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New and Recently Released!
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| The Missing Dough by Chris CavenderCozy Mystery. Sisters Maddy and Eleanor love running A Slice of Delight pizzeria in tiny Timber Ridge, North Carolina. But neither of them loves Grant, one of Maddy's ex-husbands, who shows up hoping to win her back. Maddy's fiancé, Bob, isn't too happy about Grant's sudden appearance either -- which makes the police view him as a suspect when someone stabs Grant in the heart. But Bob's not the only person of interest to the cops; since her ex's death may mean money for Maddy, the police are keeping an eye on her in this 6th in a series, too. Readers looking for more lighthearted, food-centered mysteries featuring sisters can check out Isis Crawford's Simmons Sisters mysteries or Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mysteries. |
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| Montana by Gwen FlorioMystery. In this "outstanding" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) debut novel, scrappy foreign correspondent Lola Wicks leaves the battlefields of Afghanistan for the mountains of Montana after being downsized. She plans to be there only a few days, but things change when she arrives at a reporter friend's cabin and discovers the woman's dead body. Who would kill Mary Alice Carr? And does her death have anything to do with the final story she was working on, about a Native American gubernatorial candidate? Lola doesn't know, but she aims to use her journalism skills to find out. If you enjoy Montana, pick up Dakota, the 2nd in the series, which is due out in March. |
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| The Invisible Code: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher FowlerMystery. London's Peculiar Crimes Unit -- which has existed since World War II in order to investigate odd cases -- are once again checking out the befuddling and the bizarre even as their department faces closure. But one of their cases could solve that last problem: Oskar Kasavian, the Home Office security supervisor in charge of the unit, needs their help on a personal matter. Though Oskar's been trying to shut them down, he's desperate for their help when his much younger Albanian wife starts acting bizarrely, thinks evil spirits are after her, and insults the wives of his colleagues. Elderly misfit detectives Arthur Bryant and John May deal with witchcraft, codes, murder, and more in this witty 10th in a series that fans of British humor and clever plots should read. |
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| Through the Evil Days: A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery by Julia Spencer-FlemingMystery. After a troubled courtship, Episcopal priest Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne finally tied the knot two months ago, but the pair can't even belatedly honeymoon at a remote lake cabin without worries. Clare became pregnant before she said her vows, and her job is in jeopardy. Millers Kill, New York is facing tough budget decisions, which means Russ's livelihood is in question, too. Meanwhile, an older local couple is found with bullet holes in their heads in their torched house...and their young foster child, who needs medication daily, is missing. Add in a horrible winter storm and violent meth addicts and you've got a compelling and evocative 8th outing for Clare and Russ. (Newcomers may want to start with the 1st novel, In the Bleak Midwinter, to best follow the characters as their relationship evolves.) |
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| USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series by Johnny Temple (editor)Short Stories. The 37 short stories in this superb collection, culled from previous books in the acclaimed Akashic Noir series, are written by a who's who list of well-known crime authors. With contributions from Dennis Lehane, Don Winslow, Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Laura Lippman, Pete Hamill, Joyce Carol Oates, Lee Child, T. Jefferson Parker, Lawrence Block, Jeffery Deaver, Megan Abbott, S.J. Rozan, and others, and with stories ranging from coast to coast and dealing with everything from domestic violence to street justice, USA Noir has something for every fan of gritty crime fiction. In starred reviews, Library Journal calls it "a must read for mystery fans," and Publishers Weekly says "readers will be hard put to find a better collection of short stories in any genre." |
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| Murder in the Marais by Cara BlackMystery. Aimée Leduc, a hacker who runs a computer forensics business in early 1990s Paris, is hired under mysterious circumstances by a friend of her dead father to break the code encrypting a digital photograph and deliver the photo to elderly Lili Stein. Sounds simple enough, but when Aimée gets to Stein's home in the Marais, an old Jewish neighborhood, she discovers Stein's fresh corpse with a Nazi swastika carved on her forehead. Aimée researches the past, all the way back to World War II, in order to solve this contemporary murder. Author Cara Black knows and loves Paris, and her fast-paced novels featuring clever Aimée, of which this is the 1st, show it. Readers who liked Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo should appreciate tough, independent Aimée. |
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| Open Season by C.J. BoxMystery. Rookie game warden Joe Pickett isn't perfect. For instance, he's a terrible shot and had his gun taken away from him by poacher Ote Keeley (Keeley gave it back). As Joe, a thoughtful, honest man with a strong sense of justice, and his pregnant wife and young daughters begin to adjust to life in Twelve Sleep County, Wyoming, Joe finds Keeley dead on their woodpile. The sheriff and Joe investigate the crime, which involves an endangered species, more murders, and a lot of trouble. C.J. Box's accomplished debut won multiple awards when it was first published in 2001. Stone Cold, the 14th in the Joe Pickett series, comes out in March. Fans who'd like other outdoors-centered mysteries can check out William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor series or Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight novels. |
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| The Mysterious Affair at Styles: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha ChristieClassic Mystery. The Mysterious Affair at Styles was originally published in 1920, and is the first book by the bestselling mystery author of all time, Agatha Christie. In her ingeniously plotted debut, Christie introduces the eccentric, dignified Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who eventually appears in over 30 books (and numerous stage and screen adaptations) and becomes one of the world's most beloved characters. Poirot's 1st outing has the Great War refugee in England, where he meets up with an old friend, Captain Arthur Hastings, who is recovering from a war injury while staying with friends at their British country home. When Hastings' host is murdered while in her locked bedroom, he asks Poirot for help and, as they say, the rest is history. |
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| Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter MosleyHistorical Mystery. It's 1948 in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles when we first meet Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins sitting in a bar. Easy, a tough, African-American World War II veteran, has just lost his job. He's got bills to pay, so he accepts a gangster's proposition to find Daphne Monet, a woman with secrets who's wearing a blue dress in a photograph the gangster provides. The search causes Easy to hit the city's nightclubs and jazz joints and involves him with murder and the police. This excellent debut won the New Blood Dagger Award for Best First Crime Novel and the Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel and became a 1995 movie starring Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle. |
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| The Cater Street Hangman: A Novel by Anne PerryHistorical Mystery. Bestselling author Anne Perry's debut, the 1st in a series that now numbers almost 30, tells the richly detailed story of Inspector Thomas Pitt's investigation into a series of horrible murders in 1881 London. One of the five young women killed was a maid in the Ellison house, and as Pitt searches for answers, he wonders if the killer may be hiding behind upper class respectability...even as he's romantically drawn to curious-minded Charlotte Ellison. Death on Blackheath, the latest Pitt novel, comes out this spring. For another character-driven mystery series that's set in Victorian England and has a touch of romance, try Charles Finch's witty Charles Lenox chronicles, beginning with A Beautiful Blue Death. |
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