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Her Last Breath
by Taylor Adams
When Tess reluctantly joins her adventurous best friend Allie on a caving expedition, she expects to confront her claustrophobia--not a stranger who traps her in a fight for her life. A man who claims to be a fellow caver harasses them at the cave's entrance. Confident, take-no-shit Allie insults the guy--and he retaliates. Soon, Tess is trapped inside a narrow crawl space hundreds of feet underground, fighting to stay alive. Hours later, Tess emerges alive--but the nightmare is far from over. As Tess recounts her harrowing story of survival, the detective interviewing her shares new and shocking secrets about Allie's true past. Together, they begin to suspect the brutal attack wasn't so random after all. In the hospital, as Tess pieces together the events with a detective, she learns shocking truths about Allie's past that reframe everything. Was the attack truly random? Who was Allie beneath her dazzling interior? And most chilling of all--has Tess really escaped the danger, or is it still closing in?
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To Kill a Cook
by W. M. Akers
Nobody in Manhattan eats better than Bernice Black. It's 1972, and she is the city's busiest restaurant critic, juggling her fiance and his two young sons with demands of fine dining. Bernice talks fast, walks faster, has a razor-sharp wit and no patience for anything--or anyone--that gets in her way. When she stops by the famed restaurant of her favorite chef and mentor, Laurent Tirel, early one morning, she stumbles across a horrific scene in the kitchen: Laurent's severed head, perfectly preserved in a flawless mold of jellied aspic. Her meeting with the cops assigned to the case proves only one thing-they know nothing about food or the seedy underworld that BB Black has made her home. With layoffs looming, Bernice makes the gamble of her career--she promises her editor she can catch Laurent's killer before the week is out. To Kill a Cook is a delicious, witty, fast-paced mystery with a lovable, unforgettable protagonist at it center.
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The Whisking Hour
by Ellie Alexander
Fall is in full flush in the charming hamlet of Ashland, Oregon, and baker Juliet Capshaw is excited to celebrate the season with a night at the theatre. Lance Rousseau, Ashland's renowned theater director and one of Jules' closest friends, has put his own spin on a production of the Broadway classic Perfect Crime, drawing the audience into a cozy New York apartment as a nefarious set of suspects pulls off the perfect murder. As the final show approaches, Jules and the team at Torte are eagerly whipping up a murderous feast for the cast party, baking a bevy of treats like panna cotta eyeballs with blood orange coulis, deviled eggs, and savory cheese fingers with pumpkin dipping sauce. On the day of the soirée, life seems to imitate art when a storm rolls over the Siskiyou Mountains, ushering in gusty winds and unrelenting rain. The audience buzzes with electric energy as the lights flicker and the actors take the stage. After the actors take their final bow, the cast trickles into Carpenter Hall, ready for a night of frivolity. But when an actor is discovered dead in his dressing room, Jules wonders if she's just witnessed the real perfect murder.
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Man One
by Loren D. Estleman
Young widow Sage Holland doesn't look like a murderer--and that's because she isn't one. The beautiful dame has driven non-stop from her home in frozen Alaska to seek out the services of private investigator Amos Walker, bringing not just the ice and snow with her. Sage has a stalker: her late husband's vengeful brother, who's determined to make her pay for a crime she didn't commit. Someone killed David, but it wasn't her. Walker is no fool. He knows not to take the words of husky-voiced, sorrowful women at face value. But Sage is in sore need of protection, and Walker's hunt for clues on Detroit's wintry streets soon leads to far more dead bodies than expected. He'll have to use every trick he's learned if he's to keep not just his client's blood, but also his own from staining the snow.
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| A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan HarperIn Los Angeles, people make money however they can. Jake monitors the police scanner and livestreams to his many followers, defense attorney Gibson reluctantly represents a big-time TV producer charged with possession of child abuse images, and Kara works for a private concierge service, getting the wealthy what they want. Then a missing woman connects them, upending their lives. For fans of: gritty neo-noir novels with well-crafted dialogue; Jonathan Ames' Happy Doll novels. |
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| My Grandfather, the Master Detective by Masateru KonishiKaede, a 27-year-old teacher and crime novel reader, often uncovers puzzling events as she goes about her day. With her beloved grandfather, a former member of a mystery club whose Lewy body dementia hasn't affected his armchair crime-solving skills, she explores six mysteries, including a locked room murder and a missing persons case. For fans of: novels that reference classic mysteries; cozy Japanese stories. |
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Booking for Trouble
by Jenn McKinlay
Just off the shores of the coastal Connecticut town of Briar Creek are two small islands, which library director Lindsey Norris visits with her new book-boat, inspired by the bookmobiles she's seen traveling across the country. Nothing, not even the infamous feud between the families who own the Split Islands, can stop Lindsey from getting books into the hands of readers. But when Lindsey and her boat captain husband, Mike Sullivan, discover a body on the rocky outcropping of one of the islands, Lindsey's new library venture quickly becomes a murder investigation. At news of the crime, hostilities between the two families are reignited. Long buried secrets are revealed, tensions spark, and suspects abound. As Lindsey navigates treacherous waters (both literal and metaphorical), she must use her research skills and community ties to solve the murder and bring peace to the islands before her book-boat dreams are sunk.
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| A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna RaybournAre there vampires in 1890 London? Natural scientists Veronica Speedwell and Revelstoke “Stoker” Templeton-Vane investigate when a young man with bite marks on his neck is found dead near Highgate Cemetery. This well-plotted 10th in a popular series finds Veronica and Stoker going to a Romany camp as well as interacting with a vampire-like man and his witchy partner. For fans of: the author's Lady Julia Grey novels (Julia makes a cameo here); twisty mysteries with bantering detective duos. |
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| The Gardeners' Club by Marnie RichesSingle mom Gill Swanley juggles her boring-but-necessary job with taking care of her teen son and her elderly mother. To help deal with anxiety, she takes up gardening by joining the Bromley Botanists, who hope to win the coveted Golden Trowel award. But when Gill and another member find a dead body in a greenhouse, the group adds investigating a murder to their to-do list. Read-alike: Paula Sutton's The Potting Shed Murder; Robert Thorogood's The Marlow Murder Club books. |
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| Pomona Afton Can Totally Catch a Killer by Bellamy RoseIn this fun sequel to Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder, heiress Pomona Afton has started a charity to help kids go to college. She's hosting her first gala at the New York Public Library when she discovers the body of her biggest donor. With her best friend the prime suspect, Pomona tries to solve the murder, getting help from her middle-class boyfriend. Read-alikes: Jenny Elder Moke's She Doesn't Have a Clue; Amanda Chapman's Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library. |
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A Whiff of Murder
by Angela M. Sanders
This intoxicating debut spin-off of the author's popular small-town Oregon-set Witch Way Librarian mysteries features an intriguing young woman with a unique ability to sniff out a killer . . . Some people read auras, Lise Bloom reads ribbons--of fragrance, that is. Whether she's around old friends or new, fragrance often unfurls from them--an ability called clairalience. Hoping to gain insight into her gift, Lise works at the Lucky Lotus, a New Age shop. Unfortunately, the oils the owner, Dyann, concocts nauseate Lise and impede her sense of scent. Worse, the shop feels more like wealthy Dyann's hobby than a spiritual place, thanks to her toxic relationship with her ex-husband, Richard. Dyann is so pleased with her latest vengeful scheme that she shares it with Lise and gleefully remarks that when Richard finds out, he'll kill her. For Lise, it's the last straw. Persuaded to quit by her caring, colorful crew of housemates, Lise emails Dyann a resignation letter. But when she goes to the store the next morning, she detects a fetid odor she doesn't recognize--and discovers a spilled bottle of Mayan ceremonial liqueur . . . beside Dyann's dead body. Now, she'll have to follow her nose to uncoil a venomous truth. It just may lead her life in an entirely new direction--unless a killer cuts it short.
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| Nobody's Baby by Olivia WaiteOn the HMS Fairweather, a luxurious interstellar passenger liner, ship's detective Dorothy Gentleman investigates when an infant is left on her nephew's doorstep. Since fertility is supposed to be on pause during the journey, Dorothy has lots of questions, and while she looks for answers, her nephew and his partner grow attached to the baby. Readers who appreciate smart, fresh takes on cozy mysteries will want to pick up this delightful 2nd in a series. Try this next: Malka Older's Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Centerville Library
111 W. Spring Valley Rd
Centerville, OH 45458
(937) 433‑8091
Woodbourne Library
6060 Far Hills Ave
Centerville, OH 45459
(937) 435‑3700
Creativity Commons
895 Miamisburg Centerville Rd
Centerville, OH 45459
(937) 610‑4425
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