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| Smoke by Joe IdeStarring: Isaiah "IQ" Quintabe, of East Long Beach, California, who's got a Sherlock-esque brain that he uses as an unlicensed detective.
What happens: Due to PTSD and threats on his life, IQ heads to a small Northern California town to lay low — but he's soon pulled into a hunt for a serial killer. Back home, IQ's hustler friend Dodson accepts an advertising internship in his effort to go straight.
Series alert: Smoke is the entertaining 5th in a darkly humorous series; those who want to start with the 1st entry should pick up the award-winning IQ. |
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| The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'DonnellWhat it is: An inventive Gothic-tinged mystery with supernatural elements set in 1893 London that was published to much acclaim in the U.K. in 2018.
What happens: A Cambridge student, a Scotland Yard detective, and a wealthy woman journalist work together to solve several disappearances and a suspicious suicide.
Read this next: Lynn Shepherd's The Solitary House or Jess Kidd's Things in Jars. |
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| Guilt at the Garage by Simon BrettWhat it's about: In the coastal village of Fethering, West Sussex, straitlaced 50-something Carole and her more free-spirited neighbor Jude investigate after Carole's car is vandalized and a suspicious death occurs at the repair shop.
Why you might like it: This wryly humorous 20th Fethering novel offers a pleasing English locale, intricate plotting, and inheritance drama.
For fans of: M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin mysteries. |
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| Sacred Games by Vikram ChandraWhat it is: An epic crime novel set in a gritty Mumbai that focuses on world-weary Sikh cop Sartaj Singh and violently ambitious Hindu gangster Ganesh Gaitonde, as well as the people who swirl around them, including a Bollywood starlet, a madam, a maid, and more.
Who it's for: Those who love complex, sprawling stories, atmospheric, noirish looks at a single city, vivid prose, and richly drawn characters.
On the screen: A 2018-2019 Hindi-language TV series of the same name was based on this 2006 book — and the program was the first Netflix Original from India (English subtitles are available). |
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| The Crow Trap by Ann CleevesWhat it's about: Three very different women work to complete an environmental survey about the impact of a quarry in Northumberland. Then an odd suicide and a second death bring unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope to town to sort it all out.
Series alert: First published in 1998, The Crow Trap is Vera's 1st outing; the 9th and most recent book, The Darkest Evening, came out last year.
On the screen: The Vera Stanhope books inspired the popular British TV series Vera. But that isn't Cleeves' only screen adaptation — her Shetland Island books were dramatized as Shetland and her new Matthew Venn series is set to receive similar treatment. |
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| Coconut Layer Cake Murder by Joanne FlukeWhat happens: Hannah Swensen is stressed. So much so that her doctor prescribes a vacation. But she cuts short her Los Angeles trip when her sister’s cop boyfriend is implicated in the murder of a former classmate and can't recall what happened.
On the screen: Hallmark made five Murder, She Baked movies based on the Hannah Swensen mysteries; TV host and actress Alison Sweeney played the crime-solving Minnesota baker in all of them. |
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| Next to Last Stand by Craig JohnsonWhat happens: After an elderly man dies at the Veterans' Home of Wyoming, artwork and a million dollars is found in his room, leading Sheriff Walt Longmire to a case connected to Russians, General George Custer, and a famous work of art long thought destroyed.
Series alert: Though recent outings have been harrowing for Longmire, this 16th book is a bit lighter. Look for the 17th entry, Daughter of the Morning Star, in September.
On the screen: The well-received TV series Longmire featured Australian actor Robert Taylor in the title role and ran for six seasons between 2012 and 2017. |
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