Doesn't seem possible that next month is Christmas and the end of the year. Perhaps it's because I've had so many things on my mind... and so blasted many medical appointments. Ah well. I can't rightly complain if they get me fixed up better than new, can I?
With so many enforced stoppages in my reading, I'm behind in my personal Goodreads challenge, but I'm not going to gnash my teeth over it. And it's by no means kept me from looking for new books to read. (You'll know something is drastically wrong with me if that happens!)
November has a bumper crop of glorious new books, and here are my picks of the cream of the crop listed by their release dates. Covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.
Let's get this show on the road and see which books I'm looking forward to reading!
=== November 1 ===
Title: The Sentence Is Death
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Series: #2 in the Daniel Hawthorne private investigator series set in England
384 pages
*UK Release
Synopsis: "‘You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late…’
These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine – a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.
Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?
Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.
But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realises that these secrets must be exposed – even at the risk of death…"
These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine – a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.
Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?
Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.
But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realises that these secrets must be exposed – even at the risk of death…"
=== November 6 ===
Title: A Wrench in the Works
Author: Kate Carlisle
Series: #6 in the Fixer-Upper cozy series set in northern California
303 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Shannon Hammer's younger sister Chloe left Lighthouse Cove after high school to make it big in Hollywood. And she did it! For several years now, Chloe has been the co-host of a popular home repair show on the Do-It-Yourself Network. Now, after ten years, Chloe returns to Lighthouse Cove with her crew and co-host to film several shows featuring her sister Shannon, along with some special mini-segments on Victorian style and design.
But Shannon realizes quickly that things are not exactly blissful in TV land. Her sister's handsome co-host is being stalked by someone who turns out to be his estranged wife, Erica--who also happens to be the executive producer of the show. Erica's got a knack for stirring up sticky situations and when she's found dead, Chloe and the entire crew are under suspicion.
Shannon soon discovers the real reason why Chloe was so eager to move away from Lighthouse Cove all those years ago. Can Shannon figure out if that ten-year-old secret is connected to Erica's death? And can she track down the real killer before her beloved sister becomes the next victim?"
But Shannon realizes quickly that things are not exactly blissful in TV land. Her sister's handsome co-host is being stalked by someone who turns out to be his estranged wife, Erica--who also happens to be the executive producer of the show. Erica's got a knack for stirring up sticky situations and when she's found dead, Chloe and the entire crew are under suspicion.
Shannon soon discovers the real reason why Chloe was so eager to move away from Lighthouse Cove all those years ago. Can Shannon figure out if that ten-year-old secret is connected to Erica's death? And can she track down the real killer before her beloved sister becomes the next victim?"
Title: Nighttown
Author: Tim Hallinan
Series: #7 in the Junior Bender private investigator series set in Los Angeles
385 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Los Angeles burglar Junior Bender has a rule about never taking a job that pays too well: in the criminal underworld, if you’re offered more money than a job is worth, someone is going to end up dead. But he’s bending his rule this one time because he and his girlfriend, Ronnie, are in desperate need of cash to hire a kidnapper to snatch Ronnie’s two-year-old son back from her ex. The whole thing is pretty complicated and has Junior on edge.
The parameters of the job do nothing to calm his nerves. A nameless woman in an orange wig has offered Junior fifty grand—twenty-five up front—to break into the abandoned house of a recently deceased 97-year-old recluse, Daisy Horton, and steal a doll from her collection. Junior knows no doll is worth 50K, so he figures there must be something hidden inside the doll that can get him in a heap of trouble. It doesn’t take long for Junior to realize he’s not the only one looking for the doll. When an old friend ends up murdered, Junior decides he will stop at nothing to figure out who the woman in the orange wig is, and why she wants the doll badly enough to leave a trail of bodies in her wake."
The parameters of the job do nothing to calm his nerves. A nameless woman in an orange wig has offered Junior fifty grand—twenty-five up front—to break into the abandoned house of a recently deceased 97-year-old recluse, Daisy Horton, and steal a doll from her collection. Junior knows no doll is worth 50K, so he figures there must be something hidden inside the doll that can get him in a heap of trouble. It doesn’t take long for Junior to realize he’s not the only one looking for the doll. When an old friend ends up murdered, Junior decides he will stop at nothing to figure out who the woman in the orange wig is, and why she wants the doll badly enough to leave a trail of bodies in her wake."
Title: Harvest of Secrets
Author: Ellen Crosby
Series: #9 in the Wine Country amateur sleuth series set in Virginia
352 pages
Not long after his arrival, Jean-Claude is found dead, and while there is no shortage of suspects who are angry or jealous of his ego and overbearing ways, suspicion falls on Miguel Otero, an immigrant worker at La Vigne, who recently quarreled with Jean-Claude. When Miguel disappears, Lucie receives an ultimatum from her own employees: prove Miguel’s innocence or none of the immigrant community will work for her during the harvest. As Lucie hunts for Jean-Claude’s killer and continues to search for the identity of the skeleton abandoned in the cemetery, she is blindsided by a decades-old secret that shatters everything she thought she knew about her family. Now facing a wrenching emotional choice, Lucie must decide whether it’s finally time to tell the truth and hurt those she loves the most, or keep silent and let past secrets remain dead and buried."
Title: The Clincher
Author: Lisa Preston
Series: #1 in the Horseshoer amateur sleuth series set in Oregon
288 pages
Synopsis: "Clinching is the technique used to bend a driven horseshoe nail to hold the shoe to a hoof. Rainy Dale is The Clincher, a twenty-something high school-dropout turned farrier (horseshoer) who is haunted by a secret she carries. Estranged from her California d-list actress momma and her ranch hand Texas daddy, she tracked down her childhood horse in small-town Oregon—a land full of cowboys and their horses—then stayed to build a life with her tools, steel, and forge. She’s sleeping in a garage and trying not to fall for her landlord, the hapless and hopeful chef, Guy, who is determined to create the perfect soufflé while Rainy would prefer to just stuff her mouth with fuel for her physically demanding job. As the new kid in town, Rainy has an uphill battle to prove herself, especially to her male clients, but when one of her clients turns up dead, Rainy is in over her head as both a suspect and a seeker of the truth."
Title: An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good
Author: Helene Tursten
Standalone collection of short stories set in Sweden.
185 pages
Synopsis: "Ever since her darling father's untimely death when she was only eighteen, Maud has lived in the family's spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. That was how Maud learned that good things can come from tragedy. Now in her late eighties, Maud contents herself with traveling the world and surfing the net from the comfort of her father's ancient armchair. It's a solitary existence, but she likes it that way.
Over the course of her adventures--or misadventures---this little, bold lady will handle a crisis with a local celebrity who has her eyes on Maud's apartment, foil the engagement of her long-ago lover, and dispose of some pesky neighbors. But when the local authorities are called to investigate a murder in her apartment complex, will Maud be able to avoid suspicion, or will Detective Inspector Irene Huss see through her charade?"
Over the course of her adventures--or misadventures---this little, bold lady will handle a crisis with a local celebrity who has her eyes on Maud's apartment, foil the engagement of her long-ago lover, and dispose of some pesky neighbors. But when the local authorities are called to investigate a murder in her apartment complex, will Maud be able to avoid suspicion, or will Detective Inspector Irene Huss see through her charade?"
=== November 13 ===
Title: A Scandal in Scarlet
Author: Vicki Delany
Series: #4 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop cozy series set in Cape Cod, Massachusetts
320 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Walking her dog Violet late one night, Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop, acts quickly when she smells smoke outside Scarlet House, the West London Museum. Damage to the historic house is extensive, and Baker Street’s shop owners organize an afternoon auction tea to raise funds to rebuild.
Excitement fills the air (along with the aromas of Jayne Wilson’s delightful scones) in Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, but before the gavel can fall, museum board chair Kathy Lamb is found dead in the back room with a long rope of decorative knotted tea cups wrapped tightly around her neck.
The suspect list is long, and the case far from elementary. Does Kathy’s killing have any relation to a mysterious death of seven years ago? Gemma has no intention of getting involved in the investigation, but when fellow shopkeeper Maureen finds herself the prime suspect she begs Gemma for her help. Detective Ryan Ashburton knows Gemma’s methods and he isn’t happy when she gets entangled in another mystery. But with so many suspects and so few clues, her deductive prowess will prove invaluable in A Scandal in Scarlet, Vicki Delany’s shrewdly plotted fourth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery."
Excitement fills the air (along with the aromas of Jayne Wilson’s delightful scones) in Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, but before the gavel can fall, museum board chair Kathy Lamb is found dead in the back room with a long rope of decorative knotted tea cups wrapped tightly around her neck.
The suspect list is long, and the case far from elementary. Does Kathy’s killing have any relation to a mysterious death of seven years ago? Gemma has no intention of getting involved in the investigation, but when fellow shopkeeper Maureen finds herself the prime suspect she begs Gemma for her help. Detective Ryan Ashburton knows Gemma’s methods and he isn’t happy when she gets entangled in another mystery. But with so many suspects and so few clues, her deductive prowess will prove invaluable in A Scandal in Scarlet, Vicki Delany’s shrewdly plotted fourth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery."
Title: Nobody's Sweetheart Now
Author: Maggie Robinson
Series: #1 in the Lady Adelaide historical series set in 1920s England
251 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Rupert died by smashing his Hispano-Suiza on a Cotswold country road while carrying a French mademoiselle in the passenger seat. With the house now Addie's, needed improvements in hand, and a weekend house party underway, how inconvenient of Rupert to turn up! Not in the flesh, but in - actually, as a - spirit. Rupert has to perform a few good deeds before becoming welcomed to heaven - or, more likely, thinks Addie, to hell.
Before Addie can convince herself she's not completely lost her mind, a murder disrupts her careful seating arrangement. Which of her twelve houseguests is a killer? Her mother, the formidable Dowager Marchioness of Broughton? Her sister Cecilia, the born-again vegetarian? Her childhood friend and potential lover, Lord Lucas Waring? Rupert has a solid alibi as a ghost and an urge to detect.
Enter Inspector Devenand Hunter from the Yard, an Anglo-Indian who is not going to let some barmy society beauty witnessed talking to herself derail his investigation. Something very peculiar is afoot at Compton Court and he's going to get to the bottom of it - or go as mad as its mistress trying."
Title: Blood Is Blood
Author: Will Thomas
Series: #10 in the Barker & Llewelyn historical series set in Victorian London
291 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
At least one of those enemies is responsible for a bombing of their offices that puts Cyrus Barker into the hospital and endangers Thomas Llewelyn's rapidly forthcoming nuptials. To add to the confusion, Barker's long-lost brother Caleb turns up on the rubble of their doorstep not long after the not-quite-fatal bombing.
Unsure of Caleb and warned about him by Barker, Thomas reluctantly accepts Caleb's help both with a new case that comes in as well as trying to pinpoint which of Barker's enemies is making a move against them. As Thomas works his way through their enemy list, someone else is winnowing down that list: one by one those enemies are dying.
With time running out—and his bride-to-be reconsidering their marriage—Llewelyn must (with the sick-bed bound Barker's help) uncover the killer and the plot before it's too late."
=== November 15 ===
Title: Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samovar
Author: Olga Wojtas
Standalone amateur sleuth/time travel set in Scotland and Russia
264 pages
Synopsis: "Never underestimate a librarian. Comfortably padded and in her middle years, Shona McMonagle may look bookish and harmless, but her education at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls has left her with a deadly expertise in everything from martial arts to quantum physics. It has also left her with a bone-deep loathing for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, that scurrilous novel that spread scandalous untruths about the finest educational institution in Edinburgh. Her skills, her deceptively mild appearance, and her passionate loyalty make Shona the perfect recruit for a new and interesting project: Time-travel to Tzarist Russia, prevent a gross miscarriage of romance, and – in any spare time – see to it that only the right people get murdered. It's a big job, but no task is too daunting for a Head Girl from Miss Blaine's."
=== November 20 ===
Title: Lies Come Easy
Author: Steven F. Havill
Series: #23 in the Posadas County police procedural series set in New Mexico
265 pages
Yes, it's horrifying - a child apparently dumped out of a truck by his father. Nearly as horrifying is what unrolls while Christmas approaches after dad Darrell Fisher's arrest: a request arrives from the US Forest Service to locate a missing range tech and his unit last reported headed for nearby Stinkin' Springs, and the brutal murder of Constance Suarez in the border town of Regál, population 37.
The Sheriff's Department is stretched to its limits as its dedicated personnel juggle working cases and caring for citizens with their own relationships and family celebrations. The irony of so much wickedness at the holidays is not lost on anyone. Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman, heading out her door to a crime scene, reflects: "It would be a glorious holiday evening for somebody."
As their mother joins her colleagues in dealing with the Fisher family, the Forest Service's absent Myron Fitzwater, the murder, and who knows what else in Regál, Francisco and Carolos, the sons of Estelle and physician Francis, arrange to jet in to spend Christmas with their parents. Francisco the musical prodigy is now a celebrated pianist and composer with an international career. Carlos is thriving at Stanford. Both sons bring special surprises with them. And retired Sheriff Bill Gastner is cooking up a Christmas gift of his own.
In Steven Havill's twenty-third Posadas County Mystery, family dynamics play a huge role as Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman and the whole department work to pull the right threads out of a tangle of seemingly small lies. It makes for a mix of the mundane with the harrowing. And justice for all will prove elusive."
Title: Newcomer
Author: Keigo Higashino
Series: a police procedural series set in Japan featuring Kyochiro Kaga. The second book to be published in English, the seventh in the series.
334 pages
Synopsis: "Detective Kyochiro Kaga of the Tokyo Police Department has just been transferred to a new precinct in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Newly arrived, but with a great deal of experience, Kaga is promptly assigned to the team investigating the murder of a woman. But the more he investigates, the greater number of potential suspects emerges. It isn’t long before it seems nearly all the people living and working in the business district of Nihonbashi have a motive for murder. To prevent the murderer from eluding justice, Kaga must unravel all the secrets surrounding a complicated life. Buried somewhere in the woman’s past, in her family history, and the last few days of her life is the clue that will lead to the murderer."
=== November 27 ===
Title: Kingdom of the Blind
Author: Louise Penny
Series: #14 in the Armand Gamache police procedural series set in Canada
384 pages
None of them had ever met the elderly woman.
The will is so odd and includes bequests that are so wildly unlikely that Gamache and the others suspect the woman must have been delusional. But what if, Gamache begins to ask himself, she was perfectly sane?
When a body is found, the terms of the bizarre will suddenly seem less peculiar and far more menacing.
But it isn’t the only menace Gamache is facing.
The investigation into what happened six months ago—the events that led to his suspension—has dragged on, into the dead of winter. And while most of the opioids he allowed to slip through his hands, in order to bring down the cartels, have been retrieved, there is one devastating exception.
Enough narcotic to kill thousands has disappeared into inner-city Montreal. With the deadly drug about to hit the streets, Gamache races for answers.
As he uses increasingly audacious, even desperate, measures to retrieve the drug, Armand Gamache begins to see his own blind spots. And the terrible things hiding there."
See what I mean when I referred to November as having a bumper crop of wonderful new books to read? Hopefully, I managed to pick a title or two that tickled your fancy enough to add them to your own wishlists.
Which ones tickled your fancy the most? Inquiring minds would love to know!
Oh, so many good ones, Cathy! The Hallinan, the Horowitz, the Thomas.... I'm especially interested in the TUrsten; I like her Irene Huss series, and I'll be interested in what she does with a short story collection.
ReplyDeleteI read one of her short stories. It was good, and if I'm not mistaken, it featured the main character from this collection. Tursten also has a new police procedural series starting up in a few months. It may show up on an On My Radar post...
DeleteI need to read the previous Horowitz book so I'll be ready for this one. And you can probably guess that I already have Louise Penny's new book ordered. Of course I do. LOL
ReplyDeleteI knew I could take that to the bank! LOL
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