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| One of Our Own by Jane HaddamThis title is on order.
Starring: Gregor Demarkian, a brilliant former FBI agent and police consultant who's known as the Armenian American Hercule Poirot.
What happens: Demarkian investigates after a barely alive 72-year-old woman stuffed in a plastic sack falls out of the back of a van speeding through his beloved Philadelphia neighborhood.
About the author: Author Jane Haddam, whose real name was Orania Papazoglou, passed away in 2019, but this well-plotted 30th Gregor book is "a fitting coda to the career of one of America’s best contemporary fair play authors" (Publishers Weekly).
Click for Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian books on CMRLS Library Shelves and more on CMRLS.Freading.com |
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| Murder in Old Bombay by Nev MarchIntroducing: Jim Agnihotri, an Anglo Indian man raised in a Poona orphanage who joined the British Indian army, and after a terrible battle, spent time in recovery reading newspapers and Sherlock Holmes stories.
What happens: In 1892, Jim's out of both the hospital and the military, and intrigued by news reports of two murdered women, visits the victims' well-to-do Parsee family in Bombay. Hired to investigate, he uses observations and disguises and seeks out information on a college campus, in a princely state, and in a war zone.
For fans of: award-winning debuts; evocative combinations of mystery, romance, and adventure; Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry mysteries; Abir Mukherjee's Wyndham and Banerjee novels. |
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| Murder by Milk Bottle by Lynne TrussWhat it's about: In 1957 Brighton, England, three people -- a patrolman, a beauty contestant, and a BBC radio celebrity -- die within hours of each other, all killed with milk bottles. Constable Twitten and his fellow cops look for a common link between the victims as well as why the unusual weapon was used.
Series alert: This is the 3rd in a quirky, funny series by author Lynne Truss, who wrote the bestselling grammar guide Eats, Shoots & Leaves.
Reviewers say: "In her ability to blend crime and farce, Truss is in a class of her own" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The September Society by Charles FinchWhat it's about: In 1866, gentleman detective Charles Lenox travels from London to Oxford at the behest of Lady Payson, whose son is missing. In the college town, Lenox discovers odd clues, as well as a link between the missing student, the secretive September Society, and an 1847 killing in India.
Series alert: Though A Beautiful Blue Death is the 1st in the Charles Lenox chronicles, this clever 2nd entry is also a good starting place for newcomers. Those who are already fans will be happy to know that the 14th novel, An Extravagant Death, is due in February. |
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| Bloody January by Alan ParksThis is a downloadable eBook on CMRLS.Freading.com
What it is: a gripping Scottish noir, a debut novel that takes place over the course of 20 days in January 1973, and the vivid 1st in a series.
What it's about: In Glasgow, Detective Harry McCoy gets a tip from a convict that a girl named Lorna (no last name) will be murdered the next day -- then it happens, and the convict dies too. As McCoy tries to figure out what's going on, signs point him toward one of the city's wealthiest families, so he uses his contacts on both sides of the law to find justice.
Read it for: the evocative look at 1970s Glasgow; the Scottish slang; his inexperienced partner, Wattie. |
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| The Cruelest Month by Louise PennyCause of death: A woman seemingly dies of fear during an April séance in the quaint Canadian village of Three Pines.
What happens: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec investigates the death of the well-liked villager while also dealing with internal police politics that threaten his career and reputation.
Series alert: Though this is the 3rd book in a consistently award-winning series, newcomers can start here if they like traditional mysteries, charming villages, and delightfully eccentric characters. |
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Murder in July
by Barbara Hambly
Featuring: 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 15th 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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April in Paris, 1921 : a Kiki Button mystery
by Tessa Lunney
What it's about: Helping Picasso search for a stolen portrait in a Jazz Age City of Lights, Kiki Button is ordered by her spymaster to identify a double agent or face imprisonment, a dual mission that challenges her knowledge of Great War Paris.
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A June of Ordinary Murders: A Mystery
by Conor Brady
What it's about: For the 1887 Dublin Metropolitan Police, an "ordinary murder" was one that wasn't political in nature. When the mutilated bodies of a woman (dressed as a man) and a boy are found in a local park, the case isn't given special priority despite the strangeness. But as veteran Detective Sergeant Joe Swallow investigates, evidence suggests the killings might not be so "ordinary" after all.
What else could happen: Meanwhile, a sweltering heat wave embraces the city, the land wars rage, criminals jockey for position after the death of a crime lord, and celebrations for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee get under way.
Author note: This debut novel by Conor Brady, former editor of The Irish Times, slowly builds tension, brims with authentic details, and has "a baffling mystery" (Kirkus Reviews).
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November Road
by Lou Berney
What it is: an affecting, highly acclaimed road-trip crime novel that uses the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Jr. as a starting point.
Starring: Frank Guidry, who as part of his work for a New Orleans mob boss leaves a getaway car in a Dallas parking lot, not knowing why; Charlotte Roy, who leaves her no-good husband in Oklahoma and sets out for California with her two daughters and dog in tow.
What happens: After Kennedy is shot, Guidry goes on the run, where he meets Charlotte beside her broken down car and decides traveling with a family will help him evade a mob hitman cleaning up loose ends.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Central Mississippi Regional Library System
100 Tamberline Street
Brandon, Mississippi 39042
601-825-0100
http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us
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