Mystery
December 2025*

Recent Releases
A Bitter Wind
by James R. Benn

A Boston cop prior to World War II, United States Army Captain Billy Boyle is on leave just before Christmas 1944. Walking with his English girlfriend along the White Cliffs of Dover, he discovers a murdered U.S. Air Force major in a case that leads him to Axis-controlled Yugoslavia. Though this is the 20th outing for Billy, readers can start here. For fans of: well-researched war mysteries with memorable characters, especially ones based on historical figures.
Death at the Door
by Olivia Blacke

Ruby, a young woman new to Boston, and Cordelia, a ghost who haunts Ruby's apartment, narrate this fun supernatural cozy. The unusual duo's friendship grows as they investigate after a deli delivery guy is found dead at Ruby's new job in this charming sequel to A New Lease on Death. Try this next: Dead and Breakfast by Kat Hillis and Rosiee Thor.
Two Truths and a Murder
by Colleen Cambridge

Agatha Christie's housekeeper, Phyllida Bright, has developed a reputation as an amateur detective, so much so that Agatha's neighbor invites Phyllida to dinner. When a fellow guest claims she once witnessed a murder, this leads to another killing and a new case for Phyllida in her 5th outing. For other mysteries where Agatha Christie plays a role, try Amanda Chapman's Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library or Rosanne Limoncelli's The Four Queens of Crime.
From Cradle to Grave by Rhys Bowen
From Cradle to Grave
by Rhys Bowen

Lady Georgiana Georgie Rannoch is just like any other new mother, balancing responsibilities of being 34th in line for the British throne and solving the shocking deaths of several young men, in this new Royal Spyness novel from the queen of historical mystery, Rhys Bowen. Georgie may be figuring out what it means to be a new mother but she does know one thing for sure: she absolutely despises the strict nanny who was foisted upon her by her meddlesome sister-in-law. In search of a new nanny, Georgie travels to London to see her old friend ZouZou only to find her about to depart for a funeral, after the unexpected death of a young man in her social circle. It quickly becomes clear there's more than one mysterious death around town, when another friend reveals he's also just returned from the funeral of a school friend, who seemingly died in a boating accident. But when word arrives that the son of family friend has also died tragically and unexpectedly, Georgie is certain it can't be a coincidence. Yet the victims don't seem to have any connection to one another. ZouZou shares Georgie's suspicions that the deaths were not an accident and begs Georgie to solve the case. As Georgie delves deeper, she can't help worrying that her own husband, Darcy, may be next. It seems likely there is a serial killer at work and Darcy fits the bill to be their next victim. Will Georgie solve the murders before it's too late for Darcy, and manage to find the perfect nanny all at the same time?
Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon
Shadow Ticket
by Thomas Pynchon

Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he's found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who's taken a mind to go wandering. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them--
The King's Ransom by Janet Evanovich
The King's Ransom
by Janet Evanovich

Gabriela Rose, recovery agent extraordinaire, can find just about anything. Too bad she can't seem to lose her gorgeous-but-infuriating ex-husband Rafer Jones. And now he needs her help. His cousin Harley is in trouble. ... As the president of a too-big-to-fail bank, he invested an astronomical amount of money in insuring some of the world's most priceless artifacts at the urging of his board. It seemed like a low-risk, high-reward business move, so he jumped in with both feet. But recently, these insured pieces started going missing and worse, there's no paper trail of Harley being directed to make these risky investments. Unless the artwork can be recovered soon, it looks like Harley is going to be heading to jail as the fall guy for an ingenious crime--
A Killer Wedding
by Joan O'Leary

Gloria Beaufort, the billionaire matriarch of American beauty company Glo, handpicks magazine journalist Christine to cover the wedding of her beloved grandson at an Irish castle. When Gloria is murdered and the Beauforts refuse to call the police until after the wedding, Christine digs into the toxic family's secrets in this slow-burn, funny first novel. Read-alike: The Plus One by S.C. Lalli; The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.
The Burning Library by Gilly MacMillan
The Burning Library
by Gilly MacMillan

On a frigid, windswept day in Scotland's Western Isles, Eleanor Bruton's body is discovered on the shore. To her family Eleanor was an ordinary middle-aged woman. She did flower arrangements and plumped kneeler cushions at church. Little did they know she was harboring a dark and all-consuming secret. A scrap of fraying embroidery that seems worthless at first glance.For over a century, two rival organizations of women have gone to deadly lengths to secure the valuable artifact in the hopes of finding the original medieval manuscript from which it was torn. The Order of St. Katherine: devoted to the belief that women must pull strings in the shadows to exercise control. And the Fellowship of the Larks, determined to amass as many overt positions of power for women as possible...so long as their methods of doing so never come to light.When Dr. Anya Brown garners international attention for her translation of the cryptic Folio 9, she is handpicked by Diana Cornish, a professor and high-ranking member of the Fellowship, to join the exclusive Institute of Manuscript Studies in St. Andrews. Unbeknownst to Anya she's been recruited at great personal danger to translate ancient texts that the Fellowship believes critical to their mission. Meanwhile at Scotland Yard, Detective Constable Clio Spicer begins a private investigation into the death of Eleanor Bruton.As all the women grow further entangled in this ancient web, circumstances spin wildly out of control and their lives may be in grave danger.
A Case of Life and Limb
by Sally Smith

The 1901 Christmas peace of the Inner Temple, the picture-postcard home of London’s elite lawyers, is disturbed when Sir William Waring receives a beautifully wrapped package containing a severed human hand. Brilliant Gabriel Ward, a fellow Temple resident, investigates while also working on a sensationalistic defamation case in this entertaining follow-up to A Case of Mice and Murder. Try this next: Claudia Gray’s The Murder of Mr. Wickham.
The Dentist
by Tim Sullivan

DS George Cross, who’s autistic and detail-oriented, investigates an unhoused man’s murder in South West England. Noticing clues that others miss and with help from his partner DS Josie Ottey, George unearths links to an old killing in this acclaimed series starter and bestselling police procedural from the United Kingdom. For other books with neurodivergent detectives, try Brandy Schillace’s Netherleigh mysteries or Daniel Aubrey’s Orkney mysteries.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Madison County Public Libraries
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Marshall, North Carolina 28753
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