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| Conviction by Julia DahlMystery. Ambitious Rebekah Roberts writes for a New York City tabloid, but longs for a more prestigious byline. So when she learns of an inmate who claims that his murder confession -- given as a teen -- was coerced, it could be a career-making story. As she digs deeper, she realizes she knows one of the original cops and that the case's prosecutor is set to be the new hotshot D.A. But no one wants to talk about the 1992 Brooklyn crime, which happened amid simmering racial tensions between Jewish and black neighbors. Featuring neat plotting, well-done characterization, and a fascinating look at tight-knit communities, this stellar 3rd in a series can be read on its own; if you want Rebekah's background details, start with the 1st book, Invisible City. |
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| A Fever of the Blood by Oscar de MurielHistorical Mystery. An inmate, Lord Ardglass, escapes from Edinburgh's lunatic asylum, leaving a behind a fatally injured nurse before heading to town and attacking his elderly mother. Tracking down the escapee are eccentric Scot Adolphus "Nine-Nails" McGray and London dandy Ian Frey. The two mismatched investigators venture through the worst blizzard in memory while examining links between the Ardglass family and rumors of witches and black magic. A Fever of the Blood, the atmospheric follow-up to The Strings of Murder, is a "mad romp" (New York Times). Fans of Alex Grecian's Murder Squad books who've been looking for a gritty new Victorian mystery series peopled with fascinating characters will want to try these books. |
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| Blue Light Yokohama by Nicolás ObregónPolice Procedural. This notable debut novel by a British-Spanish writer introduces insomniac Tokyo police Inspector Iwata. Freshly reinstated as a cop, Iwata's new to the city and to its homicide department, where he's partnered with Sakai, a no-nonsense female officer who previously worked missing persons. A pair of outcasts, they are given a hot-potato of a case: a Korean family has been brutally murdered, with the father's heart removed and a strange black sun symbol left on a ceiling. Oh, and the experienced cop who was in charge of the case committed suicide four days earlier. With dark humor and atmosphere to spare, this slow-burning, gritty, layered whodunit should appeal to hard-boiled readers and fans of Keigo Higashino's Detective Galileo. |
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| The Violated by Bill PronziniMystery. Using multiple points of view, this "masterly stand-alone novel" (Library Journal) by veteran author Bill Pronzini tells what happens to a small town when a registered sex offender -- thought to be responsible for four recent rapes -- is murdered. Though Martin Torrey had no prior assaults on his record, and no evidence linked him directly to the rapes, the police in Santa Rita, California thought he was their guy. Now, in addition to officially solving the rapes, police chief Griffin Kells (whom the power-hungry mayor is actively trying to get rid of) and brusque detective Robert Ortiz need to solve a murder, too -- but that's hampered when their tangled case grows even more complex in this fast-paced story that thoughtfully examines how crime impacts everyone it touches. |
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| A Welcome Murder: A Novel by Robin YocumMystery. Meet Johnny Earl, a washed-up former professional baseball player and ex-con who is the best athlete Steubenville, Ohio has ever produced. He'd like to find the drug money he's hidden there and get out of town, but a Neo Nazi also wants the money...and the high-school friend and FBI informant who sent Johnny up the river has been murdered. Johnny's a suspect, of course, but he's not the only one. Turns out plenty of people are happy Rayce Daubner is dead, including Johnny Earl's high-school girlfriend, her current husband, the local sheriff, and his unhappy wife. Told from the first-person point of view of several people, this lively, violent, funny novel provides an intimate look at an eccentric cast of memorable characters. |
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If You Like: Nancy Atherton
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The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'clock Lady
by Susan Wittig Albert
Cozy Mystery. New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert transports readers to the summer of 1934, when a sensational murder shakes up the small Southern town of Darling, Alabama-and pulls in the ladies of the Darling Dahlias' garden club, who never let the grass grow under their feet when there's a mystery to solve. The eleven o'clock lady has always been one of garden club president Liz Lacy's favorite spring wildflowers. The plant is so named because the white blossoms don't open until the sun shines directly on them and wakes them up. But another Eleven O'Clock Lady is never going to wake up again. Rona Jean Hancock -- a telephone switchboard operator who earned her nickname because her shift ended at eleven, when her nightlife was just beginning -- has been found strangled with her own silk stocking in a very unladylike position. Gossip sprouts like weeds in a small town, and Rona Jean's somewhat wild reputation is the topic of much speculation regarding who might have killed her. As the Darling Dahlias begin to sort through Rona Jean's private affairs, it appears there may be a connection to some skullduggery at the local Civilian Conservation Corps camp. Working at the camp, garden club vice president Ophelia Snow digs around to expose the truth before a killer pulls up stakes and gets away with murder.
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Lord of the wings
by Donna Andrews
Cozy Mystery. The brilliantly funny Donna Andrews delivers another winner in the acclaimed avian-themed series that mystery readers have come to love. The eighteenth book in her New York Times best-selling series continues to surprise and delight in this next knee-slapping adventure featuring Meg Langslow and all the eccentric characters that make up her world. It's another holiday and Mayor Randall Shiffley has turned Caerphilly, Virginia into Spooky City, USA. The residents are covering every window with cobwebs and roaming the streets in costume to entertain the tourists, and Meg's grandfather is opening a new "Creatures of the Night" exhibit in the zoo. When a real body at the zoo and a suspicious fire at the Haunted House threaten to mar the town's creepy fun, it's up to Meg Langslow to save Halloween.
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Death of a ghost
by M. C Beaton
Cozy Mystery. Sergeant Hamish Macbeth--Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman--returns in M.C. Beaton's new mystery in Death of a Ghost. When Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth hears reports of a haunted castle near Drim, he assumes the eerie noises and lights reported by the villagers are just local teenagers going there to smoke pot or, worse, inject themselves with drugs. Still, Hamish decides that he and his policeman, Charlie "Clumsy" Carson, will spend the night at the ruined castle to get to the bottom of the rumors once and for all. There's no sign of any ghost...but then Charlie disappears through the floor. It turns out he's fallen into the cellar. And what Hamish and Charlie find there is worse than a ghost: a dead body propped against the wall. Waiting for help to arrive, Hamish and Charlie leave the castle just for a moment--to eat bacon baps--but when they return, the body is nowhere to be seen. It's clear something strange--and deadly--is going on at the castle, and Hamish must get to the bottom of it before the "ghost" can strike again...
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Don't go home : a Death on Demand mystery
by Carolyn G Hart
Cozy Mystery. Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand mystery bookstore, is hosting a party to celebrate successful Southern literary icon-and former Broward's Rock resident -- Alex Griffith and his bestselling new novel, Don't Go Home. But after the local paper announces that Griffith aims to reveal the real-life inspirations behind his characters, perhaps the author should take his own advice. Not everyone in town is ready to give him a glowing review. As Annie attempts damage control, her friend Marian Kenyon gets in a heated argument with Griffith. It's a fight Annie won't soon forget-especially after the author turns up dead. Despite an array of suspects to match Griffith's cast of characters -- and a promise to her husband, Max, to steer clear of sleuthing -- Annie's not about to let the police throw the book at her friend when the real killer remains at large.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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