Mystery
August 2025
Recent Releases
Welcome to Murder Week
by Karen Dukess

After her estranged mother's sudden death, Cath Little is surprised to find pre-paid tickets to an English village murder mystery week meant for the two of them. Curious, Cath flies over alone, where she teams up with two other Americans to solve the fake killing, meets a handsome local, and tries to figure out what her mysterious mom was up to. For fans of: romantic mystery novels; murder-less mysteries.
Death of an Ex
by Delia Pitts

Struggling New Jersey PI Vandy Myrick runs into the ex-husband she hasn't seen in 20 years. He's become a successful real estate agent and the chair of an elite school's board of trustees. But after spending the night with Vandy, he's found dead, leaving her to dig into his new life to clear her name. This 2nd Vandy Myrick novel explores race and class issues within its intricate plot. Read-alikes: Rachel Howzell Hall's Fog and Fury; Tracy Clark's Chicago Mysteries.
Death at the White Hart
by Chris Chibnall

Leaving Liverpool for her sleepy coastal hometown, DS Nicola Bridge plans to work less and save her marriage. But when the local pub owner is tied to a chair, killed, and left in the road, Nicola puts in long hours with her new team to solve the case. This "spectacular" (Library Journal) debut by the creator of TV's Broadchurch features well-drawn characters and will please fans of Ann Cleeves.

Available on Libby. 
The Busybody Book Club
by Freya Sampson

In a Cornish village, newcomer Nova Davies starts a small book club, which isn't much of a success. But after a theft threatens the future of the community center where the group meets, the club members, who vary widely in age and reading tastes, come together to play sleuth...and then a murder occurs. For fans of: Richard Osman; Robert Thorogood.
The Marigold Cottages murder collective : a mystery
by Jo Nichols

Mrs. B, the landlady of The Marigold Cottages is a stubborn idealist who only rents to people she cares about: Sophie, an anxious young playwright with a dark past; Hamilton, an agoraphobe who likes to overshare; Ocean, a queer sculptor raising two kids alone; and more.
The Black Swan Mystery
by Tetsuya Ayukawa

Early one morning, the owner of a local mill is found lying next to the railway tracks just outside of Kuki Station. Suspicion initially falls on the workers' union, with whom the man had been embroiled in a labor dispute, then on a new religious sect that has been gaining followers recently. Chief Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna are called in to investigate, and soon set off in a journey across Japan, from Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka, and finally to the island of Kyushu, in a hunt for the killer. But as they investigate, the killer strikes again, and again. Will they be able to catch the murderer before even more people are slain?
More to Enjoy
Win Free Registration to the Central Coast Writers Conference! 
SLO County Libraries is partnering with CCWC to offer scholarships to attend the Central Coast Writers Conference September 26–27, 2025!  
 
Submit an essay OR poem, 800 words or less, using the conference theme of "It's Time."  Learn more.