|
|
|
|
| Pandora's Boy by Lindsey DavisWhat it is: a richly detailed historical mystery set in first-century Rome that's narrated by clever, funny informer (i.e. detective) Flavia Albia and involves a love potion, a murder, a witch, and a missing husband.
Series alert: This is the 6th amusing Flavia Albia novel, though Flavia does sometimes makes an appearance in Lindsey Davis' 20 Marcus Didius Falco mysteries, which feature Flavia's adoptive father.
The first line: "When my husband's ex-wife came offering me work, I knew she was up to something." |
|
|
|
Against the Claw : A Lobster Shack Mystery by Shari Randall Welcome back to the seaside village of Mystic Bay, where someone's been found sleeping with the fishes. . . Ballerina Allie Larkin is still back home, healing up from a broken ankle and lending a hand at her aunt's Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack. But now that the famed restaurant is branching out into the world of catering, Allie's help is needed more than ever--even on the lobster boat. The last thing she expects to find once she's out on the bay, however, is the dead body of a beautiful young woman. When days pass and not even the police can ID the corpse, Allie takes it upon herself to learn the truth about what happened. Her investigation leads her all the way from the local piers to the secluded estates of Mystic Bay's posh elite. But how can she crack this case when everyone seems dead-set on keeping their secrets beneath the surface?
|
|
|
|
Another one bites the crust
by Ellie Alexander
When a strapping thespian named Anthony is murdered after the opening night of the Shakespeare Festival, Jules Capshaw, baker-turned-actress for this event, must cut through backstage betrayals and catty co-stars to catch a killer before the final act. By the author of A Crime of Passion Fruit. Original.
|
|
|
|
Ask Me No Questions by Shelley NobleA modern woman, Lady Dunbridge is not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She's ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm. From the decadence of high society balls, to the underbelly of Belmont horse racing, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige
|
|
| Salt Lane by William ShawFeaturing: Single mom DS Alex Cupidi (who left the London Met for Kent amidst some upheaval) and her likable new constable, Jill Ferriter.
What happens: An elderly woman's murder leads the cops to her shocked son, who says he'd only met his mother for the first time the day before...and forensics say she was already dead by then. Then, the horrific murder of an immigrant fruit picker occurs nearby.
For fans of: the author's The Birdwatcher (Cupidi appears, though Salt Lane is called the 1st in a series), and police procedurals featuring complex female detectives, like Susie Steiner's DS Manon mysteries. |
|
| White River Burning: A Dave Gurney Novel by John VerdonWhat happens: On the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer, the Catskills town of White River finds itself hosting protesters and dealing with more death when a sniper kills a police officer. So the smarmy local DA calls in PI Dave Gurney, a former NYPD detective known for his logical crime-solving.
Series alert: This is the suspenseful 6th Dave Gurney novel.
Reviewers say: White River combines "the hard-boiled social observations of noir fiction with the inscrutable pleasures of classic 'whodunit' puzzle-solving" (Kirkus Reviews).
|
|
If You Like: William Kent Krueger
|
|
| A Cold Day in Paradise: An Alex McKnight Novel by Steve HamiltonWhat happens: Now a PI in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, ex-Detroit cop Alex McKnight protects a wealthy scion with a gambling problem -- and receives messages presumably left by Maximilian Rose, who fired the bullet still lodged near Alex's heart...and who's still locked up.
Series alert: This award-winning debut is the 1st in a popular series; the 11th, Dead Man Running, is out this month.
Why William Kent Kruger fans will like it: you'll appreciate McKnight's sense of justice and the dangerous wilderness backdrop. |
|
| Spider Woman's Daughter by Anne HillermanWhat happens: Navajo Tribal police officer Bernadette Manualito witness the ambush of retired cop Joe Leaphorn. As he fights for his life, Bernie, her cop husband Jim Chee, and the FBI investigate.
Series alert: This is the 19th Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mystery, but Anne Hillerman's first; she's ably continuing her father Tony's series.
Why William Kent Kruger fans will like it: evocative rural settings, Native American characters, and clever plotting. |
|
| What the Dead Leave Behind by David HousewrightWhat happens: Millionaire sometime-detective Rushmore "Rush" McKenzie investigates an unsolved murder as a favor to his lover's daughter, whose boyfriend's father was stabbed in the head a year ago.
Series alert: this is the 14th Rushmore McKenzie novel; the 15th, Like to Die, came out in June.
Why William Kent Kruger fans will like it: the Minnesota location, the ex-cop turned part-time PI, and the well-drawn characters. |
|
| Less Than a Treason by Dana StabenowStarring: Aleut detective Kate Shugak, who lives in a remote area of Alaska, and her trusty half-wolf, half-husky dog Mutt are both shot; as Kate recovers, she works a missing persons case that turns into a murder investigation.
Series alert: This is the "richly nuanced, highly entertaining" (Publishers Weekly) 21st in the Kate Shugak series.
Why William Kent Kruger fans will like it: the crisp writing, the beautifully rendered landscapes, and the importance of friends and family to Kate and the story. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|