Mystery
October 2025

Recent Releases
Book cover for Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library
Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library
by Amanda Chapman

After closing Manhattan's Mystery Guild Library for the day, book conservator Tory Van Dyne discovers a woman who says she's Agatha Christie...which does appear to be the case, despite Christie being dead. So when Tory's actress cousin Nic is linked to a suspicious death, Tory works with Christie to solve the crime. For fans of: traditional mysteries with clever plotting; Colleen Cambridge’s Phyllida Bright mysteries; Marie Benedict’s The Queens of Crime.
Cover image for Guilty by Definition
Guilty by Definition
by Susie Dent

A cryptic letter with references to Shakespeare arrives at the Clarendon English Dictionary offices in Oxford, England. Senior editor Martha Thornhill thinks the odd missive might be related to her sister’s disappearance a decade earlier, so when more notes appear, Martha and her team work to solve the clues and possibly a crime. This clever debut novel by English lexicographer and TV presenter Susie Dent will please both mystery fans and language lovers. Try this next: Murder by the Book by Amie Schaumberg.
Cover image for Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue
Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue
by Spencer Quinn

After winning a senior tennis competition, 71-year-old Floridian Loretta Plansky drives her doubles partner home, arriving just in time to see his yacht explode. He claims it was lightning, but Loretta isn’t sure, so when he disappears and she learns her estranged son might somehow be involved, she investigates in her fun 2nd outing. Try this next: Rachel Ekstrom-Courage’s Murder by Cheesecake.
Cover image for The Dead Come to Stay
The Dead Come to Stay
by Brandy Schillace

Autistic American Jo Jones has recently relocated to rural Yorkshire, England, after inheriting a rundown family estate. In her 2nd outing, Jo unearths more secrets about her ancestors and teams up with handsome detective James MacAdams after her new tenant is killed. For fans of: Nita Prose’s Maid novels.
Cover image for Murder at the Wham Bam Club
Murder at the Wham Bam Club
by Carolyn Marie Wilkins

In 1922, young Nola Ann Jackson, whose Harlem Hellfighter husband died in the war, lives with her psychic Aunt Sarah in her fast-growing Illinois hometown. Nola, who’s been embracing her own psychic talents, helps investigate when a murder occurs that’s related to a local girls' school she once attended. For fans of: historical mysteries with a strong sense of place and paranormal elements.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Pasadena Public Library
285 E. Walnut Street, Pasadena, California 91101
(626) 744-4066

cityofpasadena.net/library