By James Patterson
Series Women's Murder Club
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

Four women—a police detective, an assistant D.A., a reporter, and a medical examiner who call themselves the Women’s Murder Club—develop lifelong bonds as they pursue a killer whose twisted imagination has stunned an entire city.

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This story, the first of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, includes an explanation of how Watson and Holmes come to share rooms at 221B Baker Street, and an introduction of Scotland Yard detectives Gregson and Lestrade.

Became the TV shows: Elementary, Sherlock, and more shows titles Sherlock.

By Adrian Raine

A criminologist who specializes in the neurological and biosocial bases of antisocial and violent behavior explains how impairments to areas of the brain that control fear, decision-making, and empathy can increase the likelihood of criminal activity.

Is becoming the TV show: The Anatomy of Violence.

By Liane Moriarty
Recommended By Rosalia White, Library Clerk, Lisa V., Library Clerk, Lisa H., Readers' Services Librarian, Jackie, Head of Readers' Services, Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager, Brenda Cherry, Reference Librarian

An annual school Trivia Night ends in a disastrous riot leaving one parent dead in what appears to be a tragic accident, but evidence shows it might have been premeditated.

By Nelson Johnson

Examines the political rivalries and corrupt practices which led to the creation of Atlantic City, from it beginnings as a quiet beach town to its rise as thriving and lawless city during the Prohibition era to its establishment as a gambling and entertainment mecca.

Became the TV show: Boardwalk Empire.

By Stephen King

A rookie newspaperwoman learns the true meaning of mystery when she investigates a twenty-five-year-old unsolved and very strange case involving a dead man found on an island off the coast of Maine.

Became the TV show: Haven.

By Jeff Lindsay
Series Dexter
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager

“Hiding a secret life as an assassin while working as a murder analyst for the Miami police, Dexter Morgan is intrigued by the work of a new serial killer whose style mimics his own (From the Publisher).”

Became the TV show: Dexter.

By Charlaine Harris
Series Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires Novels
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager

After witnessing the firebombing of the bar where she works, clairvoyant Sookie Stackhouse has her attention diverted when she realizes her vampire lover, Eric Northman, and his "child," Pam, are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master.

By Stephen King

After four and a half years in a coma, Johnny Smith awakens with a knowledge of the death zone and an ability to see the future, a horrible power that he does not want and cannot escape.

Became the TV show: The Dead Zone.

By Bram Stoker

Having discovered the double identity of the wealthy Transylvanian nobleman, Count Dracula, a small group of people vow to rid the world of the evil vampire.

By Jim Butcher

A modern-day mage and consultant to the police finds his stale life suddenly enlivened by the presence of a rival.

Became the TV show: The Dresden Files.

By Chris Bohjalian
Recommended By John Shea, Library Page, Pam Martin, Assistant Library Director

A binge-drinking flight attendant wakes up in an unfamiliar hotel room beside a dead body and sneaks back to her work, telling a series of lies that complicate her ability to figure out what really happened.

By John Galsworthy

This begins the famous saga of a British upper-middle class family, the family patriarch Soames, artist Jolyon, the alluring Irene and others.

By Eddie Huang
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager

A Taiwanese-American rebel restaurateur chronicles his rise to success from his difficult childhood in the American South to his turn as a drug dealer who embraced rap culture and more.

By H.G. Bissinger
Recommended By Kalpana Mehta, Reference Librarian

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bissinger tells of the year he spent 1988 in Odessa, Tex., a town obsessed with its champion high–school football team, the Permian Panthers.

Became the movie: Friday Night Lights and TV show: Friday Night Lights.

By Charlaine Harris
Series Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager

After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina, and the manmade horror of the explosion at the vampire summit, Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, yearning for things to get back to normal. But her boyfriend Quinn is among the missing. And things are changing, whether the Weres and vamps in her corner of Louisiana like it or not. In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death...and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood ceases flowing, her world will be forever altered...

By Charles Dickens
Recommended By Sonia Grgas, Reference Librarian

A young orphan, Pip, receives a fortune from a mysterious benefactor and travels to London in order to become a gentleman.

By Margaret Atwood
Recommended By Jessikah Chautin, Community Engagement Specialist, Meghan F., Children's Services Librarian

A look at the near future presents the story of Offred, a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, once the United States, an oppressive world where women are no longer allowed to read and are valued only as long as they are viable for reproduction.

By Michael Connelly

These intricately plotted and gritty mysteries feature Harry Bosch, an anti–establishment LAPD detective who routinely flouts the authority of his superiors, who (to be fair) are often corrupt or making questionable choices. These stand–alone police procedurals are character–driven and psychologically astute, giving readers great insight into Bosch’s inner world.

By Brian McGreevy

In the wake of a young girl's brutal murder in the woods near an abandoned Pennsylvania steel mill, suspicions surround an escapee from a local biotech facility, a cold-blooded aristocrat and young gypsy who claims to be a werewolf, two of whom reluctantly team up to prove their innocence.

By Agatha Christie

There has been a murder at Styles Court. Detective Poirot comes out of retirement to solve who would want the rich heiress Inglethorp dead, and would have the impudence to poison her. The jagged plot turns keep Poirot - and the reader - guessing as suspicion shifts from one peculiar character to the next. In Agatha Christie's first published work, the reader meets Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, destined to become the central detective of her mystery novels.

By Eric L. Haney

Eric Haney, one of the founding members of Delta Force, provides an inside look at the elite counterterrorist unit, explaining the process by which men are selected for the unit, and telling of his personal experiences with Delta Force in Beirut, Tehran, Honduras, and other hot spots throughtout the world.

Became the TV show: The Unit.

By Bernard Cornwell
Series Saxon Stories
Recommended By Ralph Guiteau, Readers' Services Librarian

Captured and raised by Danes in the ninth century, dispossessed nobleman Uhtred witnesses the unexpected defeat of his adoptive Viking clan by Alfred of Wessex and longs to recover his father's land. 1st book in the Saxon Tales series.

By Celeste Ng
Recommended By Lisa H., Readers' Services Librarian, Jackie, Head of Readers' Services

Tuesday, November 26, 2019. 1PM.

When a custody battle divides her placid town, straitlaced family woman Elena Richardson finds herself pitted against her enigmatic tenant and becomes obsessed with exposing her past, only to trigger devastating consequences for both families.

By Louisa May Alcott
Recommended By Meghan F., Children's Services Librarian

Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young women in mid-nineteenth-century New England. 

By Joe Hill

The story of Keyhouse, a New England mansion, with doors that transform all who walk through them…and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it opens the most terrible door of all.

By Lev Grossman
Recommended By Jessikah Chautin, Community Engagement Specialist
With Jackie Ranaldo, Head of Readers' Services

Monday, May 2, 2011. 7 PM.

"A thrilling and original coming–of– age novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world. Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he's still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery. At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly moves into uncharted literary territory, imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions. Lev Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren't black and white and power comes at a terrible price (From the Publisher)."

By George Eliot
Recommended By Brenda Cherry, Reference Librarian

St. Ogg, a small town, is the main setting for the difficult relations of a brother and sister, once closely tied, and an unworthy lover.

Became the movie: The Mill on the Floss

By Agatha Christie

Miss Jane Marple, spinster sleuth extraordinaire, is introduced in this first mystery to feature her brilliant talents. Here she must use all her intuitive powers to solve the murder of the detested Colonel Protheroe when he is found shot in the local vicar's study.

Became the TV show: Miss Marple.

By Sanjay Gupta

At Chelsea General, surgeons answer for bad outcomes at the Morbidity and Mortality conference, known as M & M. This peek behind the curtain into what is considered the most secretive meeting in all of medicine is the backdrop for this story.

By Tom Perrotta
Recommended By Pam Martin, Assistant Library Director

After her only child leaves for college, Eve struggles to adjust to her empty nest until she receives a message from a secret admirer and becomes obsessed with a fantasy porn site for women.

By Alexander McCall Smith

Boldly going where no woman has gone before, Precious Ramotswe is the very first female private detective in all of Botswana. Tactful, effective, and insightful detecting comes naturally to this very independent woman in this highly entertaining humorous cozy mystery series.

By Evelyn Waugh
Series Sword of Honor Trilogy

Fueled by idealism and eagerness to contribute to the war effort, Guy Crouchback becomes attached to a commando unit undergoing training on the Hebridean isle of Mugg, where the whisky flows freely and respect must be paid to the laird. But the comedy of Mugg is soon followed by the bitterness of Crete, where chaos reigns and a difficult evacuation must be accomplished.

By Jane Austen

In early nineteenth-century England, a spirited young woman copes with the suit of a snobbish gentleman, as well as the romantic entanglements of her four sisters.

By Muriel Spark

A teacher at a girl's school in Edinburgh during the 1930s comes into conflict with school authorities because of her unorthodox teaching methods.

By Elmore Leonard

Harry Arno, a profit-skimming Miami bookie who wants to retire to the Italian Riviera, becomes the fall guy in an FBI sting and is suddenly on an intercontinental run from lawmen and gangsters alike.

Became the TV show: Justified.

By Thomas Harris
Series Hannibal Lecter Novels
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager

Will Graham's unusual, fearful ability to project himself into the minds of psychopaths puts him on the trail of Francis Dolorhyde, whose bizarre and bloody murders of two suburban families have been triggered by his viewing of a William Blake watercolor.

Became the movie: Red Dragon and the TV show: Hannibal.

By Tess Gerritsen

Combining the police procedural and the forensic medical thriller, these gritty mysteries feature a homicide detective and a forensic pathologist who use their intelligence and intuition to solve crimes. The flawed, feisty women find themselves in dangerous situations as they track down twisted serial killers. The gory descriptions of forensics and the graphic violence add to the pulse pounding suspense.

By David Baldacci

When discredited Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell notice similarities between the two cases that left them both discredited, they decide to team up as prviate investigators, determined to fight crime in these suspenseful and action-packed series.

Became the TV show: King & Maxwell.

By Candace Bushnell

Presents a collection of essays selected from the author's column in the New York Observer, concerning the interpersonal relationships of the "young and beautiful" residents of New York City.

By Justin Halpern

Tuesdays with Morrie meets F My Life in this hilarious coming-of-age book about a son's relationship with his foul-mouthed father by the 29-year-old comedy writer who created the massively popular Twitter feed of the same name.

By Lindy West

The Guardian columnist and This American Life social commentator presents a series of essays about the qualities of a comedic feminist and her experiences of coming of age in a popular culture that is hostile to plus-sized women who speak their minds.

By George R.R. Martin

The kingdom of the royal Stark family faces its ultimate challenge in the onset of a generation-long winter.

Became the TV show: Game of Thrones.

By Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana with a crush on a "bad boy" vampire.

Became the TV show: True Blood.

By George R. R. Martin
Series A Song of Ice and Fire Series
Recommended By Meghan F., Children's Services Librarian

The three surviving contenders for the throne of the Seven Kingdoms continue to struggle among themselves, Robb Stark defends his kingdom from the Greyjoys, Jon Snow confronts an escalating threat, and Danerys Stormborn and her dragon allies continue to grow in power.

By Terry Goodkind

In this epic fantasy series, Richard Cypher’s simple life as a wood guide is forever changed when he is appointed Seeker of Truth by his grandfather Zed who is a wizard. Together with Cypher’s life interest Kahlan Amnell they seek to protect their world from any oppressors and evil.

Became the TV show: The Legend of the Seeker.

By Kathy Reichs

Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan splits her time between teaching at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and using forensics to solve brutal and gruesome crimes. Definitely not squeamish, Brennan uses everything she can find – from forensic science to old fashioned sleuthing.

Became the TV show: Bones.

By Charlaine Harris
Series Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires Novels
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager

A collection of every short story featuring Sookie Stackhouse, the telepathic waitress heroine of the "Southern Vampire" novels, includes "Fairy Dust," "One Word Answer," and "Dracula Night."

By Robert Louis Stevenson
Recommended By Meghan F., Children's Services Librarian

While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads to a pirate fortune as well as great danger. Portrayal of good versus evil, as the young boy accompanies Long John Silver and his band of pirates in search of the buried treasure.

By Stephen King

After an invisible force field seals off Chester Mills, Maine, from the rest of the world, it is up to Dale Barbara, an Iraq veteran, and a select group of citizens to save the town, if they can get past Big Jim Rennie, a murderous politician, and his son, who hides a horrible secret in his dark pantry.

Became the TV show: Under the Dome.