| Random Road: A Geneva Chase Mystery by Thomas KiesMystery. Journalist Geneva Chase struggles with a drinking problem and a penchant for dating the wrong men (the current one is married). Working at her small hometown paper, she is the only reporter at the scene when six bodies are found naked and mutilated in a gated Connecticut community. Hoping to get to the truth as well as help her flagging career, she juggles drinking, court-mandated AA visits, and her love life while digging up secrets and trying to uncover a cruel killer. Readers who enjoy character-driven stories with strong female leads should pick up this fast-paced debut novel. |
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A Murder Too Soon : A Tudor Mystery
by Michael Jecks
June, 1554. Former cutpurse and now professional assassin Jack Blackjack has deep misgivings about his latest assignment. He has been dispatched to the Palace of Woodstock, where Queen Mary’s half-sister Princess Elizabeth is being kept under close guard. Jack’s employer has reason to believe that a spy has been installed within the princess’s household, and Jack has been ordered to kill her. Jack has no choice but to agree. But he arrives at Woodstock to discover that a murder has already been committed. As he sets out to prove his innocence by uncovering the real killer, Jack finds the palace to be a place steeped in misery and deceit; a hotbed of illicit love affairs, seething resentments, clashing egos and bitter jealousies. But who among Woodstock’s residents is hiding a deadly secret – and will Jack survive long enough to find out?
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| The Play of Death: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Pötzsch; translated by Lee ChadeayneHistorical Mystery. In 1670, healer Simon Fronwieser takes his seven-year-old son to a boarding school; it's the only place that will educate a bright lower-class boy. When someone crucifies the actor playing Christ in the local Passion Play, Simon acts as the town healer for a while in order to investigate. He needs all the help he can get, so it's good that his hangman father-in-law shows up. Meanwhile, witchcraft accusations at home trouble his wife and her sister. Fans of intricately plotted medieval mysteries such as this detail-rich 6th in the Hangman's Daughter series may want to try S.D. Sykes Somershill Manor mysteries. |
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Dark Saturday
by Nicci French
Reluctantly agreeing to assess a woman who was incarcerated in a secure psychiatric hospital a decade earlier for murder, psychotherapist Frieda Klein begins to suspect that the girl is innocent, only to find herself targeted by someone who would keep the truth hidden.
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| The Right Side: A Novel by Spencer QuinnMystery. Sgt. LeAnne Hogan has one eye, a scarred face, PTSD, and short- and long-term memory issues (no matter how hard she tries, she can't remember what happened in Afghanistan). When Marci, her roommate at Walter Reed Hospital, suddenly dies, LeAnne takes off for Marci's Washington state hometown. There, LeAnne bonds with a stray dog and learns that Marci's eight-year-old daughter is missing. While trying to heal and remember, LeAnne hunts for the missing girl. Readers who adore Spencer Quinn's humorous Chet and Bernie novels will find this nuanced mystery grittier and more serious but just as good. |
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The Fourth Monkey
by J. D. Barker
Investigating the death of a serial killer who has terrorized Chicago for years, Detective Sam Porter reads the murderer's diary, subjecting the demons of his own mind to the twisted rationalizations of a psychopath, in the hopes of tracking down one last victim. By the award-nominated author of Forsaken.
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Another Man's Ground
by Claire Booth
A follow-up to The Branson Beauty finds new sheriff Hank Worth investigating the theft of valuable bark from a property owner's stand of herbal trees, a case that is complicated by a local election, a group of undocumented immigrants and the discovery of a murder victim in the Ozark backwoods.
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The Atlas of Forgotten Places
by Jenny D. Williams
Retiring to her native Germany after a long career as an aid worker, Sabine is challenged to confront painful memories when her American niece disappears while volunteering in Uganda, where a veteran of the Lord's Resistance Army is searching for her missing lover.
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| Love & Death in Burgundy by Susan C. SheaCozy Mystery. Hoping for acceptance from her Burgundy, France village, American expat painter Katherine Goff organizes a local fête, which will include performances by her former rock star husband and a country music star. Meanwhile, the owner of the local chateau dies after a fall down the stairs and rumors abound that it was murder. Katherine can't help but nose about, and teenager Jeannette, the daughter of a local thief who's got a talent for spying, helps out. Fans of village mysteries peopled with eccentric characters should pick up this 1st in a new series. For another cozy series featuring an expat detective, pick up Elizabeth Duncan's Wales-set Penny Brannigan mysteries. |
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The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes
by Leonard S Goldberg
A highly skilled nurse with unique mental talents is recruited into the investigative team of the elderly Dr. John Watson and his handsome son before being swept up in a Holmesian mystery with ties to the Second Afghan War, a hidden treasure and a murder at the highest levels of British society. By the best-selling author of Fever Cell.
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The Devil's Muse
by Bill Loehfelm
Returning to the New Orleans Police Department after completing her work with the FBI, Maureen Coughlin tackles the challenges of her first Mardi Gras season, marked by a public shooting rampage, drama-seeking social media videographers, an incompetent detective and complicated race relations. By the author of The Devil She Knows.
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Don't Close Your Eyes : A Novel
by Holly Seddon
A shut-in who meddles in her neighbors' lives and her twin, whose secrets have separated her from her husband and child, reevaluate complex family dynamics that have led to their respective circumstances before their lives are shattered by terrible revelations.
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If You Like: Lindsey Davis
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| The Pericles Commission: A Mystery of Ancient Greece by Gary CorbyHistorical Mystery. In 461 BC, 20-year-old sculptor's son Nicolaos sees the body of democratic reformer Ephialtes land at his feet. An arrow has found its mark and toppled him from a building, but who shot it? Hired to find the assassin by the dead man's powerful political friend, Nicolaos sees an opportunity to leave sculpting behind. With the help of a priestess of Artemis and his younger brother Socrates (yes, that one), Nicolaos just might solve the crime before the assassin finds him. With its historical details, first person narration, and a few hardboiled elements, this 1st in a series should please Lindsey Davis fans. |
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| Terra Incognita: A Novel of the Roman Empire by Ruth DownieHistorical Mystery. Together with his outspoken slave/housekeeper Tilla and the Twentieth Legion, Roman Army doctor Gaius Petrius Ruso heads to the uncivilized north border region of Britannia in 118 AD. Tilla is from the area and quite happy to be home, but the recently divorced Ruso finds himself wondering what he's agreed to, especially when he's tasked with figuring out who beheaded a soldier and why. Those who enjoy Lindsey Davis' mysteries will appreciate the amusing Ruso and Tilla as well as Ruth Downie's dry wit and character-driven style; Terra Incognita is the 2nd of seven books. |
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| Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana FranklinHistorical Mystery. In 1171 Cambridge, England, someone is killing Christian children. The locals are blaming the Jews, who have taken refuge in a protected castle. King Henry II thinks the Jews are innocent (and he needs their tax revenue), so he requests the best master of the art of death (medical examiner) from a famous Sicilian school to examine the bodies -- but what he gets is a mistress of the art of death. For her part, the engaging, intelligent Adelia Aguilar struggles with life in less-civilized England as she tries to catch a killer. Lindsey Davis fans who appreciate forensic details should like this atmospheric award-winning series debut. |
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| The Seven Wonders: A Novel of the Ancient World by Steven SaylorHistorical Mystery. In this excellent prequel to Steven Saylor's popular Roma Sub Rosa series, 18-year-old Gordianus embarks on a round-the-ancient-world journey. Celebrated Greek poet Antipater of Sidon, Gordianus's tutor, accompanies him on his 92 BC quest to see the Seven Wonders...but Antipater travels under a pseudonym since he and Gordianus' father have faked his death. Along the way the poet and the boy encounter murder, human sacrifice, love, and more. If you like the rich historical details and Ancient Roman setting of Lindsey Davis' books, try The Seven Wonders as well as the 14 other books in the series. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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