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| Howloween Murder by Laurien BerensonStarring: Melanie Travis, who raises show dogs and works with struggling students as a tutor at a Connecticut private academy.
What happens: The school's elderly secretary is accused of poisoning a homemade marshmallow puff that killed a neighbor, so Melanie seeks the real murderer as Halloween nears.
Series alert: This lighthearted 26th in a popular cozy series features a cast of likeable characters (human and canine) and deft plotting. |
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| And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell HallWhat it's about: After years doing research at a firm, 39-year-old African American Grayson Sykes has her first solo job as a PI for the group.
The case: A doctor's girlfriend has been missing for weeks and the cops think she left of her own accord. Now, Gray, who has secrets and troubles of her own, must find the truth. But it's all more complicated than it first appears...and that's before Gray's past catches up with her.
Read it for: the captivating characters; the wry humor; the atmospheric setting; the suspenseful, twisty plot. |
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| In a Midnight Wood by Ellen HartWhat happens: Attending an arts festival in the small town of Castle Lake, Minnesota, 53-year-old restaurateur and true crime podcast host Jane Lawless and her best friend Cordelia Thorn investigate after the bones of a long-missing teenager are unearthed in a local cemetery.
Read it for: personable characters; an intricate plot; chapters that alternate between the time of the murder and the present day.
Series alert: Though this is the 27th entry in the award-winning Jane Lawless mysteries, newcomers can start here. |
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| The Finisher by Peter LoveseyThe setup: Curmudgeonly police detective Peter Diamond of Bath, England is working crowd control during a springtime half marathon when he spots a violent criminal he put away years ago.
What happens: A female runner goes missing, and Diamond and his team investigate, even searching the parts of the ancient city that are underground, in a case that might involve human trafficking.
Series alert: This is the atmospheric, intricate 19th Peter Diamond mystery by octogenarian Peter Lovesey, who published his first mystery (starring Victorian London's Sergeant Cribb) 50 years ago. |
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| The Thursday Murder Club by Richard OsmanWhat it's about: When a contractor at an English luxury retirement village is murdered, four members of its crime club try to crack the case.
Reviewers say: "British TV celebrity [Richard] Osman mixes mirth and murder in his exceptional debut" (Publishers Weekly); "A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters" (Kirkus Reviews).
Read this next: If you like witty, unorthodox British police detectives, try Christopher Fowler’s delightful Bryant & May books; for short stories involving a mystery-solving group, grab Agatha Christie's Tuesday Night Club. |
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The key lime crime
by Lucy Burdette
What it's about: When a fierce rivalry between key lime pie bakers leads to a pastry chef's murder, food critic Hayley Snow is fit to be pied, and wonders if she can survive, now that the murderer is looking to take a slice out of her next.
Try it if you like: Foodie mysteries, especially Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series.
Why you might like it: "Charming characters, an appealing setting, and mouthwatering bonus recipes..." (PW)
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Dead West
by Matt Goldman
What happens: Minneapolis PI Nils Shapiro heads to Hollywood on a supposedly easy job: make sure that wealthy Beverly Mayer's grieving grandson, whose fiancée recently died in a tragic accident, isn't wasting all of his money trying to start a film studio. What Nils finds is a smart man surrounded by users and that the "accident" was actually murder.
Series alert: Though this is the 4th Nils Shapiro novel readers new to the series can easily start here (but grab Gone to Dust to start at book 1).
Read this next: For more Hollywood-set novels, try Elmore Leonard's darkly humorous Get Shorty or Kellye Garret's more lighthearted Detective by Day mysteries.
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The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne
by Elsa Hart
Introducing: plant collector Lady Cecily Kay, who's just returned to England after a row with her husband, the British consul to Smyrna; Meacan Barlow, Cecily's childhood friend, now working as an illustrator.
1703 London: Cecily and Meacan are two of renowned collector Sir Barnaby Mayne's house guests when he is fatally stabbed. After a confession that can't possibly be true, the ladies hunt for the real killer.
For fans of: Deanna Raybourn; richly detailed historical mysteries with smart storylines and strong, unorthodox female characters.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Winfield, IL 60190
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