Mysteries, thrillers perfect for the spooky season

Oct. 1—If you're in the mood for a mystery or suspenseful thriller, the St. Joseph Public Library has just the books you need this month. From bestselling authors Lisa Gardner and Rachel Hawkins to new writers Nita Pose and Stacy Willingham, the library will satisfy your hankering for spooky October reads. Visit the library's online catalog at sjpl.ent.sirsi.net/ to find these or other great books to read or listen to.

"A Flicker in the Dark" by Stacy Willingham. When Chloe Davis was 12, six teenage girls went missing in her hometown. Within a few months, Chloe's father confessed and was put away for life. Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she's worked hard to achieve and then the unthinkable happens. Teenage girls start to go missing. Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren't actually there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a killer?

"The Maid" by Nita Prose. Molly Dunn is a charmingly eccentric and socially awkward 25-year-old hotel maid. When she discovers a guest murdered in his bed, her orderly world is turned upside down. Before she realizes it, Molly's odd demeanor has the police targeting her as their prime suspect and she finds herself in a situation she has no idea how to handle. Fortunately, Molly has a crew of friends she didn't realize she had and they refuse to let her be charged with murder. The question is, will they be able to discover the real killer before it's too late? This original novel, and dare we say heartwarming read, provides a "Clue"-like, locked-room mystery vibe.

"One Step too Far" by Lisa Gardner. In Gardner's second book featuring Frankie Elkin, Frankie is called in to search for a young man who went missing in the Wyoming wilderness five years ago. Law enforcement has abandoned the search, but a crew of people led by the missing man's father still are looking for answers. Frankie agrees to help but soon realizes that multiple people have gone missing over the years and she is involved in a complicated situation against someone or something very dark. This is a riveting crime thriller with plenty of suspense to keep you reading long after you should have turned out the lights.

"The Other Family" by Wendy Corsi Staub. Nora Howell, her handsome husband, their two teenage daughters and their lovable dog move from California into a seemingly perfect Brooklyn brownstone. The problem is that the previous residents of the house were victims of a grisly triple homicide that remains unsolved. Soon, peculiar things begin happening and it becomes apparent the Howells aren't the perfect family they thought they were. Short chapters and alternating narrators and viewpoints help to build suspense in this thriller.

"Reckless Girls" by Rachel Hawkins. If it's possible to have a modern gothic suspense novel then this is it. A group of 20-somethings all end up together on Meroe, an isolated Pacific island. The island may be a tropical paradise but it also has a dark history. Everything starts great for the group of six new friends but things begin to fall apart when a seventh person arrives. When people begin to turn up missing and dead, the new friends begin wondering which of them is to blame and who among them is going to make it off the island alive.