| The Long Call by Ann CleevesIntroducing: introspective DCI Matthew Venn of the Devon police, who grew up in a religious sect and is estranged from his family.
What happens: A murder victim with an interesting tattoo is found on a North Devon beach, and the case seems to be related to Venn's childhood church as well as his husband's job at a community center.
Read this next: William Shaw's Salt Lane or Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway mysteries -- both are evocative English mysteries that prominently feature police officers and are set near the coast. |
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Ice cold heart
by P. J Tracy
What it's about: On a bitterly cold winter night, Kelly Ramage leaves her suburban home, telling her husband she's going to meet a friend. But she never comes back. When her body is discovered, murdered in what seems to be a sex game gone horribly wrong, Detectives Gino and Magozzi take the case, expecting to find a flirtatious trail leading straight to the killer. However, Kelly's sinister lover has done a disturbingly good job of hiding his identity. This isn't his first victim. And she won't be the last ...
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| The Truth Behind the Lie by Sara Lövestam; translated by Laura WidebergThe (rookie) detective: a young, undocumented Iranian refuge who's an expert at living and working off the grid.
His ad: "Private detective. If the police can't help, call me!"
The only respondent: a desperate single mother whose six-year-old disappeared in a Stockholm mall four days earlier and who has "her own, very specific reasons" for not calling the cops.
For fans of: well-developed characters; surprising twists and turns. |
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| The Vanished Bride: A Brontë Sisters Mystery by Bella EllisIntroducing: Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Brontë, three sisters in 1845 Yorkshire who love to write stories but have never been published.
What happens: A young wife and mother goes missing, leaving behind two small children and a large pool of blood, and the Brontë sisters, who live nearby, decide to investigate.
About the author: Bella Ellis is the pen name of British novelist Rowan Coleman; this is her atmospheric, well-researched first mystery and is a must for fans of the real-life Brontës. |
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| Heaven, My Home: A Highway 59 Novel by Attica LockeWhat happens: African American Texas Ranger Darren Matthews has a troubled marriage, an estranged mother who's blackmailing him, and a dangerous new case in a small town involving the missing child of an imprisoned white supremacist leader.
Series alert: This is the well-wrought second novel in the Highway 59 series following the Edgar Award-winning Bluebird, Bluebird.
Read it for: the evocative Caddo Lake setting in East Texas; the compelling look at race and politics. |
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The King’s Evil
by Andrew Taylor
What it's about: London 1667. In the Court of Charles II, it's a dangerous time to be alive - a wrong move may lead to disgrace, exile or death. The discovery of a body at Clarendon House, the palatial home of one of the highest courtiers in the land, could therefore have catastrophic consequences. James Marwood, a traitor's son, is ordered to cover up the murder. But the dead man is Edward Alderley, the cousin of one of Marwood's acquaintances. Cat Lovett had every reason to want her cousin dead. Since his murder, she has vanished, and all the evidence points to her as the killer. Marwood is determined to clear Cat's name and discover who really killed Alderley. But time is running out for everyone. If he makes a mistake, it could threaten not only the government but the King himself ...
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If You Like: Deborah Crombie
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| The Crossing Places by Elly GriffithsWhat happens: In Norfolk, England, 40-something forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives in the remote Saltmarshes and is asked by married DCI Harry Nelson to examine the bones of a child found there. Nelson thinks the remains might be a girl missing for ten years, and, when another girl goes missing, the two work together -- and grow close to each other.
Why Deborah Crombie fans might like it: the strong sense of place; the characters’ complicated personal lives and relationships, which grow and change throughout the series (this is the first of 11 books, so far). |
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| Gallows View: The First Inspector Banks Novel by Peter RobinsonWhat happens: Yorkshire DI Alan Banks' small English village has a host of trouble: a serial Peeping Tom, several vandalism and robbery cases, and the suspicious death of an elderly woman.
Series alert: This is the first of more than 25 books in the award-winning DI Alan Banks series. The latest, Many Rivers to Cross, is out in the U.K. now and will be available elsewhere in January.
Why Deborah Crombie fans might like it: the well-described British setting and the focus on police detection. |
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Well-Schooled in Murder
by Elizabeth George
What it's about: Aristocratic Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley and working-class Sergeant Barbara Havers attempt to find out who kidnapped, tortured, and then murdered 13-year-old Matthew Whately, a student at an exclusive boys' prep school near London. Readers who enjoy the thoughtful pacing, realistic dialogue, and atmospheric settings in Deborah Crombie's work will appreciate these same characteristics in fellow American Elizabeth George's mysteries, which also trace developments in the detectives' personal lives. Well-Schooled in Murder is the third in the Lynley series; readers who want to start with the first book should pick up A Great Deliverance.
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The knowledge : a Richard Jury mystery
by Martha Grimes
What it's about: Investigating a double homicide involving a brazen heist at a rarefied art gallery and casino, Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Richard Jury teams up with a motley assortment of Baker Street irregulars to solve a case with ties to astrophysics, the Tanzanian gem mines and a long-planned act of revenge.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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