Book Reviewer and Author Carole Barrowman is sharing her slam dunk reads for March
1. Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano (Minotaur)
If you prefer your mysteries breezy rather than brutal then this quirky rom-com mystery is for you. Finlay and an unpredictable cast of characters take a road trip to Atlantic City to rescue a friend who’s been kidnapped by a loan shark. Of course, nothing goes as planned and that’s the big delight of this book. Take this trip with Finlay.
2. A Man Downstairs by Nicole Lundrigan (Viking)
The title of this twisty psychological thriller is the phrase young Molly gave in her testimony about her mom’s murder decades ago: “[t]here’s a man downstairs…” Now, as an adult, the trauma still haunts Molly. When she becomes the target of harassment, she unpacks her past and realizes her memories may be all wrong.
3. What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan (Morrow)
What happened to Nina is the provocative question that drives this “Pretty Little Lies- type” of mystery. Nina and Simon appear to be the perfect couple. After a weekend at Simon’s family’s lake house, Simon comes home. Nina does not. The novel shifts among the points of view of Nina’s family desperately searching for their daughter and Simon’s family desperately defending their son. This is one of my favorite mysteries of the year so far.