One of Sherlock Holmes most famous quotes is about the evil lurking in the English countryside ("They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside"). Many of the books I am featuring today fit right in with that belief. Small towns have their own secrets, hidden knowledge, vile coverups, anger, and finally revenge. Interestingly enough, it seems that it doesn’t matter where you go in the world, small towns are all the same as you can see from these books from Australia, Sweden, the UK, and Russia.

Reading right now:

As the western United States “drys” up, it might be a good time to read “The Dry” by Jane Harper. Harper was born in England, but now lives in Australia and her side details about the ravages of the drought hitting Australia may strike a little close to home while adding a disquieting urgency to the novel which centers around the murder of a young family by the father who proceeds to kill himself. His childhood friend is now a policeman and is struck by several oddities which seem to point to murder by someone other than his old friend. This novel first came out in 2017 and was followed up by another mystery with the same hero (Policeman Aaron Falk). If you missed this series, it is time to go back and catch up.

 

On hold right now:

Swedish mystery author, Kjell Eriksson’s ninth book in his Ann Lindell series (“The Deathwatch Beetle”) was just released. This time around Lindell finds herself investigating the cold case of a young woman (Cecilia Karlsson) who disappeared from the island where Lindell is living. Lindell receives a tip that Cecilia has been spotted alive. When she attempts to uncover the truth about the case, she finds an old love interest of Cecilia’s who carries a large secret while someone else is hiding on the island waiting for revenge.

C. J. Farrington’s first book in the Olga Pushkin mystery series called “Death on the Trans-Siberian Express” came out earlier this year and the second is set to come out sometime in 2022. Pushkin is a Railway Engineer in the quiet, small town of Roslazny in Russia, but is striving to be a bestselling author. It doesn’t take long for Pushkin to become involved in drama and secrets which include Poison-pen letters, a small-town crime wave, rumors of a murderous witch, and finally an American tourist who falls from the Trans-Siberian train right on top of Pushkin.

UK author Ross Greenwood just released the fourth book in his Detective Inspector Barton series called “The Cold Killer.” After a prisoner dies in jail, Barton investigates but finds nothing suspicious until the dead man’s house is burgled and there is a suspicious fire. Everyone he tries to interview about the death disappears and it doesn’t take long until he starts receiving threats.