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| Honey Roasted by Cleo CoyleThe buzzzz: Manhattan coffee shop manager Clare Cosi, who's started offering honey-roasted coffee and honey bakery items, investigates after she finds her elderly honey supplier in a coma after a suspicious fall from the bees' rooftop home.
Make a beeline for: honey-inspired recipes; details on honeybees and urban beekeeping; intriguing facts about New York City.
A full hive: This is the entertaining 19th entry in the long-running Coffeehouse Mysteries. Fans will be happy to see Clare again (and learn how her love life is going), and newcomers will have fun too. |
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| Observations by Gaslight: Stories From the World of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay FayeWhat it is: an entertaining collection of Sherlock Holmes stories told in epistolary form by a variety of people who encountered the great detective and Dr. Watson over the years.
Narrators include: Irene Adler, Geoffrey Lestrade, Martha Hudson, Henry Wiggins, Stanley Hopkins, and A. Davenport Lomax.
Read it for: the smart plotting, the atmospheric Victorian settings, and the Sherlockian knowledge on display. |
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| The Goodbye Coast by Joe IdeWhat it is: a contemporary take on Raymond Chandler's hardboiled detective Philip Marlowe, by the award-winning author of the compelling IQ mystery novels.
What it's about: In a vividly described present-day Los Angeles, PI Marlowe takes on two missing persons cases -- but to solve them, he's going to need the help of his ex-LAPD detective dad, with whom he has a tense relationship.
Reviewers say: "the bantering father-son interplay...really gives the book its zip" (Booklist); "worthy of the great Raymond Chandler" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Shadows of Men by Abir MukherjeeIndia 1923: Calcutta is on the brink of a religious war between Hindus and Muslims. Tensions have Imperial Police Sergeant Suren "Surrender-Not" Banerjee on a secret assignment, one that ends with his arrest after a Hindu leader is murdered. But his British boss Captain Sam Wyndham believes in his innocence, and helps him when he escapes.
Series alert: This smartly plotted, action-packed 5th Wyndham and Banerjee book has the duo sharing narration duty for the first time. If you want to read the men's acclaimed 1st outing, pick up A Rising Man.
Want a taste? "If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then Shambu was proof that even a minor dose can prove corrosive." |
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| The Maid by Nita ProseWhat happens: Though her Gran's death has left her alone in the world, socially awkward Molly Gray still has her beloved job as a maid at a posh boutique hotel. But when she finds a wealthy guest dead in his suite, it upends her orderly life and makes her the cops' prime suspect.
Reviewers say: "Captivating, charming, and heart-warming (Booklist); "Fans of fresh takes on traditional mysteries will be delighted" (Publishers Weekly).
Read this next: Audrey Keown's Murder at Hotel 1911; Elizabeth Little's Pretty as a Picture; Anne Holt's 1222. |
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| Family Business by S.J. RozanWhat it's about: Private eyes Lydia Chin and Bill Smith investigate after the death of a Chinatown tong leader leaves a power vacuum, which leads to murders, rumors of hidden treasure, and questions of whether the tong's historic building will be demolished to make way for luxury apartments.
Why you might like it: This "absolutely brilliant" (Booklist) 14th novel in an award-winning series has witty main characters, romance, and an atmospheric Chinatown setting.
For fans of: well-wrought mysteries set in New York City; Henry Chang's Detective Jack Yu mysteries. |
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| Windhall by Ava BarryStarring: Max Hailey, an investigative journalist who's obsessed with both the 1940s murder of Hollywood starlet Eleanor Hayes and the director, Theo Langley, who Max thinks got away with the crime.
What happens: Six decades after Eleanor's murder, a young woman is found dead in similar circumstances near Windhall, Theo's abandoned Los Angeles mansion that Max has snuck into more than once. Even more obsessed now, Max digs into the past and the present to uncover the truth.
Reviewers say: a "corker of a debut" (Publishers Weekly); features "noir shadings and a haunted-house atmosphere" (Booklist). |
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| Indigo: A Valentino Mystery by Loren D. EstlemanWhat it's about: UCLA archivist/film detective Valentino is given a rare copy of a 1957 noir film, a movie that was never released due to the lead actor's sudden disappearance (he was presumably killed by the mob). In order to build enthusiasm for a screening, Valentino sets out to uncover what happened to the actor way back when, and runs into snags aplenty.
Series alert: This is the 6th mystery featuring the likeable detective, but newcomers, especially cinephiles, can jump right in.
Don't miss: the fascinating annotated list of books and movies that appends the novel. |
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| Hollywood Homicide by Kellye GarrettIntroducing: broke actress Dayna Anderson, who, with help from her wannabe reality 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: This is the award-winning debut novel by Kellye Garrett, who was a TV writer for almost a decade, including for Cold Case. Her newest book, the suspenseful Like a Sister, arrives next month. |
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| Poppy Harmon and the Pillow Talk Killer by Lee HollisThe cast: former actress-turned-PI Poppy Harmon; her friends and business partners Iris and Violet; and Matt Flowers, an actor pretending to be the real detective since no one would hire the 60-something ladies.
The plot: A young actress receiving threats hires the team to protect her while she's shooting her latest movie in Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park. When a murder occurs, the method reminds Poppy of unsolved serial killings from her time as a young actress.
Series alert: This is the lighthearted 3rd entry in the cozy Desert Flowers mysteries. |
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| Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth LittleStarring: Marissa Dahl, a talented film editor who often thinks in movie clips and needs a job after parting ways with her director best friend.
On location: Hired to work on a famous filmmaker's secretive project, Marissa leaves sunny California for a hotel on a remote island off the coast of Delaware. There, she teams up with two teen true-crime podcasters and an ex-Navy SEAL to investigate odd accidents on set, the real-life 25-year-old murder at the film's core...and a new murder.
Read it for: the character-driven story; observant, neurodivergent Marissa; and an intriguing look at filmmaking. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Atlantic County Library System | 40 Farragut Avenue, Mays Landing, NJ 08330
Phone: (609) 625-2776 | www.atlanticlibrary.org
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|  | Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson
Atlantic County Board of Commissioners, Maureen Kern, Chairwoman |
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