!
Synopsis:
David Brown was the consummate entrepreneur: a computer wizard and millionaire by age thirty-two. When his beautiful young wife was shot to death as she slept, Brown’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Cinnamon, confessed to killing her stepmother. The California courts sentenced her harshly: twenty-four years to life. But in the wake of Cinnamon’s murder conviction, thanks in part to two determined lawmen, the twisted private world of David Brown himself unfolded with astonishing clarity — revealing a trail of perverse love, twisted secrets, and evil mind games.
I apologize for making reference to this series twice. I mention Dexter in my Top 5 Books I am Embarrassed To Love post. The simple fact of the matter is one cannot discuss books on murder without including the ultimate serial killer. Dexter is that serial killer everyone wants to cheer on. I know kind of twisted right? I simply love the book series and television show portraying this killer. I know it sounds like madness to love a character such as Dexter but I only speak truth. The books are worth reading!
Synopsis:
Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He’s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened–of himself or some other fiend.
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oh this is perfect timing, I was just looking for the next good thriller to read! Thanks for the great suggestions 🙂
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