City of Margins by William Boyle This one's a stunner. Broken yet endearing characters cross paths in this fatalistic tale set in 1990s Brooklyn. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage Holy smokes, Baby Teeth is unsettling. Stage notches up the terrors of raising children just enough so that every parent can see themselves in this horrific nightmare. The Scarlet Imperial by Dorothy B. Hughes It's comforting to know that a talent like Hughes can write a clunker. Skip this one and read In A Lonely Place, The Expendable Man, or Ride the Pink Horse instead. The Lady Upstairs by Halley Sutton Fierce females seek revenge in this dark and racy LA noir.