Jess Lourey is the author of the Lefty-nominated Murder-by-Month mysteries set in Battle Lake, Minnesota, and featuring amateur sleuth Mira James. Jess has been teaching writing and sociology at the college level since 1998. When not raising her wonderful kids, teaching, or writing, you can find her gardening, traveling, and navigating the niceties and meanities of small-town life. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, The Loft, and Lake Superior Writers, and serves on the national board of the Mystery Writers of America. Jess resides in Minnesota.
Close Range (2024) (Kate Fox Mystery, book 9) Shannon Baker "...a character to follow anywhere."
Echo Road (2024) Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh "Elliot and Leigh bring their formidable talents to this addictive thriller, their voices blending seamlessly to create a provocative page-turner with heart. Suspense readers have won the lottery with this one!"
In a Dark Mirror (2024) Kat Davis "In a Dark Mirror is a riveting, unsettling thriller that sticks to your bones. There are hints of Megan Abbott in the way Davis writes the lush, obsessive beats of girlhood, but this story has a rhythm and a twist all its own. I couldn't put it down."
Follow Her Down (2024) Victoria Helen Stone "Follow Her Down is compulsively readable and surprisingly moving - with a twist that knocked me off my seat. This one will burrow deep into your muscle."
Lost to Dune Road (2024) Kara Thomas "I enjoyed Lost to Dune Road from the first page until the last. The voice is snappy, the plot deliciously twisted, the characters complex, and the ending deeply satisfying. Bonus? It has one of the best opening sentences in recent history."
Hurt for Me (2024) Heather Levy "Levy's latest grips you by the throat from page one and never lets up. It's a riveting, sexy, twisty mystery full of beautiful writing and characters you can't help but care about."
The Great Gimmelmans (2023) Lee Matthew Goldberg "The Great Gimmelmans had me laughing out loud one minute, tears in my eyes the next. If you like your redemption stories moving, deeply funny, and with a delicious side of 80s references, then it doesn't get any better than this. I loved it."
These Still Black Waters (2023) (Jess Lambert, book 1) Christina McDonald "These Still Black Waters has it all: electric writing, complex characters, a touch of the supernatural, and whiplash twists guaranteed to keep you up long past your bedtime."
Malibu Burning (2023) (Sharpe & Walker, book 1) Lee Goldberg "Malibu Burning is classic Lee Goldberg at the top of his game: a fast-paced, funny, and deeply satisfying page-turner."
What Never Happened (2023) Rachel Howzell Hall "In What Never Happened, Rachel Howzell Hall seamlessly weaves together the past and the present, decorating her breakneck plot with dark secrets and unexpected reveals that glitter like jewels. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough."
To Catch a Storm (2023) Mindy Mejia "Clear your calendar and find a comfortable chair because you won't want to stop once you start reading this character-driven thriller! It's got it all: a twisty plot, original and complex characters, and an immersive setting that drops you into the center of the action. To Catch a Storm is absolutely riveting."
Hide (2023) (Detective Harriet Foster, book 1) Tracy Clark "Hide is an astonishing crime novel that broke my heart and then sewed it back together again, stronger than before. It hits all the right notes - a captivating protagonist up against a nightmarish serial killer, their hunt played out across a Chicago so immersive, so flawlessly rendered, that you can hear your own footsteps slapping the streets - while managing to create something completely unique. One of the best books I've read in years."
The Blue Bar (2023) (Blue Mumbai, book 1) Damyanti Biswas "The Blue Bar is one of those books that tattoos itself onto your bones - the luscious language, the glorious sense of place, a mystery that draws you in deep, so deep that you forget there's a world around you. Best of all is Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput, the tender, lionhearted man at the story's center who will stop at nothing to see that justice is done. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time."
Anywhere You Run (2022) Wanda M Morris "Anywhere You Run is a gripping crime novel centered around a cat-and-mouse chase featuring characters I came to love. It's also a riveting, moving, and deeply American story about the strength of sisters and the power of redemption. I couldn't put this one down."
For You (2022) Mike McCrary "McCrary delivers... gorgeous prose kept me up, turning pages, late into the night."
Kismet (2022) Amina Akhtar "The twists just keep coming in Kismet, Amina Akhtar's dark and delicious thriller. I can't imagine a better companion around these nail-biting curves than the novel's protagonist, Ronnie Khan, who is wide eyed yet smarter than she lets on, naive yet world weary. In a nutshell: she's the perfect heroine. I'd follow her anywhere."
Pay Dirt Road (2022) (Annie McIntyre Mystery, book 1) Samantha Jayne Allen "It's no mystery why Pay Dirt Road won the Tony Hillerman Prize for best debut novel: its heroine, Annie McIntyre, is smart and complex, the family and small-town dynamics are richly layered, and the evocative language drops you directly into the gritty Southwest. Samantha Jayne Allen is a writer to watch."
The Patient's Secret (2022) Loreth Anne White "The Patient's Secret is a must-read for fans of true crime-inspired fiction. It's so tightly plotted, the characters so fascinating, and the shocking secrets so expertly revealed that you won't be able to put it down."
The Receptionist (2021) Kate Myles "The Receptionist is compulsively readable and deliciously disturbing, perfect for readers who enjoyed Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects. Myles has written a genuinely unnerving thriller that I couldn’t put down."
A Familiar Sight (2021) (Dr. Gretchen White, book 1) Brianna Labuskes "A Familiar Sight has everything I crave in a thriller: a shocking, addictive female lead, unexpected twists that snapped off the page, and an ending that made me gasp out loud. I never saw it coming, but it was perfectly in sync with the razor-sharp balance between creepy and compelling that Labuskes carries throughout the novel. This is a one-sitting read."
Loss Lake (2020) Amber Cowie "With Loss Lake, Amber Cowie spins a web of unraveling family secrets, taut danger, and tragic love. Perfect for readers who like their suspense both eerie and atmospheric."
Girls of Brackenhill (2020) Kate Moretti "This spine-chilling thriller has everything: mystery, a haunted castle, a dash of romance, and such glorious writing that the pages seem to turn themselves. The heart of the book, though, is Hannah, a strong and complex protagonist whose secrets are masterfully, agonizingly revealed until they reach a mind-bending crescendo. The only problem? You’ll have to read this one with the lights on."
The Southland (2020) Johnny Shaw "Urgent, compulsively readable crime fiction that never takes the easy way out. While it's both a gripping page turner and a deft examination of justice and what it means to belong, it's the three complex women at the heart of this novel that make it unputdownable. I'll be thinking about Luz, Nadia, and Ostelinda for a long time."
The Monsters We Make (2020) Kali White "The Monsters We Make, inspired by true events and snapping with suspense, is a gripping novel, evocative of a time and place that should have been safe but was not. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough."
The Jean Harlow Bombshell (2019) (Charlotte Donovan Mystery, book 1) Mollie Cox Bryan "The Jean Harlow Bombshell is a page-turner, a modern whodunit threaded with Golden Age Hollywood glamour. Its protagonist, Charlotte Donovan, is a sleuth for our times, flawed, bright, and eminently relatable. Factor in the delicious elements of romance, friendship, and family, and you have a mystery as captivating as Jean Harlow's (still missing) star sapphire ring."
Scot Free (2018) (Last Ditch Mystery, book 1) Catriona McPherson "McPherson gives the fish-out-of-water theme a hilarious and original spin with Lexy Campbell, a Scottish therapist who falls for and marries a sexy California dentist who turns out to be more horndog than hero. Throw in a sweet old lady accused of blowing up her pyrotechnic husband and a hilariously bumbling supporting cast, and you have the perfect comic caper. Lexy is my new favorite unwitting detective and her cultural observations and mistakes are laugh-out-loud funny. Scot Free is a little sexy and a lot funny, with a heart and a bang."
