investigation

"Summer 1958. A gruesome killer plagues the Midwest, leaving behind a trail of bodies completely drained of blood"--Provided by publisher.

Clare Cassidy gets involved with a murder case when her closest friends get murdered with the only evidence being a line from her favorite book. Not knowing who to trust, she turns to her closest confident, her diary. But when she notices writing that isn't hers, Clare is certain that her favorite book has come to life.

"It's 1880, and in the frigid city of Stockholm, death lurks around every corner. Twelve-year-old Mika knows that everyone in her orphanage will struggle to survive this winter. But at least the notorious serial killer the Night Raven is finally off the streets...or is he? Mika is shocked when a newborn baby is left at the orphanage in the middle of the night, by a boy with a cryptic message. Who is he? And who is this 'Dark Angel' he speaks of? When a detective shows up, Mika senses something even more sinister is going on. Drawn in by Mika's unique ability to notice small details--a skill Mika has always used to survive--the gruff Detective Hoff unwittingly recruits her to help him with his investigation into a gruesome murder. Mika knows she should stay far, far away, and yet...with such little hope for her future, could this be an opportunity? Maybe, just maybe, this is Mika's chance to be someone who matters"--From the publisher's web site.

"Old Town's midsummer festivities are getting a tasty addition this year. To coincide with a public performance of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Bobbie Sue Bodoin, the Queen of Cheesecake, has hired Sophie to organize a dinner with a dessert buffet on the waterfront. Bobbie Sue's homegrown company is thriving, and since her baking dish overfloweth, she wants to reward her employees. Bobbie Sue has only one menu demand: no cheesecake! But her specialty isn't the only thing missing from the evening-Tate, Bobbie Sue's husband, is too, much to her annoyance. Next morning, however, Tate's dead body is discovered. Bobbie Sue insists she didn't kick her spouse to the curb, and begs for Sophie's help finding the real killer. Digging in, Sophie discovers an assortment of Old Town locals who all had reason to want a piece of Tate. Can she gather together the crumbs the killer left behind in time to prevent a second helping of murder?"--.

When a deputy asks for help with a wedding proposal and a man connected to his future wife is found dead, Nora Pennington and her fellow readers investigate the connection to the woman's past and the secret she is hiding from everyone.

'"When frantic, disheveled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn't know quite what to make of the situation. The cocreator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart,' Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie's true identity. Robin decides that the agency can't help with this--and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart. Robin and her business partner, Cormoran Strike, become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie's true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches their powers of deduction to the limits--and which threatens them in new and horrifying ways . . ."--Dust jacket.

When Detective Lauren Medina sees the calling card at a murder scene in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood, she knows the Pied Piper has returned. When another teenager is brutally murdered at the same lagoon where her sister's body was found floating years before, she is certain that the Pied Piper is not just back, he's looking for payment he's owed from her. Lauren's torn between protecting the city she has sworn to keep safe, and keeping a promise she made long ago with her sister's murderer. She may have to ruin her life by exposing her secrets and lies to stop the Pied Piper before he collects.

Once an NYPD cop, then a private investigator, Jane Smith is now an undefeated defense attorney who's steering a client possibly responsible for multiple murders through a headlines-making trial. She's confident and newly in love, but there are problems: she's facing a terminal diagnosis with just 14 months to live--and someone is trying to kill her.

"Detective Lindsay Boxer put serial killer Evan Burke in jail. Reporter Cindy Thomas wrote a book that put him on the bestseller list. An obsessed maniac has turned Burke's true-crime story into a playbook. And is embellishing it with gruesome touches all his own. Now Lindsay's tracking an elusive suspect, and the entire Murder Club is facing destruction"--Provided by publisher.

Alberto is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, living in New York City, and is now suspected of a terrible crime; his friend Grace is a top student with every advantage, and she is determined to prove Alberto's innocence.