Thanks again to everyone who bought Grifters’ Hopscotch or my other books during the official release. I’m at work plotting a new book now.

In the meantime, two mystery books I read last month. 

First off, The Lady Upstairs by Halley Sutton. This book is a noir psychological thriller. There are bad people and worse people, but there are no innocent people. The book is told in the first person, so we follow the protagonist Jo as she tries to scheme her way out of her problems and figure out her colleagues and her adversaries.

Jo works for a blackmail crew in Los Angeles that specializes in blackmailing powerful men who abuse women. Her part is recruiting and priming the young women they use to set up their prey. She’s in debt to her boss—the mysterious lady upstairs—when the job she’s planning to use to pay off her debt goes sideways. People die, the cops are involved, and Jo is scrambling to get out from under her problems and make the big score she’s always hoped for.

I figured out a key plot element ahead of time, but that didn’t stop the story from working toward a satisfying and unpredictable conclusion.

Second, All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby. I’ve read three of his books, all excellent, stand-alone thrillers. On this outing, a Black sheriff in a rural Virginia county uncovers a serial killer while investigating a murder at the local high school.

I don’t want to spoil it. So let me just say there’re lots of local color, complicated race relations, and authentic detail here, as well as a complex plot that is at once surprising and completely believable. A real treat to read.

If you’re interested in giving Cosby a try, an earlier book, Blacktop Wasteland, is $2.99 US right now for the eBook. That’s the lowest price I’ve ever seen for this book.

Here’s the Amazon link:  https://www.amazon.com/Blacktop-Wasteland-Novel-Shawn-Cosby-ebook/dp/B07WCYQZ4Y/

Happy reading!