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| Tea & Treachery by Vicki DelanyIntroducing: Lily Roberts, a former Manhattan pastry chef who has opened a charming tea shop near her grandmother's beautiful Cape Cod bed-and-breakfast.
What happens: A real estate developer planning to build a hotel right next door is found murdered near the B&B's staircase to the beach.
Who it's for: With a pleasing setting, clever plotting, tea facts, and yummy recipes, this delightful 1st in a new series should please fans of well-wrought cozy mysteries. |
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| Dead West by Matt GoldmanWhat happens: Minneapolis PI Nils Shapiro heads to Hollywood on a supposedly easy job: make sure that wealthy Beverly Mayer's grieving grandson, whose fiancée recently died in a tragic accident, isn't wasting all of his money trying to start a film studio. What Nils finds is a smart man surrounded by users and that the "accident" was actually murder.
Series alert: Though this is the 4th Nils Shapiro novel readers new to the series can easily start here (but grab Gone to Dust to start at book 1).
Read this next: For more Hollywood-set novels, try Elmore Leonard's darkly humorous Get Shorty or Kellye Garret's more lighthearted Detective by Day mysteries. |
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All the Devils Are Here
by Louise Penny
What happens: Horrified when his billionaire godfather is targeted in a near-fatal accident, Chief Inspector Gamache follows clues deep within the Paris Archives to uncover gruesome, decades-old secrets
Series alert: this is the 16th installment in the Inspector Armand Gamache mysteries, also known as the Three Pines mysteries.
What's the series about: Though these procedural mysteries feature a police homicide squad based in Montreal, Quebec, they also provide leisurely and thoughtful depictions of Quebec life and often feature the well-drawn, quirky residents of the obscure village of Three Pines. The lead detective, Armand Gamache, has a poet's soul and brilliant coaching and teaching skills, guiding his team to solve baffling murder cases.
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| Once You Go This Far by Kristen LepionkaWhat happens: After Columbus, Ohio, PI Roxane Weary helps a fatally injured woman on a hiking trail, the woman's grieving daughter hires her, believing the fall was no accident. This draws Roxane into a complex situation that has her going back and forth to Canada for answers.
Series alert: Fans of this award-winning series will be interested in this 4th entry's developments, but newcomers can start here, too.
Read this next: Kathleen Dent's Detective Betty books or Tracy Clark's Chicago mysteries. |
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| A Royal Affair by Allison MontclairStarring: the proprietors of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau: up-for-anything Iris, a spy during the war, and aristocratic widow Gwen, who lives with her young son in her wealthy in-laws' Kensington mansion.
What it's about: In 1946 London, the women are hired to covertly investigate the complex past of the dashing Greek prince who has captured 20-year-old Princess Elizabeth's heart.
Series alert: This 2nd in a charming series offers engaging lead characters, an intriguing look at post-World War II England, and fascinating details about the British Royal family during that time. |
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A Desperate Place
by Jennifer Greer
Introducing: An explosive debut thriller about a team of two strong women and a crime that will shake you to your core.
What it's about: A newly widowed reporter for a local Oregon newspaper teams up with her medical-examiner best friend to investigate the murders of a number of disconnected victims, including a famous actress.
For fans of: Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles series and Kathy Reichs.
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If You Like: Louise Penny
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| Wicked Autumn by G.M. MallietIntroducing: Max Tudor, the handsome new vicar in Nether Monkslip, who's also a former MI5 officer.
What happens: The quiet village's most overbearing woman dies in suspicious circumstances at the Harvest Fayre, leading Max to suspect foul play and wonder if one of his new parishioners is a killer.
Why Louise Penny fans might like it: Though more lighthearted than Penny's novels, this 1st in a series provides a modern village setting, charming characters, and a clever whodunit. |
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| A Killing in the Hills by Julia KellerThe setup: In tiny Acker's Gap, West Virginia, a "shabby afterthought of a town," 17-year-old Carla Elkins witnesses the efficient shooting of three elderly men by an unknown person in a diner on a Saturday morning.
The aftermath: As Carla gradually recalls details about the shooter, her estranged mom, obsessively driven county prosecutor Bell Elkins, works to solve the case.
Why Louise Penny fans might like it: This award-winning debut novel by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist features lyrical writing and a complex investigator working in a vividly depicted small town. |
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The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
by Alan Bradley
Introducing: Flavia de Luce, an eleven-year-old aspiring chemist with a passion for poison turned sleuth.
What happens: It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw.
Why Louise Penny fans might like it: The Armand Gamache and Flavia De Luce mysteries are intelligent, character centered, cozies set in small towns. Although the locales and time periods differ, the conversational tone and feel are similar. They also share casts of eccentric secondary characters as well as unique investigators.
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The A.B.C. Murders
by Agatha Christie
What happens: A serial killer is on the loose, murdering his victims in alphabetical order, leaving an ABC Railway Guide beside each body... and playing a dangerous game with Hercule Poirot. He alerts Poirot in advance of the locations of the murders, but Poirot always arrives too late. Intrigued by the psychopath’s mind and methodology Poirot, with the help of Hastings and Japp, travels the length and breadth of England - determined to track down this ruthless killer before he strikes again.
Why Louise Penny fans might like it: Louise Penny offers contemporary versions of the classic detective novel popularized by Agatha Christie. If Penny's intelligent but intuitive detective and his skill at drawing information out of suspects appeals to you, you may want to try the novels of Agatha Christie, especially those starring Hercule Poirot.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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