| The Gardener's Plot by Deborah J. BenoitIn this award-winning debut novel, widowed young writer Maggie Walker moves home to western Massachusetts, buys her recently deceased grandmother's old Victorian home, and joins the local community garden. Then she turns sleuth when she finds the real estate developer who'd wanted her house buried in the garden. Read-alikes: Joyce Tremel's Deadly to the Core; Mark Waddell's The Body in the Back Garden. |
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| A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie DaraPregnant Kathy Valance is middle-aged and in the middle of a divorce. She's also a grim reaper with S. C. Y. T. H. E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), and her newest client, a teenager, insists he was murdered. Now Kathy's got 45 days to sort it out or doom him to ghosthood forever. Read-alikes: C.M. Waggoner's The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society; Olivia Blacke's A New Lease on Death. |
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| A Killer Clue by Victoria GilbertRetired librarian Jane Hunter helps catalog thirtysomething Cameron Clewe's collection of rare crime novels at his North Carolina estate, coaches him in social niceties, and teams up with him to solve crimes. In their 2nd outing, the two assist a bookseller who's hoping to clear her deceased mother's name but is then arrested for murder herself. Read-alike: Ellery Adams' The Secret, Book, and Scone Society mysteries. |
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| Ashes Never Lie by Lee GoldbergFollowing Malibu Burning, this intricate, fast-paced 2nd outing for Los Angeles arson investigator Walter Sharpe and his action-oriented new partner Andrew Walker has them teaming up with homicide detective Eve Ronin (who stars in another series by author Lee Goldberg) after a string of fires uncover a burnt corpse who's been shot. Read-alikes: Michael Connelly's novels; Joseph Schneider's Detective Tully Jarsdel mysteries. |
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| Against the Grain by Peter LoveseyIn his multi-layered 22nd and final outing, curmudgeonly senior police detective Peter Diamond and his partner Paloma go to Somerset to visit one of his former underlings, Julie Hargreaves, who's sure that a local woman convicted for manslaughter is innocent. Despite hating the country, Diamond goes undercover in a rural village without benefit of policing tools to uncover a killer. Read-alikes: Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope mysteries; Mark Billingham's Detective Miller novels. |
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| Pony Confidential by Christina LynchNarrated by both a grumpy pony and his former owner, Penny, who's just been jailed for a murder she supposedly committed when she was 12, this thoroughly charming novel follows the aging pony as he travels the country plotting his revenge on the girl who broke his heart. But then Pony discovers Penny didn't sell him years ago and sets out to prove her innocence. Fans of Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie mysteries will appreciate this humorous, thought-provoking tale that has a bit of bite. |
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| Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. ManansalaBrew-ha Cafe co-owner Lila Macapagal turns sleuth for the 5th time after her business partner Adeena Awan is found holding a bloody knife next to a body in a corn maze. With help from personable friends and relatives, Lila investigates with her beloved dachshund dog by her side in this culinary cozy with Filipino recipes included. Read-alikes: Valerie Burns' Baker Street mysteries; Vivien Chien's Noodle Shop mysteries. |
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| The Rivals by Jane PekCrime fiction fan Claudia Lin and her business (and maybe more) partner Becks run an exclusive small agency vetting online dating matches with help from their tech expert Squirrel. In this "excellent" (Kirkus Reviews) follow-up to The Verifiers, they also again investigate a murder after a client dies and it seems to be related to online dating services secretly using AI for nefarious reasons. Read-alike: L.M. Chilton's Swiped. |
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| Rough Pages by Lev AC RosenIn his atmospheric 3rd outing, Andy Mills, an ex-cop turned PI in 1953 San Francisco, tries to figure out what happened to two bookstore owners who've disappeared along with the list of subscribers to their gay book service. When a murder occurs, the stakes go up, and Andy suspects the mafia is involved. Read-alikes: John Copenhaver's Nightingale novels; Stephen Spotswood's Pentecost and Parker novels. |
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| Deadly Animals by Marie TierneyIn 1981 South Birmingham, England, precocious 14-year-old Ava Bonney often sneaks out at night to study decaying roadkill at her amateur body farm. One evening, she finds the dumped body of a teen boy and anonymously phones it in. The cops investigate, and Ava does, too, but then another boy goes missing. Fans of Minette Walters and Mo Hayder will want to read this "dark, twisted" (Booklist) debut and series starter. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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