| Definitely Maybe Not a Detective by Sarah FoxWith her bestie's help, jobless Emersyn Gray creates a fake detective agency to scare her ex into giving back the money he stole from her, money that she needs to care for her orphaned seven-year-old niece. Then her Bronx building superintendent is killed and the other residents find her fake business card, leading her to team up with a hunky guy to solve the case. For fans of: Bellamy Rose's "Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder"; Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan series. |
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| Listen by Sacha Bronwasser; translated by David ColmerAfter her manipulative professor betrays her, Dutch art student Marie becomes an au pair in 1989 Paris, working for a complicated family. Years later, during the 2015 terror attacks in Paris, Marie sees her old professor in the area she once worked. This suspenseful, slow-burn crime novel by a Dutch art critic provides a thought-provoking look at trauma and will work for general fiction readers, too. |
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| Murder at Donwell Abbey by Vanessa KellyWhen Emma Knightley, née Woodhouse, learns her father is to remarry, she's alarmed about having excitable Miss Bates as a stepmother and having to plan a betrothal party in six days. When Emma's maid is discovered dead at the festivities, most think it was an accident, but suspicious Emma uses her quick, observant mind to investigate her 2nd case. For fans of: mysteries featuring Jane Austen or her characters, such as Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries. |
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| Murder in Manhattan by Julie MulhernFor her 'Gotham Magazine' social column, reporter Freddie Archer frequents speakeasies and parties, mingling with people like Dorothy Parker, Tallulah Bankhead, and the Fitzgeralds. After a man mentioned in her latest dispatch is murdered, Freddie looks for the fashionable woman she saw him with, taking her from ritzy locales to gritty tenements in this fun 1st in a new series. For fans of: Katharine Schellman's Last Call at the Nightingale novels; Nekesa Afia's Harlem Renaissance mysteries. |
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| The Case of the Murdered Muckraker by Rob OslerIn 1898, 21-year-old detective agency junior field operative Harriet Morrow investigates when a journalist who'd been looking into corrupt government officials is fatally stabbed in a Chicago tenement house. Going undercover, Harriet dons a variety of guises to get to the truth in her richly detailed 2nd outing, which also sees her find a girlfriend. For fans of: Stephen Spotswood and Lev AC Rosen. |
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| The Italian Secret by Tara MossPI Billie Walker inherited her dad's office in Sydney, Australia, so when she finds old love letters, she books a trip to Italy to find the letter writer to investigate if her dad had an affair. Meanwhile, a client is killed, and Billie suspects the woman's abusive husband either did it or hired gangster Vincenzo Moretti. Then, Moretti appears during Billie's Italian trip in this atmospheric 3rd in an engaging series. For fans of: Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher mysteries. |
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| The Living and the Dead by Christoffer CarlssonIn a small Swedish town in 1999, the teenage son of a local landowner is murdered after a party. Police officer Siri Bengtsson arrives to question folks, but the death of a main suspect and a catastrophic landslide leave the case unsolved. Twenty years later, when a related murder occurs, a retired Siri agrees to help the detective in charge in this 3rd Halland novel. Try this next: Hans Rosenfeldt's "Cry Wolf". |
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| Wreck Your Heart by Lori Rader-DayChicago's Doll Devine hopes to make it as a country singer, but for now she's singing at a tavern owned by Alex McPhee, who's helped her since she was a kid. When her estranged mom briefly shows up after 20 years, followed by a woman claiming to be Doll's half-sister, Doll doesn't know what to think, and then her ex is found dead outside the bar. For fans of: standalone mysteries with a strong sense of place and a wisecracking main character. |
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The Murder at World's End
by Ross Montgomery
Secrets, murder, and mayhem collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo--an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogenarian--hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world, in this locked-room mystery. Together, this mismatched duo must navigate secret passages, buried grudges, and rising terror to unmask the killer before it's too late...
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The Trip
by Audrey J. Cole
A locked-room thriller at sea about image and influence, guilty secrets that won't sink, and the lies we cling to in the storm. A luxury sailing trip is the perfect escape from Palmer's shattered marriage. Until the Pacific Coast cruise descends into a harrowing fight for their lives. Twenty years ago, the five of them were inseparable. But after a rafting accident their senior year, only four of them returned. And their lives were never the same. Now Palmer, her ride-or-die Beth, and home renovator Emma are on an all-expenses-paid trip with mega-influencer Gigi. But a mysterious note and a violent storm soon push them dangerously off course. The radio's down, the captain's missing, and the first officer's woefully inexperienced. And in a chilling echo of the past, Gigi gets swept away. Perhaps on purpose. Someone doesn't want them to make it back. Palmer's not sure who to trust, but she knows the truth lies in the murky depths of what really happened that day on the river.
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