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| Date with Death by Julia ChapmanCozy Mystery. Placed on indefinite leave, Met cop Samson O'Brien returns to his Yorkshire Dales hometown to open a detective agency. But no one's happy to see him, least of all Delilah Metcalfe, whose brother was Samson's best friend (Samson didn't come to the funeral after he died in Afghanistan). In spite of that, dating service owner Delilah needs money, so she rents part of her building to him. When several suspicious deaths connected to Delilah's business occur, the duo team up in this fun 1st book in an atmospheric, well-plotted series.
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| The Chalk Pit by Elly GriffithsMystery. Beneath Norwich, England lies a number of medieval and chalk-mining tunnels, and in one of them, a surveyor unearths recent human bones. Forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway teams up with DCI Harry Nelson to investigate the bones amid reports of cults, cannibals, a man who vanished into thin air, and a missing homeless woman. Featuring complex characters and relationships (Ruth and the married Harry have a child together) combined with suspenseful plotting, this 9th in the Ruth Galloway mysteries will please fans of both Louise Penny and Julia Spencer-Fleming. |
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| Song of the Lion by Anne HillermanMystery. Attending a high school basketball game, Navajo police officer Bernadette Manuelito hears a car bomb explode in the parking lot. It's thought that the owner of the car, a lawyer mediator working with land developers, the Hopi, and the Dani, was the target, so Bernie's husband, Sgt. Jim Chee, guards him. Meanwhile, Bernie works with retired Lt. Joe Leaphorn to uncover a link from the bomb to one of his earlier cases. While the late Tony Hillerman focused on Leaphorn and Chee, his daughter Anne places Bernie at center stage in her previous two books in the series and in this 21st entry. For another fascinating female lead, try Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak mysteries.
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| A Rising Man by Abir MukherjeeHistorical Mystery. Newly arrived in 1919 Calcutta, former Scotland Yard detective Sam Wyndham joins the Imperial Police Force and lands a big case: a murdered British official is found with a sinister note in his mouth. Working with likable Sgt. Banerjee and jealous sub-Inspector Digby, Wyndham travels through all levels of Colonial Indian society to find a killer. With atmosphere to spare, this delightful debut should please fans of other India-set historical mysteries, such as Barbara Cleverly’s Detective Joe Sandilands series, Miranda Carter's The Strangler Vine, and Laurie R. King's The Game. |
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| Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love by James RuncieCozy Mystery/Short Stories. Like previous entries in this charming series, this 6th collection features clergyman-detective Sidney Chambers investigating cases big and small. First, while on a walk in the 1970s Cambridgeshire woods with his seven-year-old daughter, the archdeacon discovers a corpse. With his friend DI Geordie Keating sometimes helping, Sidney also aids a friend who's been raped, looks for a runaway teen, and tries to locate a missing medieval book. Slightly cozier than Grantchester, the TV series based on them, these leisurely paced novels are reminiscent of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries. |
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| What the Dead Leave Behind by Rosemary SimpsonHistorical Mystery. A spring blizzard hits 1888 New York City, taking the lives of many. Was lawyer Charles Linwood one of them? That's the way things appear, but his fiancée, strong-willed heiress Prudence MacKenzie, suspects foul play. With help from Charles' friend, former Pinkerton agent Geoffrey Hunter, Prudence gathers her courage and hunts for the truth. Want more richly detailed books set around this time period? Try Lawrence H. Levy's Mary Handley novels or Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily Ashton mysteries.
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Focus on: Mysterious Russia
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The holy thief
by William Ryan
Moscow, 1936, and Stalin’s Great Terror is beginning. In a deconsecrated church, a young woman is found dead, her mutilated body displayed on the altar for all to see. Captain Alexei Korolev, finally beginning to enjoy the benefits of his success with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Militia, is asked to investigate. But when he discovers that the victim is an American citizen, the NKVD—the most feared organization in Russia—becomes involved. Soon, Korolev’s every step is under close scrutiny and one false move will mean exile to The Zone, where enemies of the Soviet State, both real and imagined, meet their fate in the frozen camps of the far north.
Committed to uncovering the truth behind the gruesome murder, Korolev enters the realm of the Thieves, rulers of Moscow’s underworld. As more bodies are discovered and pressure from above builds, Korolev begins to question who he can trust and who, in a Russia where fear, uncertainty and hunger prevail, are the real criminals. Soon, Korolev will find not only his moral and political ideals threatened, but also his life. William Ryan’s remarkable debut will storm into ten countries in what is sure to be an international publishing event. With Captain Alexei Korolev, William Ryan has given us one of the most compelling detectives in modern literature, a man dogged and humble, a man who will lead us through a fear-choked Russia to find the only thing that can save him or any of us— the truth.
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| A Man Without Breath by Philip KerrHistorical Mystery. The Nazis want evidence of a rumored Soviet massacre of Polish officers (Josef Goebbels hopes to use it as propaganda against the Soviets). To that end, Bernie Gunther of the War Crimes Bureau heads to Smolensk, where the former Berlin cop works with the Wehrmacht's Prussian aristocrats, interviewing people and sifting through the evidence. Though the truth is elusive, Bernie, an ethical man who doesn't like the Nazis, keeps at it, uncovering more crimes in the process. Enjoyed this excellent 9th in a popular series and want more World War II-era crime stories? Pick up Alan Furst's historical spy novels or David Downing's John Russell series. |
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Complex 90 : a Mike Hammer novel
by Mickey Spillane
"Hammer accompanies a conservative politician to Moscow on a fact-finding mission. Arrested and imprisoned by the KGB on a bogus charge; he quickly escapes, creating an international incident by getting into a fire fight with Russian agents. On his stateside return, the government is none too happy with Hammer. Russia is insisting upon his return to stand charges, and various government agencies are following him. A question dogs our hero: why him? Why does Russia want him back, and why was he singled out to accompany the senator to Russia in the first place?
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| Gorky Park: A Novel by Martin Cruz SmithPolice Procedural. Originally published in 1981, Gorky Park introduced honorable, persistent Russian investigator Arkady Renko to the world; more than 35 years later, there are now eight books in this bestselling series. In this 1st appearance by Renko, he investigates a creepy triple murder -- three faceless, frozen bodies wearing ice skates have been found in the middle of Moscow's popular Gorky Park -- but the case is complicated by a New York City cop, several KGB agents, and a woman who captures Renko's heart. For additional police procedurals set in Russia, try Stuart Kaminsky's Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov mysteries.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Carrollton Public Library 1700 Keller Springs Road, Carrollton Texas 75006 4220 North Josey Lane, Carrollton Texas 75010 |
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