| The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery AdamsWhat it is: A book-centric cozy mystery featuring four women carrying scars from the past (some literal), including bookstore owner Nora, who can talk to people and somehow know what novel will help them. A visiting land developer to Nora's small North Carolina town asks her for recommendations, but before she can give him the books she's picked out, he's dead. Was it murder? Nora and three new friends try to find out.
Who it's for: This first in a new series is for mystery fans who like women's fiction and a bit of magical realism. |
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Robicheaux
by James Lee Burke
What it's about: During a murder investigation, Dave Robicheaux discovers he may have committed the homicide he’s investigating, one which involved the death of the man who took the life of Dave’s beloved wife. As he works to clear his name and make sense of the murder, Robicheaux encounters a cast of characters and a resurgence of dark social forces that threaten to destroy all of those whom he loves.
It is: not only a propulsive and thrilling novel, but a harrowing study of America: this of shame, its easy seduction by demagogues and wealth, and its predilection for violence and revenge.
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| The Missing Guests of the Magic Grove Hotel by David CasarettWhat it's about: In this second book in the engaging Ethical Chiang Mai Detective Agency series, hospital nurse ethicist Ladarat Patalung, who helps terminally ill patients have a "good death," and her friend, dependable police detective Wiriya Mookjai, once again team up: eight foreign travelers to Thailand have disappeared, and all they have in common is brief stays at the mysterious Magic Grove Hotel.
For fans of: Timothy Hallinan's and Colin Cotterill's mysteries set in Thailand and Alexander McCall Smith's No.1 Ladies Detective Agency books. |
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| Murder in an English Village by Jessica EllicottIntroducing: boisterous American adventurer Beryl Helliwell, who's grown weary of change as she's gotten older, and prim and proper (but definitely not prosperous) British spinster Edwina Davenport. Beryl takes a room in Edwina's home, and when young ladies disappear or die in mysterious circumstances, the two old school friends of a certain age decide to solve the cases.
What it is: a historical cozy and charming series launch set in a rural 1920s English village. |
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| Murder in July by Barbara HamblyFeaturing: amateur detective and free man of color Benjamin January, who was born a slave but studied and practiced medicine in France and now earns a living in 1830s New Orleans as a musician.
What it's about: In this fifteenth entry in an intricately plotted, well-researched historical series, January needs money in order to support his pregnant wife, their son, and open the boarding school for colored girls that's long been his wife's dream, so he agrees to help a British spymaster find some lost papers. The case involves a local murder that seems eerily like a Parisian killing some nine years earlier. |
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What Doesn't Kill You
by Aimee Hix
Featuring: Willa Pennington thought that becoming a PI would be better than being a cop. She thought she'd never have to make another death notification or don a bulletproof vest again. She thought she could move past the pain of losing her best friend. She thought she'd be safe.
What reviewers have to say: "Aimee Hix is a fresh new voice in the mystery world and What Doesn't Kill You represents one of the best debut efforts I've ever seen. Tight plotting, edge-of-your-seat suspense and a protagonist in PI Willa Pennington you want to read about again and again."-- Maggie Barbieri, author of Once Upon a Lie
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Darkness, Sing Me a Song
by David Housewright
What it's about: Taylor is hired by socialite Eleanor Barrington's to run a full background check on Emily Denys, fiancee of Eleanor's son. Taylor discovers that both Emily's name and background have been fabricated. Before he can learn more Emily is murdered and Eleanor is the main suspect. Caught in the dark tangle of a twisted family and haunted by his own past, Taylor finds that the truth is both elusive and dangerous.
What reviewers have to say: ..."A perfect occasion for new readers to make the acquaintance of a smart, tough PI in the grand hard-boiled tradition."— Booklist
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| Beau Death by Peter LoveseyWhat it's about: In Bath, England, police detective Peter Diamond investigates after a demolition crew uncovers stylishly clad human remains, which could be the skeleton of famous 18th-century dandy Beau Nash. To boot, the irascible Diamond works a modern murder case.
Series alert: Though this is the seventeenth entry in a popular series, newcomers can start here.
For fans of: flawed yet entertaining protagonists and British police procedurals with a touch of humor. |
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Sue Grafton was one of the first women to enter the previously all-male world of hardboiled private eye mysteries. From A is for Alibi to Y is for Yesterday her series character, Kinsey Millhone, who narrates the stories in first person, is a tough, stubborn, but self-assured loner. Kinsey is known for her smart-mouth dialog; there is, however, a dark underlying tone without the explicitly described violence found in traditional hardboiled novels. On December 29th, Sue's daughter, Jamie, posted on facebook that Sue had passed away the night before after a battle with cancer, "Many of you also know that she was adamant that her books would never be turned into movies or TV shows, and in that same vein, she would never allow a ghost writer to write in her name. Because of all of those things, and out of the deep abiding love and respect for our dear sweet Sue, as far as we in the family are concerned, the alphabet now ends at Y." If you will miss Sue Grafton, try the series below featuring strong, female characters. |
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Fatal Error
by Judith A. Jance
What it's about: After a cyber-philandering sociopath is murdered, Ali Reynolds risks her life to find the true killer when her good friend becomes the prime suspect.
Why you will like it: If you enjoy strong women who won't stop until they see justice done, you'll enjoy work by Grafton and Jance. Setting their mysteries in the West, either Arizona or California, both write plot-driven tales complete with murder, suspense, and determined female protagonists. Try both the Ali Reynolds and the Joanne Brady series by Jance.
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Rage Against the Dying
by Becky Masterman
What it's about: Pushed into early retirement after a brutal FBI career hunting sexual predators, Brigid Quinn finds her efforts to settle down with her new husband thwarted by a man who suspiciously confesses to her worst unsolved case.
Why you will like it: Like Grafton's Kinsey, Masterman's Bridget Quinn is a complex woman troubled by both work and her personal life. While both feature complex plots, Masterman is more graphically violent.
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City of Whispers
by Marcia Muller
What it's about: Private eye Sharon McCone's search for her emotionally disturbed half-brother in San Francisco turns up a dead body with a connection to the unsolved murder of a young heiress.
Why you will like it: Mysteries by Muller and Grafton feature a similar hard edge, resourceful and tough, but vulnerable, female PIs, investigative details, and some humor. Both Muller and Grafton set their series in California and evoke a strong sense of place
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Brush Back: A V. I. Warshawski Novel
by Sara Paretsky
What it's about: Reluctantly agreeing to help when an old high-school boyfriend asks her to exonerate his mother for the murder of his sister, V. I. Warshawski is forced to confront ugly politics and violent elements in the depressed steel mill town of her youth.
Why you will like it: Grafton's Kinsey Millhone and Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski are both clever, tough, and independent PIs. Though Warshawski may have a more fervent feminist slant and a harder edge than Millhone, fans of gritty, urban detective stories featuring female protagonists will enjoy both authors.
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Identity
by Ingrid Thoft
What it's about: Assigned to help a single mother who wants to learn the confidential identity of a sperm donor, private investigator Fina Ludlow encounters more trouble than anticipated when the donor is murdered within hours of the case going public.
Why you will like it: Thoft and Grafton write private detective mysteries that feature tough women as their sleuths. These are flawed women who buck the establishment but who are shrewd and compassionate as they try to help people. The plot-driven books are violent and suspenseful as they build to powerful endings.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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