Archives de catégorie : Crime & Thrillers

A LONG STRETCH OF BAD DAYS de Mindy McGinnis

Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a thrilling and gripping YA mystery about two teen girls who start a podcast investigating an infamous series of events from their small town’s past, setting in motion an unraveling of secrets that someone will stop at nothing to keep buried.

A LONG STRETCH OF BAD DAYS
by Mindy McGinnis
‎ Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, March 2023

Lydia Chass doesn’t mind living in a small town; she just doesn’t want to die in one. A lifetime of hard work has put her on track to attend a prestigious journalism program and leave Henley behind until a school error leaves her a credit short of graduating. Undeterred, Lydia has a plan to earn that credit: transform her listener friendly local history podcast into a hard hitting, truth telling expose. She’ll investigate the Long Stretch of Bad Days a week when Henley was hit by a tornado, a flash food, as well as its first and only murder, which remains unsolved. But Lydia needs help to bring grit to the show. Bristal Jamison has a bad reputation and a foul mouth, but she also needs a credit to graduate. The unexpected partnership brings together the Chass family name a pillar in the community and the rough and tumble Jamison’s, of whom Bristal hopes to be the first to graduate. Together, they dig into the town’s worst week, determined to solve the murder. Their investigation unearths buried secrets;a hidden brothel, lost family treasure, and a teen girl that disappeared. But the past is never far, and some don’t want it to see the light. As threats escalate, the girls have to uncover the truth before the dark history of Henley catches up with them.

Mindy McGinnis is the author of several young adult novels, including The Initial Insult, Heroine, The Female of the Species, and A Madness So Discreet, winner of the Edgar Award. She writes across multiple genres, including postapocalyptic, historical, thriller, contemporary, mystery, and fantasy. While her settings may change, you can always count on her books to deliver grit, truth, and an unflinching look at humanity and the world around us. Mindy lives in Ohio.

WAR OF THE WIND de Victoria Williamson

A middle grade eco-thriller that offers delightfully diverse disability representation.

WAR OF THE WIND
by Victoria Williamson
‎ Neem Tree Press, September 2022
Ages 10-12
(via Randle Editorial & Literary)

On a remote Scottish island, fourteen-year-old Max’s life changes forever when he loses his hearing in a boating accident. Struggling to make sense of his new life and resenting having to attend the ‘special class’ at his local high school, he begins to notice strange changes that take place when a new wind farm appears off the island’s coast.
Soon it becomes clear the islanders are acting odd. In a few short weeks they become irritable, bad tempered and unpredictable. As the strange behaviour spreads to the children, acts of violence threaten to tear the community apart.
Unaffected by the changes due to his hearing loss, Max discovers that a sinister scientist, Doctor Ashwood, and the government are using the wind turbines to test a new sound-wave weapon on the island population. With the help of three school friends with additional support needs, Max must find a way to shut down the wind farm’s signals and stop Doctor Ashwood’s plan before the out-of-control experiment has tragic consequences.

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning children’s author who grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, Williamson set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching math’s and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria is a qualified primary school teacher with a degree in Mandarin Chinese from Yunnan University and a Master’s degree in Special Needs in Education. She is passionate about creating inclusive worlds in her novels where all children can see a reflection of themselves in a heroic role.

DIG TWO GRAVES de Gretchen McNeil

One of Us is Lying meets Hitchcock in this novel from celebrated author of the #MurderTrending series, Gretchen McNeil. In a twisted game of cat and mouse, the reader never quite knows who’s telling the truth, who’s playing games, and who is going to end up dead.

DIG TWO GRAVES
by Gretchen McNeil
‎ Disney-Hyperion, April 2022
(via Kaplan DeFiore Rights)

I did my part, BFF. Now it’s your turn. Seventeen-year-old film noir fan Neve Lanier is a girl who just wants to be seen, but doesn’t really fit in anywhere. When Neve is betrayed by her best friend, Yasmin, at the end of the school year, she heads off to a girl’s empowerment camp feeling like no one will ever love her again. So when she grabs the attention of the beautiful, charismatic Diane, she falls right under her spell, and may accidentally promise to murder Diane’s predatory step-brother, Javier, in exchange for Diane murdering Yasmin. But that was just a joke…right?
Wrong. When Yasmin turns up dead, Diane comes calling, attempting to blackmail Neve into murdering Javier. Stalling for time, Neve pretends to go along with Diane’s plan until she can find a way out that doesn’t involve homicide. But as she gets to know Javier – and falls for him – she realizes that everything Diane told her is a lie. Even worse, she discovers that Yasmin probably wasn’t Diane’s first victim. And unless Neve can stop her, she won’t be the last.

Gretchen McNeil is the author of #MurderTrending, #MurderFunding, #NoEscape, I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Possess, 3:59, Relic, and Ten which was adapted as the Lifetime original movie Ten: Murder Island in 2017, as well as Get Even and Get Dirty, adapted as the series Get Even which is streaming worldwide on BBC iPlayer and Netflix.

SECRETS SO DEEP de Ginny Myers Sain

From the bestselling author of Dark and Shallow Lies comes a moody and atmospheric paranormal thriller about a seventeen-year-old girl returning to an exclusive theater camp to uncover the truth of what really happened there twelve years ago, the night her mother drowned.

SECRETS SO DEEP
by Ginny Myers Sain
‎ Razorbill/Penguin BYR, September 2022
(via Park & Fine Literary)

Twelve years ago, Avril’s mother drowned at Whisper Cove theater, just off the rocky Connecticut coastline. It was ruled an accident, but Avril’s never been totally convinced. Local legend claims that the women in the waves—ghosts from old whaling stories—called her mother into the ocean with their whispering. Because, as they say at Whisper Cove, what the sea wants, the sea will have.
While Avril doesn’t believe in ghosts, she knows there are lots of different ways for places, and people, to be haunted. She’s spent the past twelve years trying to make sense of the strange bits and pieces she does remember from the night she lost her mother. Stars falling into the sea. A blinding light. A tight grip on her wrist. The odd sensation of flying. Now, at seventeen, she’s returning to Whisper Cove for the first time, and she might finally unravel the mystery of what really happened.
As Avril becomes more involved with camp director Willa and her mysterious son Cole, Whisper Cove reveals itself to her. Distances seem to shift in the strange fog. Echoes of long-past moments bounce off the marsh. And Avril keeps meeting herself—and her dead mother—late at night, at the edge of the ocean.
The truth Avril seeks is ready to be discovered. But it will come at a terrible cost.

Ginny Myers Sain lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has spent the past twenty years working closely with teens as a director and acting instructor in a program designed for high school students seriously intent on pursuing a career in the professional theatre. Having grown up in deeply rural America, she is interested in telling stories about resilient kids who come of age in remote settings. Her debut novel Dark and Shallow Lies was published by Razorbill in 2021.

THE BLACK QUEEN de Jumata Emill

Sold in a 6-figure pre-empt, Jumata Emill’s debut is at once a fast-paced and ingenious thriller, as well as being an exploration of white privilege, systemic racism—brimming with small-town secrets, Southern Gothic atmosphere, and twists galore. Perfect for fans of White Rabbit and One of Us is Lying.

THE BLACK QUEEN
by Jumata Emill
‎ Delacorte, February 2023
(via Writers House)

Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High, is dead. Murdered the night of her coronation, her body found the next morning in the old slave cemetery she spent her weekends rehabilitating.
Tinsley McArthur was supposed to be queen. Not only is she beautiful, wealthy and white, it’s her legacy—her grandmother, mother, and even her sister wore the crown before her. Everyone in Lovett knows Tinsley would do anything to carry on the McArthur tradition.
No one is more certain of that than Duchess Simmons—Nova’s best friend. Duchess’s father is the first Black police captain in Lovett. For Duchess, Nova’s crown was more than just a win for Nova. It was a win for all the Black kids. Now her best friend is dead, and her father won’t face the fact that the main suspect is right in front of his face. Duchess is convinced Tinsley killed Nova. And that Tinsley is privileged enough to think she can get away with it. But Duchess’s father seems to be doing what he always does: falling behind the blue line. That could mean the white girl is going to walk free.
Duchess is determined to prove Tinsley’s guilt. And to do that, she’ll have to get close to her. Only Tinsley has an agenda, too. Everyone loved Nova. And sometimes, love is exactly what gets you killed.

Jumata Emill is an award-winning Louisiana journalist who has covered crime and local politics in towns that share stark similarities to the one he created for this book. He’s a recent alum of the 2018 Pitch Wars mentee class and member of the Crime Writers of Color.