Saturday, March 28, 2015



Reading right now:

            “Prudence” by Gail Carriger. You may wonder why I’m including a steampunk novel in my mystery blot, but since these books appeal to me I think that many of you may find them as fun to read as I do. “Prudence” is the first in a new series called the Custard Protocol series. While this book is a fantasy, it has many elements of mystery and suspense and could also appeal as a spy novel. Prudence is a rare creature who can steal the shape of vampires, werewolves, and other shapeshifters for a brief time. As an English representative, she travels to India in her dirigible to negotiate the importation of a new type of tea. Along the way, she uncovers a kidnapping, new types of shapeshifters, and stops a war. Carriger also wrote the very enjoyable Parasol Protectorate series. Carriger books feature strong, independent women with an interest in science. 

On hold right now:

            “Eighth Grave After Dark” by Darynda Jones. Coming out in May, this is the eighth book in the Charley Davidson series. This sexy paranormal series features PI and Grim Reaper Charley Davidson who now has to worry about solving the murder of a nun, twelve hellhounds who are out to destroy her, and why her demon husband is acting more strangely than ever. This action packed series is both funny and hot.

Other Mysterious Things:

There are a growing number of paranormal mysteries available. They include everything from ghosts, to zombies, werewolves, vampires, fairies, and much more. Jim Butcher’s 15 books in the Dresden Files series set the standard for the paranormal private investigator starting with “Storm Front” in 2000. His is a great series. Andrew Klavan’s new book “Werewolf Cop” is the first in the Zach Adams series about a cop who is turned into a beast, but continues to try to fight bad guys including the evil within him. Nicholas Kaufmann’s Dying is my Business series includes two books so far and are about a man who can’t be killed who is trying to fight evil. Children’s author Stefan Petrucha has written two adult books featuring recently dead Hessius Mann who is now working as a private investigator. Kevin J. Anderson’s zombie private investigator books gives the phrase cold case a new meaning. Carrie Patel’s new Buried Life series starts off when Inspector Liesl Malone investigates the murder of a renowned historian in the underground city of Recoletta.
 
Victoria Laurie’s books are cozies with a paranormal edge. She has two adult series right now: the Psychic eye series and the Ghost Hunter series. Both are well worth reading. The Psychic Eye series started with “Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye” and the 13th book comes out in July. The Ghost Hunter series now has nine books available. Madelyn Alt is the author of the Bewitching mystery series where witches try to help solve mysteries. Dawn Eastman’s psychic ex-cop series adds a third book in April. This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned paranormal mysteries and it won’t be the last! I find that once in a while a ghost, zombie, or werewolf adds some spice to the mystery genre.

Saturday, March 21, 2015



Reading right now:

            “What the Fly Saw” by Frankie Y. Bailey. “The Red Queen Dies” introduced detective Hannah McCabe and her partner in this only slightly futuristic (2019) mystery. Now McCabe is back and faced with the murder of a funeral director. While trying to find her way through the maze of lies that surround the death, McCabe is also faced with political controversy involving her family and unanswered questions from an earlier case.


           
On hold right now:

            “Signature Kill” by David Levien. This is the fourth book featuring investigator Frank Behr. In this mystery novel, Behr is faced with a serial-killer. Brooding ex-cop Frank Behr is an Indianapolis private detective who is barely scrapping by when he is hired to find a missing daughter. It doesn’t take Frank long to determine that the missing girl and the serial killer cases are connected.




                         
Other Mysterious Things:

            It’s rare to find a mystery author who isn’t writing a series and sometimes the main character in that series becomes more memorable than the author. Think about Alex Cross, Peter Decker, Lucas Davenport, Lincoln Rhyme, Myron Bolitar, Aloysius Pendergast, Jack Reacher, Elvis Cole, Dave Robicheaux, Andy Carpenter, Harry Bosch, and on it goes. Once you find a character you like, you want to read all the books with that character even when one of the books in the series doesn’t live up to the rest. The hope is that the next one will be great again and in the meantime you get to spend some time with a character that feels like a good friend and see where that character’s life is going. As spring arrives this month so does any number of new mystery books that are the next in a series. First to take note of is J.A. Jance’s latest called “Cold Betrayal” which is the tenth book in the Ali Reynolds series. Deryn Lake’s third book in the Nick Lawrence series becomes available in the U.S. (“The Moonlit Door”). Owen Laukkanen’s latest Kirk Stevens and Carla Windermere mystery is the fourth in the series (“The Stolen Ones”). G. A. McKevett’s 20th book in the Savannah Reid series is out (“Killer Gourmet”). C. J. Box’s 15th Joe Pickett novel “Endangered” is available this month, as is,  David Morrell’s second book in the Thomas De Quincey series called “Inspector of the Dead.”
            If you love a good series, you are always looking for a new series to add to your list. This month Brian Freeman introduces Cab Bolton in “Season of Fear.”  Leslie Budewitz also introduces a new series with “Assault and Pepper.” Diana Orgain’s new series starts with “A First Date with Death.”







Friday, March 13, 2015

Reading right now:

            “Nobody Walks” by Mick Herron. Herron wrote a series about private investigator Zoe Boehm and several standalone books. His latest thriller centers around a former British intelligence agent (Tom Bettany) who is estranged from his 26-year old son, his former life, and is now working in a meat processing plant in France. When he receives a call telling him his son is dead, he returns to London to find out what really happened to his son which leads him into trouble with those who may be behind the new tragedy, as well was, those who have reason to hate him from his past life. 


           
On hold right now:

            “Star Fall” by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. This is the seventeenth novel in the Detective Inspector Bill Slider series. Harrod-Eagles is a prolific author who writes three separate series and had authored many stand-alone books. In her latest book, Slider must investigate the stabbing death of a celebrity host of a television show. The victim is antiques expert Rowland Egerton who is stabbed to death in his London home. While it could be a robbery gone wrong, it could also be that one of Egerton’s many enemies could have gotten tired of his phony charm.

Other Mysterious Things:

            Who doesn’t like English mystery authors? No matter what types of mysteries you read, there is bound to be a few English authors on your list of favorites. Some of your favorites may include Rhys Bowen, Denise Mina, Minette Walters, Elizabeth George, Alan Bradley, Kate Atkinson, and Ruth Rendell. There are several British authors with books coming out this month. “False Impression” by Veronica Heley is the ninth book in the Abbott Agency series. “The Life I Left Behind” by Colette McBeth is her second stand-alone thriller. “The Winter Foundlings” by Kate Rhodes is the third book in the London forensic psychologist Alice Quentin series. Emily Brightwell’s 34th book in the Mrs. Jeffries series came out in February. Canadian author Jon Redfern’s “Children of the Tide” takes place in the 1840s in London and is the second book in the inspector Owen Endersby series. 

  

Monday, March 9, 2015

Reading right now:
 
            “The Whites” by Harry Brandt. This debut novel by Harry Brandt (really Richard Price writing under a pen name) centers around disgraced NYPD detective Billy Graves who ends up on the after midnight crew who does little more than turn over crimes to the incoming daytime shifts. But when called in to investigate a brutal slashing of a man at Penn Station, Brandt recognizes that the victim was a suspect in an unsolved brutal killing of a 12-year-old boy years ago.  The case pushes Brandt into a situation that sends him back to a time that destroyed his career and in the present threatens his family.
           
On hold right now:

            “The House of Wolfe” by James Carlos Blake. In this third novel in the Wolfe family saga a wedding party of 10 is kidnapped in Mexico City. A Wolfe family cousin is one of the people kidnapped which forces the Wolfe clan to attempt a rescue. Trying to make his reputation, a small-time gangster named El Galan kidnaps the wedding party and asks for a five million dollar ransom. The Wolfe family fears that once the money is paid, the captives will be killed unless they get there first. Blake based this series on his own family and the first book follows the family’s violent history from Mexico to Texas while the next two show how the family thrives in Texas even while their outlaw ties draw them across the border.

Other Mysterious Things:


            “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins is holding its place as a much in demand and much requested thriller/mystery. Other popular items coming out this month include Harlan Coben’s “The Stranger,” J.A. Jance’s “Cold Betrayal,” James Patterson’s “NYPD Red 3,” “World Gone By” by Denise Lehane, and Joy Fielding’s “Someone is Watching.” “The Stolen Ones” is the new Owen Laukkanen novel and the fourth in his series about state investigator Kirk Stevens and his partner in the joint state and FBI task force Carla Windermere. This series opened with “The Professionals” in 2012 and the latest should be in demand. Personally I’m looking forward to reading two debut novels both of which sound like strange and unusual thrillers: Graeme Cameron’s “Normal” and “Girl Underwater” by Claire Kells.