Mystery

In the quest to stay as fresh as possible, mystery writers sometimes realize that they have gone as far as they can with a particular series. Thus, in Crossfire, P.M. Carlson has left amateur sleuth Maggie Ryan in New York City and joined Deputy Marty Hopkins in Indiana. And with Fever Moon, Carolyn Haines has once again traded her Southern cozies for a standalone noir to investigate the South's darker aspects, prior to the Civil Rights Movement.

Ordered to check out a cabin fire in the Hoosier National Forest, Deputy Sheriff Marty Hopkins discovers a corpse pinned to the bedpost with a machete. The cabin is partly owned by an ex-cop who just happens to be Marty's enemy, a man who believes that women have no place in law enforcement. Although Marty is the best investigator on the force, the sheriff places a brand-new deputy in charge of the case. Complicating matters is the arrival of a New York City attorney asking questions about the cabin murder because Marty's father was killed in a similar manner. Carlson, the author of three other Marty Hopkins mysteries (Gravestone, Bloodstream, Deathwind) and the much acclaimed Maggie Ryan series, demonstrates her penchant for good plotting. Other than her dated belief that Pearl Jam is the musical favorite of preteens today, this is a good read with plenty of action. Carlson lives in New York State.

The Thames Valley police have quite a complicated situation on their hands. First, there is the brutal murder of a 13-year-old runaway, followed by the disappearance of a wealthy old woman's caregiver. Then the body of an unidentified woman shows up on the local college campus. It takes Mike Yeadings' (Last To Leave) crew a while to sort things out. Curzon, who never writes mysteries that readers can easily figure out, has crafted a giant puzzle that will delight her fans as well as those who enjoy Peter Turnbull and Gwendolyn Butler. She lives in Buckinghamshire, England.

Having been invalided out of the army after losing an eye in an accident, former policeman Johnny Hawke sets up shop as as a private investigator in 1940 London. He is asked to find a shy and unattractive young woman working for a legal firm. Hawke not only discovers that she is leading a double life (she moonlights as a highly paid call girl) but that she has been murdered. Featuring a likable detective who faces adversity without complaint and finds time to help people in need, Davies's nicely plotted debut mystery will have historical fans looking for its follow-up. Davies, a Sherlock Holmes expert and editor of the Crime Writers Association's magazine Red Herrings, lives in West Yorkshire, England. [Library marketing campaign planned.]

In 1904, Lord Francis Powerscourt (Death of a Chancellor) is asked by the British government to go to St. Petersburg to investigate the suspicious death of a British diplomat. Upon arriving, he finds the Russian government less than helpful and is even threatened by the head of the tsar's secret police. With the aid of two young Russians connected to most of the nobility, Powerscourt soon discovers that the dead man was either on a secret mission or was leading a double life. Dickinson continues to write excellent mysteries played out against the backdrop of history. He lives in London.

After a newspaper article commemorating the tenth anniversary of Emma Bestwick's disappearance results in a series of anonymous phone tips, Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett, head of the Cumbria Constabulary's Cold Case Review Team, begins to question Emma's family and friends. Soon, historian Daniel Kind, researching John Ruskin's years in the Lake District, unearths information vital to the case. Edwards, author of seven Harry Devlin novels and two other Lake District mysteries (e.g., The Cipher Garden), leads readers down a long and torturous path, handing out pieces of the puzzles and ratcheting up the suspense until the very end. Along the way, he offers tidbits about Ruskin, the history of England's Lake District, and insight into the spooky Arsenic Labyrinth, a dangerous series of tunnels in which tin ore was mined for its arsenic content. Patrons who enjoy challenging mysteries with complex characters, intricate relationships, and dangerous secrets (think Deborah Crombie, P.D. James, and Elizabeth George) will snap this one up.

This excellent follow-up to Haines's equally oustanding standalone, Penumbra, opens in 1944 New Iberia with the brutal murder of the town's wealthiest man. Beautiful Adele Herbert is found standing over the eviscerated corpse covered in blood. Confessing to the crime, she claims to be a loup-garou, or werewolf. Sheriff's Deputy Raymond Thibodeaux tries to keep Adele safe as panic, suspicion, and dread overcome this small Southern town. Haines has a knack for bringing the deep South to life, and her latest powerful tale will keep readers captivated to the end. Recommended for all collections; fans of James Lee Burke will appreciate. Haines lives in Alabama. [Library marketing campaign planned.]

In the follow-up to James's best-selling debut, Dead Simple, a businessman going home on the train finds a CD left on the seat and, after popping it into into his computer, witnesses the savage death of a young woman. Despite warnings not to got to the police, the man reports the crime to Brighton Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Grace, with fatal consequences. At the same time Grace's major crimes team must identify the mutilated remains of a woman, whose head is missing. James's complex tale of violence, danger, and nerve-racking suspense is not for the timid. Fans of Quentin Jardine's Bob Skinner police procedurals will appreciate. James lives in London and Sussex.

Elderly people are dying in one of Cambridgeshire's bitterest winters in memory, and newspaper reporter Philip Dryden (The Fire Baby) suspects that something is amiss. As he peels away the outer trappings of their lives, he finds that the victims may be connected to an ongoing criminal investigation of an orphanage. At the same time, he tends to his wife, who is slowly recovering from a coma. Kelly combines dense prose with a complex plot of seemingly unrelated, unconnected events, and readers must pay close attention to the conversations and innuendos to grasp fully what is happening. For larger collections where the series is popular. Kelly lives in Cambridgeshire, England.

Ex-Chicago cop Kubiak must prove that his son-in-law is not a murderer after the beaten body of a burglar is found in the son-in-law's truck. The burglar, by the way, had previously tried to hire Kubiak to investigate a murder/suicide in Lake County, IL. With no one to help him, Kubiak starts asking simple questions that result in his arrest, the disappearance of his daughter and her husband, and the eminent need to solve the crime before his family is destroyed. Lindley's larger-than-life policeman solved other crimes in a handful of short stories published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, but he makes a fantastic hardcover debut with this first novel. Lindley lives in Wauconda, IL.

Its crew slain, a cargo ship carrying illegal Chinese refugees runs aground on San Francisco's Alcatraz Island. It is clear that the killings were done by a professional, and private investigator Cape Weather knows that his sometimes partner Sally has the skills to handle a case like this one. But Sally has vanished, leaving Cape to investigate. Despite Cape's lead billing, Sally's story take center stage in this debut mystery. Most readers will want to see more of Cape and Sally. Maleeny lives in San Francisco.

Octogenarian Paul Jacobson, who suffers from short-term memory loss, discovers a body stuffed in the trash shoot of his retirement home. Jacobson's running narrative (he writes a journal to stay current with his present-day life) is both humorous and heartbreaking. A quick read for those who like their cozies peopled with elderly characters. The Hawaiian setting adds to the story. Befeler lives in Boulder, CO.

Catering sisters and moonlighting investigators Bernie and Libby Simmons (A Catered Murder) are on the case again when the local funeral director asks them to discover why the body of Ted Gorman, owner of the town's deluxe chocolate shop, is in the grave of a Ms. McDougal. And where is her body? A charming and witty mystery, with recipes included. Patrons who enjoy Leslie Meier will like this series.

After her husband's death, Laura Collier returns home to small-town Dorrance, NY, but soon realizes that she can't live with her domineering mother. When she moves into a nearby cabin she inherited from her aunt, she becomes the target of a stalker. Does this have something to do with her best friend's disappearance, or is something else placing Laura in harm's way? Although he's a noted sf/horror writer (Haven), D'Ammassa is not quite as skilled a mystery author; his perpetrator's identity is fairly obvious. Still, this is a decent book to read on a cold winter's evening. D'Ammassa lives in Rhode Island.

After she discovers her best friend dead, an apparent suicide, widowed Chicago socialite Pauline Cook soon learns that she is also the executrix of his will, meaning that she will have to pay all his expenses. Pauline maxes out her credit cards while trying to solve the murder of a friend she didn't really know. Unfortunately, Pauline is not a very sympathetic character; seeing the world through her upper-crust eyes can be off-putting. An optional purchase. O'Connell lives in Aspen, CO.

When his friend, archaeologist David Morgan, is murdered, North Carolina forensic historian Simon Shaw believes that his killing may be connected to the newly discovered remains of Uwharrie Man. Like the mysteries of Steve Hamilton and William Kent Kreuger, Shaber's latest features a strong sense of place and a hero struggling to survive against the odds of nature and human predators. Shaber, winner of the Malice Domestic Award for her debut, Simon Says, lives in Raleigh, NC.

Hill's (The Edge of the Earth) novel about obsession constantly threatens to become obsessive reading. Sixty-year-old L.A. writer Jack Stone relocates to England's rugged Dorset to jump-start his flagging writing career. He stops randomly at a bed-and-breakfast owned by a Cambridge-educated farmer and his dancer-turned-housewife partner. One night becomes two and then nights without number, as Jack finds himself increasingly obsessed with Maggie, who is all cheekbones and luxurious hair that she's in the habit of twisting tightly around her finger. The steamy and shifting relationships involving this ménage à trois will likely grab readers just as tightly, with the story's predictability only adding to the feeling that the conclusion is inevitable. The sense of familiarity is noticeably heightened by the novel's retro pulpish format festooned with a suitably garish cover. A book designed for curling up with on a winter evening, when only the shade of James M. Cain will do; for most public libraries.—Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO

Lafferton, an idyllic village just far enough from the madness of London, is a paragon of tranquility and peace, with a lovely cathedral and a stand of ancient stones on "the Hill." But then a woman goes missing from there, and then another, and another. Young policewoman Freya Graffham is assigned to investigate the suspected serial killings. Recently transferred from London, she is young, bright, inquisitive, dedicated, and smitten with Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler, although her new friends warn her that he's enigmatic, withdrawn, and withholding of both affection and commitment. As their relationship and the investigation unfold, the killer is revealed in a series of eerie first-person passages. He is close to both Simon and Freya—and getting closer. This is the first of Whitbread Award the winner Hill's three Simon Serrailler mysteries (following Pure in Heart and Risk of Darkness) to be published in the United States after receiving high praise in Britain. Hill is a master storyteller with real talent for building atmosphere and suspense. Readers will be instantly drawn to her likable characters and beautiful landscape and will be carried along by the plot, right up to the shocking final twist. Fans of British mysteries will love this new series and Simon Serrailler as well. Highly recommended.—Susan Clifford Braun, Aerospace Corp. Lib., El Segundo, CA

Nonami, who has written more than 40 books in different genres and won Japan's coveted Naoki Prize for this title, introduces her thrilling mystery style to American mystery readers with Takako Otomichi, a new detective pulled from the ranks of the motorcycle patrol group. Takako is paired with Takizawa, a hardened old-time detective who has seen it all. The unlikely pair is assigned to a strange and brutal murder. Searching out leads takes them from the seedy underworld of Tokyo's Roppongi district to police-dog training grounds. As they track the killer, they realize that they aren't looking for a suspect but a half-dog, half-wolf beast trained to kill. This dark animal is loose on the streets, and it's just a matter of time before it strikes again. Nonami is a creative and visionary writer in the company of Miyuki Miyabe (Crossfire) and Natsuo Kirino (Out). A strong title for public library mystery collections, especially where foreign mysteries are popular.—Ron Samul, New London, CT

This fast-paced, well-written mystery by first-time author Sundstrand features Frank Flynn, a Bureau of Land Management officer whose mother was a Paiute Indian and whose father was an Irishman. Flynn has a passionate drive to preserve the beauty of the Mojave Desert and the majestic desert bighorn sheep, a severely endangered species that is also highly prized by wealthy hunters who can afford to pay huge sums to unscrupulous local hunting guides. Flynn sets out to stop the poaching, and the action flows from there. All the characters are sharply drawn—the villains are disturbingly evil and the good guys likable—and the beauty and menace of the desert setting is realistic. Set in a Southwestern desert and featuring a Native American policeman as protagonist, this debut may seem a rival for Tony Hillerman territory, but there is a notable lack of the references to native heritage that are the hallmark of Hillerman's work. It will, however, interest Hillerman's fans. Recommended where good mysteries are popular. Sundstrand lives in Reno, NV.—Ann Forister, Roseville, CA