"The day is ending, The night is descending; The marsh is frozen, The river dead." ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), American poet, "Afternoon in February"
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New and Recently Released!
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| Enter Pale Death by Barbara CleverlyHistorical Mystery. Murder by horse? Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Joe Sandilands thinks so. He received an anonymous note saying that the recent "accidental" equestrian death of Lady Lavinia Truelove was murder and is related to the death of a maid 25 years earlier. Making things tricky for Joe, Lady Lavinia's husband is both Joe's girlfriend's mentor and the rumored next Home Secretary (which would make him Joe's boss). Joe forges ahead anyway -- though it may cost him his job and the girl he loves. Readers who enjoy Downton Abbey or Golden Age mysteries might appreciate this deftly plotted tale set between the wars; it's the 12th entry in the Joe Sandilands series, so newcomers may want to start with the 1st book, The Last Kashmiri Rose. |
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| The Bishop's Wife by Mette Ivie HarrisonMystery. When Jared Helm arrives at Linda Wallheim's house at 6:30 A.M. asking to speak to her Mormon bishop husband, she isn't surprised, since congregation members need help at all hours. But she is taken aback when he claims his wife Carrie left him and their five-year-old daughter in the middle of the night. Believing that Carrie would never have abandoned the daughter she doted on, Linda investigates even as she questions her role as a wife and a mother with an almost-empty nest and chafes at the gender restrictions of her faith. Although this is Mette Ivie Harrison's first mystery, it's a nuanced, character-driven book that's gotten a lot of buzz. |
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| The Soul of Discretion: A Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler Mystery by Susan HillPolice Procedural. Going undercover at Stitchford, a prison set up as a "therapeutic community," DCS Simon Serrailler must gain the confidence of pedophile Will Fernley. Serrailler needs to discover the whereabouts of missing children and learn who else besides Fernley is a member of a well-organized child porn ring. While he's incommunicado with the outside world (save for a phone disguised as a watch), trouble swirls there aplenty: his new live-in girlfriend wonders about their relationship, his doctor sister seriously chafes against NHS budget cuts, and his father may have done something very wrong. The ugly goings-on in this 8th novel in a well-written series are in sharp contrast to the setting, the seemingly idyllic cathedral town of Lafferton. |
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| Moriarty: A Novel by Anthony HorowitzMystery. In this "infernally clever Sherlock Holmes pastiche" (New York Times) narrated by Pinkerton agent Frederick Chase, it's just days after Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, tumbled down Reichenbach Falls. With Moriarty gone, a particularly nasty criminal wants to take his place in the criminal underworld, and Chase, teaming up with Holmes devotee DI Athelney Jones of Scotland Yard, tries to stop him. In addition to being sanctioned by the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to pen Sherlock books, bestselling author Anthony Horowitz is the creator, among other things, of both the Alex Rider books for kids and TV's Foyle's War. If you haven't read his 1st Sherlock book, The House of Silk, grab it. For other authors' takes on Holmes, try Laurie R. King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Lyndsay Faye's Dust and Shadow, or Dan Simmons' upcoming The Fifth Heart. |
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Books You May Have Missed
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| Murder in the Afternoon: A Kate Shackleton Mystery by Frances BrodyHistorical Mystery. When a young girl and her little brother sneak away from home to visit their stonemason dad at work, they are shocked to find him dead. They tell the appropriate adults, but when the authorities arrive at the scene, the body is gone. Their mother calls on PI Kate Shackleton for help. Kate investigates, but soon has a growing suspicion that the victim's wife -- who may be adopted Kate's biological sister -- is harboring a dangerous secret. Fans of post-World War I mysteries set in the United Kingdom and featuring complex characters, such as those by Charles Todd and Jacqueline Winspear, will want to try the Kate Shackleton series. This 3rd entry was chosen by Library Journal as one of its five best mysteries for 2014; the 4th in the series, A Woman Unknown, will be available to U.S. readers this month. |
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| The Dead Will Tell: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda CastilloPolice Procedural. Back in 1979, several mask-clad men broke into an Amish family's home to rob them. But they also murdered the father, locked the kids up in the basement (where a fire broke out, killing everyone except 14-year-old Billy), and abducted the mother (who was never found). Over three decades later, Painter's Mill, Ohio Chief of Police Kate Burkholder, who grew up Amish, investigates the murder of a well-respected businessman -- and finds a clue left by the killer connecting the case with the old one. Meanwhile, her lover, state agent John Tomasetti, doesn't take it well when one of the men responsible for killing his family is acquitted on a technicality. With fast pacing, themes of revenge, and well-developed characters, this 6th in a series might prove impossible to put down. |
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| Windigo Island: A Novel by William Kent KruegerMystery. Duluth and the Twin Cities of Minnesota have some of the highest sex trafficking rates in the country -- so in order to save a young Ojibwa teenager who's already been missing for a year, PI Cork O'Connor is going to have to work fast. Dealing with Native American superstitions and obtaining information from reluctant witnesses complicates things, but Cork, who's part Ojibwa, works with his daughter Jenny to save the girl and others like her. With the next Cork O'Connor mystery not due until 2016, fans may want to read other mystery novels with Native American characters where nature often plays a key role; some books to try are: Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire mysteries, Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mysteries, and Margaret Coel's John O'Malley and Vicky Holden mysteries. |
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| Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian RankinPolice Procedural. Though Edinburgh Detective Inspector John Rebus retired a while back, he's a cop through and through and can't stay away from the job. Officially reinstated on the force, but at a lower rank (positions at his higher level were full), curmudgeonly Rebus finds himself working as a detective sergeant under his old protégé, Siobhan Clarke, and dealing with a strange car accident. He also finds himself helping internal affairs officer Malcolm Fox investigate a case from 30 years ago that involves the Saints, a group of maverick cops that peripherally included a young Rebus. This evocatively written novel is the 19th featuring Rebus, the 4th featuring Fox, and the 2nd featuring them both. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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