| The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess ArmstrongIn 1922 England, Ruby Vaughn, a modern-minded American, visits Penryth Hall to catch up with an old friend. But after a murder and talk of a local curse, Ruby works to keep her friend safe and unearth the truth. This award-winning, Gothic-tinged debut offers an "intriguing and altogether enchanting mystery" (Kirkus Reviews). Read-alike: Sarah Penner's The London Séance Society. |
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| Murder on Tour by V.M. BurnsMichigan bookstore owner Samantha Washington has finally gotten her debut mystery published and has been added to an author panel at a local book festival. There, she quickly learns that two panelists have accused a third of plagiarism...and later, a murder occurs. Though this is the charming 9th in a fun series, newcomers can still enjoy it. For fans of: bookish cozies and books-within-books. |
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| The Final Curtain by Keigo Higashino; translated by Giles MurrayTokyo detective Kyoichiro Kaga investigates two recent murders that are seemingly unrelated and discovers a link to the death of his own mother ten years earlier. This gripping, intricately plotted 4th Kyoichiro Kaga mystery works well as a standalone novel. For fans of: Golden Age mysteries; the Detective Kosuke Kindaichi novels by Seishi Yokomizo. |
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| Blood Betrayal by Ausma Zehanat KhanThis sequel to Blackwater Falls finds Colorado police detective Inaya Rahman, who's assigned to a Community Response Unit, working the fatal police shooting of a Black graffiti artist in Blackwater Falls and (unofficially) a Denver police shooting that's left a Latino bystander dead. If you like this "penetrating, of-the-moment police procedural" (Kirkus Reviews), try Attica Locke's Highway 59 books.
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Books You May Have Missed
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| The Blue Bar by Damyanti BiswasIn this evocative series starter, Mumbai's Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput hunts for a serial killer targeting young women. This has him dealing with the city's gritty underworld as well as police corruption in a case that seems to have links to the ten-years-missing bar dancer he once loved. For fans of: Deepti Kapoor's Age of Vice; Kwei Quartey's Emma Djan novels. |
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| Death of a Dancing Queen by Kimberly G. GiarratanoTo help support her mom who has Alzheimer's, 24-year-old Billie Levine becomes a PI working out of a Jewish deli in Teaneck, New Jersey. But she's off to a rough start when a missing person's case turns into a murder investigation, complete with cops and the mob in this fun, fast-paced mystery. For fans of: Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels; Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan books. |
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| The Nightingale Affair by Tim MasonAfter an odd murder occurs in 1867 London, former police detective turned PI Charles Field rethinks an old -- and he thought, solved -- case, where Florence Nightingale's young nurses were targeted in Crimea. Following The Darwin Affair, this is the 2nd novel featuring Charles Field, a real detective believed to be the inspiration for Charles Dickens' Inspector Bucket. |
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| A Dangerous Business by Jane SmileyYoung widow Eliza Ripple works at a well-run brothel in 1851 Monterey, California, where the women are protected and customers screened. Nevertheless, a killer is targeting sex workers in town, so Eliza and her friend Jean, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's Auguste Dupin, decide to investigate. Jane Smiley is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres. Read-alikes: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue; Missy by Chris Hannan. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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