|
Magpie Lane
by Lucy Atkins
Meet: Dee, the Scottish nanny; Nick, the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife Mariah, pregnant with their child; and eight-year-old, Felicity who vanished in the middle of the night.
What it is: Roaming through Oxford's secret passages and hidden graveyards, Magpie Lane explores the true meaning of family--and what it is to be denied one.
Reviewers say: "The narrative tugs the heartstrings and grips the emotions as it moves inexorably to a conclusion which is both surprising and inevitable, like all the best mysteries."―Mystery People
|
|
| Hidden Treasure by Jane K. ClelandWhat happens: Everything is going right for Josie Prescott -- her TV show about antiques has been renewed and she's just bought the New Hampshire house of her dreams with her new husband.
The problem: She finds a missing treasure that others want, and then her new coastal home's elderly former owner suddenly disappears.
Who it's for: This 13th Josie Prescott mystery should work for fans of Barbara Allan's Trash 'n' Treasures cozy mysteries or Miranda James' Cat in the Stacks series (which also features a Maine Coon cat). |
|
| Bryant & May: Oranges and Lemons by Christopher FowlerWhat happens: Someone burns down a London bookstore and then a high-profile politician is almost killed by a crate of falling oranges and lemons. With an odd nursery rhyme connection and powerful leaders wanting answers, the Peculiar Crimes unit is reinstated, with eccentric senior detectives Arthur Bryant and John May on the case.
Series alert: This is the delightful 18th outing for the amusing duo.
Want a taste? "Every act of recollection alters a narrative. Stories are strange fruits that ripen and mutate." |
|
| Germania: A Novel of Nazi Berlin by Harald GilbersWhat happens: In 1944 Berlin, Jewish former police detective Richard Oppenheimer, who's alive because his wife is Aryan, is forced to investigate a serial killer murdering women connected to powerful Nazis.
Series alert: This first Richard Oppenheimer novel is an international bestseller and the only entry so far to be translated into English.
Read it for: the well-researched historical details; the atmospheric portrayal of Berlin at the end of the war. |
|
| Absence of Mercy by S.M. GoodwinWhat it is: a gritty historical mystery with an "ingeniously clued and perfectly executed plot" (Booklist) and the 1st in a new series.
Starring: Detective Inspector Lightner, who's an injured Crimean War veteran, a stutterer, and the second son of an English duke.
What happens: In 1857, Lightner leaves London's Met police in order to train New York City investigators. But things don't go as planned, and he ends up investigating three curious murders -- including that of the detective who hired him -- with disgraced cop Hieronymus Law. |
|
| House of the Patriarch by Barbara HamblyStarring: Benjamin January, a free man of color in 1840 New Orleans, who was educated in France and now teaches piano and solves problems.
What happens: At the request of a close friend, January agrees to help a visiting English couple find their teenage daughter, who went missing from a crowded steamboat on New York's Long Island Sound. Posing as a slave, he deals with racism and encounters religious zealots (and P.T. Barnum) while looking for the lost girl.
Series alert: This is the riveting, vividly detailed 18th outing for the appealing January. |
|
|
The Unwilling
by John Hart
What it's about: The younger brother of a wrongly implicated Vietnam veteran and ex-con races to uncover the truth about a young woman’s murder and the brutal realities of war that shaped his brother’s darker nature.
Why you should read it: This is crime fiction at its most raw, an exploration of family and the past, of prison and war and the indelible marks they leave.
|
|
| Watch Her by Edwin HillWhat happens: Harvard research librarian Hester Thursby and her friend, Boston sergeant detective Angela White, attend a for-profit art school's open house and are soon investigating a suspicious burglary, financial transgressions, a decades-old tragedy, and murder.
Series alert: This is the third outing for Hester; she made her first appearance in Little Comfort.
Reviewers say: "Complex characterization and a masterly mystery make this a superior read" (Kirkus Reviews). |
|
|
Death Comes to the Rectory
by Catherine Lloyd
What it's about: When her father, the rector, is implicated in the death of his wife’s son-in-law, a very disagreeable man, Lady Lucy Kurland, with her daughter’s christening marred by murder, must clear his name and expose the real culprit.
Series alert: This is the eighth, and final, book in the Kurland St. Mary's series which started in 2013 with Death Comes to the Village.
Reviewers say: "Death Comes to the Rectory is an enjoyable coda to a memorable series... Many thanks to Catherine Lloyd for an enjoyable historical mystery series. Time for a re-read!" (Criminal Element)
|
|
|
Possession
by Katie Lowe
The crime: In 2008, Hannah McLelland's husband is killed in their bed by a knife to the throat. Hannah remembers little other than waking up to blood. The crime scene is "off" and authorities are perplexed, until an anonymous tip leads them to a young man who winds up in prison for Graham's murder.
What happens: A true-crime podcast reopens a 10-year-old murder case involving a skeptical police officer, a suspicious best friend, a convicted teen who swears he is innocent and a wife who does not remember anything.
Reviewers say: "Lowe impressively weaves a web of past and present intrigue. Even more notable is her talent in tying everything together without excessive incredulity, particularly considering Hannah's history, numerous plot threads and the social media aspect of the case, all of which converge in a blockbuster of a finish." (Shelf Awareness) "Similar in vein to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train, Lowe's chilling, atmospheric thriller will keep readers turning the pages all night." (Library Journal)
|
|
|
Hide in Place
by Emilya Naymark
What it's about: Fleeing the city when her cover is blown during a racketeering case, New York undercover cop Laney Bird finds the limits of her skills tested by her son’s disappearance and an encounter with a confidential informant from her past.
Reviewers say: "An original, satisfying roller-coaster ride for domestic suspense fans" (Publishers Weekly).
About the author: Emilya Naymark is married to an N.Y.P.D. undercover detective which compelled her to create the character of Laney Bird, whose wild, terrifying experiences are inspired by real events.
|
|
|
The Sanatorium
by Sarah Pearse
What it's about: Accompanying family members to an isolated Swiss Alps hotel to recuperate from a traumatizing case, a woman detective uncovers the fates of long-ago tuberculosis patients who went missing from the property years earlier when it operated as a sanatorium.
Book Club Pick: The Sanatorium is Reese Witherspoon's February book club pick. Books are chosen that center on women with honesty and sincerity, celebrating all the ways they are women.
About the author: Sarah Pearse grew up in Devon, and studied English literature and creative writing at the University of Warwick before completing a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism. She lived in Switzerland for several years before returning to the UK. The Sanatorium is her first novel.
|
|
|
Shiver
by Allie Reynolds
What it's about: A reunion weekend in the French Alps turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at a remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm, where ominous things begin to happen.
For fans of: Ruth Ware, Paula Hawkins, and Shari Lapena.
About the author: Debut author Allie Reynolds is an ex-freestyle snowboarder "who writes with the same fast-paced intensity of an energy drink-fueled trip down the slope" (Shelf Awareness)
|
|
Spotlighting African American Mystery Authors |
|
|
Broken Places
by Tracy Clark
Introducing: Chicago cop-turned-PI Cass Raines, who was raised by her grandparents and lives in Hyde Park.
What happens: After vandals hit a local church, the priest, who's like a father to Cass, asks for her help -- but it isn't long until his body is found next to a dead gang member, and the cops try to wrap things up as a murder-suicide. Cass isn't having it, and sets out to find the truth in this debut novel.
For fans of: Sara Paretsky, Trudy Nan Boyce, and Rachel Howzell Hall.
|
|
|
Blacktop Wasteland
by S. A. Cosby
Meet: Beauregard "Bug" Montage. He is a man with many different titles: husband, father, friend, honest car mechanic. But before he gave it up, Bug used to be known from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida as the best Wheel Man on the East Coast.
What happens: After a series of financial calamities, Bug feels he has no choice but to take one final job as the getaway driver for a daring diamond heist that could solve all his money troubles and allow him to go straight once and for all.
Reviewers say: "Bug's got a conscience not typical of the thriller genre, but other than that, this debut novel recalls almost perfectly the classic heist thriller in the vein of Richard Stark's "Parker" novels. It'll go like hot cakes."(Library Journal)
|
|
|
Hollywood Homicide
by Kellye Garrett
Introducing: broke actress Dayna Anderson, who, with help from her wannabe reality-show star friend, decides to earn the $15,000 in reward money offered in the case of a hit-and-run death that Dayna witnessed.
For fans of: amusing mysteries and those who appreciate insider peeks at Hollywood.
Author alert: Kellye Garrett was a TV writer for almost a decade, including for Cold Case; this is her debut novel.
|
|
|
And Now She's Gone
by Rachel Howzell Hall
hat it's about: After years doing research at a firm, 39-year-old 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.
|
|
|
Bluebird, Bluebird
by Attica Locke
What it's about: In a rural East Texas town, the body of a black lawyer from Chicago is found in a bayou, followed several days later by that of a white woman. African American Texas Ranger Darren Mathews investigates and finds a complex case of love and hate.
Why you should read it: With fully realized characters and a timely look at race relations in the U.S., this powerful book by Attica Locke (who's written and produced for TV's Empire) is the first in a planned series.
Winner of: both an Edgar and an Anthony Award for Best Novel as well as a Dagger Award.
|
|
|
Blood Grove
by Walter Mosley
"Meet: WWII veteran, unlicensed private investigator-turned-hardboiled detective Easy Rawlins
What happens: After being approached by a Vietnam War veteran who claims to have gotten into a fight protecting a woman, Easy embarks on an investigation that takes him from mountaintops to the desert, through South Central and into sex clubs and the homes of the fabulously wealthy, facing hippies, the mob, and old friends perhaps more dangerous than anyone else in late-1960s Los Angeles.
Reviewers say: "Mosley does a fine job highlighting a world of Black survivors who know how difficult their struggle remains, every day of every decade. This marvelous series is as relevant as ever. " (Publishers Weekly)
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|