Publisher: Soho Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2011
ISBN-13: 9781569478820
ISBN-10: 1569478821

Mystery. When her Paris police commissaire godfather, Morbier, asks her for a favor, PI Aimée Leduc can hardly refuse. With her short-statured detecting partner René by her side, she goes to see Morbier's posh new girlfriend, Xavierre, to uncover what's troubling her--is it planning her daughter's upcoming wedding or something more? Just minutes after Aimée talks with Xavierre (and learns nothing), she discovers her strangled body in the garden. With her godfather quickly arrested for murder, Aimée looks into the woman's life and discovers youthful ties to Basque separatists. This is the 11th book in an atmospheric, acclaimed series that anyone who loves mysteries and Paris shouldn't miss.

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Publisher: Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/29/2011
ISBN-13: 9780307593498
ISBN-10: 0307593495

Police Procedural. After his daughter's future father-in-law, a retired naval officer, vanishes under suspicious circumstances, Swedish cop Kurt Wallander unofficially investigates--and what he uncovers harkens back to the Cold War. Many years before bestselling author Steig Larsson gave us the girl with a tattoo who likes to kick hornets' nests, his countryman Henning Mankell gave us the morose, workaholic Wallander. Larsson fans would do well to check out the Wallander novels, as both show the dark side of Sweden. The Troubled Man is the 10th--and last, according to Mankell--in the series which has lately been the basis for a BBC series starring Kenneth Branagh.

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Publisher: Minotaur Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/12/2011
ISBN-13: 9780312334895
ISBN-10: 0312334893

Mystery. What happens when soldiers come home from war? That's one of the questions that author Julia Spencer-Fleming examines in her 7th novel to feature Clare Fergusson, an Episcopal priest and National Guard helicopter pilot who just spent 18 months in Iraq. Struggling to adjust to normal life, Julia drinks, takes pills, and joins a support group made up of a handful of other Iraq war veterans in her small town of Millers Kill, New York. When one of the group dies, Julia is convinced it was murder. Along with her lover, police chief Russ Van Alstyne, Julia looks for the truth in this "outstanding" (Library Journal, starred review) outing in an excellent series.

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/17/2011
ISBN-13: 9780399157004
ISBN-10: 039915700X

Police Procedural. Following the troubling events of Snow Angels, Inspector Kari Vaara and his pregnant American wife move to Helsinki for a change of scenery. Nervous sick from worrying about the pregnancy, Vaara also has to deal with his wife's visiting siblings, a murder where the killer appears to be too well-connected to arrest, and the bizarre case of a 90-year-old national hero suddenly suspected of war crimes. There doesn't seem to be a sophomore slump for Thompson--Booklist says that Lucifer's Tears "will surely be one of the best Nordic mysteries published in 2011."

Publisher: Minotaur Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/15/2011
ISBN-13: 9780312538118
ISBN-10: 0312538111

Historical Crime Novel. In 1944 England, war-weary Detective Inspector Ted Stratton investigates the death of a physician--was he felled by a bomb or by a more personal killer? As Stratton spends time in Middlesex Hospital questioning people, he learns the doctor may have been having an affair...and discovers that there is a deadly impostor on the loose. Previously published in Britain, An Empty Death is the atmospheric 2nd book in the Ted Stratton series after the award-winning The Innocent Spy (also published as Stratton's War).

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/03/2008
ISBN-13: 9780312931513
ISBN-10: 0312931514

Cozy Mystery. When his beloved twin sister Vanessa is left in a coma after falling a great distance in the middle of the night, female impersonator Vance decides the fall wasn't an accident and sets out to learn who would want to kill her. Passing himself off as Vanessa with amnesia, Vance returns to the exclusive compound where his sister lived and worked as a personal assistant to an uber-wealthy businessman. All goes well--while Vanessa's Angora cat, Gloriana, doesn't buy Vance's disguise, the humans do--until a murder occurs. If you'd like an "enjoyable Gothic mystery that keeps you guessing" (Kirkus Reviews) mixed together with a cat cozy, try Only the Cat Knows.

Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/26/2009
ISBN-13: 9780143115625
ISBN-10: 0143115626

Crime Novel. When she learns that a young woman named Lexie Madison has been killed, Dublin police detective Cassie Maddox is quite surprised. For not only is Lexie Madison the identity that Cassie had created as an undercover agent several years previously, the dead girl is her exact look-alike. So, who is this girl, why was she killed, and how does it all relate to Cassie? Despite the obvious danger, Cassie decides to solve the murder by posing as Lexie, making The Likeness, like its Edgar Award-winning predecessor, In the Woods, an intriguing mix of psychological suspense and police procedural.

Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780449006702
ISBN-10: 0449006700

Mystery. Seven weeks after facing down a group of terrorists aboard a flight to the Middle East, Amanda Pym has disappeared in Syria. Is she dead or alive? The CIA calls in one of their best freelance agents, grandmotherly Mrs. Pollifax. As she has nothing on her agenda except weeding the garden, Mrs. P. heads to Damascus to find her missing "niece," passing herself off as Amanda's aunt. Library Journal calls this 14th book in the fast-paced series "slick and charming as usual." If you'd like to meet Mrs. P. in her debut, pick up 1966's The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, which has been made into two movies, a 1971 one starring Rosalind Russell and a 1999 starring Angela Lansbury.

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Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/06/2009
ISBN-13: 9780425225561
ISBN-10: 0425225569

Historical Mystery. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the original Renaissance men, so of course he can be a successful amateur detective. In The Queen's Gambit, the 1st in a fun series, da Vinci organizes a living chess game for the Duke of Milan, using members of the royal court as pieces. The game isn't even over, however, when someone kills one of the players during a break. Dino, a da Vinci apprentice, takes the dead man's place and helps solve the murder. This book, narrated by the intriguing Dino, is a must-read for those who enjoy chess or historical personages as detectives. Where does the impersonation part come in? You'll need to read it to find out!

Publisher: Scribner Paperback Fiction
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/02/1997
ISBN-13: 9780684803852
ISBN-10: 0684803852

Classic Mystery. In post-WWII England, a stranger approaches Brat Farrar believing him to be Simon Ashby. Upon learning the truth, the man convinces Brat to masquerade as Simon's missing twin brother, Patrick Ashby, and sets about coaching him on family details. Though Patrick's body was never found, everyone believes he killed himself at the age of 13. If the likeable Brat can convince everyone that he's Patrick, he'll inherit the Ashby estate--instead of Simon--on the twins' upcoming 21st birthday. Many people consider Brat Farrar, originally published in 1949, to be one of the best impersonation mysteries of all time. Pick up this well-written novel to see why.