Recommendations based on "The Man Made of Smoke"

It is fall in Philadelphia and the mutilated body of a man is found in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of the city. The victim has been viciously tortured to death. It's the work of a sadistic mind in free fall. When homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano investigate, they soon realise that their crime scene is linked to the past. Eight years ago, another body was found in the same place, in the same position, killed in the same manner. That case was never closed. Apart from their killer's unusual calling cards, the crime scene photos - past and present - are identical. As another brutalised body appears, then another, it becomes horrifyingly clear that someone is recreating unsolved murders from Philadelphia's past in the most sinister of ways. And the killer is closer than they think...

Journalist Joe Talbert investigates the murder of the father he never knew, and must reckon with his own family's past, in this "brilliant sequel" to the national bestseller The Life We Bury (Publishers Weekly).MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD FINALISTBARRY AWARD FINALISTJoe Talbert, Jr. has never once met his namesake. Now out of college, a cub reporter for the Associated Press in Minneapolis, he stumbles across a story describing the murder of a man named Joseph Talbert in a small town in southern Minnesota. Full of curiosity about whether this man might be his father, Joe is shocked to find that none of the town's residents have much to say about the dead man-other than that his death was long overdue. Joe discovers that the dead man was a loathsome lowlife who cheated his neighbors, threatened his daughter, and squandered his wife's inheritance after she, too, passed away--an inheritance that may now be Joe's. Mired in uncertainty and plagued by his own devastated relationship with his mother, who is seeking to get back into her son's life, Joe must put together the missing pieces of his family history -- before his quest for discovery threatens to put him in a grave of his own.

The mutilated body of a young woman. The town doctor lying comatose in the road. A hundred and fifty tablets of Canadian OxyContin. This is the havoc that a merciless killer has wreaked on a sleepy Maine seaport. As detectives Maggie Savage and Michael McCabe investigate, they realize the man they are after does not exist. Nobody knows his real name. Nobody has seen his face. But everybody fears his blade. The only one who may know the murderer's true identity is an eleven-year-old girl—who has vanished into thin air. Taut, twisting, and starring two unforgettable heroes, Darkness First will thrill fans of John Sandford and C. J. Box.

New York Times bestselling author William Lashner returns with a brilliantly twisty tale that probes the dark side of the law -- and manUnlike the rest of you, I cheerfully admit to my own utter selfishness. I am self-made, self-absorbed, self-serving, self-referential, even self-deprecating, in a charming sort of way. In short, I am all the selfs except selfless. Yet every so often, I run across a force of nature that shakes my sublime self-centeredness to its very roots. Something that tears through the landscape like a tornado, leaving nothing but ruin and reexamination in its wake. Something like Bob.--Victor CarlA beautiful young woman is dead, her husband convicted of the murder. In seeking a new trial for the husband, defense attorney Victor Carl must confront not only a determined prosecutor and a police detective who might have set up his client, but also a strange little busybody named Bob.Bob has the aspiration, one could even say compulsion, to help those around him. And it usually works out well for all concerned, except when it ends in blood. But Victor doesn’t know that . . . yet.Thanks to Bob, Victor is suddenly dressing better, dating a stunning woman, and both his economic prospects and his teeth are gleaming. It’s all good, until Victor finds a troubling connection between Bob and the murdered wife. Is Bob a kind of saint or is this obsessive Good Samaritan, in reality, a murderer?Filled with the keen wit, deep poignancy, twisting suspense, and dark realism that has entranced readers, impressed reviewers, and made William Lashner’s previous novels bestsellers, Falls the Shadow is a riveting novel sure to leave readers eager for more.

For all fans of Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane, The Killing House is the amazing first novel in a stunning new series by Chris Mooney, author of the popular CSI Darby McCormick thrillers. It introduces fallen angel and former profiler Malcolm Fletcher who is forced to take the law into his own hands in order to uncover the truth in his terrifying first case. Rule #1: Don't Scream Four years ago, Theresa Herrera's ten-year-old son Rico was abducted. The police found little evidence and the case went cold. Theresa's husband has told her to move on, but she won't give up hope. Rule #2: Don't call the police Today a mysterious woman invaded Theresa's home and told her that Rico is alive. Theresa talks on the phone to a young man who is, without question, her son. Rule #3: Don't run. Don't fight The woman promises to reunite Theresa with Rico only if she will follow the rules. But it is the last rule that fills Theresa with horror . . . Rule #4: Kill your husband and your son will live. . . Malcolm Fletcher - a former FBI profiler and now the nation's Most Wanted fugitive - arrives in Colorado to help Theresa and her husband find their son. But his arrival coincides with a dangerous and shocking twist in the case. Barely surviving his first encounter with a suspect, Fletcher embarks on his own secret investigation, with the police just behind him every step of the way. Join Fletcher on his hunt and discover Chris Mooney's charismatic new series character in one of this year's most impressive new thriller series. Behind every door in The Killing House, death awaits you . . . Praise for Chris Mooney: 'One of the best thriller writers working today' Lee Child 'Chris Mooney is a wonderful writer. Compelling, thrilling and touching' Michael Connelly 'It will keep you up past your bedtime' Karin Slaughter 'An exceptional thriller writer. I envy those who have yet to read him' John Connolly 'A scary, breakneck ride with thrills that never let up' Tess Gerritsen 'Harrowing, gripping, haunting' Harlan Coben

FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'Deadly conspiracies, bone-crunching action and a tormented hero with a heart . . . packs a real punch' Andy McDermott THE HUNT IS ON When a sniper leaves Ben Hope's friend fighting for his life, the former SAS major declares war on the men responsible. But what begins as a straightforward revenge mission gets complicated when a mysterious letter reveals Ben to be the real target. And his isn't the only name on a crazed killer's list. Professor Anna Manzini has no idea she's in grave danger from a man she'd thought dead. She's on the cusp of a major discovery: the location of the lost Babylon idol, a golden statue of immeasurable value. But when word of Anna's work reaches her enemies, it sets off a cat-and-mouse chase that will lead Ben and Anna halfway across Europe and into the heart of war-torn Syria. To reach the precious idol first, Ben must keep one step ahead of a powerful maniac. If he fails, it won't just be Ben and Anna's lives in danger, but the world. The Ben Hope series is a must-read for fans of Dan Brown, Lee Child and Mark Dawson. Join the millions of readers who get breathless with anticipation when the countdown to a new Ben Hope thriller begins... Whilst the Ben Hope thrillers can be read in any order, this is the fifteenth book in the series.

The dead man is the manager of Tahiti's Paradise Coffee plantation, producer of the most expensive coffee bean in the world - the winey, luscious Blue Devil. His fall from a cliff is the latest accident in a string of mishaps, and although nothing tangible points to foul play, FBI agent John Lau has his suspicions. What he needs is evidence - and the best forensic expert in the business, his friend anthropologist Gideon Oliver, the Skeleton Detective. Gideon likes his java strong and his bones ancient, dry, and dusty. But the body he must examine had lain in the tropical sun for a week before it was found, and then buried native-style, without a casket. If this case is not exactly Gideon's cup of...well, tea, it is not the state of the remains that bothers him. It's the real human ugliness he suspects he'll soon unearth. To make matters worse, Gideon finds trouble in paradise: a most unwelcoming local police commandant, a strange reluctance by the Blue Devil owners to uncover any wrong-doing, and the lack of an exhumation order. Sneaking into a graveyard with a shovel and flashlight isn't his idea of a professional analysis. And what he finds six feet under will prove the ultimate test of his skills: a subtle clue that points to foul play, and bones so puzzling that they have Gideon stumped...for a while. Now Gideon must cut to the heart of a crime to find the motive that may have percolated through a family for decades - and brewed a taste for murder.

The explosive new masterpiece of suspense from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author. LAPD cop Scott James is not doing so well. Eight months ago, a shocking nighttime assault by unidentified men killed his partner Stephanie, nearly killed him, and left him enraged, ashamed, and ready to explode. He is unfit for duty--until he meets his new partner. Maggie is not doing so well, either. A German shepherd who survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan sniffing explosives before losing her handler to an IED, her PTSD is as bad as Scott's. They are each other's last chance. Shunned and shunted to the side, they set out to investigate the one case that no one wants them to touch: the identity of the men who murdered Stephanie.  What they begin to find is nothing like what Scott has been told, and the journey will take them both through the darkest moments of their own personal hells. Whether they will make it out again, no one can say.

Homicide cop Bobby Dunston's daughter has been kidnapped, taken in broad daylight on a city street in the middle of September. The kidnappers demand a million dollars and force Dunston to get the ransom from his friend McKenzie. It soon becomes apparent to the two of them that one of the kidnappers is childhood pal Scottie, a once aspiring drummer now gone astray, and that the kidnapping is payback for "crimes" committed in their past.McKenzie, former cop and now unlicensed P.I., handles the ransom drop-off and the child is returned safely. But Scottie is found dead - brutally murdered - and someone has taken out an open contract on McKenzie, using his own money to pay for it. Dodging attempts on his life from assassins of all shapes and sizes, McKenzie now has precious little time to uncover the mastermind behind it all if he's going to survive.

James D. Doss's latest engrossing mystery marks the return of Charlie Moon, tribal investigator on Colorado's Ute reservation, whose sleuthing skills get some unlikely help from his Aunt Daisy Perika's shamanistic intuition. TROUBLE SPREADS ITS WINGS Dr. Manfred Blinkoe is one orthodontist with a very checkered past. So when a fellow diner at Cedar Creek's poshest restaurant drops dead from an unseen assailant's bullet, he can't help thinking that he was the intended target. Desperate for help, he turns to the one local who's up to the job: renowned tribal investigator Charlie Moon. AND A KILLER COMES TO ROOST Charlie already has his hands full with two cattle ranches to run, ornery Aunt Daisy's wanderings in the spirit world, and his sparring matches with the alluring FBI agent Lila Mae McTeague. Now he's got an eccentric client with more money than sense and too many enemies--at least one of whom is willing to resort to explosive measures to settle an old score. "Highly entertaining...big money, big gambles, and a surprise ending will keep readers turning the pages." --Publishers Weekly