As I'm putting this post together, Denis came in with a news flash: it's finally supposed to warm up to almost 80°F. next week. I can't wait-- and neither can thousands of snowbirds who came down here for the normally balmy February temperatures. Arizona's high mountains have been slammed with snow, and Phoenix has gotten a long series of rainstorms, and that's great for our water situation.
You'd think I'd be happy about our plans to go to the Desert Botanical Garden being constantly rained out. We need the rain, and this should give me more opportunities to read, right? Not exactly. I've been in spring cleaning mode (such as it is), and we've also been scheduling some work to be done in two rooms of the house, applying for a reverse mortgage, and thinking about some new furniture and appliances. I've been distracted. (And there should be dollar signs blinking on and off in the pupils of my eyes!)
But not distracted enough to forget about new mysteries that will be available soon. I've compiled my list of the best new crime fiction being released throughout the month of March, and I've grouped them by release date. Book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Let's take a look at my choices and see if I've got any that tickle your fancy, too!
=== March 5 ===
Title: After the Eclipse
Author: Fran Dorricott
Standalone thriller set in England
448 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "A stunning psychological thriller about loss, sisterhood, and the evil that men do, for readers of Ruth Ware and S.K. Tremeyne.
Two solar eclipses. Two missing girls.
Sixteen years ago a little girl was abducted during the darkness of a solar eclipse while her older sister Cassie was supposed to be watching her. She was never seen again. When a local girl goes missing just before the next big eclipse, Cassie - who has returned to her home town to care for her ailing grandmother - suspects the disappearance is connected to her sister: that whoever took Olive is still out there. But she needs to find a way to prove it, and time is running out."
Title: The Stranger Diaries
Author: Elly Griffiths
Standalone thriller set in England
352 pages
Synopsis: "Death lies between the lines when the events of a dark story start coming true in this haunting modern gothic mystery, perfect for fans of Magpie Murders and The Lake House.
Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school English teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she teaches a course on it every year. But when one of Clare’s colleagues and closest friends is found dead, with a line from R. M. Holland’s most famous story, “The Stranger,” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with the storylines of her favorite literature.
To make matters worse, the police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her closest confidant, her diary, the only outlet she has for her darkest suspicions and fears about the case. Then one day she notices something odd. Writing that isn't hers, left on the page of an old diary:
Hallo Clare. You don’t know me.
Clare becomes more certain than ever: “The Stranger” has come to terrifying life. But can the ending be rewritten in time?"
Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school English teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she teaches a course on it every year. But when one of Clare’s colleagues and closest friends is found dead, with a line from R. M. Holland’s most famous story, “The Stranger,” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with the storylines of her favorite literature.
To make matters worse, the police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her closest confidant, her diary, the only outlet she has for her darkest suspicions and fears about the case. Then one day she notices something odd. Writing that isn't hers, left on the page of an old diary:
Hallo Clare. You don’t know me.
Clare becomes more certain than ever: “The Stranger” has come to terrifying life. But can the ending be rewritten in time?"
Title: Black Souls
Author: Gioacchino Criaco
Standalone thriller set in Italy
288 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "The modern Italian classic about Calabrian organized crime—now an award-winning motion picture—makes its English-language debut.
In the remote Aspromonte Mountains in southern Calabria, Italy, three best friends embark on a life of crime in order to raise themselves up out of the poverty of their childhoods. Brainy Luciano, the behind-the-scenes schemer, was orphaned as a little boy when the local mob boss had his postman father executed. Lazy, jovial Luigi has learned that there’s no point in following the rules. And completing the triumvirate is the nameless narrator, from whose black soul comes the inspiration and energy for each new criminal project, from kidnapping to armed robbery to heroin dealing to contract killing.
Set in the birthplace of the ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s ruthless and ubiquitous mafia, Black Souls draws on centuries of brigand lore, peasant rebellion history, mountain mythology, and colonial suffering to offer a gripping morality tale about how violence begets violence."
In the remote Aspromonte Mountains in southern Calabria, Italy, three best friends embark on a life of crime in order to raise themselves up out of the poverty of their childhoods. Brainy Luciano, the behind-the-scenes schemer, was orphaned as a little boy when the local mob boss had his postman father executed. Lazy, jovial Luigi has learned that there’s no point in following the rules. And completing the triumvirate is the nameless narrator, from whose black soul comes the inspiration and energy for each new criminal project, from kidnapping to armed robbery to heroin dealing to contract killing.
Set in the birthplace of the ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s ruthless and ubiquitous mafia, Black Souls draws on centuries of brigand lore, peasant rebellion history, mountain mythology, and colonial suffering to offer a gripping morality tale about how violence begets violence."
Title: The Wolf and the Watchman
Author: Niklas Natt och Dag
Standalone historical mystery set in Sweden
384 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Named Best Debut Novel of 2017 by the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers.
One morning in the autumn of 1793, watchman Mikel Cardell is awakened from his drunken slumber with reports of a body seen floating in the Larder, once a pristine lake on Stockholm’s Southern Isle, now a rancid bog. Efforts to identify the bizarrely mutilated corpse are entrusted to incorruptible lawyer Cecil Winge, who enlists Cardell’s help to solve the case. But time is short: Winge’s health is failing, the monarchy is in shambles, and whispered conspiracies and paranoia abound.
Winge and Cardell become immersed in a brutal world of guttersnipes and thieves, mercenaries and madams. From a farmer’s son who is lead down a treacherous path when he seeks his fortune in the capital to an orphan girl consigned to the workhouse by a pitiless parish priest, their gruesome investigation peels back layer upon layer of the city’s labyrinthine society. The rich and the poor, the pious and the fallen, the living and the dead—all collide and interconnect with the body pulled from the lake.
Breathtakingly bold and intricately constructed, The Wolf and the Watchman brings to life the crowded streets, gilded palaces, and dark corners of late-eighteenth-century Stockholm, offering a startling vision of the crimes we commit in the name of justice, and the sacrifices we make in order to survive."
=== March 12 ===
Title: Desert Redemption
Author: Betty Webb
#10 (and last) in the Lena Jones private investigator series set in Arizona
328 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "At the age of four, Scottsdale private eye Lena Jones was shot in the head and left to die on a Phoenix street. After her rescue, she spent years in the abusive foster care system, never knowing who her parents were and why they didn't claim her. When Desert Redemption begins, she still doesn't know her real name.
Lena's rough childhood―and the suspicion that her parents may have been members of a cult―keeps her hackles raised. So when Chelsea, the ex-wife of Harold Slow Horse, a close friend, joins a "new thought" organization called Kanati, Lena begins to investigate. She soon learns that two communes―polar opposites of each other―have sprung up nearby in the Arizona desert. The participants at EarthWay follow a rigorous dietary regime that could threaten the health of its back-to-the-land inhabitants, while the more pleasure-loving folk at Kanati are dining on sumptuous French cuisine.
On an early morning horseback ride across the Pima Indian Reservation, Lena finds an emaciated woman's body in the desert. "Reservation Woman" lies in a spot close to EarthWay, clad in a dress similar to the ones worn by its women. But there is something about her face that reminds Lena of the Kanatians.
While investigating, Lena's memory is jolted back to that horrible night when her father and younger brother were among those murdered by a cult leader named Abraham, who then vanished. Lena begins to wonder if either EarthWay or Kanati could be linked to that night, and to her own near-death. Could leaders of one or both shed light on what had happened to Lena's mother, who vanished at the same time as Abraham?
All these mysteries are resolved in Desert Redemption, the tenth and final Lena Jones case, which can also be enjoyed on its own."
Synopsis: "Except for a good taco, genealogist Lucy Lancaster loves nothing more than tracking down her clients’ long-dead ancestors, and her job has never been so exciting as when she discovers a daguerreotype photograph and a journal proving Austin, Texas, billionaire Gus Halloran’s great-great-grandfather was murdered back in 1849. What’s more, Lucy is able to tell Gus who was responsible for his ancestor’s death.
Synopsis: "Eggnog notwithstanding, travel agent Cyd Redondo is not looking forward to the holidays. The borough of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn―along with most of her family―holds her responsible for landing her Uncle Ray in a minimum security prison.
On an early morning horseback ride across the Pima Indian Reservation, Lena finds an emaciated woman's body in the desert. "Reservation Woman" lies in a spot close to EarthWay, clad in a dress similar to the ones worn by its women. But there is something about her face that reminds Lena of the Kanatians.
While investigating, Lena's memory is jolted back to that horrible night when her father and younger brother were among those murdered by a cult leader named Abraham, who then vanished. Lena begins to wonder if either EarthWay or Kanati could be linked to that night, and to her own near-death. Could leaders of one or both shed light on what had happened to Lena's mother, who vanished at the same time as Abraham?
All these mysteries are resolved in Desert Redemption, the tenth and final Lena Jones case, which can also be enjoyed on its own."
=== March 13 ===
Title: Trouble on the Books
Author: Essie Lang
#1 in the Castle Bookshop cozy series set in upstate New York
332 pages
Synopsis: "Essie Lang’s series debut is perfect for fans of Lorna Barrett, Vicki Delany, and book lovers everywhere.
Rookie bookstore owner Shelby Cox must hit the books to learn the ropes before she loses a killer in the stacks.
Shelby Cox never intended to become a bookseller, so when the former editor returns to her hometown of Alexandria Bay, nestled in upstate New York’s breathtaking Thousand Islands region, to take over her aunt’s bookstore, she has no idea what to expect. To her amazement, she discovers that she now owns a fifty-percent share in Bayside Books, and will also run the store’s second location in the majestic castle on nearby Blye Island.
But just as Shelby is gearing up for the start of the tourist season, the Castle volunteer coordinator is found murdered in the nearby Grotto. Castle caretaker Matthew Kessler is suspect number one, but Shelby thinks the killing may be connected to an earlier era when violence among Prohibition-era smugglers was rampant in the region. As Shelby launches her own investigation, handsome and unnerving Special Agent Zack Griffin of the Coast Guard Investigative Services tries to quell her smuggling theory and keep her safe. But Shelby is determined to summon all her savvy as a book editor to plot the murder—and find the killer before he strikes again—in Trouble on the Books, Essie Lang’s clever and captivating series debut."
Rookie bookstore owner Shelby Cox must hit the books to learn the ropes before she loses a killer in the stacks.
Shelby Cox never intended to become a bookseller, so when the former editor returns to her hometown of Alexandria Bay, nestled in upstate New York’s breathtaking Thousand Islands region, to take over her aunt’s bookstore, she has no idea what to expect. To her amazement, she discovers that she now owns a fifty-percent share in Bayside Books, and will also run the store’s second location in the majestic castle on nearby Blye Island.
But just as Shelby is gearing up for the start of the tourist season, the Castle volunteer coordinator is found murdered in the nearby Grotto. Castle caretaker Matthew Kessler is suspect number one, but Shelby thinks the killing may be connected to an earlier era when violence among Prohibition-era smugglers was rampant in the region. As Shelby launches her own investigation, handsome and unnerving Special Agent Zack Griffin of the Coast Guard Investigative Services tries to quell her smuggling theory and keep her safe. But Shelby is determined to summon all her savvy as a book editor to plot the murder—and find the killer before he strikes again—in Trouble on the Books, Essie Lang’s clever and captivating series debut."
=== March 19 ===
Title: Murder Once Removed
Author: S.C. Perkins
#1 in the Ancestry Detective cozy series set in Texas
336 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Partly, at least. Using clues from the journal, Lucy narrows the suspects down to two nineteenth-century Texans, one of whom is the ancestor of present-day U.S. senator Daniel Applewhite. But when Gus publicly outs the senator as the descendant of a murderer—with the accidental help of Lucy herself—and her former co-worker is murdered protecting the daguerreotype, Lucy will find that shaking the branches of some family trees proves them to be more twisted and dangerous than she ever thought possible."
Title: Drowned Under
Author: Wendall Thomas
#2 in the humorous Cyd Redondo mystery series set in Australia
304 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
So, when Cyd's ex-husband, Barry Manzoni, announces his parents have disappeared from an Australian cruise, she rushes Down Under to enlist the help of travel liaison and friend Harriet Archer, who offers a free cabin on the Tasmanian Dream and insider assistance with the search.
Cyd's flights are delayed, so she hitches a helicopter ride to the ship―which lacks a helipad. She and her Balenciaga bag barely survive the harrowing drop, landing on a gorgeous man in a Speedo. When she finally makes it to her cabin, she finds Harriet dead, lying in a pool of blood.
Synopsis: "Railway cop and former Marine Sydney Parnell is on the hunt. So is a killer she knows only as the Alpha. They’re in a race to find Malik, an eleven-year-old Iraqi boy with secrets to guard. Sydney wants to help him. The Alpha wants him dead.
Cyd's flights are delayed, so she hitches a helicopter ride to the ship―which lacks a helipad. She and her Balenciaga bag barely survive the harrowing drop, landing on a gorgeous man in a Speedo. When she finally makes it to her cabin, she finds Harriet dead, lying in a pool of blood.
The ship's doctor/coroner―now wearing a tux instead of his Speedo―declares the death an accident. While Darling Cruises hurries to cover up the "unfortunate event" and sanitize the crime scene, Cyd scrambles to preserve evidence, terrified the murder is connected to the Manzonis' disappearance, and to prevent the heist of the world's last Tasmanian tiger."
Title: A Birthday Lunch
Author: Martin Walker
Digital short story including the characters in the Bruno Chief of Police series set in the south of France
Synopsis: "When not solving mysteries in his beloved little town of St. Denis, Bruno, the chief of police, likes to cook and share his meals with local guests and dear friend. For his friend Florence’s birthday, Bruno is preparing a surprise. But, like much else in St. Denis, it’s a communal effort and one that Bruno pulls off with a little help from the countryside and the town. He finds an ancient hand ax in the ground during his morning run with his dog Balzac—it will make a spectacular gift—picks up newspapers for wrapping by the medical center, and gathers fresh nettles from by his chicken coop and thyme from his garden for soup and garnish. It’ll be the perfect day for Bruno and his guests to celebrate their collective history."
Title: Ambush
Author: Barbara Nickless
#3 in the Sydney Rose Parnell law enforcement series set in Mexico and Colorado
356 pages
From the dark alleys of Mexico City to the mean streets of Denver, Sydney and her K9 partner, Clyde, use their wits and determination to chase down the ruthless killer. But when their path collides with his, Sydney realizes just how far-reaching and sinister the Alpha’s past is. And how far he’s willing to go to save his secrets."
Synopsis: "Bones of the Earth is Edgar Award-winning author Eliot Pattison’s much-anticipated tenth and final installment in the internationally acclaimed Inspector Shan series.
So... how did I do? Did any of my picks make it onto your own Need To Read lists? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!
=== March 26 ===
Title: The American Agent
Author: Jacqueline Winspear
#15 in the Maisie Dobbs historical mystery series set in London
384 pages
Synopsis: "When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs, seeking her help. He is accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Justice—Mark Scott, the American who helped Maisie escape Hitler’s Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon’s death.
As the Germans unleash the full terror of their blitzkrieg upon the British Isles, raining death and destruction from the skies, Maisie must balance the demands of solving this dangerous case with her need to protect Anna, the young evacuee she has grown to love and wants to adopt. Entangled in an investigation linked to the power of wartime propaganda and American political intrigue being played out in Britain, Maisie will face losing her dearest friend—and the possibility that she might be falling in love again."
Title: Bones of the Earth
Author: Eliot Pattison
#10 (and last) in the Inspector Shan Tao Yun series set in Tibet
352 pages
After Shan Tao Yun is forced to witness the execution of a Tibetan for corruption, he can’t shake the suspicion that he has instead witnessed a murder arranged by conspiring officials. When he learns that a Tibetan monk has been accused by the same officials of using Buddhist magic to murder soldiers then is abruptly given a badge as a special deputy to the county governor, Inspector Shan realizes he is being thrust into a ruthless power struggle. Knowing he has made too many enemies in the government, Shan desperately wants to avoid such a battle, but then discovers that among its casualties are a murdered American archaeology student and devout Tibetans who were only trying to protect an ancient shrine.
When Catherine Howard arrives at the court of King Henry VIII to be a maid of honor in the household of the new queen, Anne of Cleves, she has no idea of the fate that awaits her.
Catching the king’s fancy, she finds herself caught up in her uncle’s ambition to get a Howard heir to the throne.
Terrified by the aging king after the fate that befell her cousin, Anne Boleyn, Catherine begins to fear for her life…
Mary inexplicably cut all contact with Perdita and her twin sister, Piper, but she has left them Marquess House, her vast estate in Pembrokeshire.
Perdita sets out to unravel their grandmother’s motives for abandoning them, and is drawn into the mystery of an ancient document in the archives of Marquess House, a collection of letters and diaries claiming the records of Catherine Howard’s execution were falsified…
What truths are hiding in Marquess House? What really happened to Catherine Howard? And how was Perdita’s grandmother connected to it all?
THE CATHERINE HOWARD CONSPIRACY is the first book in the Marquess House trilogy, a dual timeline conspiracy thriller with an ingenious twist on a well-known period of Tudor history."
Soon grasping that the underlying mysteries are rooted in both the Chinese and Tibetan worlds, Shan senses that he alone may be able to find the truth. The path he must take, with the enigmatic, vengeful father of the dead American at his side, is the most treacherous he has ever navigated. More will die before he is able to fully pierce the secrets of this clash between the angry gods of Tibet and Beijing. The costs to Shan and those close to him will be profoundly painful, and his world will be shaken to its core before he crafts his own uniquely Tibetan form of justice."
=== March 28 ===
Title: The Catherine Howard Conspiracy
Author: Alexandra Walsh
#1 in the Marquess House trilogy-- timeshift thriller set in England
464 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Whitehall Palace, England, 1539
When Catherine Howard arrives at the court of King Henry VIII to be a maid of honor in the household of the new queen, Anne of Cleves, she has no idea of the fate that awaits her.
Catching the king’s fancy, she finds herself caught up in her uncle’s ambition to get a Howard heir to the throne.
Terrified by the aging king after the fate that befell her cousin, Anne Boleyn, Catherine begins to fear for her life…
Pembrokeshire, Wales, 2018
Dr. Perdita Rivers receives news of the death of her estranged grandmother, renowned Tudor historian Mary Fitzroy.Mary inexplicably cut all contact with Perdita and her twin sister, Piper, but she has left them Marquess House, her vast estate in Pembrokeshire.
Perdita sets out to unravel their grandmother’s motives for abandoning them, and is drawn into the mystery of an ancient document in the archives of Marquess House, a collection of letters and diaries claiming the records of Catherine Howard’s execution were falsified…
What truths are hiding in Marquess House? What really happened to Catherine Howard? And how was Perdita’s grandmother connected to it all?
THE CATHERINE HOWARD CONSPIRACY is the first book in the Marquess House trilogy, a dual timeline conspiracy thriller with an ingenious twist on a well-known period of Tudor history."
oOo
So... how did I do? Did any of my picks make it onto your own Need To Read lists? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!
I really enjoyed The Stranger Diaries and have enjoyed several of earlier books in the Inspector Shanseries, but need to catch up before reading this one. I'm interested in The Wolf and the Watchman and in The Catherine Howard Conspiracy!
ReplyDeleteI need to get caught up with Pattison's series, too. I'm about 2/3 through The Wolf and the Watchman, and it's going to be interesting to see how everything comes together. His depiction of 18th-century Stockholm certainly has been an olfactory experience!
DeleteBoy, some good titles as always.The Ancestry Detective sounds intriguing!
ReplyDeleteIt does, doesn't it? :-)
Delete