In author Lachlan Smith’s fifth Leo Maxwell legal thriller, the metaphorical noose around Maxwell’s family grows ever tighter. The entire family is under the thumb of the Aryan Brotherhood, a situation that grows more untenable when Leo’s young niece is kidnapped (then returned) at a baseball game in a show of intimidation—a lesson to show Leo’s family can be gotten to at any time.

You see, the Brotherhood sends Leo their criminal cases, and the latest one involves the killing of one of their members. But the logic of the case doesn’t seem to add up. The woman charged with the killing is black, so why is the Aryan Brotherhood paying for her defense? Why won’t his client tell anyone her real name? Why is the FBI involved in the case, yet doing nothing to help?

The search for answers leads him into more conflict with those holding his leash. When a further tragedy occurs, it spurs Leo into looking for an endgame to get out from under those who seek to control him and his family. But when neither your criminal employers nor law enforcement can be trusted, how do you protect anyone from harm?

The book’s pacing moves along at a fast clip, with short time jumps that account for how fast the story gets to the criminal trial. While the trial feels more like a set piece designed to further the resolution to Maxwell’s personal issues, the humdrum of basic procedural as it moves to the fireworks of revelatory testimony is detailed rather well.

There aren’t a whole lot of innocents in Wolf’s Revenge, which does make it hard to root for any one particular character or outcome, but readers will find themselves inexorably drawn toward the book’s explosive conclusion. Readers looking for a clear-cut resolution to the story’s narrative will find that, despite some truths being exposed, there are no easy answers here. But this particular storytelling decision helps give the book that much more of a suspenseful draw.

Nora and Quinn are sisters, but they aren’t close. So when Nora drops off a six-year-old child with Quinn, with next to no explanation other than orders to keep her safe, Quinn is left wondering what type of trouble her sister has gotten into, and what kind of danger she and the child may be in.

On the surface, Little Broken Things is a mystery about the young girl’s identity and the circumstances that brought her to Quinn’s home. But far more than that, it is a story about the ever-changing course of female relationships—of sisters Nora and Quinn, their mother, Liz, Nora’s best friend, Tiffany, and Everlee, the little girl at the center of the plot.

One of the biggest strengths of the story is that each chapter is told from a different woman’s point of view, allowing the reader to get a much richer view of each character. While Nora seems rude and aloof, she is actually loving and loyal to a fault; Quinn, while taking care of Everlee, worries that she’ll never have children of her own; and Liz, who spent the girls’ lives acting as if everything was perfect, is finally realizing the damage that resulted from refusing to see the truth.

While there is a lot of opportunity for introspection, there is action as well as Nora tries to escape the trouble chasing her and Everlee, while risking the lives of everyone she loves. The story takes place over the course of four days, and the danger mounts with each passing moment. Little Broken Things kept me furiously turning pages until the end—and offered up one final surprise for this formidable family.

It is 1890 in London, and Cyrus Barker, a battle-tested private enquiry agent (“don’t call me a detective!”) invites popular Japanese ambassador Toda and his delegation to visit his oriental garden during their first diplomatic mission to England. That very night, the ambassador is shot and killed in his embassy, and Barker, who happens to be in the area at the time, is initially suspected as the murderer.

When a confession cannot be beaten out of him by longtime enemy Trelawney Campbell-Ffinch of the Foreign Office, Barker is released and is soon hired by the new Japanese ambassador to find the real killer. Along with his young, feisty assistant Thomas Llewelyn, Barker uses his crafty detection techniques and his knowledge of the Far East, where he had lived for some time, to try to uncover the real assassin and the unusual motive behind the crime. This complex tale is told from the point of view of Llewelyn, who is quick with his fists, but not as quick with his wits as his boss.

While I enjoyed the mystery and the investigation, the real bonus for me was learning about the history and background of Japan during the period: how the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853, demanding a trade agreement, demoralized the country and soon led to an internal struggle between the samurai and the trade-based aristocracy, where samurai swords were no match for newly acquired firearms. Of nearly equal interest is the description of the Asian underworld in London that increases the danger to the enquiry agents, but eventually helps solve the complex case.

This is the ninth mystery in the Barker and Llewelyn series, and it is well worth the read for historical mystery fans.

In Nick Wilkshire’s second A Foreign Affairs Mystery series, following the events of the first book in the series (Escape to Havana), Canadian consular officer Charlie Hillier is two months into a new diplomatic posting in Moscow. He’s still finding his footing, but is on his way to settling into the new job when a chance encounter and a night of clubbing with an old acquaintance lands them both a temporary stay in a Russian jail cell.

While waiting to be released (thanks to his diplomatic status), Hillier meets Steve Liepa, a fellow Canadian claiming to be held in jail on trumped-up drug charges. After promising to look into Liepa’s case, Hillier finds himself stymied by authorities in getting answers. Then Liepa is reported to have committed suicide, and Charlie’s work takes on a different dimension when he meets Liepa’s sister Sophie, a surgeon, who examines the body and claims that her brother was murdered. This sets off a chain reaction of events starting with the “accidental” cremation of the body by the Russians.

When Charlie’s further investigation finds more bodies piling up, he and Sophie work together to uncover what really happened to her brother. Hopscotching across Europe from Moscow to Berlin and France, Charlie finds himself wanted in questioning for the death of one potential witness while both he and Sophie find themselves fending off kidnapping and murder attempts.

The Moscow Code is a highly energetic read with a brisk storytelling pace that gives readers little time to relax. Charlie Hillier has his foibles, but he is an immensely likable character. The fast sense of camaraderie between Charlie and Sophie feels natural rather than forced, and readers will quickly find themselves attached to the pair. Nick Wilkshire has done what might have seemed impossible—he makes diplomatic work seem fast-paced, exciting, and a little unnerving. I can’t wait to see what he and Charlie Hillier do next.

This is a brutal, brilliant piece of thriller writing. Paul Hardisty’s series starring South African paratrooper turned oil company contractor Clay Straker straddles the border between popular thrillers and weighty literature, and this third installment is simply outstanding and deserves to make “best of year” lists.

After traumatic adventures in Yemen and Cyprus in the first two books, Straker returns to a new, post-apartheid South Africa to face inquisition from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Via his testimony on actions his special forces unit took during the brutal war in Angola in 1980, we uncover the things Straker saw as a young solider that so affected who he’d become in the first two books, and made him question everything he thought he knew about his country, compatriots, and himself.

While patrolling across the border in Angola, Straker and his best friend, Eben, find themselves entangled in secretive actions that upend their sense of honor and what they thought they were fighting for.

It’s a richly evoked exposé of what made Straker who he is, the horrors of a largely forgotten war, and the way concerns over power and money can play a terrible part in people getting divided into groups, some seen as “lesser,” as obstacles or acceptable collateral damage in the fight for what’s touted to the public as “right.” Like Southeast Asia in earlier decades, struggles around post colonialism, control of resources, and fears about the spread of Communism resulted in brutal civil wars in southern Africa.

This is a hard-hitting page-turner told in atmospheric prose that’s overflowing with substance.

Murder in the Manuscript Room is Con Lehane’s busy second entry in the 42nd Street Library Mystery series set in New York City and featuring crime fiction librarian Raymond Ambler. The decades-old murder of trucking union president Richard Wright isn’t something Raymond thinks about often, but when Raymond’s childhood friend Devon Thomas, the man convicted for the crime, proclaims his innocence after years in prison, Raymond believes him.

In short order, Paul Higgins, a retired NYPD intelligence officer turned thriller writer, donates his papers to the library. Higgins once worked the Richard Wright murder and the papers presumably have copies of his on-the-job case notes—but Higgins wants his papers sealed until after his death. However, when new library employee Leila Stone is found murdered in Raymond’s office near Higgins’ papers, the sealing tape on one of the boxes broken and something obviously missing, finding out an old truth takes on new urgency.

The murder investigation is hijacked from the NYPD by a private intelligence consulting firm working its own agenda. An agenda that seems to be less about solving the murder than linking it with a suspected terrorist, an Islamic scholar, who has been using the library for his research.

Murder in the Manuscript Room is a nicely constructed murder mystery with an air of espionage. Its genesis is in the murky 1980s when communism and drug gangs were the social bugaboos, and its conclusion is in the now, when terror, racism, and bigotry trumps all. The mystery, Richard Wright’s and Leila’s murders, and the how and why of the connection between Higgins and the consulting firm are more than enough to keep the reader turning the pages. The past and present are nimbly woven into an intriguing tapestry that makes Murder in the Manuscript Room as much about our culture as it is about murder.

Agent Laura Pace takes no prisoners. From the Florida Everglades to the streets of Sicily, Customs and Border Protection Officer Laura (using the identity Sarah Lockhart) is tough and focused—a very welcome strong and complex female character. Working deep undercover for Homeland Security, she’s investigating the international maritime trade, focusing on container ships and the smuggling of Syrian refugees into Europe. But UN representative Renate Richter and a rogue priest named Gaetano Giardini surreptitiously contact her with an especially horrifying smuggling tale—they’ve discovered a baby-laundering ring, a multitiered international group that steals babies from refugees and sells them to wealthy American couples.

Killing Pace is one of those rare action-spy books whose lead character doesn’t need any help from the guys. She can break jaws and karate-kick with the best of them. Raised by her Italian grandmother, who was a survivor of the Nazi and Fascist violence of World War II, she uses her fluency in Italian to her advantage.

The layers of research that author Douglas Schofield fills the book with are fascinating as well as entertaining, as Laura learns the hard way whom she can trust. Many of the secondary characters are well-drawn, particularly Detective Scott Jardine, who isn’t sure who is telling the truth; Italian Guardia Major Marco Sinatra (no relation to Frank), who is quick to welcome Laura into his home; and creepy Roland Lewis, who gets taught a painful lesson in manners. Two warring Mafia groups also weave their way in and out of the plot. This was an interesting and fun read. I’m looking forward to another Laura Pace adventure.

Tom Straw may be the best-known unknown writer.

He’s had seven novels that went straight to the New York Times Best Seller list, with one landing in the No. 1 slot. The books were hugely popular and the character had an instant recognition for millions of people.

So you are probably thinking, Tom Straw, who?

Yep, Tom Straw.

Though you probably knew him as Richard Castle.

As in Richard Castle, the mystery writer character played by Nathan Fillion who ends up working with the NYPD to solve crimes—and get plot ideas—on the TV series Castle, which ran for eight season on ABC.

Under the name of Richard Castle, Straw wrote the first seven best-selling Nikki Heat novels: Heat Wave, Naked Heat, Heat Rises, Frozen Heat, Deadly Heat, Raging Heat, and Driving Heat.

The novels were a perfect tie-in to the series and further cemented the myth that Richard Castle was a real mystery writer.

The comedy-drama episodes often ended with Castle playing poker with real mystery writers such as Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Dennis Lehane, and Stephen J. Cannell, all of whom played themselves.

Becoming a bestselling mystery writer when no one really knows your name was a bit different, said Straw during an email interview.

“[It’s] a trip when it’s not your name. But by no means was that anonymity a negative for me,” said Straw.

“When I agreed to do the first book, I knew the deal and jumped at it without a regret. You see, I had already published my first mystery under my own name. It got nicely received but sold like most first books by unknown authors do.

“As Richard Castle I enjoyed the bestseller part because the writing itself was still my own. I had the best of both worlds: blockbuster sales plus work I was deeply proud of.”

While Castle was on the air and Straw was writing the novels, he couldn’t reveal that he was the real author. That led to some “some bizarre aspects to that secret life.”

Once while dining with his wife in a Boston restaurant, he overheard a man at the table behind explain “the Richard Castle dynamic” to his companion. “You don’t get it,” the man said. “See, he doesn’t really write the books, he’s an actor playing the role of the famous mystery writer. His name isn’t really Richard Castle.”

For Straw, “It was like that moment in Annie Hall when Marshall McLuhan materializes to set a moviegoer straight about Fellini. Did I dare spin in my chair and put things right for these two strangers? Almost. But I was afraid of messing with karma, and let it go. The very next day I was in a bookstore and wanted to buy a copy of Heat Wave for a friend. They were sold out.”

Then the sales clerk offered to order a copy and volunteered, “It’s a secret who writes these, you know.”

“I let it go with a “Huh, really...?” I don’t know if there are real ghosts, but I was understanding how the term ghostwriter was so apt. I could wander the earth, witness all these comments, and yet, as Tom Straw, be invisible,” he added.

In writing the Nikki Heart novels, Straw had to follow certain guidelines, to a point. Castle creator Andrew W. Marlowe set out a foundation of characters and the world they lived in.

“When I was approached to do a book, the common ground Andrew and I had was that the audience should get more than a novelization of a show they had already seen but should be able to enjoy the Castle vibe,” Straw said.

But Marlowe and he “wanted the book to be able to be a standalone for anyone who had never seen an episode of Castle.”

That allowed Straw to use his own creativity.

“The upshot of that was big. It freed me to create my own plot, which I pitched to Andrew at that first meeting, and he accepted. At the same time, [I could] poach some of the rich jewels he had mined in the series. Never the same plots or events. The fun was in the wink. I’d sneak tiny references into a minor character or a place Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook went that Kate Beckett [the NYPD homicide detective played by actress Stana Katic] had also visited with Castle. It was about taking the Castle TV reality and bending it 20 degrees. You even get it in naming Castle’s doppelgänger Rook.”

For research, Straw watched every episode of the series. “The essence of my Nikki Heat books, simply put: To have my stories be the TV character Richard Castle’s idealized version of his ride-along experiences from the show.”

When writing the novels, he would “channel Richard Castle’s heroic view of himself into a mystery that lets him win a bit more, lets him get the girl he didn’t (yet) get on the show, and perform some make-goods for his transgressions. I was more than Richard Castle’s ghost. Dammit, I was his spin doctor! And loved every moment.”

Novelizations of movies and television series are nothing new. But too often these novelizations were more gimmick than substance. But each Nikki Heat novel had a solid plot.

“If you want to know anything about me as writer, it’s that I take it very seriously. Writing, for me, is a calling. I love storytelling, have a blast doing it, and am honored to make a living at it. But I begin with respect for the reader. I believe if someone is going to invest in my book—then invest time in my book—it’s my duty to entertain, surprise, and make the experience satisfying,” Straw said.

Richard Castle’s books began as a promotional tie-in and were to be just an online access and then straight to mass-market paperback.

But Straw had other ideas.

“I don’t write for gimmicks, I write for readers. A gratifying call came from Gretchen Young, my editor at Hyperion, after I turned in the fifth chapter and she told me the publisher had decided Heat Wave was worthy of a hardback release. As Rick Castle would say, ‘Best. Call. Ever.’

“They put great promotion behind it and Andrew Marlowe ingeniously figured out means to weave the books into the show. The readers responded. Heat Wave made it to No. 6 on the New York Times. New ‘Best. Call. Ever.’ ”

In “channeling” Richard Castle, Straw met the actor behind the character.

“Nathan [Fillion] and I were only together on a handful of occasions but he was terrific. Not just a fun, nice guy, but quite respectful. The sort of person you are glad to see succeed. Ugly, but what are you gonna do?” Straw added, with a laugh.

The first time Straw met Fillion the actor was wearing a kilt. “Something you don’t forget. It was backstage when I was a writer on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson—Scottish, you know. Nathan was that night’s guest and had dressed for the host’s benefit. And amusement. Andrew Marlowe, the Castle creator, was there and introduced me to Nathan as the author who would be Castle.”

And those viewers who had a bit of a crush on Fillion—and who didn’t?—Straw says we would not be disappointed. Straw shares an incident when he was cast to celebrate on-camera during Richard Castle’s Heat Wave book-launch party episode.

“When a director shoots a scene, the cast rehearses once without filming, then they are dismissed to relax while their stand-ins take their places so lighting and cameras can be set. That usually takes an hour. Nathan and I and other cast did our bit. They called for the stand-ins. Instead of leaving, Nathan waved off his stand-in so that he and I could hang out together and chat. I have been in TV for decades; this is quite unheard-of. More than a courtesy, it was respectful. Plus we had a blast. The pressure was on me, after all. I had to make it worth his while after his kind gesture.”

And when Fillion appeared at book signings, drawing very large crowds, he “always made it clear that he was not the author when asked. Very classy. And made it easier for me to feel good about being the ghost,” Straw said.

Straw’s background in TV helped him with the tone of the books. Straw has been a showrunner numerous times and also was a screenwriter on series such as Night Court, Dave’s World, Grace Under Fire, Cosby, and Whoopi.

“First off, I know story structure, character, relationships, and dialogue from having written so much of it all over a few decades. Next, TV writing is deadline writing. Big, scary deadlines. Facility with that came in handy, especially when the first book, Heat Wave, was due on such an insanely rigorous schedule,” he said.

How insane?

“The first 10 chapters had to be up on the Castle website in a 10-week countdown to the season-two ABC premiere, which meant I was still writing the second half of the book while the first chapters had already been posted. I joked with Andrew Marlowe that I sent off each completed chapter like I was throwing mailbags off a moving train,” he said.

Straw’s TV background came in handy, too, in working with Castle creator and showrunner Andrew Marlowe.

“Our collaboration was aided immensely by the fact that we spoke the same language, knew the same pressures, and saw the same creative opportunities. It was kismet. And it remains one of the top creative relationships I’ve ever had. He and I are still good friends, and I am enjoying my role as President-for-Life of the Andrew W. Marlowe Fan Club.”

While Castle was in its first run, Straw’s identity was kept secret. But through the years, there were hints about Straw.

“It began secretively, and guessing the identity of the true author became a pastime,” Straw said.

Early speculation was the books were written by James Patterson, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, or Andrew Marlowe. “All of whom I took as honored, albeit erroneous, company. Nathan Fillion aided and abetted by denying he was the author, saying they were written by Richard Castle,” said Straw.

And like a good mystery, the clues were sprinkled around. “Things started happening,” said Straw, because of a clue Marlowe planted in the About the Author flap copy that stated Richard Castle’s “first novel, In a Hail of Bullets, published while he was still in college, received the Nom DePlume Society's prestigious Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature.”

“The social media buzz fired up, most wondering who the hell Tom Straw was,” Straw said.

“Bloggers speculated. Parade magazine ran a column, declaring I was Richard Castle. One fan site even posted a screen grab of me shaking Nathan Fillion’s hand in the Castle show I appeared in, side-by-side with my author photo from The Trigger Episode. It became this sort of open secret. Like Santa. And really, not so secret. If you look, even Amazon’s About the Author paragraph for Richard Castle lists me and my credits.”

But once the new seasons of Castle ended, “There seemed no reason to keep my head down,” Straw said. “Plus, I wanted Castle fans to know where they could come to find a book with the same satisfying flavor—even though it had different characters and was set in a crime world outside the yellow tape.“

And now the time is right for Straw to concentrate on his own novels, under his own name. He is launching a series about Macie Wild, a New York criminal defense attorney working as a public defender, with Buzz Killer.

Straw describes his new character Marcie as “a young idealist who has what she calls ‘the Kennedy gene of public service.’ Macie is whip smart and capable, but her efforts are constantly hindered by a lack of investigative resources,” he said.

Marcie catches a client the tabloids have dubbed the Buzz Killer for his technique of gaining entry from apartment lobbies. She’s struggling to get evidence to clear him when she crosses paths with ex-NYPD detective Gunnar Cody. Gunnar, a brash guy who plays it loose with the rules, was recently dismissed from the NYPD’s elite surveillance unit and is now shooting a freelance documentary that overlaps her case. With Cody continually stomping on her trail, Marcie sets aside her misgivings about his ethics and methods and seeks his investigative help.

“Marcie and Gunnar form an uneasy partnership that not only is full of moral conflicts but also romantic sparks as they unearth a big conspiracy. The whole book is kind of a thrill ride that keeps them in constant danger from a badass contract killer while they bump up against an unscrupulous pharmaceutical CEO, a playboy prince, rogue FBI agents, a high-tech cat burglar, and a scheme to launder illegal Russian billions through Manhattan luxury real estate,” Straw said.

And Straw says that his experience with the Castle books helped him create these new characters.

“After seven years of writing those Richard Castle novels based in Nikki Heat’s Twentieth Precinct, I was ready for some new turf so I could tell gripping New York mysteries but from another perspective. I wanted to explore the quest for justice from the public defender side of the fight. One thing I also knew, was that I loved writing the romantic tension between Heat and Rook and wanted to keep that burning with some sort of equivalent relationship in my new series but with fresh characters, different backgrounds and new points of view,” he said.

“If Wild and Cody have shades of Heat and Rook, I may have to plead guilty, but these two are coming from different places. If they have one thing in common with my Heat duo, it’s that I can’t wait to write their next adventure. I’m thinking six more,” he said.

“Or my name’s not Richard Castle.”

Photos: Top, Tom Straw, photo by Jill Krementz; center, Nathan Fillion, ABC photo.