Blanchard, Alice. The Shadow Girls: A Novel. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Natalie Lockhart, Bk. 4). Jul. 2023. 320p. ISBN 9781250783080. $28. MYSTERY/POLICE PROCEDURAL

In remote Burning Lake, where witches dwell and curses are carved on trees, Det. Natalie Lockhart wrestles with long-standing cases—her sister’s murder, a close friend’s disappearance, and the murder of the town’s leading witch—even as Lt. Luke Pittman lies in a coma. From the multi-award-winning Blanchard (e.g., Darkness Peering, a Barnes & Noble Best Mystery); a 35,000-copy first printing.

Borgos, Bruce. The Bitter Past: A Mystery. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jul. 2023. 320p. ISBN 9781250848079. $28. MYSTERY/POLICE PROCEDURAL

In Nevada’s achingly beautiful high desert, Porter Beck serves as sheriff (as his father once did), and not much happens until a retired FBI agent is found tortured to death. Clues point to the 1950s Soviet infiltration of a nearby nuclear testing site and the hunt for a long-missing individual crucial to events. A series start-up; with a 60,000-copy first printing.

Davis, Lindsey. Fatal Legacy. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Flavia Albia, Bk. 11). Jul. 2023. 320p. ISBN 9781250799906. $28. MYSTERY/HISTORICAL

First, Aunt Junia asks Flavia Albia to locate some lowlifes who owe her money. Then the lowlifes ask her to locate paperwork proving that an ancestor was properly freed from enslavement—or they’ll lose everything—and past murder results in present bloodshed. Next in a long-running series; with a 30,000-copy first printing.

McGarrity, Michael. The Long Ago. Norton. Jul. 2023. 384p. ISBN 9780393541656. $28.95. MYSTERY

In a departure from his popular “Kevin Kerney” and “American West” series, McGarrity sends Ray Lansdale from 1960s Vietnam to his Montana home and eventually Hollywood’s faux-golden streets as he searches for missing sister Barbara. He fears she fled there in search of the Long Ago—their imagined place of escape from a cruel family life—and found something else entirely.

Massey, Sujata. The Mistress of Bhatia House. Soho Crime. (Perveen Mistry, Bk. 4). Jul. 2023. 432p. ISBN 9781641293297. $27.95. MYSTERY/HISTORICAL

Burned when rescuing her young charge when he’s maliciously set afire, an ayah named Sunanda is then falsely accused of criminal behavior by an unidentified stranger and taken on as a client by Perveen Mistry, 1920s Bombay’s only female solicitor. Inviting Sunanda into her already tumultuous household does cause problems, but tension really ratchets up when Sunanda and Jewish-Indian obstetrician Miriam Penkar are suspected of murdering the hospital’s chief donor. Next in Massey’s multi-award-winning series.

Montclair, Allison. The Lady from Burma. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Sparks & Bainbridge, Bk. 5). Jul. 2023. 336p. ISBN 9781250854193. $28. MYSTERY/HISTORICAL

Proprietors of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau, Miss Iris Sparks (with unspoken past in British intelligence) and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge (a war widow with a child) have a new sort of client: a woman who wants to find the perfect wife for her eccentric academic husband because she herself is dying of cancer. Then she’s found dead in Epping Forest—apparently a suicide, but Iris and Gwendolyn aren’t so sure. With a 40,000-copy first printing.

Rosenfelt, David. Flop Dead Gorgeous. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Andy Carpenter, Bk. 27).  Jul. 2023. 304p. ISBN 9781250828903. $28.

Lawyer Andy Carpenter has already gifted celebrated actress (and high school girlfriend) Jenny Nichols with Miniature French Poodle Mamie from his Tara Foundation, and Mamie has her own fan following. Now he’s got to help Jenny when she’s accused of murdering her costar. More big barks from the Edgar-nominated Rosenfelt; with a 60,000-copy first printing.

Walker, Martin. A Chateau Under Siege. Knopf. (Bruno, Chief of Police, Bk. 16). Jul. 2023. 320p. ISBN 9780593319819. $28. MYSTERY/INTERNATIONAL

During the reenactment of a French town’s liberation from the British during the Hundred Years' War, the actor playing the hero is stabbed, perhaps fatally. What’s more, the victim is second-in-command in French intelligence, and this could be an assassination attempt. Bruno, St. Denis’s chief of police, must eventually deal with Russia, China, Silicon Valley, and (what’s toughest) the French government to solve this case.