Award-winning Mystery Novels

BookPage Notable Title
2007 Kansas Notable Book
2006 Agatha Award for Best Novel
Some of the leading citizens of Small Plains, Kansas, are determined to keep the truth buried when a long-ago murder resurfaces with devastating and deadly consequences.

A terrible crime committed by two ten-year-old girls seven years ago continues to haunt everyone involved--especially now that the girls are about to be released. "A spine-tingler that resonates with torn-from-the-headlines immediacy."--"Washington Post."

2002 Agatha Award for Best Novel
From a winner of both the Anthony and Agatha awards comes the first mystery to feature a computer with a mind like Miss Marple and hardware that hides a suspiciously human heart.

2001 Agatha Award for Best Novel
From the creator of Constable Evan Evans comes the first novel in a delightful series set in 19th century New York, and featuring Irish sleuth Molly Murphy.

Judge Deborah Knott blows the lid off a murder investigation with gale force winds in this newest entry in the award-winning series. As Hurricane Fran strikes the North Carolina coast, Judge Knott seeks clues to a motel murder and a determined killer finds a perfect time to strike again.

1997 Agatha Award for Best Novel
The Regency dandy and amateur sleuth Julian Kestrel is back in his fourth mystery--and this time he confronts murder far from home in the sensuous, turbulent Italy of the 1820s.

2007 Edgar Award Winner - Best Novel
BookPage Notable Title
A tough new investigator is on the scene, and he happens to be a eunuch. Yashim Togula serves the sultan, who's troubled by a series of murders rocking the Ottoman Empire in the 1830s. Are the Janissaries, elite soldiers-turned-outcast troublemakers, about to return in force?

Winner - 2001 Edgar Awards
The talented voice of East Texas delivers a riveting, poignant, and suspenseful tale of a Depression-era serial murder seen through the eyes of a young boy.

Winner - 2000 Edgar Awards
Killer Nick Parrish says he'll lead authorities to the body of Judith Sayre--they will not demand the death sentence for his heinous crimes. But the criminal has no intention of spending his life behind bars--and he plans some deadly surprises.

2005 Anthony Award Winner for Best Novel
of the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award and the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, Krueger is a wholly original talent among mystery writers. Now, in a briskly paced novel that outstrips even its predecessors in its ability to ratchet up the suspense, Krueger takes readers back to Aurora, Minnesota, where the charismatic Cork O'Connor encounters his most baffling whodunit to date.

The third Aimee Leduc investigation is set in the historic Sentier district, where once-fashionable private mansions now house the Parisian "rag" trade and nightclubs. Members of a 1960s Red gang are seeking their hidden loot, which leads to new murders. Aimee fears the killers may include her long-lost mother.

After the waters of a reservoir are drained, the ruins of a small Yorkshire village are revealed, along with the bones of a young woman who was murdered at the end of World War II. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks must identify the victim and unmask a killer who has escaped detection for a half century.

Historian Jeremy Cobb is backpacking on the Appalachian Trail, attempting to retrace the tragic journey of eighteen-year-old Katie Wyler, who was captured by the Shawnee after the massacre of her pioneer family in Mitchell County, North Carolina. In late summer, Katie escaped from a Shawnee village on the banks of the Ohio, and followed the rivers through the wilderness to find her way home - a brave journey that ended in sorrow. Jeremy, a city-bred graduate student with no trail experience, is determined to complete his scholarly quest, unaware that his journey will be both a trial of hardships and a mystical experience. He does not know that the spirit of Katie Wyler is still seen wandering the hills, trying to get home. Mountain wise woman Nora Bonesteel sees her every autumn 'when the air is crisp and the light is slanted and the bird

In this mesmerizing work of crime fiction, an ex-member of The Guards--Ireland's police force--is approached in a Galway bar by a dazzling woman with a strange request and a rumor about his talent for finding things.

In this absorbing sequel to China Trade, Bill Smith is hired by an old friend to investigate the brutal killing of a young security guard on the Bronx Home for the Aged grounds. Going undercover, Smith wades out into a sea of violence and lies washing up against the old brick building. With the help of Chinese-American investigator Lydia Chin, Smith uncovers a web of corruption that's found a home in the Bronx. Martin's Press.

"Ken Bruen confirms his rightful place among the finest noir stylists of his generation. This is a remarkable book from a singular talent."
- "Publisher's Weekly "(starred review)
"Bruen is a brilliant, lyrical, deeply moving writer who can make you laugh and cry in the same paragraph and whose characters are so sharply portrayed that they almost walk off the page at you. If you like Ian Rankin, Dennis Lehane, Pelecanos, and the like, Bruen is definitely a writer to reckon with."
-"Denver Post"
"Bruen is an original, grimly hilarious and gloriously Irish. I await the further adventures of the incorrigible Jack Taylor."
-Patrick Anderson, "Washington Post"
"The next major new Irish voice we hear might well belong to Ken Bruen."
-"Chicago Tribune"

Rei Shimura is a half-American, half-Japanese antiques dealer who's all sleuth when it comes to crime. At her aunt's bidding, Rei signs up for a course in Japanese flower arranging, but before she's even finished her first lesson, one of her teachers is brutally murdered.

From the Edgar Award-winning author of The Red Scream. Kidnapped by religious fanatics, an Austin school bus driver and eleven of his young charges are held in their fortified compound for 46 days. As federal negotiators begin to lose hope, crime reporter Molly Cates sets out to discover everything she can about the cult's iron-willed leader.