| Mystery December 2006 |
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"Fear not for the future, weep not for the past."
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), English poet |
| New and Recently Released! |
| Grave Surprise - by Charlaine Harris |
| Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime |
| Pub Date: 09/26/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0425212033 |
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Paranormal Mystery. Harper Connelly, struck by lightning as a teen and left with a supernatural talent to find the dead and tell how they died, is traveling the country with her stepbrother/manager, Tolliver, using her skills to make a living. While in a Memphis graveyard doing a demonstration, she discovers two bodies in a single grave--one the original occupant, one a recently deceased girl Harper had tried to locate months earlier. The police wonder at the connection and suspect Harper of wrongdoing. Booklist calls this 2nd book in Charlaine Harris's latest series (after Grave Sight) an "engrossing mystery." | |
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| The Do-re-mi - by Ken Kuhlken |
| Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press |
| Pub Date: 11/30/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 159058337X |
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Mystery. The Hickey family is back (last seen in The Angel Gang), but this time the story focuses on aspiring folk singer/possible law student Clifford instead of his PI dad--so we jump from the 1950s to 1972 (newcomers to the family can start here). At a folk music festival in California, peace, love, and joy have disappeared as bikers, hippies, locals, and police clash over the local cash crop, marijuana. When someone murders the nephew of a local cop, Clifford must smoke out the killer before his brother, a Vietnam vet, is arrested for the crime. Readers who want to revisit the 1970s could hardly do better. | |
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| Extraordinary People - by Peter May |
| Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press |
| Pub Date: 11/30/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 1590583353 |
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Mystery. Ah, France--land of wine, cheese, and expats. In the 1st of a projected series, Enzo Macleod, a Scotsman who's currently a biology professor in France and was formerly a forensic police officer in London, makes a dangerous bet on a cold case. He claims he can shed new light on the disappearance of France's top civil servant, missing for ten years. With help from various others, including his daughter and journalist Roger Raffin, Macleod travels the countryside, from the catacombs of Paris to a Champagne chateau, piecing together clues and bone fragments. Library Journal calls this a "thoroughly engaging puzzle mystery." | |
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| Probable Cause - by Theresa Schwegel |
| Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur |
| Pub Date: 11/28/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0312343167 |
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Crime Novel. A rookie cop breaking into a jewelry store as part of his Chicago Police Department initiation? The older officers say it's all in good fun, but Ray Weiss isn't so sure, especially when he stumbles over a dead body during the robbery. Was he set up? Did another cop commit the murder? Ray, son and grandson of cops, follows in his family's law enforcement footsteps, but he must decide if his loyalties lie with his good-cop family or his bad-cop comrades. Kirkus Reviews calls this a "solidly written coming-of-age tale with an endearing and believable hero."
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| Master of Souls: A Mystery of Ancient Ireland - by Peter Tremayne |
| Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur |
| Pub Date: 11/14/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0312348320 |
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Historical Mystery. In her 16th outing set in seventh-century Ireland, Sister Fidelma faces her toughest case yet. Together with Brother Eadulf, Fidelma investigates the brutal killing of an abbess and the disappearance of six young female religieuse who were accompanying her on a pilgrimage. Then someone bludgeons an aging abbey scholar to death and a group of wreckers cause the destruction of a ship off the west coast of Ireland. Could the three incidents be related? Fans of Irish history can rest assured that they're getting accurate information, as the author is a renowned Celtic scholar. | |
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| The Hidden Assassins - by Robert Wilson |
| Publisher: Harcourt |
| Pub Date: 11/01/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0151012393 |
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Police Procedural. Finding a faceless, handless corpse never makes for an easy day--and that's before a bomb explodes in an apartment building nearby. In Seville, Spain, Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón sifts through the aftermath of the explosion--which just happened to destroy the mosque in the basement. Was the bomb accidentally detonated by terrorists? Was it an anti-Muslim act? Does the mutilated body tie into it all? Through the ensuing panic and destruction, Falcón explores growing suspicions about an imminent attack of even greater proportions. And there are problems with his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend, too. The 3rd, after The Vanished Hands, in this intense, well-done series. | |
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| Books of 2006 You May Have Missed |
| A Moment of Madness - by Hilary Bonner |
| Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur |
| Pub Date: 05/30/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0312339488 |
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Mystery. Why is it that women named Angel are usually anything but? A rock superstar is murdered and the alleged perpetrator is dead too, supposedly killed in self-defense by the star's wife...Angel. Middle-aged, ex-Fleet Street journalist John Kelly conducts exclusive interviews with the seductive widow, whom he knows from his down-and-out days. Kelly, currently working at a small-time newspaper, sees this as his ticket back to the big time...but how much will the trip cost him? Originally published in England in 2002, the rest of the world gained access to this "twisty, gripping mystery" (Publishers Weekly) in 2006. | |
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| Rounding the Mark - by Andrea Camilleri |
| Publisher: Penguin USA |
| Pub Date: 07/25/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 014303748X |
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Police Procedural. Sicilian policeman Salvo Montalbano deals with corruption and crime on a daily basis, and it's really getting to him in this 7th in the series--he's even considering resigning. Politics, immigrants, the trafficking and selling of children (who may be used as slaves, bought by pedophiles, etc...) weigh on him, especially when he fears that he may have inadvertently aided a child trafficker. Then there are the two seemingly unrelated murders he needs to solve. Happily, there's the wonderful Italian food to give him (and us) some respite. Translated from the Italian, these books offer an unflinching look at the Sicily. | |
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| The Bee's Kiss - by Barbara Cleverly |
| Publisher: Carroll & Graf |
| Pub Date: 08/15/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 078671736X |
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Historical Mystery. This 5th installment in the award-winning Joe Sandilands series finds our detective home from India and enjoying Jazz Age London and his new Scotland Yard position. That is, until the bludgeoning death at the Ritz Hotel of Dame Beatrice Jagow-Joliffe, founder of the Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service). Joe's superiors pressure him to discreetly close the case, but when young Wrens start dropping like flies, Joe knows he has to dig deeper. In a starred review, Library Journal calls this "a beautifully plotted, character-driven masterpiece." Readers interested in women's emancipation should find this entry especially compelling. | |
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| The Mangler of Malibu Canyon: A Novel - by Jennifer Colt |
| Publisher: Broadway Books |
| Pub Date: 06/13/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0767920120 |
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Chick Lit Mystery. Kerry and Terry McAfee, identical twin sisters with nothing in common except their looks and their job, run Double Indemnity, a Los Angeles private detective agency. In their 2nd outing, after The Butcher of Beverly Hills, the two aid their Aunt Reba and cousin Robert, both of whom confessed to a murder in order to protect the other one. Reba found a headless corpse rolled up in a rug in her new Malibu digs, then Robert arrived carrying the missing human head--but with no memory of his earlier actions. Of course the police arrest them both; luckily for Reba and Robert they have McAfee twin power on their side. | |
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| Ten Second Staircase - by Christopher Fowler |
| Publisher: Bantam Books |
| Pub Date: 06/27/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0553804499 |
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Police Procedural. Say it isn't so: the North London Peculiar Crimes Unit may soon close? It might--unless cantankerous, elderly detectives John May and Arthur Bryant can solve the old Leicester Square Vampire case. Oh, and they must also find a bizarre new serial killer nicknamed "The Highwayman" (he wears a black cape, a mask, a three-cornered hat, and rides a black stallion) who's killing B-list celebrities in seemingly impossible situations. Fans of dark humor, locked room mysteries, and eccentric characters must absolutely check out this series, of which this is the 4th entry. | |
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| The Hunt for Sonya Dufrette - by R.T. Raichev |
| Publisher: Carroll & Graf |
| Pub Date: 05/10/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0786717343 |
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Cozy Mystery. An English country house party, July 1981: Everyone was watching Prince Charles and Lady Diana's royal wedding on the telly, but during that ill-fated time, little Sonya Dufrette disappeared, and it was assumed that she drowned. Twenty years later, Antonia Darcy, a librarian who had been at the house in 1981, runs into Sonya's father and begins puzzling over the long ago events. Poring over notes she had written at the time, something seems odd--she just can't put her finger on what. With her new friend, Major Payne, she investigates and stirs up two decades worth of trouble. Reviewers loved this debut novel that fans of traditional country house mysteries should plan to spend a weekend with. | |
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| Still looking for the right book? Contact your librarian. |
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