The best fearless female detective novels

Why am I passionate about this?

Haven’t we all seen things? Done things? Felt guilt or remorse over stuff that happened? I’m fascinated by the darkness within and I’m an eternal student of psychology. I was a musician first. I’ve played piano since age three and studied music at Berklee College of Music. Later, I found my artistic calling when I began to write. Those life experiences have added up and it’s not all roses. My characters have good hearts but they’re struggling with demons—like we all do. I hope my readers can relate and if not, maybe they see something true.


I wrote...

Book cover of Best Kept Secrets

What is my book about?

Morgan Jewell and Fay Ramsey are enjoying their last summer together before college. Fay is shy, with a controlling mother, and Morgan is the perfect, wild, loud-mouthed yang to Fay's yin. But when Fay is found dead, Morgan's entire world crumbles.

Years later, Morgan,  now a homicide detective, is still haunted by the abrupt end to her best friend's life. She knew Fay held a secret in those final days but the leads have run dry. Until she's called to the scene of a murder: a woman whose body is left mangled, too similar to Fay's to ignore. This is the case to set her back on the killer's trail. The closer she gets, the harder it forces her to confront the memories of herself and her best friend. 

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of My Sister's Grave

Tracey S. Phillips Why did I love this book?

New clues have surfaced surrounding a missing girl. Despite warnings from colleagues, Detective Tracy Crosswhite takes the investigation into her own hands. For years she’s been searching for answers to her sister’s disappearance. Tracy is determined, emotional, and driven to follow up on information that finally makes sense. Dugoni’s descriptive, fast-paced thriller is raw and unsweetened. He gives you the sense of urgency, the sweat, and the dirty truth. Tracy reminded me in many ways of Morgan Jewell in my book. She’s a smart, fierce woman. She’s the type of woman I love to read about, and the type I love to write. 

By Robert Dugoni,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked My Sister's Grave as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book in the series that has garnered millions of readers across the globe, from New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah's disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn't believe that Edmund House-a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah's murder-is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.

When Sarah's remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains…


Book cover of Bad Axe County

Tracey S. Phillips Why did I love this book?

Bad Axe County is placed in my home state, Wisconsin, during the spring. Galligan captures the crazy weather—from blizzard to melting and freezing runoff—using it as the backdrop to this fast-paced thriller. Police detective Heidi White has unanswered questions about her parent’s murder-suicide. But that’s in the past and everyone tells her to leave sleeping dogs alone. In this dark, twisted thriller, she must capture a monster to finally learn the truth. I loved Heidi’s fearless plunge into the dark.

By John Galligan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bad Axe County as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dennis Lehane meets Megan Miranda in this "dark beauty of a novel" (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author) about the first female sheriff in rural Bad Axe County, Wisconsin, as she searches for a missing girl, battles local drug dealers, and seeks the truth about the death of her parents twenty years ago-all as a winter storm rages in her embattled community.

Fifteen years ago, Heidi White's parents were shot to death on their Bad Axe County farm. The police declared it a murder-suicide and closed the case. But that night, Heidi found the one clue she knew…


Book cover of And Now She's Gone

Tracey S. Phillips Why did I love this book?

Grayson Sykes reminds me of so many friends. She is real, she has stuff in her purse that she’s been carrying around for too long. She’s a reluctant sleuth. And she has a tortured past like the characters in my book. Isabel Lincoln is missing. Or is she? I often wondered which woman was hunting and which was the hunted. Howzell Hall brings on the slow reveal with such cunning that I was blown away by the ending. Her clever descriptions made me devour this book. 

By Rachel Howzell Hall,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked And Now She's Gone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Sharp, witty and perfectly paced, And Now She’s Gone is one hell of a read!” ―Wendy Walker, bestselling author of The Night Before

Isabel Lincoln is gone.

But is she missing?

It’s up to Grayson Sykes to find her. Although she is reluctant to track down a woman who may not want to be found, Gray’s search for Isabel Lincoln becomes more complicated and dangerous with every new revelation about the woman’s secrets and the truth she’s hidden from her friends and family.

Featuring two complicated women in a dangerous cat and mouse game, Rachel Howzell Hall's And Now She’s…


Book cover of Tracking Game

Tracey S. Phillips Why did I love this book?

The man who may have killed Detective Mattie Cobb’s father is found dead in his cell. A string of clues leads to deadly narcotics and a missing baby. Mattie and her K-9 partner Robo must journey into the mountains to find the infant’s killer. And Robo just became father to a litter of pups. What I love best about this series is Mattie’s relationship with Robo. To learn more about Mattie’s buried past, I recommend reading Mizushima’s books from the beginning. These characters –both human and K-9—will stay in your heart long after you’re through reading.

By Margaret Mizushima,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Tracking Game as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

November 2019 Top Pick, Library Reads

Two brutal murders, a menacing band of poachers, and a fearsome creature on the loose in the mountains plunge Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo into a sinister vortex.

An explosion outside a community dance sends Mattie Cobb and Cole Walker reeling into the night, where they discover a burning van and beside it the body of outfitter Nate Fletcher. But the explosion didn't kill Nate--it was two gunshots to the heart.

The investigation leads them to the home of rancher Doyle Redman, whose daughter is Nate's widow, and the object of one…


Book cover of The Silent Corner

Tracey S. Phillips Why did I love this book?

Jane Hawk is as fierce and fearless as they come. She’s a rogue FBI agent on a mission to learn why her well-adjusted husband suddenly committed suicide along with hundreds of others. This case has nothing to do with cults, or Kool-Aid. As she gets closer to the truth, Jane is hunted too. She’s lost so much, her one true love and the doting father of their boy, but Jane is driven to make the leader of this horrific tragedy pay. This book is laced with Koontz’s flair for description and his talent for pushing readers to the edge of their seats for a heart-pounding conclusion.

By Dean Koontz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Silent Corner as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book 1 in a gripping new thriller series featuring rogue FBI agent Jane Hawk, from the master of suspense and New York Times #1 bestselling author Dean Koontz.

When nowhere is safe...

'I very much need to be dead'

These are the chilling last words left by a man who had everything to live for but took his own life. In the void that remains stands his widow, FBI agent Jane Hawk, determined to do what all the grief and fury inside her demand: find the truth, no matter what.

People of talent, seemingly happy and sound of mind, have…


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What You Do To Me: A Novel

By Rochelle B. Weinstein,

Book cover of What You Do To Me: A Novel

Rochelle B. Weinstein Author Of When We Let Go

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Not only am I the author of seven women’s fiction novels, I’m a voracious reader who believes she was raised by Judy Blume and Sidney Sheldon. In our broken home, reading was an escape, a salve for the wound, a place where I felt heard and understood. My novels touch on deep emotions—real and relatable. If I don’t capture that feeling when I’m reading through my drafts, I dig deeper. And that’s the thing about a great book, that gut punch, that slide under my skin, I get you. There’s no better read than the one that pulls the heartstrings and gives you all the feels.    

Rochelle's book list on tugging on every one of your heartstrings

What is my book about?

What You Do To Me follows Rolling Stone reporter Cecilia James on the hunt to find the muse behind a famous love song, all while managing an estranged relationship with her father and boyfriend Pete.

Inspired by Hey There Deliah, the dual timeline stretches across the sunny beaches of 1970s Miami with star-crossed lovers Eddie and Sara, to the glittery music industry of 1990s LA. For music lovers and fans of that first, unforgettable love, What You Do To Me is the story of a love song with equal parts heart and harmony.

What You Do To Me: A Novel

By Rochelle B. Weinstein,

What is this book about?

From the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends comes a moving novel of two unfinished love stories and the music and lyrics that bring them together.

Journalist Cecilia James is a sucker for a love song. So when she stumbles across a clue to the identity of the muse for one of rock’s greatest, she devotes herself to uncovering the truth, even as her own relationship is falling apart.

While writing an article for Rolling Stone, Cecilia works to reveal the mystery that has intrigued fans and discovers a classic tale of two soulmates separated by fate and circumstance. Rock…


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