Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/06/2011
ISBN-13: 9780425243497
ISBN-10: 0425243494

Cozy Mystery. Though she's 34th in line to the British throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch, like many others in 1933, is penniless. But due to Georgie's skills as a sleuth, Queen Mary pays her way to the French Riviera. In Nice, Georgie looks for the queen's stolen snuff box, and also models in a Coco Chanel fashion show...where a necklace belonging to the queen goes missing. To add to Georgie's troubles, someone she knows is murdered, and the police think she did it! Fans of Jacqueline Winspear who'd like a lighter look at Europe in the 1930s will appreciate this 5th in a "delectable series" (Library Journal).

Publisher: Atria Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/30/2011
ISBN-13: 9781439153956
ISBN-10: 1439153957

Mystery. A houseboat vacation on a secluded lake straddling the border between the U.S. and Canada starts off peacefully enough. But a vicious windstorm blows in, stranding part-Native American detective Cork O'Connor and his 24-year-old daughter, Jenny, on a remote island, miles away from their family. When they discover a crying baby and the body of his recently murdered teenaged mother, their trouble really begins. The 11th book in a series, Northwest Angle is a suspenseful adventure that should please fans of Nevada Barr and C.J. Box. Readers who haven't met Cork before and want to begin at the very beginning can pick up his 1st outing, Iron Lake.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Viking
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/04/2011
ISBN-13: 9780670022489
ISBN-10: 0670022489

Mystery. Half-Inuit guide Edie Kiglatuk finds herself leading a couple of men who seem to have no interest in animals on a hunting trip in the Canadian High Arctic. So, what are they up to? Edie, working with police sergeant Derek Palliser, digs for answers when one of the men is shot and another goes missing. Though M.J. McGrath is an award-winning nonfiction author, White Heat, an "excellent adventure murder-mystery" (Library Journal), is her first novel. Fans of Dana Stabenow's Alaska-based Aleut detective Kate Shugak will want to meet the resilient but troubled Edie.

Publisher: Minotaur Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/02/2011
ISBN-13: 9780312621711
ISBN-10: 031262171X

Historical Mystery. Conman extraordinaire Eduardo de Valfierno "steals" museum paintings, replaces them with fakes, and sells the originals to wealthy men for their private collections. But, being the clever crook that he is, Eduardo doesn't actually acquire the precious artwork, he simply commissions forgeries. Until a client wants his chosen painting -- the Mona Lisa -- reported stolen, that is. A new plan, a sophisticated band of con artists, a beautiful woman, a relentless police inspector, and a dangerous flood come together in this "finely crafted" (Kirkus Reviews) debut caper inspired by the real 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in Paris.

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/29/2011
ISBN-13: 9780316078429
ISBN-10: 0316078425

Mystery. In his 1st outing, 29-year-old war vet Spero Lucas, back from Iraq and in need of work, does special investigations for a D.C. defense attorney. But when a crime boss offers Lucas a high-paying job, he takes it. All he has to do is figure out who's stealing packages of marijuana from capital-city doorsteps. Too bad for Spero, the case leads to a complicated tangle of problems and violence. Fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher, another tough war vet turned talented freelance investigator, should get to know Spero. And if you appreciate Pelecanos' music and book references, try Ian Rankin's dark, Edinburgh-set Inspector Rebus books.

Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/1999
ISBN-13: 9780140275698
ISBN-10: 014027569X

Cozy Mystery. While Lori Shepherd struggles with new motherhood, the vicar asks her to investigate a missing historical pamphlet. The document details the peppering of a local field with antiquities, and may be the only thing that will restore harmony to the charming English village of Finch as locals feud over the work of a visiting archaeologist. How will Lori do it all? Luckily, dearly departed Aunt Dimity still communicates via otherworldly writing, and the elderly Pym sisters send a nanny over. This 4th Aunt Dimity novel is just as charming as the other entries in a series that's as "cozy as a warm fire and soothing as a hot cup of tea" (Booklist).

Publisher: Pantheon Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/18/2006
ISBN-13: 9780375422720
ISBN-10: 0375422722

Mystery. Precious Ramotswe and her able assistant Grace Makutsi may not deal with murders like a lot of fictional PIs do, but they sure have plenty of intriguing problems to solve. In the 7th book in this popular series, there's the moral chef who might lose her job; a newspaper columnist who's giving out questionable advice; a strange uneasiness among workers at a nearby game reserve; a local doctor who doesn't want his nurse to take patients' blood pressures; and, closer to home, there's romantic trouble for the recently engaged Grace as well as a deadly cobra in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency office. Publishers Weekly says, "even newcomers will be charmed by this wonderful novel."

First Chapter  

Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780142000892
ISBN-10: 0142000892

Cozy Mystery. In a small North Carolina town, Hazel Marie Puckett disappears after going on a date with an out-of-towner raising funds for a local church. Hazel Marie makes a whispered phone call requesting help from 70-something Julia Springer, who's her new friend...as well as the upstanding, church-going widow of her former lover. Though the police want to wait 24 hours, the indomitable Miss Julia hires a PI and, with Hazel Marie's nine-year-old son, Little Lloyd, by her side, sets off to help find Hazel Marie. This is the 2nd in the Miss Julia series, which features no unnatural deaths but lots of southern charm; readers who want to start with the 1st book should pick up Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind.

Publisher: Harper
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/01/2007
ISBN-13: 9780060822507
ISBN-10: 0060822503

Humorous Mystery. To Tumdrum, Northern Ireland comes Israel Armstrong, a Jewish vegetarian librarian from London. Unfortunately, upon arrival at the library where he's been hired to work, he discovers it has shut its doors forever. Now his new job is to drive the mobile library around the rural area. But what's the point when all of the books -- 15,000 of them! -- are missing? Who would take the books, and how can he get them back? That's what Israel, who's not a natural detective, needs to find out. Booklist says this 1st in a series that now numbers four is "a rollicking blend of dry humor, slapstick, and sheer farce."

First Chapter  

Publisher: Scribner Paperback Fiction
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/18/1998
ISBN-13: 9780684842561
ISBN-10: 0684842564

Classic Mystery. Though there's no corpse in The Franchise Affair, there's certainly an atmosphere of evil. Young Betty Kane accuses respectable Marion Sharpe and her elderly mother, who live at a rundown house called the Franchise, of holding her captive in their attic for a month, beating her, and withholding food. The Sharpes deny all. No one is sure who to believe, but with Betty able to provide details of the Franchise, the police are leaning towards Betty, though lawyer Robert Blair isn't so sure. Originally published in 1948, Josephine Tey's The Franchise Affair is considered by some to be one of the top crime novels of all time.