The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 1

The Minotaur Sampler consists of several chapters of each of four mysteries, all very different from each other. This was a free download from Net Galley for which I was asked to review before publication in early 2021. I was not familiar with any of the authors. I liked all four books and plan to read them after publication. “Finlay Donovan is Killing It” by Elle Cosimo is about a broke, divorced mother of two who is overheard talking to her book agent about her next book. They are overheard by a woman who slips Finlay a note misinterpreting her for a contract killer and wanting to hire her. Think Janet Evanovich (witty and fast-paced) style of writing. I was intrigued from the first page. “Every Last Fear” by Alex Finlay is a psychological thriller in which a family of four die on a Mexican vacation (allegedly by carbon dioxide poisoning). A college age son living in NYC and his older brother in prison for the murder of a high school girlfriend are left behind. The family captures attention because the murder by the brother became a true crime documentary. Apparently the husband was just let go from a company on the radar of the FBI so there is interest on many fronts as to whether or not the family was really murdered. Told through different points of view, alternating between past and present. “The Lost Village” by Camilla Sten is about a present day documentarian set to answer the unanswered questions of how a Swedish town turned into a ghost town in 1959. A man was found hanging from a tree and a baby was found in a house but all the rest of the residents disappeared. The film crew travels there to spend a few days and scope out their plan, but then . . . . Unfortunately that is as much of the sample as I got but it was enough to know that I want to finish it. “Deep Into Dark” by P.J. Tracy is the beginning of a series featuring LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan. The other protagonist is Sam Easton, recently returned from Afghanistan with traumatic physical and emotional wounds, who works in a bar. Their paths will cross during the course of a murder investigation that tackles obsession, revenge and grief.