“The Bitter Past” and two other mystery novels to read right now

“The Bitter Past,” by Bruce Borgos (Minotaur Books)

As sheriff of a small Nevada town near Las Vegas, Porter Beck spends most of his time on trivial crimes — until a retired FBI agent is found tortured and murdered. Within hours, a gorgeous (of course) female FBI agent shows up and confides that the dead man had been gathering information on a KGB spy who stole secrets from a Nevada test site 60 years earlier.  It seems the Russian, who was supposedly killed in a nuclear accident, may not be dead after all, and he’s living in Beck’s jurisdiction.

So Beck has to find the aging Russian before the assassin does. He’s aided not only by the glamorous FBI woman but also his sister, a crack shot, and his father, the former sheriff, who is suffering from dementia.  Beck’s suffering from his own ailment, an eye disease that makes it hard for him to see at night.

“The Bitter Past” is the first in a series featuring Beck, a former army espionage expert who once lived in Russia.

“Inside Threat,” by Matthew Quirk (William Morrow)

Imagine there is a coup to take over the White House, and members of the Secret Service are part of it. Who do you trust? Well, Agent Eric Hill  He’s jaded, disgraced and ready to quit, but when the White House is under siege, he joins the president and first lady as they are rushed to an impregnable bunker in a granite mountain known as Raven Rock.

Hill doesn’t know who the enemy is. Some of his agents are involved in the coup, but which ones? What about his partner, Amber Cody? Even the president could be making a power grab and orchestrating the conspiracy.

“Inside Threat” is a fast-paced thriller, with Hill and Cody fighting their way through the maze of structures that make up Raven Rock.

“The Messenger,” by Megan Davis (Pegasus Crime)

Alex has never gotten along with his father, Eddy. So when Eddy is murdered, Alex is the primary suspect.  He admitted he and his street-wise friend Sami were responsible for a robbery scheme gone wrong and were sent to prison. Now, released after seven years in prison, Alex is not so sure he really is guilty of his father’s death.  Eddy was alive when Alex, kneeling over the body, heard someone approaching and ran off.  Now, he sets out to find the truth and free Sami, who is still incarcerated.

The animosity between father and son accelerated after the two moved back to Paris following 10 years in the U.S. Once a crusading journalist, Eddy becomes a drunk who spent his time dredging up notes from past stories. Alex had trouble fitting into school and, in an attempt to make friends, he sold drugs provided through Sami, a hustler Alex met on the streets.  The drugs were bad, and Alex was left owing money to both the dealer and the buyer. Since he no longer had access to his father’s money, Alex cooked up the robbery scheme. Arrested, he blamed Sami, who got the longer jail sentence.

In his quest for the truth, Alex exposes secrets of his father’s old friends, while facing danger from Sami’s underworld as well as thugs who warn him to “stop sticking your nose where it’s not wanted.” Of course, Alex doesn’t.

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