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| Magpie Murders by Anthony HorowitzMystery. Readers can imagine the frustration of book editor Susan Ryeland: the final chapters are missing from author Alan Conway's latest mystery manuscript starring his Poirot-esque detective! Conway’s sudden, suspicious death means that Susan must piece together the ending by interviewing his friends and family; then she realizes that the novel’s characters are stand-ins for real people and that the book may be related to the author’s death. Containing a novel-within-a-novel, suspense, and plenty of details that Golden Age mystery fans will relish, the cleverly plotted Magpie Murders has something for everyone. On the hold list? Read some of the original Golden Age authors, like Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, or Margery Allingham. |
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The shadow land : a novel
by Elizabeth Kostova
Mystery. A young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, has traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria, hoping that life abroad will salve the wounds left by the loss of her beloved brother. Soon after arriving in this elegant East European city, however, she helps an elderly couple into a taxi--and realizes too late that she has accidentally kept one of their bags. Inside she finds an ornately carved wooden box engraved with a name: Stoyan Lazarov. Raising the hinged lid, she discovers that she is holding an urn filled with human ashes. As Alexandra sets out to locate the family and return this precious item, she will first have to uncover the secrets of a talented musician who was shattered by oppression--and she will find out all too quickly that this knowledge is fraught with its own danger. By the award-winning author of The Historian.
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| The Play of Death: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Pötzsch; translated by Lee ChadeayneHistorical Mystery. In 1670, healer Simon Fronwieser takes his seven-year-old son to a boarding school; it's the only place that will educate a bright lower-class boy. When someone crucifies the actor playing Christ in the local Passion Play, Simon acts as the town healer for a while in order to investigate. He needs all the help he can get, so it's good that his hangman father-in-law shows up. Meanwhile, witchcraft accusations at home trouble his wife and her sister. Fans of intricately plotted medieval mysteries such as this detail-rich 6th in the Hangman's Daughter series may want to try S.D. Sykes Somershill Manor mysteries. |
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| The Right Side: A Novel by Spencer QuinnMystery. Sgt. LeAnne Hogan has one eye, a scarred face, PTSD, and short- and long-term memory issues (no matter how hard she tries, she can't remember what happened in Afghanistan). When Marci, her roommate at Walter Reed Hospital, suddenly dies, LeAnne takes off for Marci's Washington state hometown. There, LeAnne bonds with a stray dog and learns that Marci's eight-year-old daughter is missing. While trying to heal and remember, LeAnne hunts for the missing girl. Readers who adore Spencer Quinn's humorous Chet and Bernie novels will find this nuanced mystery grittier and more serious but just as good. |
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| The Birdwatcher by William ShawMystery. As the son of a homicide victim and a self-professed murderer, William South of the Kent Community Police has steered clear of murder investigations. Until now. Teamed with the new DS (the single mother of a troubled 15-year-old girl), South finds himself at the murder scene of a friend, neighbor, and fellow birder. South works to find out who killed his friend even while trying to keep his own secrets hidden and teaching his new partner's daughter about birding. Alternating between South's childhood troubles and his current ones, The Birdwatcher offers readers a strong sense of place, nice plotting, and well-drawn characters. |
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| Love & Death in Burgundy by Susan C. SheaCozy Mystery. Hoping for acceptance from her Burgundy, France village, American expat painter Katherine Goff organizes a local fête, which will include performances by her former rock star husband and a country music star. Meanwhile, the owner of the local chateau dies after a fall down the stairs and rumors abound that it was murder. Katherine can't help but nose about, and teenager Jeannette, the daughter of a local thief who's got a talent for spying, helps out. Fans of village mysteries peopled with eccentric characters should pick up this 1st in a new series. For another cozy series featuring an expat detective, pick up Elizabeth Duncan's Wales-set Penny Brannigan mysteries. |
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If You Like: Lindsey Davis |
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The Singer from Memphis
by Gary Corby
Historical Mystery. You may know Herodotus as the "father of history," but in The Singer from Memphis, he's a 20-something wannabe writer living in Ancient Athens. He needs to do research in Egypt, which is at war with Persia, so he asks private agent Nicolaos to escort him there. Nicolaos agrees, partially because his wife Diotima likes to travel, and partially because Pericles, the most powerful man in Athens, wants him to (Pericles needs someone to keep an eye on Herodotus, who he thinks may be an enemy agent, as well as to take part in some other spy work). This 6th Athenian mystery is brisk, cheeky, and full of well researched historical tidbits.
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A pilgrimage to murder
by P. C Doherty
Historical Mystery. Brother Athelstan's Canterbury pilgrimage is disrupted by brutal murder in the latest absorbing medieval mystery. Summer, 1381. The Great Revolt has been crushed; the king's peace ruthlessly enforced. Brother Athelstan meanwhile is preparing for a pilgrimage to St Thomas a Becket's shrine in Canterbury to give thanks for the wellbeing of his congregation after the violent rebellion. But preparations are disrupted when Athelstan is summoned to a modest house in Cheapside, scene of a brutal triple murder. One of the victims was the chief clerk of the Secret Chancery of John of Gaunt. Could this be an act of revenge by the Upright Men, those rebels who survived the Great Revolt? At the same time Athelstan is receiving menacing messages from an assassin who calls himself Azrael, the Angel of Death? Who is he and why is he targeting a harmless monk? Could Athelstan's pilgrimage be leading him into a deadly trap?
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Vita brevis : a crime novel of the Roman Empire
by Ruth Downie
Historical Mystery. Ruso and Tilla's excitement at arriving in Rome with their new baby daughter is soon dulled by their discovery that the grand facades of polished marble mask an underworld of corrupt landlords and vermin-infested tenements. There are also far too many doctors--some skilled, but others positively dangerous. Ruso thinks he has been offered a reputable medical practice only to find that his predecessor Doctor Kleitos has fled, leaving a dead man in a barrel on the doorstep and the warning, "Be careful who you trust." Distracted by the body and his efforts to help a friend win the hand of a rich young heiress, Ruso makes a grave mistake, causing him to question both his competence and his integrity. With Ruso's reputation under threat, he and Tilla must protect their small family from Doctor Kleitos's debt collectors and find allies in their new home while they track down the vanished doctor and find out the truth about the heiress's dead father--Ruso's patient--and the unfortunate man in the barrel.
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The siege winter
by Ariana Franklin
Historical Mystery. 1141 AD: King Stephen is warring with his cousin Empress Matilda over the throne of England. Every cathedral, every castle, every seat of power will swear fealty to one or the other - but not every stronghold is as strategic or as valuable as Kenniford Castle in Oxfordshire. Its mistress, 16 year old Maud of Kenniford swears fealty to Stephen, but Matilda's forces have decreed that she marry the odious John of Tewing. Life in the Fenlands carries on as usual - that is until the mercenaries ride through the marsh. And a small red-haired girl named Em is snatched and carried off. After the soldiers have finished with her they leave her for dead. But fenland girls are not easy to kill. Although she has lost all memory of her past life including her name, Em survives and falls under the protection of Gwyl, a Breton archer. Together Gwyl and his new protege--now crop-headed and disguised as a boy--travel through the countryside giving archery exhibitions. But there is one man who hasn't forgotten the little red-haired girl. He has some unfinished business with her and he is determined to finish it. And one freezing winter in an Oxfordshire castle completely besieged, he might well get his chance...
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Wrath of the furies : a novel of the ancient world
by Steven Saylor
Historical Mystery. In 88 B.C., it seems as if the entire ancient world is at war. In the west, the Italian states are rebelling against Rome; in the east, Mithridates is marching through and conquering the Roman Asian provinces. Even in the relatively calm Alexandria, a coup has brought a new Pharaoh to power and chaos to the streets. The young Gordianus has been waiting out the chaos in Alexandria, with Bethesda, when he gets a cryptic message from his former tutor and friend, Antipater. Now in Ephesus, as part of Mithridates' entourage, Antipater seems to think that his life is in imminent danger. To rescue him, Gordianus concocts a daring, even foolhardy, scheme to go "behind enemy lines" and bring Antipater to safety. But there are powerful, and deadly forces, at work here, which have their own plans for Gordianus. Not entirely sure whether he's a player or a pawn, Gordianus must unravel the mystery behind the message if he's to save himself and the people he holds most dear.
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