1. Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson. Sheriff Longmire has his hands full when tempers flare over the proximity of the city dump to a ritzy housing development. Great writing spiced with humor and a good plot.

3. City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris. Nayir and Katya must collaborate to find the truth when a young woman is found dead on the beach. This story blazes across the page, picking up speed and not letting go! Take a glimpse behind the burka into the culture of Saudi Arabia.

5. Faithful Place by Tana French. Escaping their dysfunctional family and grinding poverty, Francis and Rosie plan to elope. But Rosie doesn’t keep the rendezvous and Francis heads off on his own convinced he has been jilted. Decades later Francis is a cop keeping well clear of the chaos his family inhabits. But a suitcase found in an abandoned building brings him back home to discover his Rosie may not have gone far.

7. Small Death In the Great Glenn by AD Scott. Set in a Scottish Village circa 1950 where life is bucolic on the surface but scratch a little beneath and the scene is not so pretty. McAllister traded the big city to be editor in chief of a small rag, trying to turn it into a paper that delivers relevant news. The death of a child shocks the town. A defecting Polish sailor seems like a convenient villain.

9. Dogs of Rome by Conor Fitzgerald. Commissario Blume is Seattle born but raised in Rome. He takes his job seriously although he is willing to overlook the misdeeds of his fellow cops. An activist was trying to shut down a dog fighting ring. Now he is dead, murdered in his apartment. Was it his Mafia connected girlfriend? His politician wife? Or the sleazebags who fight dogs? Suspects there are aplenty.