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A Pinch of Poison
by Alyssa Maxwell
What it is: a delightful historical cozy that follows Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her maid, Eva Huntford, as they investigate a poisoning death at a girls' boarding school.
Series alert: This 2nd in a series that now numbers four offers likable characters, hints of romance, and a traditional mystery feel.
Why Downton Abbey fans might like it: the post-World War I setting, the interplay between aristocrats and servants.
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| The Killing Tide: A Brittany Mystery by Jean-Luc BannalecWhat it's about: In a fishing village on a French island that's said to have been home to witches, two local women are murdered. Commissaire Georges Dupin (who suffers from seasickness) and his team must go over to investigate.
Who it's for: Readers who appreciate evocative tales that balance crime with time in cafés will best enjoy this deftly plotted 5th Commissaire Dupin mystery.
Try this next: Martin Walker's Bruno Courreges mysteries, which are also set in France and offer a delightfully detailed setting. |
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August Snow
by Stephen Mack Jones
What it's about: Former Detroit police officer (and the son of one, too), August Snow reported corrupt cops and was fired. Having won a wrongful dismissal case worth millions, half-African American, half-Mexican August returns home to Detroit's Mexicantown, where he soon feels compelled to solve the murder of a wealthy woman who'd asked for his help.
Author alert: Stephen Mack Jones is a playwright and poet; August Snow is his atmospheric first novel.
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| The Hocus Girl by Chris NicksonFeaturing: thief-taker Simon Barstow, who finds stolen goods for owners and resides in Leeds with his wife and two sons, and Jane, Simon's capable assistant, who lives with the family, carries a knife, and has secrets.
1822 England: During a time of unrest, an old friend who sheltered Simon when he was young is falsely charged with sedition by an ambitious magistrate. Simon and Jane work to free the man while investigating a "hocus girl," who drugs people to steal from them.
Reviewers say: a "historical tour de force" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Billionaire Blend: A Coffeehouse Mystery
by Cleo Coyle
Cozy Mystery. The Village Blend in New York's Greenwich Village is a favorite of locals, but when a car bomb goes off outside the shop, it's a mysterious new customer whom manager Clare Cosi must help...and he turns out to be Eric Thomas, a billionaire tech genius whom someone might be trying to kill. Meanwhile, Clare's boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn, is on special assignment in DC and doesn't trust Eric when he starts flying Clare all over the world searching for the best coffee in order to make a blend that only the rich can afford. Pour yourself a cup of your favorite java and settle down with this 13th novel featuring Clare; it is "one of her best" (Kirkus Reviews). Haven't read this series before? Not to worry, newcomers can start with this book and still enjoy the frothy fun (recipes included!).
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| Dying in the Wool by Frances BrodyIntroducing: Kate Shackleton, a cop's daughter and war widow with a talent for finding the missing.
What it's about: Wealthy mill owner Joshua Braithwaite mysteriously disappeared five years ago from the peaceful town of Bridgestead, near Leeds. Now it's 1922, and his daughter hires Kate, whom she knew during the war, to find him before her upcoming wedding -- but Kate uncovers dangerous secrets that cause a killer to act.
Series alert: Evocative and cleverly plotted, this 1st in series that now numbers 11 should please fans of post-World War I mysteries, like Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, as well as cozy readers. |
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| The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay FayeStarring: Alice "Nobody" James, whose Mafia past in 1920s Harlem has her nursing a bullet wound on a train headed to Portland, Oregon.
What happens: Alice, who is white, finds an unexpected home at the black-owned and operated Paragon Hotel. But the KKK is on the rise in Portland, and when a mixed-race boy goes missing, Alice and her new friends try to find him.
Read it for: the distinctive and lively inhabitants of the hotel, such as glamorous and mysterious cabaret singer Blossom Fontaine; the frank depiction of Oregon's often-forgotten history with racist violence. |
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| The Monogram Murders: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie HannahWhat happens: Hercule Poirot, the legendary Belgian sleuth, investigates a triple homicide in 1929 London.
Did you know? This 1st Poirot mystery by Sophie Hannah marked the first time that Agatha Christie's estate authorized someone to write an entirely new book using her characters. The 4th in the series, The Killings at Kingfisher Hall, comes out later this year.
Further reading: other Golden Age writers (Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, etc.); Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series, which features a clever girl detective in 1950s England. |
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| Metropolis: A Bernie Gunther Novel by Philip Kerr1928 Berlin, Germany: Against the backdrop of the rise of Nazism, newly promoted police detective Bernie Gunther investigates a violent wave of murders, presumably by two different serial killers, that target the city's prostitutes and its disabled World War I veterans -- and he does so while trying out a new investigative technique, going undercover.
Series alert: This Bernie Gunther origin story is the 14th and final book in the acclaimed series; author Philip Kerr sadly passed away in 2018
Reviewers say: "one of Kerr's most congenial, beautifully controlled, and entertaining works" (Kirkus Reviews); "a perfect goodbye -- and first hello -- to its hero" (The Washington Post). |
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| The Widows of Malabar Hill: A Mystery of 1920s India by Sujata MasseyIntroducing: Perveen Mistry, Bombay's first woman solicitor and the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, who recently obtained her law degree from Oxford and joined her father's firm.
What it's about: In 1921, Perveen unearths problems while executing the will of a wealthy Muslim who left three widows and several small children behind...and then someone is murdered. In a second storyline, it's 1916, and Perveen deals with sexism, falls in love, and faces danger from an unexpected source.
Why you might like it: This atmospheric, critically acclaimed series starter offers a poignant backstory for an appealing feminist heroine. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Lambton County Library 787 Broadway St. Wyoming, Ontario N0N1T0 519-845-3324www.lclibrary.ca |
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