Mystery
February 2022
Recent Releases
Honey Roasted
by Cleo Coyle

The 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.

Also available in eAudiobook on Hoopla
Observations by Gaslight: Stories From the World of Sherlock Holmes
by Lyndsay Faye

What 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.

Also available in eBook on Hoopla
Also available in eBook & eAudiobook on CloudLibrary
The Goodbye Coast
by Joe Ide

What 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.

 
The Maid
by Nita Prose

What 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.


Also available in eBook on Libby
Also available in eAuudiobook on CloudLibrary
 
Family Business
by S.J. Rozan

What 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.

 
Hooray for Hollywood
Windhall
by Ava Barry

Starring: 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. 

Also available in eBook on Hoopla
Indigo: A Valentino Mystery
by Loren D. Estleman

What 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.  
Hollywood Homicide
by Kellye Garrett

Introducing: 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.

 
Poppy Harmon and the Pillow Talk Killer
by Lee Hollis

The 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.

Also available in eBook & eAudiobook on Hoopla
Pretty as a Picture
by Elizabeth Little

Starring: 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.

 
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