Mystery
October 2025

Recent Releases
Seven reasons to murder your dinner guests : a novel by KJ Whittle
Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests
by KJ Whittle

Seven strangers meet for an anonymously hosted party and are each given a card that says the age when they'll die; two weeks later, a guest is dead, at the same age as their card, so the dwindling group of guests must figure out who (or what) is behind it. For fans of The Guest List by Lucy Foley and The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. 
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.
The House at Devil's Neck
by Tom Mead

In 1939 England, sleuth and magician Joseph Spector travels with a group to an allegedly haunted house on a lonely island, where a storm isolates them and a murder occurs. Meanwhile, police inspector George Flint investigates an apparent suicide in London that mirrors an old crime in this twisty, atmospheric 4th outing in the acclaimed Spector series. For fans of: Golden Age mysteries; locked-room mysteries like those by John Dickson Carr.
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.
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.
In the time of five pumpkins by Alexander McCall Smith
In the Time of Five Pumpkins
by Alexander McCall Smith

Botswana detective Precious Ramotswe solves a new case with the help of her loyal associate and proves again that compassion and wisdom are the greatest tools for justice in the twenty-sixth novel of the series following The Great Hippopotamus Hotel. For fans of A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette and The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey.  
The Librarians
by Sherry Thomas

The lives of four Austin, Texas, librarians are altered after their library’s murder-mystery board game night results in an actual murder. Since they each have secrets, the co-workers team up to uncover the killer before the cops do in this leisurely paced latest by the author of the popular Lady Sherlock historical mysteries. For fans of: work-centric mysteries; Robert Thorogood.
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!
Walla Walla County Rural Library District
37 Jade street, Walla Walla, Washington 99362
509-527-3284

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