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| The Vanishing Box by Elly GriffithsStarring: Brighton, England DI Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto, who met in a secretive World War II unit nearly ten years ago.
What happens: Edgar is called to a murder scene where a body is arranged as if in a famous Jane Grey painting...which calls to mind the poses that the young women in Max's new opening act create.
Series alert: This 4th Magic Men novel is a charming holiday mystery featuring romance and a well-crafted plot. To start with the 1st book (and see character relationships develop), pick up The Zig Zag Girl. |
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| The Darkness by Ragnar Jónasson; translated by Victoria CribbIntroducing: Hulda Hermannsdottir, a dogged 64-year-old Detective Inspector with the Reykjavik Police who's being forced into retirement.
What happens: With two weeks left on the job, Hulda's begrudgingly allowed to select a cold case to investigate. She picks the murder of a Russian asylum seeker -- and not everyone's happy about it.
For fans of: This debut in the Hidden Iceland series should please readers of Arnaldur Indridason's Iceland-set mysteries as well as Anne Holt's Hanne Wilhelmsen novels, which star an older female detective. |
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| The Frangipani Tree Mystery by Ovidia YuIntroducing: Chen Su Lin, a clever 16-year-old with a limp due to polio, who wants a job, not an arranged marriage, and turns amateur sleuth to help police Inspector Thomas Le Froy when a young Irish woman on the governor's household staff is killed.
What it is: a charming traditional mystery set in British-controlled 1930s Singapore written by an award-winning Singaporean writer.
Series alert: This is the 1st in the new Crown Colony series; the 2nd, The Betel Nut Tree Mystery, is also out this month. |
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Kingdom of the blind
by Louise Penny
What happens: The new Chief Inspector Gamache novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.
Reviewers say: This starts as a small-town mystery and becomes something grander and more frightening; Penny has upped her thrills-to-pain au chocolat ratio.
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The Feral Detective
by Jonathan Lethem
What happens: Convincing an enigmatic loner to help her search for a friend's missing daughter, Phoebe traverses the outskirts of California's stunning Inland Empire, where she discovers her companion's complicated relationship with warring tribes of outcasts.
Reviewers say: "it’s an unrelentingly paced tale where the protagonists’ developing relationship is just as interesting as the puzzle they’re trying to solve. Utterly unique and absolutely worthwhile."
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The Shadows We Hide
by Allen Eskens
What happens: A young reporter investigating the murder of a man with the same name as him discovers the deceased to be a loathsome lowlife who may be his father in this sequel to The Life We Bury.
Reviewers say: Eskens keeps readers guessing until the last pages in this darkly lyrical and brutally intimate story of one man’s journey of self-discovery.
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| Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery by Sally AndrewWhat it's about: In rural South Africa, 50-something Tannie Maria (tannie means "auntie" in Afrikaans and is a term of respect), writes a newspaper column that combines food and advice (recipes included).
What happens: Maria pens advice for an anonymous abused woman and then investigates a murder...much to the chagrin of a handsome cop.
Why Alexander McCall Smith fans might like it: Featuring a kind-hearted detective, it's the 1st in a charming cozy series set in Africa by a writer who knows and loves her part of continent. |
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| A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan BradleyStarring: Flavia de Luce, a precocious, quirky (and adorable, but don't tell her) 11-year-old chemist, who lives in a large house in a 1950s English village with her widowed father and two tormenting older sisters.
What happens: Flavia draws on her knowledge of poisons, Romani lore, and more to discern what happened to a long-missing child and figure out who committed a murder in the present.
Why Alexander McCall Smith fans might like it: This witty 3rd in a series beautifully describes rural village life and the relationships therein, and features a sleuth whose personal life plays a role in each book. |
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| The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem KhanWhat happens: In Mumbai, India, Inspector Chopra is forced to retire from the police after more than 30 years due to a heart attack. On his last day at work, he begins to investigate a drowning...together with his new sidekick, a baby elephant.
Series alert: This acclaimed book is the 1st of four (so far) in the Baby Ganesh Agency investigation books.
Why Alexander McCall Smith fans might like it: it has a fascinating, well-drawn setting, endearing characters, and warm wit and wisdom. |
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| Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James RuncieIntroducing: unconventional clergyman Sidney Chambers, who teams up with a police inspector friend on various occasions to investigate a suspicious suicide, a jewelry theft, the unexplained demise of a jazz promoter, and a shocking art forgery.
Why Alexander McCall Smith fans might like it: the people and places are just as or more important than the mysteries in this collection of interlocking short stories, the 1st in the Grantchester mysteries.
Did you know? The TV show Grantchester is based on James Runcie's books, but aren't as cozy and introspective and are faster paced. |
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