Historical Mystery. Billy Boyle is an Irish-American cop from Boston who has (thanks to WWII) become a military lieutenant and (thanks to family ties) a special investigator for the office of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In his 2nd case, Billy lands in Algeria in late 1942 as part of the first wave of Americans hoping to free that country. While there, he tries to solve a series of murders involving French and American soldiers and find out what's happening to his lady love (a British spy). If you're pining for a mystery that's chock full of extras, try this one; Library Journal says it's "a cross-genre tale that is at once spy story, soldier story, and hard-Boyled detective."

Mystery. Margaret Coel's excellent novels featuring Father John O'Malley and attorney Vicky Holden are set on a Wyoming reservation. This 13th in the long-running series--"another wonderfully evocative story of the struggles of the Arapaho" (Kirkus Reviews)--centers around the discovery of human remains. But this isn't a case about an ancient burial site, it's one of murder. The bones date back to 1973, a time when the militant American Indian Movement was in town and clashing with the FBI. Fans of Tony Hillerman should find Coel's novels a bit more mystical but just as pleasing.

Cozy Mystery. A knee injury sidelines professional Scottish dancer Liss MacCrimmon. With few options, she returns to Moosetookalook in western Maine to watch over her aunt's Scottish emporium while said aunt tours Scotland. All goes well...for a few hours. After spending all day in a booth at the nearby Highland Games, Liss discovers her former schoolteacher dead in the storeroom--and the police think Liss is the murderer. Turning amateur detective, Liss snoops around with the help of former schoolmate and new neighbor, Dan Ruskin. This delightful 1st in a new series is brimming with local color.

Historical Mystery. The lives of disparate people come together in this psychologically rich novel, which moves between 1909 England and turn-of-the-century South Africa. Hannah is a woman in London suffering from partial amnesia. Could her forgotten life be related to the dead woman just discovered on Sir Henry Chetwynd's estate in Shropshire? Sebastian Chetwynd, Sir Henry's son and new heir after the recent death of Seb's older brother, chafes at his family duties even as the police investigate, delving into the past in order to make sense of the present. Booklist calls this "a spellbinding tale of deception, violence, tragedy, love, and loss."

Mystery. Judge Deborah Knott returns in another well-done outing that explores life--and death--in a changing North Carolina. As assorted body parts show up hither and yon across rural Colleton County, Deborah aids her new husband Dwight, a Sheriff's Deputy, in his investigation and discovers that the death is related to both a case she's hearing and to racism against immigrant workers. Deborah also adjusts to married life and stepmotherhood. In a starred review, Library Journal calls Hard Row "outstanding." If you like complex stories of modern southern families, you'll enjoy the rich tales Maron spins.

Police Procedural. In Victory Square, the 5th and final installment in author Olen Steinhauer's widely acclaimed Yalta Boulevard series, it's 1989 and the Berlin Wall is about to fall. Emil Brod (introduced in The Bridge of Sighs as a rookie cop in 1948) is the chief of the People's Militia in an unnamed Eastern European country and days from retirement even as his own nation moves unsteadily toward revolution. He investigates a final case and discovers it has a personal connection: the names of several elderly men appear on a hit list...and Emil's is one of them. The New York Times selected this compelling novel as an "Editor's Choice."

Cozy Mystery. Dead animals found next to piles of money. Rumors of witches and satan worshipping. A human body discovered next to Tarot cards. These sinister occurences wake up the sleepy little town of Pecan Springs, Texas, and have former big-city lawyer and current herb shop owner China Bayles donning her amateur detective hat. She also must put on her daughter hat when her troubled mother shows up. Booklist says this 2nd in the series (after Thyme of Death) is "an entertaining and engaging story." If you enjoy reading novels that capture the flavor and feel of small towns, the China Bayles mysteries should be right up your alley.

Classic Mystery. In Hallowe'en Party, one of Agatha Christie's lesser known works, an adolescent girl who's known for telling lies tells the truth...and ends up dead. Young Joyce claimed that she had witnessed a murder, but no one believed her. Even later that day, when her body is discovered drowned in the apple-bobbing barrel, party-goers think it was an accident. Scatterbrained mystery writer Ariadne Oliver, who's attending the Hallowe'en party in Woodleigh Common, is convinced the girl was murdered, and calls in her friend, the indomitable Hercule Poirot, who sets out to catch the clever killer. Christie fans will want to have this one on hand while waiting on visits from trick-or-treaters.

Mystery. Just before Halloween, retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian gets a middle-of-the-night call from his girlfriend Bennis--she's in a small town in Connecticut and has discovered a dead body in a BMW. Agreeing to travel from Philadelphia to help with the local police investigation, Gregor learns that the dead woman was a glamorous heiress who may have had too much money for her own good. Agatha Christie addicts should try this series (Demarkian is called the Armenian-American Poirot, and Booklist says that "readers will have lots of fun trying to guess whodunit"). Note: Author Jane Haddam sets her 16th Gregor Demarkian book in her own real-life home county of Litchfield.

Mystery. An old (and supposedly solved) Halloween-night murder as well as the disappearance of the confessed murderer's wife on the same night still haunts ex-police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn. When a newly discovered body seems linked to the old killing, Leaphorn leaves retirement to investigate. Also on the case is Navajo tribal police sergeant Jim Chee who must deal with the murder as well as the mishandling of the scene by one of his officers. This 15th entry in Tony Hillerman's popular Native American series earns starred reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews.

Cozy Mystery. The small village of Tinker's Cove, Maine, is ablaze with autumn colors--and real flames. On Halloween night, the arsonist who's been troubling the town for several months becomes a murderer after the latest torching takes the life of a woman enjoying an October stay in her summer home. Lucy Stone suspects that the victim's philandering doctor husband is to blame, and decides to nose around--that is, when she isn't breastfeeding new baby Zoe, baking cupcakes, and making Halloween costumes for her older kids. If you're searching for a fun, light-hearted novel, try Trick or Treat Murder, the 3rd book in author Leslie Meier's holiday-themed Lucy Stone series.

Mystery. High school teacher Amanda Pepper has a feeling that something ominous is going on at Philly Prep. In the days leading up to the school's annual Mischief Party (and Halloween), items have been disappearing from classrooms and chemicals are missing from teacher Juan Reyes' lab. Joining forces with her new husband, who's an ex-homicide detective and current PhD student in criminology, Amanda investigates the strangeness at the school...and the situation quickly turns explosive. A Hole in Juan is the 13th entry in this heartwarming character-driven series.