‘Good People’

by Marcus Sakey (Dutton, 323 pgs., $24.95)

The masterful Good People are Tom and Anna Reed, an average couple who work hard at their jobs, enjoy their lives and owe way too much between their mortgage and bills. The one thing they both want — to have a baby — hasn’t happened. Years of infertility treatments and failed in-vitro fertilizations have strapped them financially and strained their relationship. Their dream and sometimes their love have become “a burden.”

But these two Good People may have found an answer when they find nearly $400,000 hidden in the apartment of their recently deceased tenant. Their renter had no family, no friends and taking the money seems like “a victimless crime.” This isn’t about buying new things — though they do engage in one heady afternoon of shopping — but a way to clear out their debts and, more importantly, to afford another infertility trial.

But their tenant was no kindly hermit hoarding his money. He was a deadly criminal who was recently involved in a high-profile robbery-murder in Chicago in which he ran off with the money. Now, his former partners in crime and a ruthless drug lord want their share back, and these two Good People who were banking their future on found money are caught in the middle.

In just three critically-acclaimed best-sellers, Marcus Sakey has established a reputation for incisive, suspenseful cautionary tales about ordinary people caught up in circumstances beyond their control. By making Anna and Tom’s main goal having a baby, Sakey imbues “Good People” with more noble stakes — that of starting a family. The money isn’t about living in a bigger house but about their future. They are admittedly “greedy,” but greedy for a better life. Sakey makes the couple’s pain real and their lust for the money poignant.

Each of Sakey’s novels (“At the City’s Edge” and “The Blade Itself”) has topped the previous. The suspenseful “Good People” follows that stellar pattern.

‘The Last Embrace’

by Denise Hamilton (Scribner, $15)

Denise Hamilton, best known for her award-winning series about reporter Eve Diamond, makes a smooth transition from contemporary Los Angeles to the City of Angels of 1949 in the lively “The Last Embrace.”

As in her series, Hamilton’s sixth novel vividly captures the nuances of L.A., showing that the same concerns of immigration, development and economics haunted the city in the post-World War II years as they do today. Of course, the lure of Hollywood and possible stardom remains a constant.

Lily Kessler spent the war years as a spy for the OSS. She’s come to L.A. not for stardom but to find her late fiance’s sister, Kitty, a starlet who has disappeared from her Hollywood rooming house. Using the skills she honed during the war, Lily jump-starts an investigation the cops seem to have dropped.

Hamilton richly draws on L.A.’s history, from fears about the Black Dahlia murder, mob boss Mickey Cohen and the era’s police corruption. The author also gives an insider’s view on the movies’ burgeoning special-effects industry, including the early days of stop-motion animation. The changing role of women post-World War II also is scrutinized.

Although a few cardboard supporting characters detract from “The Last Embrace,” the brisk pace and Hamilton’s strong story-telling skills keep the story on track.

The strong-willed, intelligent Lily more than carries the plot in “The Last Embrace” and her return would be most welcomed.

‘South of Hell’

by P.J. Parrish (Pocket Star Books, $7.99)

Hell is a place that private detective Louis Kincaid knows well, but he also had hoped never to return to this aptly named little Michigan town south of Ann Arbor.

But a call from a cop re-opening a years-old case involving a missing woman jolts Louis out of his comfortable life near Sanibel. New complications have surfaced in the cold case. As Louis helps with the investigation, he’s reunited with his old girlfriend, Jo Frye, and is forced to confront his painful past.

Wrapped in the tenets of a private detective novel with overtones of a police procedural, South of Hell also successfully taps into the issues of domestic violence, Michigan’s racial history and how the cavalier attitude of a young man can haunt his life.

The tense plot in “South of Hell” careens with multiple twists as the suspense accelerates. Characters who are easy to care about and a vivid look at the Michigan landscape — Hell is a real town — further elevate the story.

Parrish, the pseudonym for sisters Kristy Montee of Fort Lauderdale and Kelly Nichols of Mississippi, have amassed multiple awards and nominations with their novels about Louis Kincaid and last year’s “A Thousand Bones,” which focused on Jo Frye. “South of Hell” continues their high standards.