UPFRONT/READ
Could It Be ... Murder!?
A clutch from some masters of suspense and mystery
Every Man a King by Walter Mosley The author, best known for his Easy Rawlins series, hits the mark in this sequel to 2018’s Down the River unto the Sea. It again features unflappable investigator Joe King Oliver, who accepts a dangerous assignment to determine the guilt of a white nationalist jailed for murder. (February 21)
48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister by Joyce Carol Oates Talk about an unreliable narrator. This gripping story is told through the eyes of a troubled woman, Gigi, whose beautiful older sister, Marguerite, has gone missing. We learn more about Gigi’s disturbed mind as she unspools clues to her sister’s fate. (March 14)
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben A classic Coben novel (fast-paced and twisty), his latest features David Burroughs, a broken man serving a life sentence for the murder of his son—which he vehemently denies. When he learns the boy may be alive, he plots a daring escape from prison to find the truth. (March 14)
“We’re not sociopaths. ... We don’t murder on our days off any more than a thoracic surgeon will cut your rib cage open for kicks. We have standards.”
—From Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert Waldinger, M.D., and Marc Schulz, Ph.D. The famed Harvard Study of Adult Development followed a group of people through the decades, offering the authors rich data to conclude that the indisputable key to a good life is good relationships, which, they write, “keep us healthier and happier. Period.”
The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery by Adam Gopnik The New Yorker writer asks, How do highly skilled people—whether bread bakers or driving instructors—become so good at what they do? After spending time with some pros, he concludes that, more than mastery, “what really moves and stirs us is accomplishment.” (March 14) —Christina Ianzito
MORE NEW THRILLERS OF NOTE
The House at the End of the World by Dean Koontz
How I’ll Kill You by Ren DeStefano (March 21)
Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon
Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado (March 14)
Murder Book: A Novel by Thomas Perry
→ For more reviews, excerpts and book news, go to aarp.org/books.