Reading right now:

            “Cradle to Grave” by Eleanor Kuhns. If you love historical mysteries, Eleanor Kuhns is a perfect choice for you. Her Will Rees series is rich in historical detail. It’s 1796 when Will Rees and Lydia set off to Mount Unity, New York to help Lydia’s old friend who has kidnapped five children in order to save them from an unfit Mother named Maggie Whitney. Legally there isn’t much that can be done, so when Maggie ends up dead, Lydia’s friend is the prime suspect. Can Will and Lydia find the real killer?

On hold right now:

            “The Bone Orchard” by Paul Doiron. This is the fifth book in the Maine game warden Mike Bowditch mystery series. After leaving his job as a game warden to work as a fishing guide, Mike’s former mentor is forced to kill a troubled war vet and faces criticism for her decision. The growing outrage leads to her getting shot which forces Mike into the manhunt. While Mike is chasing the shooter, he is also struggling with his job choices and his love life.

Other Mysterious Things:

            Laura Resnick’s paranormal mystery series starring Esther Diamond is so much fun that you should run out and read all six of the already finished books in order to prepare for the seventh coming out in November. “Abracadaver” will see struggling actress Esther reprising her guest role as prostitute Jilly C-Note on a television crime show called “The Dirty Thirty.” Esther’s New York police detective boyfriend, Connor Lopez, hates the show since it concentrates on corruption in the NYPD, but the show is popular and pays well. Unfortunately for Esther and the city of New York, corpses seem to be reanimating throughout the city. Once more Esther must work with her friend Max, a 350-year old mage whose job is to protect the city from Evil, in order to determine what is behind this new threat. I can’t wait. This series has mystery, romance, and fantasy and it’s very funny.

Reading right now:

            “Poison Promise” by Jennifer Estep. You may think that this exciting and fun fantasy series doesn’t belong with a list of mystery titles, but it does. Gin Blanco is an assassin who kills bad guys, helps people weaker than she is, and in this novel is trying to bring down a drug dealer who is distributing a new drug called “Burn.” She’s tough and sexy and surrounded by good people who help her survive. I’ve almost finished this novel and am so happy that she has another book in the series coming out in November called “Black Widow.” I highly recommend this series. Every book is a fun ride you go on with Gin to see how she brings down the latest bad guy threatening her city. 

            As soon as I finish “Poison Promise,” I am starting David Rosenfelt’s “Hounded.” If you’ve read my blog, you know that I love David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter series. The books are a riot. Andy Carpenter is rich and lazy. He hates getting hired to do work. He’s a lawyer so lots of people can understand why he would not want to do that job. In this 12^th book in the series, Carpenter gets a call from his policeman friend Pete Stanton who asks that he take in the son and dog of ex-convict Danny Balfour who was murdered and, oh yes, defend Pete who is being accused of the murder. It looks like Andy is going to be very, very busy.

On hold right now:

            “Inside Man” by Jeff Abbott. Abbott has written more books than I realized. This is already his fourth book in the Sam Capra series. If you like Lee Child and Harlen Coben, Jeff Abbott is a great choice to start reading. Abbott graduated from Rice University with degrees in History and English and now lives in Austin. Three of his novels have been optioned for films: “Adrenaline,” “Panic,” and “Collision.” In “Inside Man,” ex-CIA agent Sam Capra’s friend Steve has been murdered. Capra wants revenge.

         

Other Mysterious Things:

            “Face Off” edited by David Baldacci. I don’t usually read a lot of short stories, but this book sounds fascinating and has gotten rave reviews. It is a collection of 11 short stories. Each short story combines two famous mystery characters (for instance one story combines Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme and John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport). So there are 11 short stories co-written by some of our greatest living mystery authors with David Baldacci editing the stories. What more could you ask for? This isn’t the first collaborative novel that Baldacci has been involved in. He also worked on “No Rest for the Dead” in 2011 which was one mystery novel written by 26 people (one of which was Baldacci, as well as, Jeff Abbott, Jeffery Deaver, and many others). 

Mysteries are everywhere.

Reading right now:

            “The Dead Will Tell” by Linda Castillo. This is the sixth book in the fantastic Kate Burkholder series. If you haven’t read the series, hurry to your library and find the first book “Sworn to Silence.” As the Chief of Police of a small town in Ohio, Kate has had her past come to haunt her, found a new love, and now faces a suicide that is really murder and ultimately only the first in a murder-for-revenge plot. I just finished this book last night and I loved the plot which I won’t ruin for you by laying it out too much, but it does involve a haunted house, secrets from the past, and the local Amish community.

“Evil in the 1^st House” by Mitchell Scott Lewis. This is the third in a series called A Starlight Detective Agency Mystery. This series centers around Astrological Detective David Lowell and his staff (his daughter, Melinda, a young defense attorney; his hacker partner Mort; the office assistant Sarah; and Andy, his bodyguard). I have never read a detective novel where Astrology is used to help solve the mysteries so I would say that this is a unique series. If you believe or enjoy Astrology, this series would be a real find for you. I enjoy Lowell and his staff, but I find myself a little bored by all the Astrology discussions. His latest case involves a successful doctor who is trying to find his dying son’s twin in order to arrange a kidney transplant. There is, of course, much more to the story of why his wife ran away with the other son and what they are hiding from.

On hold right now:

            “The Devil Takes Half” by Leta Serafim. On a Greek island called Chios, being an archaeologist is deadly. When archaeologist Eleni Argentis and her assistant are found dead (or at least parts of their bodies are found), police officer Yiannis Patronas is determined to find out what is behind the deaths. Are the killings personal or did Argentis discover something worth killing for? This is a debut novel with a lot of violent passion incorporated into the story. The island is beautiful, the killings horrific, and Patronas is on his own trying to solve the murder with his only real ally an elderly priest who loves American detective shows.

Other Mysterious Things:

            If you like legal thrillers, three new books might be of interest to you. “Indefensible” by Lee Goodman, “The Insanity Plea” by Larry D. Thompson, and “Face Value” by Michael A. Kahn. “Indefensible” is Goodman’s first book about Federal prosecutor Nick Davis. “The Insanity Plea” is Thompson’s fourth stand-alone novel. In his new novel, Houston trial lawyer Wayne Little’s brother is charged with murder and he must try to find answers to help him. Kahn’s ninth book in the Rachel Gold series finds Chicago attorney Rachel Gold trying to help out a former boss.

Reading right now:

            Going back in time to read, “The Two Faces of January” by Patricia Highsmith. First introduced as a novel in 1964, the movie version will be released in the United States on August 28. Highsmith’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” was made into a terrific movie so we’ll see if this one plays as well. “The Two Faces of January” centers on a con artist and his wife who become part of the investigation in the death of an Athens policeman. The two flee Athens in the company of an American student. The movie stars Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen and was directed by Hossein Amini. While Patricia Highsmith died in 1995, her books are still influencing our culture.  

  

On hold right now:

            “Dear Daughter” by Elizabeth Little. This is Elizabeth Little’s first book and has already received some glowing reviews. Janie Jenkins was rich and famous until she was convicted of murdering her Mother. Released after ten years, Jenkins is determined to find out what really happened the night her Mother died. Smart, damaged, and determined to find out the truth, Jenkins finds herself immersed in a small town’s secrets, as well as, her Mother’s secrets.

Other Mysterious Things:

            There are a few new authors that you may have missed this year. “The Disposables” by retired law enforcement officer David Putnam has been well reviewed. Putnam’s hero is a former cop who broke the law, ended up in jail, and is now out on parole trying to rebuild his life by helping save abused children who have been abandoned by the foster care system. The book is a nonstop action thriller and Putnam has been compared to Andrew Vachss and T. Jefferson Parker.

            Scott Graham moved from non-fiction to write his first mystery called “Canyon Sacrifice.” Graham’s series is called the National Park series and starts out at the Grand Canyon with his main character being Chuck Bender, an archaeologist. Bender finds that digging up the past often uncovers present day evils (in this case centering on kidnapping and murder). His novel has been called riveting and he has been compared to Tony Hillerman, Nevada Barr, and C.J. Box.

            Young lawyer and writer, Carrie La Seur’s first novel is being hailed as a mystery, a romance, a family saga, a novel of grief and recovery, and a novel that knows the importance of home, of memories, of human bonds, and secrets. “The Home Place” centers around Alma Terrebonne who becomes a lawyer after her parents die in a car accident. When her sister dies suddenly, Terrebonne returns home to Montana to endless complications which include her sister’s death being a murder, her ex-boyfriend pushing to resume their old relationship, and her sister’s daughter looking to her for protection. A suspenseful thriller that is full of a sense of both loss and hope, “The Home Place” would be a wonderful choice for a book group to discuss.

Summer Reading!

            Summer could be a time to spread your wings and read something besides a mystery. There are some terrific books out there so here are some ideas from me and also look at the Los Angeles Times list of great summer reads which cover different genres!

(http://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-summer-reading-guide-20140529-htmlstory.html)

Reading right now:

            “Cop Town” by Karin Slaughter. While Slaughter has been writing since she was a child growing up in Georgia, “Cop Town” is her first stand-along novel. Before this she has written two very successful series (Grant County series and the Will Trent series). For “Cop Town” she turns back the clock to 1974 in Atlanta when it was unusual for a woman to be on the force, but rookie Kate Murphy is determined to make it despite the pressure. After the brutal murder of a fellow cop, Murphy is teamed with Maggie Lawson. They both bring pain, fury, pride, and a determination to risk everything to bring in the man who killed another cop.

On hold right now:

            “Last to Know” by Elizabeth Adler. Detective Harry Jordan lives in a small town in Massachusetts, but works on the busy streets of Boston. Going home has always been a respite until he is out walking one evening and sees a house blow. A woman dies and Jordan gets involved in bringing in the murderer.

Other Mysterious Things:

            Here are five amazing new mysteries which you should read this summer. They are all either standalone or first in a new series.

            “The Case of the Black Pearl” by Lin Anderson is the first in a new series starring Patrick de Courvoisier. This Scottish author is famous for her series about forensic scientist Rhona Macleod. This new series revolves around Englishman Patrick de Courvoisier (a “Fixer”) who is asked to simply track down a missing movie star only to find the job much more complicated than he ever imagined.

            “Life Drawing” by Robin Black is a psychological thriller more than a pure mystery. It is just the kind of emotionally complex novel that makes for a good book club pick. When Owen and Augusta move to the country, they find their life and work interrupted by a new neighbor and the neighbor’s daughter. The neighbor’s daughter falls for Owen bringing tension and opening old wounds. The novel delves into the complexity of relationships and the pain of betrayal.

            “The White Magic Five and Dime” is a new paranormal mystery from Steve Hockensmith and Lisa Flaco. After her Mother dies, Alanis McLachlan inherits a new-age shop and her Mother’s clients from her tarot readings. Alanis finds she has a talent with the cards and with solving her Mother’s murder.

“All the Things You Are” by Declan Hughes. Irish writer Declan Hughes turns away from his Ed Loy series to write this standalone novel about Clare Taylor who comes home from a weekend away in Chicago to find her husband, her kids, and her furniture all gone. What’s left is the dead body of their dog and her husband’s childhood friend. Screenwriter Dwayne Alexander Smith’s new “Forty Acres” is his first book. In this provocative new book, attorney Martin Grey is asked to join a powerful group of wealthy black men when he discovers a deadly secret. These men are a secret society which wants to bring back slavery—with a twist for this time black men will be called “Master.” 

Have you joined your local library's Summer Reading Program yet? Lots of libraries have Summer Reading for adults as well as children.

Reading right now:

            “Mr. Mercedes” by Stephen King. When Brady Hartfield drives his Mercedes into a crowd, he finds he likes to kill people and decides to try to take out thousands. After retired detective Bill Hodges receives a letter from Hartfield promising to become the greatest mass murderer of all time, Hodges’ boredom leads him to try to find Hartfield before he kills again. He assembles a group of volunteer helpers in order to find this evil man who enjoys killing. In his blog, Declan Burke recently wrote about King’s new book stating, “It’s a downbeat and occasionally unsettling tale. As with all great thrillers, however, it’s also compulsively readable and hugely entertaining.”

On hold right now:

            “Crime Always Pays” by Declan Burke. Declan Burke has finally written a sequel to “The Big O.” While it has taken six years for the book to be released in the U.S., the book picks up right after “The Big O” ended with the characters heading off to the Greek Islands. Burke’s books are dark and funny. They are also full of action from start to finish. He’s been called an Irish Elmore Leonard for good reason. While he has only written five novels, he hosts a really great website also called Crime Always Pays which is dedicated to Irish crime fiction.

Also try "Eight-ball Boogie."

Other Mysterious Things:

            We recently lost a terrific mystery author, C.J. Henderson who died July 4 from cancer at the youthful age of 62. He is known for his horror, hard hitting crime novels, and comic books. He has also written nonfiction including his well-known “The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies” which he wrote with William Shatner. On his Black Gate blog, John O’Neill wrote: “Personally, I only got to know him through my first publication, and he was an open and generous soul. He fought the disease all the way to the end, determined to make it out to future conventions to sell more books and meet more fans, and in his many emails to me he would discuss his fight, his deep love for his wife, and his passion for writing. CJ leaves a legacy filled with hard-boiled characters, ripping yarns, and good humor. He will be missed.”