Publisher: Minotaur Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/12/2013
ISBN-13: 9780312622404
ISBN-10: 0312622406

Historical Cozy. PI Kate Shackleton takes her 2nd case in August 1922 when a cunning crook robs a Leeds pawn shop catering to the elite. While investigating, she visits the wealthy spa town of Harrogate, where her night at the theater with a friend is shattered by a brutal murder and the kidnapping of a leading lady. Could the crimes be related? Kate and her ex-cop assistant are sure to find out! While this follow-up to Dying in the Wool was first published in the U.K. in 2010, it's now available across the pond. Readers who enjoy stories set in the 1920s featuring bright young women detectives in England (like Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs novels, Charles Todd's Bess Crawford mysteries, or Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple books) should try this series.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Obsidian
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/05/2013
ISBN-13: 9780451239273
ISBN-10: 045123927X

Historical Mystery. In Regency England, newly married Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, receives a plea for help from former lover Kat Boleyn. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Kat's husband, ex-privateer Russell Yates, stands accused of killing Daniel Eisler, a shady gem merchant who was trying to sell a massive blue diamond belonging to a Mr. Hope. Many people want the stunning gem, including the Prince Regent and Napoleon, but would someone kill for it? Agreeing to help his beloved Kat, St. Cyr attempts to clear her husband and discover the true culprit...and keep his own marriage safe. Many reviewers think this 8th in a fantastic series may be the best entry yet, praising its "air of Regency intrigue" (Booklist) and "intricate plotting" (Publishers Weekly). Readers who want to start with the 1st book should pick up What Angels Fear.

Publisher: Scribner
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/05/2013
ISBN-13: 9781451634846
ISBN-10: 1451634846

Mystery. How is a ninth-century corpse related to a modern-day one? For one thing, both bodies are found in the trunk of a car that's discovered in an Irish bog, and for another, both died by violent means. Trying to sort out who killed Benedict Kavanagh, a provocative TV personality, as well as what killed the medieval man has Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire and American pathologist Nora Gavin visiting the remote area of Killowen. There, they discover that their case might be tied to an order of monks and an illuminated manuscript. This evocative 4th in a well-written series has a "rock-solid foundation of musical language and deft plotting" (Kirkus Reviews), which may please fans of Lousie Penny's Inspector Gamache novels.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/28/2013
ISBN-13: 9780399160790
ISBN-10: 0399160795

Historical Mystery. A month after Germany's stunning defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943, the Nazis hear rumors of a Soviet massacre of Polish officers in Russia's Katyn Forest. Looking for irrefutable evidence of this massive crime, which Josef Goebbels hopes to use for propaganda against the Soviets, the Nazis send Bernie Gunther of the War Crimes Bureau to Smolensk. There the former Berlin cop works with the Wehrmacht's Prussian aristocrats, interviewing people and sifting through the evidence. Though the truth is elusive, Bernie, an ethical man who doesn't like the Nazis, keeps at it...and also discovers that there's a serial killer at work among the Germans and that someone's plotting to kill Hitler. Readers who enjoy this excellent 9th in a popular series and want more WWII-era crime stories can pick up Alan Furst's historical spy novels or David Downing's John Russell series.

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/05/2013
ISBN-13: 9781464200939
ISBN-10: 1464200939

Mystery. In her 3rd outing, Atlanta gun shop owner and sometime sleuth Tai Randolph learns that a one-of-a-kind Bible can make people crazy...and murderous. It all starts when her ex-boyfriend shows up: he wants her to find his wife, Hope (who's Tai's former best friend), and the 1859 King James Bible given to General Tecumseh Sherman by President Abraham Lincoln that she has with her. As he can't safely go to Savannah where Hope's been spotted (he owes money to a dangerous man), he wants Tai to attend the giant Civil War Expo there and get the Bible. In need of money (partially to replace her enigmatic boyfriend's Prada shoes, which she ruined), Tai agrees. Fans of Janet Evanovich's New Jersey-set Stephanie Plum novels who'd enjoy some southern flavor will appreciate Tai's sass, colorful acquaintances, and interesting romantic life as well as the wild situations she finds herself.

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/04/2008
ISBN-13: 9781596914278
ISBN-10: 1596914270

Historical Mystery. Divorced, in debt (thanks to his father), and down-on-his-luck, doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso makes the impulsive decision to seek his fortune in one of the remote outposts of the Roman Empire. Now living in an army outpost in Britannia, he rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, and finds himself involved in a murder case related to the slave trade. Published in the U.K. as Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls, Medicus is the 1st in a wryly humorous series; the 5th, Semper Fidelis, was published earlier this year in the U.S. Those who can't get enough of the ancient Rome mysteries of Lindsay Davis and Stephen Saylor will want to try Ruth Downie's charming books.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Jove Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/28/2006
ISBN-13: 9780515142235
ISBN-10: 0515142239

Crime Novel. Sunny Mexico is Carl Perreira's annual vacation spot -- but this year something goes wrong. Gloria Mendez, an employee who has secretly loved him for years, gets a strange phone message that Carl has been in an accident, and then authorities tell her he's dead -- but what really happened? Gloria leaves L.A. and goes south of the border looking for answers, but at first she just finds more questions: Did Carl have multiple identities? Did he have an illegitimate son? And might he actually be alive? Kirkus Reviews calls this 2006 debut by the son of bestselling novelists Faye and Jonathan Kellerman "funny, exciting, and stylishly written."

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/16/2008
ISBN-13: 9780312387952
ISBN-10: 0312387954

Police Procedural. In Aberdeen, Scotland, Detective Sergeant Logan MacRae has multiple problems to deal with in his 3rd outing. He's got difficult cases to solve (there's a serial rapist on the loose who appears to be a local sports star and an old man is killed by an 8-year-old boy) as well as problems with his bosses (he has two and it's hard to say which is worse) and his love life (his girlfriend is acting very strangely). If you're a fan of Scottish writers and haven't read anything by Stuart MacBride, check out this darkly humorous series, which begins with Cold Granite.

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/07/2011
ISBN-13: 9780425241141
ISBN-10: 0425241149

Cozy Mystery. It's March in Colorado, and CPA Kelly Flynn is busy with work, knitting, and her many friends -- and that's a good thing since her longtime boyfriend recently broke up with her. But Kelly's life suddenly gets complicated when she accompanies new real estate agent Jennifer, a friend and fellow knitter, to a property, and the duo discover the body of Jennifer's very unpopular client, who's been shot with an antique gun. In her 9th outing, amateur sleuth Kelly can't help but unravel clues even as she runs into her ex (and plays a rousing game of volleyball with him). For more books that combine female friendship, knitting, and cozy mysteries, try Sally Goldenbaum's seaside knitters novels.