Reading right now:

            “The Devil’s Breath” by Tessa Harris. This third book in the Dr. Thomas Silkstone mystery series continues the adventures of the Philadelphia doctor living in London in the 1780s. Dr. Silkstone is an anatomist in the time of superstition, environmental disasters, and murder. This terrific series will continue with the fourth book in July 2014 called “The Lazarus Curse.” 

On hold right now:

            “The Last Death of Jack Harbin” by Terry Shames. This second book in new author Terry Shames’ mystery series stars ex-police chief Samuel Craddock. Shames’ first book in the series was “A Killing at Cotton Hill” which came out only six months ago. These novels take place in central Texas and feature the isolation and secrets of small town life, as well as, shocking murders.

Other Mysteries Not to Miss:

            “Home of the Braised” by Julie Hyzy. This is the seventh book in the fantastic White House Chef mystery series. White House executive chef Olivia Paras once more finds herself in the middle of murder and threats to the president while trying to plan her wedding.

            “In Retrospect” by Ellen Larson. Larson writes science fiction and mysteries and a combination of the two. “In Retrospect” is a stand-alone which takes place in a post-apocalyptic future. If you like a solid mystery with elements of time travel, set in the future rift with problems, “In Retrospect” sounds made for you.

A List to Treasure:

Read a book and hit the beach!

            There are many lists available at the end of the year and some of them involve the so called best mysteries of 2013. According to bookpage.com the 10 best included: “Ghostman” by Roger Hobbs, “Perfect Hatred” by Leighton Gage, “The Golden Egg” by Donna Leon, “Murder as a Fine Art” by David Morrell, “A Delicate Truth” by John le Carre, “The Abomination” by Jonathan Holt, “Mystery Girl” by David Gordon, “How the Light Gets In” by Louise Penny, “Tatiana” by Martin Cruz Smith, and “Death of a Nightingale” by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis. Library Journal includes “Cries of the Lost” by Chris Knopf, “How the Light Gets In” by Louise Penny, “Circle of Shadows” by Imogen Robertson, and “Death on Demand” by Paul Thomas in their list of the best of 2013. The Seattle Times included “Deadly Virtues” by Jo Bannister, “Speaking from Among the Bones” by Alan Bradley, “The Return” by Michael Gruber, “The Case of the Love Commandos” by Tarquin Hall, “Ghostman” by Roger Hobbs, “Play Dead” by Bill James, “The Shanghai Factor” by Charles McCarry, “Critical Mass” by Sara Paretsky, “No Man’s Nightingale” by Ruth Rendell, and “The Ghost Riders of Ordebec” by Fred Vargas. There are many ideas out there about what is the “best,” but for me the best are all those books that draw me in and keep me wanting more.

      

The sun sets on 2013: May 2014 bring you many great mysteries.

Reading right now:

            “”A Calamitous Chinese Killing” by Shamini Flint. This sixth book in the Inspector Singh Investigates series catapults Singh into the murky waters of Chinese politics. When asked to solve the murder at the Singapore Embassy in Beijing, Singh finds his way complicated by illegal organ harvesting, poverty, corruption, and much more. The first book in this series was “A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder” which came out in 2009.

On hold right now:

            “The Midas Murders” by Pieter Aspe. Belgium author Pieter Aspe embarks on his second Inspector Van In novel. “The Square of Revenge” began the series and this new book shows Inspector Van In trying to thwart a series of terrorist plots.

Other Mysterious Things Available:

“White Fire” by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston. This is a great series which centers around FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast whom I’ve always felt owed a lot to the great Sherlock Holmes. In this the 13^th installment of the series, Child and Preston pay tribute to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde in a remarkably fun and thrilling way. I loved this book and thought it was one of the best in the series. Pendergast is an odd and intriguing character whose exploits often roam into Stephen King territory. The first book in this series was “The Relic” which was made into a movie. Preston’s nonfiction work “The Monster of Florence” is being made into a movie with George Clooney playing Preston.

“The Gods of Guilt” by Michael Connelly. The 5^th Mickey Haller (Lincoln Lawyer) book is available and really good. Like many others, I love Michael Connelly’s books. He started out in Florida as a reporter specializing in the crime beat. When he wrote a magazine story which was short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, he landed a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Only three years later, he started writing his first novel featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. I’ve heard that a pilot called “Bosch” is in the works with Amazon and hopefully streaming in March 2014. If you watch the TV show Castle, Connelly can sometimes be seen as one of Castle’s poker playing buddies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading right now:

            “Murder, She Barked” by Krista Davis. This is the first in a new series by Davis who is an award winning author of the “Domestic Diva” mystery series. Davis calls her new series “paws and claws” since it takes place in the idyllic dog and cat paradise of Wagtail, Virginia at a pet friendly hotel owned by our hero Holly Miller’s grandmother. Nothing like a good mystery with dogs and cats.

On hold right now:

            “Chilled to the Bone” by Quentin Bates. The third book in the Gunnhilder Mystery series with the fourth coming out in April 2014. Gunnhildur is an Icelandic female police sergeant who in “Chilled to the Bone” stumbles cross a bondage society whose members are being blackmailed and much more.

Other Mysterious Things Available:

            Other books that come out in December and are worth mentioning include:

            “Dark Omens” by Rosemary Rowe. Her 14^th book in the Libertus Mystery of Roman Britain series. This historical mystery series takes place in the 2^nd century AD. Libertus is a Celtic freedman and mosaic-layer with a talent for solving crimes.

            “Secondhand Stiff” by Sue Ann Jaffarian. The 8^th book in the Adelia Grey series. Jaffarian writes one of my favorite mystery series: the Ghost of Granny Apples (the fourth book in that series comes out in April, 2014). The Adelia Grey series is also fun and revolves around plus-sized, middle aged Adelia Grey, a woman who pulls no punches while trying to figure out why she’s always put in the position of solving a major crime.

            “Buttoned Up” by Kylie Logan. Fourth book in the Button Box mystery series with Josie Giancola as our hero. Josie’s button shop in Chicago draws customers and her reputation as an expert on buttons draws trouble.

            “Shoot the Woman First” by Wallace Stroby. Third book in the Crissa Stone series. Crissa is a professional thief who mostly finds trouble.

A List to Treasure:

            Read a Christmas mystery this season! Lots of mystery authors have, usually as part of their series, mystery novels that take place around Christmas. Anne Perry has a whole mystery series of what she calls Christmas novellas (the first is “A Christmas Journey”). Craig Johnson’s “Christmas in Absarden County” is a collection of four short stories featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire which take place around Christmas. M C Beaton features Christmas in two of her Agatha Raisin series which are “Kissing Christmas Goodbye” and “Agatha Raisin and the Christmas Crumble.” Leslie Meier’s terrific Lucy Stone series includes three Christmas mysteries: “Christmas Carol Murder,” “Christmas Cookie Murder,” and “Mistletoe Murder.” Rhys Bowen’s “The Twelve Clues of Christmas” is part of the Royal Spyness series. Isis Crawford’s Mystery with Recipes series includes two Christmas books: “A Catered Christmas” and “A Catered Christmas Cookie Exchange.” 

Reading right now:

“Compound Fractures” by Stephen White. This is supposed to be the final book in White’s Dr. Alan Gregory series. Gregory is a Psychologist whose work seems to take him into constant danger. “Compound Fractures” takes off where the last book “Line of Fire” ended. If you have never read any of these books, it would be good to start at the beginning with “Privileged Information” (1991) and make your way to number 20 which is “Compound Fractures.”

On hold right now:

“The Avalon Chanter” by Lillian Stewart Carl. Crime Reporter Jean Fairbairn and retired police detective Alasdair Cameron team up again in the seventh book in this series. Archeologist Maggie Lauder believes that Farnaby Island off the Northumberland coast is the Avalon of Arthurian legend, but when she tries to prove it what she discovers is a skeletal body that could be her father. She enlists Fairbairn and Cameron to try to solve the mystery.

Other Mysterious Things Available:

IMDb published a list of top TV mysteries (according to their survey which can be found by searching for “Highest Rated Mystery TV series with at Least 1,000 Votes”). They rated “Sherlock” as number one. This is the BBC series which started in 2000, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. “Dexter” came in second.  Fourteen was the 1984 series “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” The BBC series “Luther” was number 19. Take a look at the list and see how many you have watched and which you might have missed. Luckily for us most are available on DVD or on Netflix or even at your local library.

 

Thanksgiving Mysteries:



Fall into a great book

“Turkey Day Murder” by Leslie Meier. Lucy Stone is an amateur detective in a small town in Maine where she is busy with her family and helping solve crimes. This is a great series of 20 books and lots revolve around holidays.

“Death of a Turkey” by Kate Borden. This is the third book in the Peggy Jean Turner series. Ms. Turner is the Mayor of Cobb’s Landing, a small town in New England that is in need of tourist dollars to keep it going. When tourists arrive for an authentic Colonial-style Thanksgiving, Turner has the added pressure of trying to find her neighbor’s killer.

“A Catered Thanksgiving” by Isis Crawford. In the seventh book in the Mystery with Recipes series, Sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons cater a Thanksgiving dinner where the turkey blows up killing the head of a large fireworks manufacturing firm.            

On hold right now:

“Lending a Paw” by Laurie Cass. This is a new author and the first of a new series (called the Bookmobile Cat Mystery series). This series should be perfect: librarian hero who drives a bookmobile in Chilson, Michigan, with a cat. Love it already.

Reading right now:

            “Duck the Halls” by Donna Andrews. A little fluff, a little fun, a little murder, a few crazy animals running around where they shouldn’t be, with Meg Langslow there to save the day. Donna Andrews’ books are great fun and this one is a wonderful read to start the holiday season.          

On hold right now:

“King and Maxwell” by David Baldacci. Once a lawyer, now a great mystery author, Baldacci’s new book brings back Sean King and Michelle Maxwell. Ex-Secret Service agents King and Maxwell are back in the sixth book of this great series. I can’t wait until this comes out Nov. 19, 2013.

Other Mysterious things available soon:

Here are some big November releases to grab (or put a hold on) right away:

“Takedown Twenty” (the 20^th Stephanie Plum mystery) by Janet Evanovich

“Cross My Heart” (the 21^st Alex Cross book) by James Patterson

“White Fire” by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston

“Dust” by Patricia Cornwell (the 21^st Kay Scarpetta novel)

“Hostage” by Kay Hooper (the 2^nd Bishop: Special Crimes Unit book)

“Tatiana” by Martin Cruz Smith (8^th book in the Arkady Renko series)

A List to Treasure:

            There seem to be a great many legal mystery/thriller authors (many writing a whole series and others just stand-alone novels). When I started putting together a list, I was shocked to find the following (and I'm planning a second list):

Vince Aiello

Jeffrey Ashford

Sydney Bauer

James Scott Bell

William Bernhardt

Dudley W. Buffa

Alafair Burke

Teresa Burrell

Gordon Campbell

Diane Capri

Michael Connelly

Rose Connors

Natasha Cooper

John F. Dobbyn

David Ellis

Linda A. Fairstein

Rebecca Forster

Frances Fyfield

Mark Gimenez

Marti Green

James Grippando

John Grisham

John Hart

Ellen Horan

Stephen Horn

David Hosp

Greg Iles

Jonnie Jacobs

Sue Ann Jaffarian

Todd M Johnson

William Landay

William Lashner

John T Lescroart

Paul Levine

Phillip Margolin

Margaret Maron

Steve Martini

Brad Meltzer

Melissa F Miller

Adam Mitzner (new)

John Mortimer (classic)

Perri O’Shaughnessy

Richard North Patterson

Jeanine Pirro (new)

Scott Pratt

Charles Rosenberg (new)

David Rosenfelt

Lisa Scottoline

James Sheehan (new)

Sheldon Siegel

Randy Singer

Lachlan Smith (new)

Mary Stanton

Robert Tanenbaum

William G Tapply

J D Trafford

Scott Turow

Walter Walker

Lis Wiehl

William P Wood

Stuart Woods