| The Decent Inn of Death by Rennie AirthFeaturing: John Madden, a World War I veteran and happily retired Scotland Yard inspector, and his elderly friend, Angus Sinclair, a former chief inspector with heart problems.
What happens: In post-World War II England, the widow of an anti-Nazi German preacher falls to her death. When her friend convinces Sinclair to investigate, he and Madden end up stuck in a snowed-in manor house with an unknown killer.
Series alert: This deftly plotted 6th John Madden mystery will please fans of country house mysteries, British police procedurals, and older detectives. Newcomers might start with the 1st entry, River of Darkness, which takes place just after World War I. |
|
|
A Silent Stabbing
by Alyssa Maxwell
When the new head gardener at the Renshaw estate is murdered, lady’s maid Eva Huntford, putting her own life at risk, must expose the real killer to protect her sister, Alice who was seen with the suspect on the day it happened.
|
|
|
A Divided Loyalty
by Charles Todd
Investigating the murder of an unknown victim who was found within a great prehistoric circle near Stonehenge, Rutledge follows unreliable clues to an impossible conclusion that places him on the wrong side of Scotland Yard. 100,000 first printing.
|
|
|
Above the bay of angels : a novel
by Rhys Bowen
When a twist of fate lands her in Queen Victoria’s kitchen, a talented young chef is selected to accompany a royal retinue, only to be wrongly implicated in a murder. By the award-winning author of In Farleigh Field.
|
|
| The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay FayeStarring: Alice "Nobody" James, whose Mafia past in 1920s Harlem has her nursing a bullet wound on a train headed to Portland, Oregon.
What happens: Alice, who is white, finds an unexpected home at the black-owned and operated Paragon Hotel. But the KKK is on the rise in Portland, and when a mixed-race boy goes missing, Alice and her new friends try to find him.
Read it for: the distinctive and lively inhabitants of the hotel, such as glamorous and mysterious cabaret singer Blossom Fontaine; the frank depiction of Oregon's often-forgotten history with racist violence. |
|
| The Monogram Murders: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie HannahWhat happens: Hercule Poirot, the legendary Belgian sleuth, investigates a triple homicide in 1929 London.
Did you know? This 1st Poirot mystery by Sophie Hannah marked the first time that Agatha Christie's estate authorized someone to write an entirely new book using her characters. The 4th in the series, The Killings at Kingfisher Hall, comes out later this year.
Further reading: other Golden Age writers (Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, etc.); Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series, which features a clever girl detective in 1950s England. |
|
| Metropolis: A Bernie Gunther Novel by Philip Kerr1928 Berlin, Germany: Against the backdrop of the rise of Nazism, newly promoted police detective Bernie Gunther investigates a violent wave of murders, presumably by two different serial killers, that target the city's prostitutes and its disabled World War I veterans -- and he does so while trying out a new investigative technique, going undercover.
Series alert: This Bernie Gunther origin story is the 14th and final book in the acclaimed series; author Philip Kerr sadly passed away in 2018
Reviewers say: "one of Kerr's most congenial, beautifully controlled, and entertaining works" (Kirkus Reviews); "a perfect goodbye -- and first hello -- to its hero" (The Washington Post). |
|
| The Widows of Malabar Hill: A Mystery of 1920s India by Sujata MasseyIntroducing: Perveen Mistry, Bombay's first woman solicitor and the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, who recently obtained her law degree from Oxford and joined her father's firm.
What it's about: In 1921, Perveen unearths problems while executing the will of a wealthy Muslim who left three widows and several small children behind...and then someone is murdered. In a second storyline, it's 1916, and Perveen deals with sexism, falls in love, and faces danger from an unexpected source.
Why you might like it: This atmospheric, critically acclaimed series starter offers a poignant backstory for an appealing feminist heroine. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|