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Lavender blue murder
by Laura Childs
Attending a traditional English bird hunt, tea-maven Theodosia Browning and her sommelier, Drayton Conneley, stumble on the wounded body of their host before suspicious accidents prompt the organization of a séance to expose the culprit.
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Perfect little children
by Sophie Hannah
Spying on a former best friend she has not seen in years, Beth is alarmed when she discovers that the woman’s children do not appear to have aged. By the best-selling author of The Monogram Murders. 75,000 first printing.
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Coconut Layer Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen #25)
by Joanne Fluke
Back to Minnesota: Having left Lake Eden, bakery owner Hannah Swensen thought that she would spend time in sunny California to help a friend. One phone call though sends her back to the cold winter of Minnesota, The reason? Her sister's boyfriend has been accused of murder.
What happened: Detective Lonnie Murphy only remembers parts of what happened. He knows that he went out to a local bar, and that he drove a very impaired woman home. He remembers helping her to her bedroom but the next thing he is waking up on her couch and finding her body. Not knowing what to believe, Hannah does her best to toast the actual killer.
Series alert: This is the 25th book in the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series. Go back to the beginning with Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder.
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Long Range (Joe Pickett #20)
by C. J Box
A long shot: While on Joe Pickett's Wyoming game turf, the wife of a local judge is shot and severely wounded. Joe's investigation leads him to believe that the shot was taken from an impossibly long distance. In his time as game warden, Joe has never seen anything like this. Who could do this and who else could be in the shooter's sights?
At the same time: A grizzly bear has been on a rampage and one of the survivors has a bizarre story about it. Joe and his friend Nate Romanowski are trying to solve this mystery and keep their loved ones safe.
Read it for: The compelling and gritty writing style, the suspenseful tone, and the fast-paced story.
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| Dying in the Wool by Frances BrodyIntroducing: Kate Shackleton, a cop's daughter and war widow with a talent for finding the missing.
What it's about: Wealthy mill owner Joshua Braithwaite mysteriously disappeared five years ago from the peaceful town of Bridgestead, near Leeds. Now it's 1922, and his daughter hires Kate, whom she knew during the war, to find him before her upcoming wedding -- but Kate uncovers dangerous secrets that cause a killer to act.
Series alert: Evocative and cleverly plotted, this 1st in series that now numbers 11 should please fans of post-World War I mysteries, like Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, as well as cozy readers. |
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| The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay FayeStarring: Alice "Nobody" James, whose Mafia past in 1920s Harlem has her nursing a bullet wound on a train headed to Portland, Oregon.
What happens: Alice, who is white, finds an unexpected home at the black-owned and operated Paragon Hotel. But the KKK is on the rise in Portland, and when a mixed-race boy goes missing, Alice and her new friends try to find him.
Read it for: the distinctive and lively inhabitants of the hotel, such as glamorous and mysterious cabaret singer Blossom Fontaine; the frank depiction of Oregon's often-forgotten history with racist violence. |
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| The Monogram Murders: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie HannahWhat happens: Hercule Poirot, the legendary Belgian sleuth, investigates a triple homicide in 1929 London.
Did you know? This 1st Poirot mystery by Sophie Hannah marked the first time that Agatha Christie's estate authorized someone to write an entirely new book using her characters. The 4th in the series, The Killings at Kingfisher Hall, comes out later this year.
Further reading: other Golden Age writers (Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, etc.); Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series, which features a clever girl detective in 1950s England. |
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| Metropolis: A Bernie Gunther Novel by Philip Kerr1928 Berlin, Germany: Against the backdrop of the rise of Nazism, newly promoted police detective Bernie Gunther investigates a violent wave of murders, presumably by two different serial killers, that target the city's prostitutes and its disabled World War I veterans -- and he does so while trying out a new investigative technique, going undercover.
Series alert: This Bernie Gunther origin story is the 14th and final book in the acclaimed series; author Philip Kerr sadly passed away in 2018
Reviewers say: "one of Kerr's most congenial, beautifully controlled, and entertaining works" (Kirkus Reviews); "a perfect goodbye -- and first hello -- to its hero" (The Washington Post). |
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| The Widows of Malabar Hill: A Mystery of 1920s India by Sujata MasseyIntroducing: Perveen Mistry, Bombay's first woman solicitor and the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, who recently obtained her law degree from Oxford and joined her father's firm.
What it's about: In 1921, Perveen unearths problems while executing the will of a wealthy Muslim who left three widows and several small children behind...and then someone is murdered. In a second storyline, it's 1916, and Perveen deals with sexism, falls in love, and faces danger from an unexpected source.
Why you might like it: This atmospheric, critically acclaimed series starter offers a poignant backstory for an appealing feminist heroine. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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