Looking for one of the latest PI novels?
Listed below is a selection of private investigator novels scheduled to be released in April 2020. Included is a brief synopsis provided by the publisher along with information about where the book sits within their relevant series (or whether they are stand-alone novels). Click here for new releases from March 2020.
The Heights by Parker Bilal (pub. Severn House)
2nd book in the Crane and Drake series
Publishers Synopsis
The discovery of a severed head on a London Tube leads private investigators Crane and Drake on a dark journey into the past - and a personal quest for retribution.
The chilling discovery of a severed head on the Tube draws Cal Drake back to the case he failed to solve four years ago. At the same time, a young student from the Gulf goes missing. Could the two cases be linked? As PIs Crane and Drake investigate, they are plunged into the dark underworld of London and international crime.
Rough Justice by Matt Hilton (pub. Severn House)
6th book in the Grey and Villere series
Publishers Synopsis
Tess Grey is tasked with investigating a plane crash in the Great North Woods after rumors surface of a survivor... but she and her partner Po aren't the only ones heading there.
After a plane crashes in the Great North Woods and three biologists claim there were only two bodies found, Tess Grey is sent to investigate by an insurance firm when a rumor is heard there was a survivor. But Tess and her team are not the only ones heading to the scene of the crash. Who else is sniffing around the site and did the biologists lie?
And the Killer Is... by G.A. McKevett (pub. Kensington)
25th book in the Savannah Reid series
Publisher's Synopsis
PI Savannah Reid has delved into the ugly side of SoCal’s celebrity culture more than once. But the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency may have bitten off more than they can chew when a Hollywood legend makes a deadly comeback . . .
It will be a cold day in San Carmelita before Savannah skips over a high-profile homicide case, especially one attached to a tasty reward. But when 90-year-old former silver screen siren Lucinda Faraday is murdered inside her derelict mansion, serving justice comes with unsavory risks. The fallen star, considered one of the most beautiful women of her time, was found strangled by a pair of vintage stockings amid a hoard of garbage and priceless memorabilia. Now, Lucinda is making headlines again—and, like in the past, her name is connected with the worst kind of scandal ...
As a quest for answers reveals sleazy secrets about the victim’s history, the Moonlight Magnolia Agency soon discover that corruption, addiction, and blackmail were as rampant in the good old days of Hollywood as in the present—maybe even more so. Balancing a suspect list longer than the Lucinda’s acting credits and evidence that could destroy the reputation of people still alive, can Savannah outsmart the culprit before she or someone else get reduced to tabloid fodder next?
No Going Back by Sheena Kamal (pub. William Morrow)
3rd book in the Nora Watts series)
Publisher's Synopsis
Find your enemy. Before he finds you.
Nora Watts has a talent for seeing what lies beneath strangers’ surfaces, and for knowing what they’re working hard to keep hidden. Somehow, it’s the people closest to her she has trouble truly connecting with. In the case of Bonnie, the teenage daughter Nora gave up for adoption, she has to keep trying. For Bonnie has a target on her back—and it’s all because of Nora.
Two years ago, Bonnie was kidnapped by the wealthy Zhang family. Though Nora rescued her, she made a powerful enemy in Dao, a mysterious triad enforcer and former head of the Zhangs’ private security. Now Dao is out for revenge, and she needs to track him down in order to keep herself—and Bonnie—safe.
On Dao’s trail, Nora forms an unlikely partnership with Bernard Lam, an eccentric playboy billionaire with his own mysterious grudge to bear, and reunites with Jon Brazuca, ex-cop turned private investigator and Nora’s occasional ally. From Canada to southeast Asia they pursue Dao, uncovering a shadowy criminal cabal. But soon, the trail will lead full circle to Vancouver, the only home Nora’s ever known, and right to the heart of her brutal past.
Dead Land by Sara Paretsky (pub. William Morrow)
20th book in the V.I. Warshawski series
Publisher's Synopsis
Chicago may be the city of broad shoulders, but its political law is “Pay to Play.” Money changes hands in the middle of the night, and by morning, buildings and parks are replaced by billion-dollar projects.
Chicago PI V.I. Warshawski gets pulled into one of these clandestine deals through her impetuous goddaughter, Bernie Fouchard. Bernie tries to rescue Lydia Zamir, a famed singer-songwriter now living on the streets; Zamir’s life fell apart when her lover was murdered next to her in a mass shooting at an outdoor concert. Not only does Bernie plunge her and V.I. headlong into the path of some ruthless developers, they lead to the murder of the young man Bernie is dating. He’s a computer geek working for a community group called SLICK.
V.I. is desperate to find a mysterious man named Coop, who roams the lakefront in the middle of the night with his dog. She’s sure he holds the key to the mounting body count within SLICK. Coop may even know why an international law firm is representing the mass murderer responsible for Lydia’s lover’s death. Instead, the detective finds a terrifying conspiracy stretching from Chicago’s parks to a cover-up of the dark chapters in America’s meddling in South American politics. Before she finds answers, this electrifying novel pushes V.I. close to the breaking point: People who pay to play take no prisoners.
The Stolen Gold Affair by Bill Pronzini (pub. Forge)
8th book in the Carpenter and Quincannon series
Publisher's Synopsis
The Stolen Gold Affair is the latest charming historical mystery in Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini's detective series.
In response to a string of gold thefts in a Mother Lode mine, Quincannon goes undercover as a newly-hired miner to identify and capture the men responsible.
Meanwhile, Sabina finds herself not only making plans for her and Quincannon’s wedding, but also investigating both an audacious real estate scam and an abusive young man's villainous secret.
18 Caliber by Larissa Reinhart (pub. Past Perfect)
6th book in the Maizie Albright series
Publisher's Synopsis
#WannabeDetectiving While ex-celebrity Maizie Albright’s dreams of becoming a for-real private investigator have not exactly been dashed, they have been slightly thwarted. Her ex-manager and still-mother, Vicki Albright, has taken the helm of Nash Security Services while rebuilding her entertainment management company. Sometimes with the same clients. Like Chinese action star, Lili Liang, who’s making the film Unlucky 18 in Georgia.
Thus far, Lili’s living up to her movie title. Her kung fu coach is missing. Her boyfriend’s disappeared. And her director, who gambled on her with the part, might be gambling with her life.
Maizie’s luck is also running out. Maizie and Nash find themselves struggling to balance a new partnership and new relationship between missing persons’ cases, wild goose chases, and tracking a bullet into dangerous places. Sometimes it’s enough to make a girl NOT want to put a ring on it. When it comes to facing an 18-caliber killer, what will Maizie put up as the target? Her heart or her life?
A Star Is Dead by Elaine Viets (pub. Severn House)
4th book in the Angela Richman series
Publisher's Synopsis
Hollywood diva Jessica Gray is on the last leg of her one-woman show when she suffers a sudden and fatal illness . . . but Angela Richman thinks there's more to it.
During Jessica Gray's one-woman show she manages to upset half of Chouteau Forest and her own entourage. When she suffers a deadly poisoning on her way to the airport Angela Richman's friend, Mario Gomez, is arrested and charged with the murder. Angela is sure of Mario's innocence, so sets out on her own to solve the case.
Broken by Don Winslow (pub. William Morrow)
Publisher's Synopsis
No matter how you come into this world, you come out broken . . .
In six intense short novels connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt and redemption, Broken is #1 international bestseller Don Winslow at his nerve-shattering, pulse-pounding, heartbreaking best. In Broken, he creates a world of high-level thieves and low-life crooks, obsessed cops struggling with life on and off the job, private detectives, dope dealers, bounty hunters and fugitives, the lost souls driving without headlights through the dark night on the American criminal highway.
With his trademark blend of insight, humanity, humor, action, and the highest level of literary craftsmanship, Winslow delivers a collection of tales that will become classics of crime fiction.