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| Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding: A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys BowenStarring: penniless Georgiana "Georgie" Rannoch, who was 35th in line for the British throne before she withdrew from her position to marry Darcy O'Mara, an Irishman with a secretive government job.
What happens: Georgie plans her summer 1935 wedding (the king and queen are attending) and takes over the running of her godfather's country house...only to find that the servants might be trying to kill her.
Series alert: This is the charming 12th in the Royal Spyness mysteries, but newcomers can start here. |
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| Sweet Little Lies by Caz FrearIntroducing: Cat Kinsella, a too-empathetic (according to her boss) 26-year-old London detective constable estranged from her family.
What happens: A cold case from Cat's childhood is related to a new murder investigation -- and her pub-owner dad may have connections to both.
Who it's for: This compelling British police procedural debut has fascinating characters (especially Cat) and a twisty plot that will appeal to fans of Tana French, Ann Cleeves, and Susie Steiner. |
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| City of Ink: A Mystery by Elsa HartWhat it's about: In this evocative historical mystery set in 1711 Beijing, formerly exiled librarian Li Du, now working as Chief Inspector Sun's assistant, is drawn into a murder case that may not be the crime of passion it seems and also tries to clear his dead mentor's name.
For fans of: If you like Eliot Pattison's Shan Tao Yun mysteries and don't mind leaving modern Tibet and China behind, you'll appreciate the graceful writing, complex characters, and intricate plots found here.
Series alert: This is the 3rd in the acclaimed Li Du series; the 1st is Jade Dragon Mountain. |
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| The Ruin by Dervla McTiernanIntroducing: police detective Cormac Reilly, who's back in Galway to be near his girlfriend after being part of an elite Dublin squad for years.
What happens: Reilly's given a cold case that he worked as a rookie -- the OD death of a single mom that left 15-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack orphans. At 25, Jack has apparently died by suicide...but his pregnant doctor girlfriend and troubled sister think it was murder.
Who it's for: Benjamin Black and Tana French fans may like this slow-burn debut's realistic characters and evocative Irish setting. |
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| A Tale of Two Murders: A Dickens of a Crime by Heather RedmondWhat happens: On Epiphany in January 1835, young London journalist Charles Dickens falls for Kate Hogarth, the daughter of his editor; the two investigate the poisoning of Kate's 17-year-old neighbor, a death that's similar to another young lady's demise exactly one year earlier.
Is it for you? With a complex plot unfurled in an unhurried manner, this 1st in a series will be fun for Charles Dickens fans as well as those who enjoy lighthearted historical mysteries with a hint of romance. |
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The Chalk Man: A Novel
by C. J. Tudor
Three decades after his circle of friends is traumatized by the discovery of a murder victim while passing secret messages through a chalk-figure code of their invention, Eddie finds himself targeted by an unknown adversary who is using their former communication methods to torment and kill his friends.
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Sunday Silence
by Nicci French
Declared a person of interest when a body is discovered beneath the floorboards of her own home, London psychologist Frieda Klein realizes that a copycat killer of the chief suspect is responsible before she finds herself in a deadly game of tug-of-war between two obsessive murderers.
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Dangerous Crossing: A Novel
by Rachel Rhys
Hoping to start over in Australia on the eve of World War II, young Lily Shepherd enjoys a magical voyage of entertainments and exotic stops while bonding with high-society passengers, a situation that is complicated by her growing love for a man far above her station, the secrets of her newfound friends and an untimely double murder.
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Last Stop in Brooklyn
by Lawrence H. Levy
Hired by a prisoner's brother to reopen a Jack-the-Ripper copycat murder case and help identify the real killer, 19th-century Brooklyn private investigator Mary Handley uncovers corruption deep within New York's justice system that implicates the city's untouchable head of detectives.
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Anatomy of a Scandal
by Sarah Vaughan
"An astonishingly incisive and suspenseful novel about a scandal amongst Britain's privileged elite and the women caught up in its wake. Sophie's husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart. Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes. Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Despite her privileged upbringing, Sophie is well aware that her beautiful life is not inviolable. She has known it since she and James were first lovers, at Oxford, and she witnessed how easily pleasure could tip into tragedy. Most people would prefer not to try to understand what passes between a man and a woman when they are alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in an elevator...Or alone in the moonlit courtyard of an Oxford college, where a girl once stood before a boy, heart pounding with excitement, then fear. Sophie never understood why her tutorial partner Holly left Oxford so abruptly. What would she think, if she knew the truth?"
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| The Silkworm by Robert GalbraithWhat it's about: London P.I. Cormoran Strike, a veteran and amputee, and his young assistant Robin investigate the brutal murder of a writer whose latest novel exposed other people's secrets; Robin also plans her wedding, but her fiancé disapproves of both her work and her boss.
Series alert: This is the cleverly plotted 2nd in a series by J.K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith (the 4th, Lethal White, just came out).
Media buzz: These compelling books have been adapted for TV; in the U.K., the show's title is Strike, and in the U.S., it's C.B. Strike. |
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| The Silence of the Library by Miranda JamesStarring: middle-aged Mississippi librarian Charlie Harris and Diesel, his 36-pound Maine Coon cat, who goes with him almost everywhere.
What happens: Electra Barnes Cartwright, the nearly 100-year-old author of a Nancy Drew-esque series, agrees to attend a special exhibit at the Athena Public Library...and the result is excitement and then murder.
Don't miss: This 5th entry in a fun cozy series features excerpts of one of Cartwright's vintage teen detective novels. |
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| Plaid and Plagiarism by Molly MacRaeWhat happens: Four women -- American librarian Janet; her Scottish friend Christine; Janet's 38-year-old daughter, Tallie; and Tallie's reporter friend, Summer -- buy a bookshop in Scotland. But before they can settle in, a body is found at Janet's vandalized home; now, while preparing for the town's literary festival, the ladies also investigate a murder.
Read it for: the cozy small-town setting and the eccentric characters.
Series alert: This is the 1st in the Highland Bookshop Mystery series; the 2nd, Scones and Scoundrels, came out earlier this year. |
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| The Last Dickens by Matthew PearlWhat happens: After his clerk is murdered while picking up a copy of Charles Dickens' final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, American publisher James Osgood and the dead man's sister leave Boston for London in search of the manuscript and a killer.
Read this next: Pick up Dan Simmons' Drood, which is spooky, critically acclaimed, and covers Dickens' troubled last years (mystery writer Wilkie Collins, who's jealous of Dickens, is the narrator); or to see what all of the fuss is about, pick up The Mystery of Edwin Drood and read Dickens' own words. |
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| Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew SullivanStarring: Lydia Smith, a Denver bookstore clerk who, as a child, was the only survivor of a still-unsolved triple murder.
What happens: Lydia investigates when one of her regular customers hangs himself at the store (with a picture of ten-year-old Lydia in his pocket)...and leaves her his meager belongings, including books that contain coded clues.
Reviewers say: This debut is "an intriguingly dark, twisty story" (Kirkus Reviews), and it "will have particular appeal for puzzle solvers and booklovers" (Booklist). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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