Reading right now:

            “Lying With Strangers” by Jonnie Jacobs. After Diana Walker’s husband is killed in a robbery, she finds out that she knows very little about his real life. She meets a new friend who helps her through the tragedy only to find that her friend also isn’t who she pretends to be. Jacobs writes a couple of mystery series, but this is a stand-alone novel. 

On hold right now:

            “A Dark and Stormy Knit” by Anne Canadeo. This is the sixth book in the Black Sheep Knitting mystery series. The Black Sheep Knitters are five friends who meet once a week to share friendship, gossip, and knitting tips in Plum Harbor, Massachusetts. Their curiosity and natural detective skills often land them in the middle of murder. 

Other Mysterious Things to Come:

            Each year there are many fantastic mysteries to look forward to and 2014 looks like no exception. No one wants to miss Jonathan Kellerman’s new Alex Delaware book coming in February called “Killer.” I am also looking forward to C. S. Harris’ new Sebastian St. Cyr mystery called “Why Kings Confess” which comes out in March. March should also bring Harlan Coben’s new stand-alone novel called “Missing You.”  David Baldacci is supposed to put out another Will Robie mystery in April called “The Target.” Watch out in May for John Sandford’s new Lucas Davenport book “Field of Prey.” We have to wait all the way until July for David Rosenfelt’s 12^th Andy Carpenter book “Hounded.” 

            This month in addition to all the books I have already mentioned, Irish writer Cora Harrison’s 10^th book in the Burren historical mystery series is coming out (“The Cross of Vengeance”). “My Lady Judge” was the first book in this Celtic historical crime series. Also of interest this month is “Finders Keepers Losers Weepers” by Robert S. Levinson, a hard-boiled mystery about survival in the music business in 1989. 

Reading right now:

            “Killing Cupid” by Laura Levine. This L.A. based comedy writer’s credits include “The Bob Newhart Show” and Three’s Company. You might be able to guess that her books are funny. “Killing Cupid” is the 12^th book in the Jaine Austen series. Like Levine, Jaine writes but her jobs often land her in the middle of murder.

On hold right now:

            “Stone Cold Dead” by Catherine Ditts. This debut novel takes place in Golden Springs, Colorado and stars Morgan Iverson who agrees to help her brother with the family rock shop for two weeks only to find herself permanently in charge when he hands her the keys and announces that he is never returning. When Morgan stumbles upon a dead teenage girl, she becomes the center of a lot of unexpected and unwanted attention which includes threats upon her life.

A List to Treasure:

            More and more books are being made into movies. 2014 is hardly an exception and some of those books are mysteries.   “Dark Places” by Gillian Flynn is scheduled to appear in the theaters in August closely followed by “Gone Girl” in September. It is hard to believe that there is anyone left who hasn’t read “Gone Girl,” but if you haven’t it’s a good time before the movie comes out. Flynn has talked about having to rewrite the ending for the movie which seems a shame since I loved the crazy ending. “Horns” by Joe Hill stars Daniel Radcliffe and has been talked about for some time. HBO production of “Reconstructing Amelia” by Kimberly McCreight is coming out with Nicole Kidman starring. “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin revolves around an aging, retired Sherlock Holmes who talks about his old cases before he forgets. “Every Secret Thing” by Laura Lippman is about missing children and the detective who attempts to find them. “Inherent Vice” by Thomas Pynchon takes place in 1970s Los Angeles when detective Larry “Doc” Sportello investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend. “Child 44” written by Tom Rob Smith has a Stalin-era Soviet Union MGB agent investigating a series of child murders. Looks like 2014 might just be an investing movie year!

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.