Mystery

Contemporary cozies, such as Rosemary Harris's Pushing Up Daisies and Blaize Clement's Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues, are reinventing themselves with likable female amateur sleuths who are smarter, less nosey, and able to work their investigations plausibly into their daily routines. Male authors are also looking for ways to refresh tried-and-true private eye stories and police procedurals. David Fulmer (The Blue Door) shifts from 1907 New Orleans to 1960s Philadelphia and a boxer-turned-PI. The softer side of male sleuths comes out in Jim Kelley's Philip Dryden (The Skeleton Man), who has given up a high-powered Fleet Street job to care for his disabled wife, and James Patrick Hunt's police officers (Goodbye Sister Disco) don't wallow in self-pity and depression but function as parents and responsible citizens.

Florida pet sitter Dixie Hemingway, emerging from the depression brought on by the deaths of her husband and young daughter, uses her vast knowledge of animal care and investigation techniques (she is a former police detective) to solve the mystery of the reclusive scientist with blue skin, his pet iguana, and the corpse Dixie found in the scientist's mansion. Clement mixes chick lit and biotech research in this lively third Dixie Hemingway adventure (after Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter and Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund). For fans of Susan Conant and Clea Simon. Clement lives in Sarasota, FL. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 9/1/07.]

Moving from 1907 New Orleans (Jass and Rampart Street) to 1962 Philadelphia, Shamus Award winner Fulmer pulls out all of the stops in creating a most engaging, reluctant private investigator. Eddie Cero, a welterweight boxer with too many serious injuries, meets up with Sal Giambroni, who hires him to tail a businessman. Eddie discovers he has a natural bent for this work and is soon taking on a three-year-old cold case involving a rising soul singer. Offering a vivid portrait of Philly's heyday as a music scene (think American Bandstand), Fulmer's latest mystery is an excellent choice for patrons who like George Pelecanos and a good dollop of music in their mysteries. Fulmer lives in Atlanta.

In the midst of renovating her 1823 house, Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree (Trap Door) found an old book listing the previous owners of her home. Strangely, the list, which was dated and appeared to be written in blood, included Jake's name. She sent it to local book historian Horace Robotham to authenticate, but Robotham died, and the book disappeared. Now a friend of his is in town asking questions and looking for the volume. In her 11th "Home Repair Is Homicide" mystery, Graves fools the reader into relaxing and then shows who is in charge by ending her book in an unexpected way. With each title, she just keeps getting better. Graves lives in Eastport, ME. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 9/1/07.]

Hired by the local historical society to restore the gardens of Halcyon, a Connecticut estate, Paula Holliday, who left New York City to open a landscaping business in the suburbs, discovers the mummified body of a baby. Harris, a master gardener, makes a charming debut with this botanical mystery, but as sometimes happens with new authors, she devotes too many pages to the garden restoration and not enough to fleshing out the mystery. For cozy fans who like their amateur sleuths working in a particular profession. Harris lives in New York City and Fairfield County, CT. [A Minotaur First Edition Selection; library marketing campaign; see Prepub Mystery, LJ 10/1/07.]

The daughter of a billionaire is kidnapped and her boyfriend murdered. Lieutenant Hastings of the St. Louis PD (introduced in The Betrayers) and the FBI begin a joint operation to get her back alive. But as he deals with her strange family and the stone-cold terrorists holding her, Hastings finds not everything is as it seems. Hunt's roller-coaster of a crime thriller has it all—great characters, plenty of action, and a nail-biting ending. For fans of police procedurals. Hunt lives in Tulsa, OK.

Amid heavy army shelling of an abandoned English village famous for never having recorded a single crime in its 1000-year history, a skeleton with a noose around its neck is discovered in the cellar of a pub. Who the dead person was and why he was left hanging lead reporter Philip Dryden into the world of the British military and the locals who were forced to give up their homes when the Ministry of Defense took over the village for maneuvers several years earlier. Kelly, winner of the 2006 British Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library Award, writes convoluted plots peopled with incredibly complex characters. This one should please readers who like British mysteries that delve deep into modern life. Kelly lives in Cambridgeshire, England.

In 1979, Alvaro Hickey is hired to find Lourdes Shuler's missing sister, Lupe, who may or may not be the Holy Virgin who is appearing to Mexican peasants and advising them on how to vote in the upcoming elections. Soon a Mexican policeman has killed people across the border, and Alvaro and Lourdes are on the run. This fifth entry in the Hickey family mysteries (The Loud Adios; The Venus Deal; The Angel Gang; The Do-Re-Mi) features the same original plots and memorable characters that make Kuhlken's series so outstanding. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 10/1/07.]

Shanghai Police Chief Inspector Chen is making one last stab at attaining his graduate degree in literature. However, he is asked to take a look at a case involving financial corruption on a high level. Then there are the murders of young women clad in red mandarin dresses. Whether he is chasing a serial killer or a thieving bureaucrat, Chen is at his best dodging political land mines and solving personal dilemmas. In this fifth entry in an outstanding series (Death of a Red Heroine), author Qiu captures the bustling atmosphere of modern China coming to grips with its Communist roots. Patrons who enjoy mysteries set in today's China, such as those by Peter May, will want this one. The author lives in St. Louis.

Returning to Sussex after six months in Italy, Lady Julia finds Bellmont Abbey, her family's home, full of Christmas visitors, including the newly engaged Nicholas Brisbane, the man she has dreamed about since they together solved her husband's murder (Silent in the Grave). When the new curate is found murdered in the chapel and Lady Julia's cousin is the prime suspect, she finds herself embroiled in another investigation while encouraging the attentions of a young Italian aristocrat. Raybourn has written the perfect novel—full of family squabbles, danger, and a romance in the making—for a wintry afternoon's reading. Recommended for patrons who crave Victorian mysteries of manners. Raybourn lives in Virginia.

Young girls are disappearing in Los Perdidos, AZ, and PI Lena Jones, who is helping director Warren Quinn scout locations for a documentary, can't walk away after they discover a mutilated corpse. Her probing leads to danger and a chance for self-discovery. Whether investigating a polygamy scandal (Desert Wives) or exploring a former German POW camp in the Sonoran Desert (Desert Run), this Southwestern series has a depth that enhances the reader's pleasure. For those who liked the early Marcia Muller novels. Webb lives in Arizona.

A college professor is murdered, and Olivia Chatham begins to nose around. No wealthy airhead, she enthralls readers. Mix a bit of Stephanie Plum with a lot of Amelia Bedelia, and we have Chatham, Wisconsin's newest amateur sleuth. Give this book a try. Depre lives in a suburb of the Twin Cities.

Bob Germaine receives a check for $24,000 for the charity he works for and promptly disappears. Betsy Devonshire, laid up with a badly broken leg, must rely on her friends to investigate. With a pattern or two included to cheer the needleworker, this charming series will appeal to cozy fans. Ferris lives in Minnesota. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 8/07.]

The shooting of a 17-year-old high school student and the murder of New Orleans homicide detective Jack Brenner's cousin 31 years ago test Brenner's professionalism. A gritty debut that will appeal to readers of Reggie Nadelson and James Lee Burke. Nelson lives in Houston.

Several deaths, a woman's apparent suicide, and a cast of dangerous characters lead PI Jack Scott into danger. Sheriff coats everything in a patina of noir. For fans of Ken Bruen. Sheriff lives in Wales.

North Dakota cop Andy Larson robs a shipment of booze headed from Canada to U.S. speakeasies. Then one of his buddies is killed, and the men find Al Capone's gold coins hidden in the whiskey. Larson must keep everyone safe while avoiding Capone's enforcers. Thompson captures the atmosphere of the rural speakeasy and the overall darkness of the Prohibition era. He lives in San Angelo, TX.

Brazil. The name conjures up a seductive image of a bikini-clad girl dancing the samba along a Rio beach. But it is also a country with deep-rooted social and political problems, where less than one percent of the population owns half the arable land, where the wealthy live in gated, guarded luxury while the poor are crammed into squalid favelas, or shantytowns, and where corrupt local police enforce their own laws. Against this backdrop, Gage, who lived in Brazil for many years, sets his debut mystery, a gripping and brutal tale of murder and vengeance. When a sniper's bullet cuts down a bishop in an agricultural town in the state of São Paulo, Chief Inspector Mario Silva of the Brazilian Federal Police is ordered to investigate. Was the bishop, who disapproved of liberation theology, assassinated by a radical priest seeking to redistribute land to the poor, or was he killed by powerful landowners offended by his sermon condemning the recent gruesome murder of an activist and his family? The body count rises, as Silva and his team find their probe hampered by crooked cops, ambitious reporters, and missing witnesses. Sensitive readers, be warned: there are graphic scenes of horrific violence. But Gage's inspector is a fascinating character, a man who once dispensed his own brand of Brazilian justice now charged with upholding the law of the land. Highly recommended.—Wilda Williams, Library Journal