“Kills Well With Others,” by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)

The female assassins of “Killers of a Certain Age” (2023) are back. This time, the four aging killers, employees of the Museum — an international organization that wipes out the world’s most notorious bad guys — are going after a man who murdered one of their own. The son of a man who the women killed years before had ordered the killing of a Museum employee in retaliation. It’s up to the women to get revenge.

One of them slips into the man’s suite on a cruise and does him in. All in a day’s work. But when the home of one of the assassins is burned to the ground, the women realize they’ve been outed. Now, the dead man’s sister is after them. The murderous romp takes Billie, Mary Alice, Natalie and Helen to London, Venice, Sardinia and Egypt as they pursue their target. Murder has never been so much fun.

“Robert B. Parker’s Buried Secrets,” by Christopher Farnsworth (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Robert Parker died 15 years ago, but his books live on, thanks to the writers who’ve tried their hands at carrying on Parker’s Spenser and Jesse Stone series. Now, in “Buried Secrets,” novelist Christopher Farnsworth takes on Jesse Stone in a mystery almost worthy of the old master himself.

Paradise Police Chief Stone does a welfare check on an elderly man, a hoarder, living in a ramshackle house. The man is dead of natural causes. Nothing unusual, until Jesse discovers $2 million buried under the sofa, along with photographs of murdered men. The dead man was a procurer of assassins, and the pictures were copies of those sent to the criminals who hired them. News of the discovery sends two of the assassins to Paradise to steal the money, retrieve the pictures and murder Stone.

Meanwhile, Stone has to deal with a new hire. Darek Tate is an angry man who seems to be in a murderous fog when anyone questions him. He could be as much a threat to Jesse as the assassins. Despite a little too much psychobabble, “Buried Treasures” is a good, solid mystery.

“What The Wife Knew,” by Darby Kane (William Morrow)

Addison married Richmond Dougherty not for love but for vengeance. Now, 97 days later, Richmond is dead, and Addison is a rich widow. She’s also the primary suspect in his death — and in two other “accidents.” After all, she forced Richmond to leave his wife, and the unhappily-married couple had threatened to kill each other. The bat Addison kept by her bedside for protection was the murder weapon.

Darby Kane slowly reveals the twisted plot put together by Addison’s mother. But proving her innocence is only one of Addison’s problems. Standing up to her manipulative mother may be the greater challenge.

“Famous Last Words,” by Gillian McAllister (William Morrow)

After a nine-month maternity leave, Camilla leaves her baby at day care and returns to her job as a literary agent. A few hours in, Cam’s husband, Luke, barricades himself in a warehouse with three hostages. Rushed to the scene, Cam encounters hostage negotiator Niall, who is convinced Luke will not kill the hostages. He urges police not to storm the building.

Niall’s wrong. Luke frees one hostage, kills the other two, then escapes.

Seven years later, Cam applies to have Luke declared dead so that she can sell her house. Anonymous messages and strange sightings, however, indicate he is out there somewhere. Despite meeting a new man, she still loves her husband. Niall, too, is still on the trail of Luke. Disgraced as a negotiator, he remains a cop, and when he discovers the anonymous message on Cam’s tapped line, he renews his search for the killer.

“Hang on St. Christopher,” by Adrian McKinty (Blackstone)

Sean Duffy is semi-retired from his job as a hard-hitting if unconventional detective. He works a few days a month writing traffic tickets and quelling neighborhood tiffs, as a Northern Ireland cop, waiting for his pension to kick in. But when the station’s detective squad is away and Sean’s handed a simple car hijacking and murder case to solve, he knows there’s more to the death than others believe.

Duffy concludes the victim is a hitman who’s been offed by another hitman. But who’s involved? With the help of old-time partner John McCrabban, Sean runs afoul of one of the most vicious gangs in Ireland. Of course, he refuses to be intimidated, even by the higher-ups who take the case away from him.

Since this is No. 8 in an eight-book series, you might wonder if Sean will live through all this and eventually take his pension. Well, you would if you’re not a fan of the Sean Duffy series.

“All the Other Mothers Hate Me,” by Sarah Harman (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

And you won’t like her much, either. Former girl-band singer Florence Grimes is a sloppy single-mom who drinks too much, sleeps around and can’t get her act together. Her only redeeming value — besides reminding us of ourselves sometimes — is her love for her son, Dylan, 10. When a snotty boy at Dylan’s snooty private school disappears on a field trip, Florence discovers the wealthy kid’s backpack under Dylan’s bed. Dylan confesses that he and the boy were partners on the trip, and Dylan answered for him when roll call was taken on the bus going home.

Florence will do anything to save Dylan, and some of her actions are downright cruel. She enlists the help of another mother to “investigate” the disappearance. The two embark on a series of adventures that lead to police going after the wrong man. By the end, Florence is more likeable, but not much.

“When She Was Gone,” by Sara Foster (Blackstone)

What’s more terrifying than a missing child? Make that two missing children, and their nanny. Did Lou, the nanny, run off with the boy and girl she cared for? Did the three meet with an accident or were they kidnapped? That’s what Australian detective Malcolm Blackwood must determine.

The case is complicated when Rose, Lou’s mother and a former policewoman, shows up to help. Rose barely knows her daughter, who was raised by the father, who turned the girl against Rose. Throw in the children’s quarreling high-society parents and an ultra-rich grandfather who wants to control things, and Malcolm has his hands full.

Sandra Dallas is a Denver author and freelance book reviewer.