Bethanne Patrick

With The Pictures, British author Guy Bolton kicks off a mystery series set in classic-era Hollywood. He's clearly done his research on 1930s America, but sometimes all that detail obscures the story.

French novelist Delphine De Vigan follows up her tell-all 2012 memoir with a creepy tale of a blocked novelist — also named Delphine — who falls under the sway of an elegant, menacing ghostwriter.

Elizabeth Kostova's deep love for her adopted homeland grounds this story of a young American woman in Sofia, who finds a mysterious urn full of ashes and has to piece together the lives behind it.

Dan Chaon's latest novel suggests that even people who seem kind can lead you down dangerous paths, whether they realize it or not.

Martin Cruz Smith's new World War II thriller follows a Venetian fisherman who saves a Jewish girl from pursuing Nazis — a predictable scenario, but one that surprisingly never goes stale.

Shari Lapena's novel about a couple whose baby daughter goes missing while they're at a dinner party next door strikes at the heart of parenting fears — but falls down as a police procedural.

Ben H. Winters' new novel is set in a modern-day America in which almost everything seems normal — except for the fact that the Civil War never happened, and slavery is still legal in four states.

The latest installment in Alan Furst's Night Soldiers series opens on a grey spring day in occupied Paris. It follows Mathieu, a small-time Resistance leader and fundamentally good man.

L.S. Hilton's new book, the first in a trilogy, follows the aptly-named Judith Rashleigh on a wild ride of sex parties, private yachts, and behavior just as shallow and selfish as any male character.

Lyndsay Faye's new Jane Steele reimagines the classic Victorian heroine as a killer with a heart of gold, who refuses to settle for her historical lot and strikes out at men who try to abuse her.