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Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers
by Tessa Arlen
What it is: A sequel to Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders finds Poppy’s first solo script project, a 10-minute short film about the Attagirls pilots of World War II, upended by the suspicious deaths of two women fighters.
What happens: Poppy never expects to see one of the best pilots die in what is being labeled an accident. When another Attagirl meets a similar fate, Poppy and her American fighter-pilot boyfriend, Griff, believe foul play may be at work. They soon realize that a murderer with a desire for revenge is dead set on grounding the Attagirls for good.
Reviewers say: "Arlen's depiction of the heroic ATAs is a fascinating nod to a little-known aspect of WWII history. Cozy fans will enjoy spending time with good-hearted, very English Poppy and friends, including her charming corgi." (Publishers Weekly)
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The Wicked Hour
by Alice Blanchard
What happens: Detective Natalie Lockhart uncovers a heartbreaking scene—a young woman, dead and lying in a dumpster. There’s no clue to who she is, save for a mystifying tattoo on her arm, and a callus underneath her chin. She’s not from around here. No one knows who she is. As Natalie retraces the young woman’s steps leading up to her death, she uncovers a deeper, darker horror—a string of murders and disappearances, seemingly unconnected, that may have ties to each other—and explain the abrupt disappearance of her best friend years ago.
Reviewers Say: “Lockhart is a relatable new heroine on the police-procedural scene, and one who will appeal to readers of Tana French." (Booklist)
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| The Sicilian Method by Andrea CamilleriWhat happens: In Sicily, engaging Inspector Montalbano investigates the murder of an unpopular theater director and falls for a new woman.
Series alert: Author Andrea Camilleri sadly died in 2019 at the age of 93, but he left behind a few unpublished novels, including this amusing and delightfully atmospheric 26th Montalbano book. The 27th entry, The Cook of the Halcyon, is scheduled for publication in March 2021.
Did you know? These well-plotted books inspired two popular Italian TV shows, Inspector Montalbano and The Young Montalbano. |
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Murder in Season
by Jessica Fletcher & Jon Land
Find: Writer-sleuth Jessica Fletcher reluctantly agreeing to play Mrs. Claus in the Cabot Cove, Maine, annual Christmas parade, and glad the renovation of her lovely old house is coming to an end.
What happens: The only thing dampening the holiday cheer is the discovery of two sets of bones on Jessica's property: one set ancient, the other only about a year old. It's concluded that they were both placed there during the reconstruction, and Jessica suspects that, despite the centuries between them, the remains might be connected.
Author Alert: Jon Land is the author of over 50 books, including the Caitlin Strong mystery series. This is his sixth Murder She Wrote novel.
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| One of Our Own by Jane HaddamStarring: Gregor Demarkian, a brilliant former FBI agent and police consultant who's known as the Armenian American Hercule Poirot.
What happens: Demarkian investigates after a barely alive 72-year-old woman stuffed in a plastic sack falls out of the back of a van speeding through his beloved Philadelphia neighborhood.
About the author: Author Jane Haddam, whose real name was Orania Papazoglou, passed away in 2019, but this well-plotted 30th Gregor book is "a fitting coda to the career of one of America’s best contemporary fair play authors" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Fool Me Twice
by Jeffry P. Lindsay
Meet: Thief and disguise artist Riley Wolfe who is continuing his Robin Hood-inspired crusade against the wealthy elite.
What it's about: Pulling of an impossible crime is the only way he can stay alive. Stealing a Faberge egg. Surviving a double cross. And pulling off the most incredible robbery, for the world's most demanding and dangerous collector. With wicked dialogue, tons of explosive twists, and cinema-worthy scenes you will root for the anti-hero Riley Wolfe.
Author Alert: Jeff Lindsay is the author of the best-selling Dexter series. He is also a resident of Southwest Florida. This is his second Riley Wolfe novel after Just Watch Me.
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| Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen SpotswoodIntroducing: Willowjean "Will" Parker, our tough young narrator who's a quick learner and a circus knife thrower; Lillian Pentecost, a famous New York City PI who's 40ish, smart, and in need of an assistant since her multiple sclerosis has started to more easily tire her.
What happens: Lillian hires Will, and they investigate the locked-room murder of a wealthy woman as Will falls for the victim's daughter.
Why you might like it: It offers a witty, fresh take on detective stories set in the 1940s and has fully realized characters you'll adore. |
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| Murder by Milk Bottle by Lynne TrussWhat it's about: In 1957 Brighton, England, three people -- a patrolman, a beauty contestant, and a BBC radio celebrity -- die within hours of each other, all killed with milk bottles. Constable Twitten and his fellow cops look for a common link between the victims as well as why the unusual weapon was used.
Series alert: This is the third in a quirky, funny series by author Lynne Truss, who wrote the bestselling grammar guide Eats, Shoots & Leaves.
Reviewers say: "In her ability to blend crime and farce, Truss is in a class of her own" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Best of 2020 That You May Have Missed |
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Don't Turn Around
by Jessica Barry
Meet: Cait Monaghan and Rebecca McRae. They are on a desolate road that slices through the New Mexican desert. They've never met before tonight. Both have secrets to protect. Both of their lives are in danger.
What happens: A truck pulls up fast behind them, it soon becomes clear that whoever is driving the truck is hunting them for sport - and they are out to draw blood. As the miles unspool and the dangers mount, the pasts they've worked so hard to keep buried have come back to haunt them. Someone wants one of them dead. But which one? If Cait and Rebecca are going to survive, they'll have to learn to trust one another - and themselves.
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Perfect Little Children
by Sophie Hannah
What it's about: All Beth has to do is drive her son to his soccer game. Just because she knows her ex-best friend lives near the field, that doesn't mean she has to drive past her house.Except she does. And she parks outside the open gates and watches as Flora calls to her children to get out of the car. Twelve years ago Thomas and Emily were five and three. Today, they look precisely as they did then. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt, but they haven't changed at all. Why haven't they grown?
Author alert: In 2014, with the blessing of Agatha Christie's estate Sophie published a new novel with Christie's Detective Poirot. The Monogram Murders was a best seller in 15 countries.
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The Forger's Daughter
by Bradford Morrow
What happens: After twenty years of living life on the straight and narrow, Will finds himself drawn back to forgery, ensnared in a plot to counterfeit the rarest book in American literature: Edgar Allan Poe’s first, Tamerlane, of which only a dozen copies are known to have survived. Facing threats to his life and family, Will must rely on the artistic skills of his older daughter Nicole to help create a flawless forgery of this stolen Tamerlane, the Holy Grail of American letters.
What it is: Part mystery, part case study of the shadowy side of the book trade, and part homage to the writer who invented the detective tale, The Forger's Daughter portrays the world of literary forgery as diabolically clever, genuinely dangerous, and inescapable, it would seem, to those who have ever embraced it.
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Trouble Is What I Do
by Walter Mosley
Starring: Leonid McGill's spent a lifetime building up his reputation in the New York investigative scene. His seemingly infallible instinct and inside knowledge of the crime world make him the ideal man to help when Phillip Worry comes knocking.
What happens: Phillip "Catfish" Worry is a 92-year-old Mississippi bluesman who needs Leonid's help with a simple task: deliver a letter revealing the black lineage of a wealthy heiress and her corrupt father. But when a famed and feared assassin puts a hit on Catfish, Leonid has no choice but to confront the ghost of his own felonious past. Working to protect his client and his own family, Leonid must reach the heiress on the eve of her wedding before her powerful father kills those who hold their family's secret.
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Please See Us
by Caitlin Mullen
Setting: Summer has come to Atlantic City but the boardwalk is empty of tourists, the casino lights have dimmed, and two Jane Does are laid out in the marshland behind the Sunset Motel, just west of town.
What happens: Clara, a young boardwalk psychic, struggles to attract clients for the tarot readings that pay her rent. When she begins to experience very real and disturbing visions, she suspects they could be related to the recent cases of women gone missing in town. When Clara meets Lily, an ex-Soho art gallery girl, she thinks Lily may be able to help her. If they can put the pieces together in time, they may save another lost girl. Can they break the ill-fated cycle, or will they join the other victims?
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The Missing American
by Kwei Quartey
What happens: An American widower goes to Accra, Ghana, to meet a woman he met online, discovers he's been scammed, and goes missing. His son hires Ghanaian Emma Djan, who works at a private detective agency to find him in a case that includes internet scams, a fetish priest, a helpful reporter, and a political assassination.
Is it for you? If you like gritty, atmospheric novels, try this series starter by Kwei Quartey, a physician who grew up in Ghana who also writes the Darko Dawson mysteries.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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