Wednesday, June 26, 2019

July 2019 New Mystery Releases!


I don't know where June went. I think it flew by while Denis and I were enjoying ourselves down in Ramsey Canyon. Of course, I've also been keeping myself happily occupied by knitting. Not only have I finished one afghan, but I'm also over halfway done with a second-- and they're going to loved ones living thousands of miles apart.

It's also the time of year when we have visitors from other climes-- like hooded orioles. So far, I've only seen the female, but I know the male is around here somewhere. They always travel as a couple.

But-- you know me-- no matter how occupied I am with other things, I always find time to keep an eye peeled for new crime fiction. The following are my picks for the best new crime fiction being released throughout the month of July. They are grouped by release date, and the book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Let's see if any of the titles I've chosen tickle your fancy!


=== July 1 ===


Title: The Leaden Heart
Author: Chris Nickson
Series: #7 in the Tom Harper historical series set in 1890s Leeds, England.
224 pages

Synopsis: "Leeds, England. July 1899. The hot summer has been fairly quiet for Detective Superintendent Tom Harper and his squad until a daring burglary occurs at an expensive Leeds address. Then his friend and former colleague, Inspector Billy Reed, asks for his help. Billy’s brother, Charlie, a shopkeeper, has committed suicide. Going through Charlie’s papers, Billy discovers crippling rent rises demanded by his new landlord. Could these have driven him to his death?


As Harper investigates, he uncovers a web of intimidation and corruption that leads back to the mysterious North Leeds Company. Who is pulling the strings behind the scenes and bringing a new kind of misery and violence to the people of Leeds? Harper is determined to unmask the culprits, but how much blood will be shed as he tries?


=== July 2 ===


Title: Almost Midnight
Author: Paul Doiron
Series: #10 in the Mike Bowditch game warden series set in Maine.
320 pages

Synopsis: "While on vacation, Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch receives a strange summons from Billy Cronk, one of his oldest friends and a man he had to reluctantly put behind bars for murder. Billy wants him to investigate a new female prison guard with a mysterious past, and Mike feels honor-bound to help his friend. But when the guard becomes the victim in a brutal attack at the prison, he realizes there may be a darker cover-up at play―and that Billy and his family might be at risk.

Then Mike receives a second call for help, this time from a distant mountain valley where Shadow, a wolf-hybrid he once cared for, has been found shot by an arrow and clinging to life. He searches for the identity of the bowman, but his investigation is blocked at every turn by the increasingly hostile community. And when Billy’s wife and children are threatened, Mike finds himself tested like never before. How can he possibly keep the family safe when he has enemies of his own on his trail?

Torn between loyalties, Mike Bowditch must respond in the only way he knows how: by bending every law and breaking every rule to keep his loved ones safe and the true predators at bay."


Title: Under the Cold Bright Lights
Author: Garry Disher
Standalone police procedural set in south Australia.
313 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "The young detectives think Alan Auhl is washed up, but that doesn’t faze him. He does things his own way—and gets results.

He still lives with his ex-wife, off and on, in a big house full of random boarders and hard-luck stories. And he’s still a cop, even though he retired from Homicide some years ago.

He works cold cases now. Like the death of John Elphick—his daughters are still convinced he was murdered; the coroner is not so sure. Or the skeleton that’s just been found under a concrete slab. Or the doctor who killed two wives and a girlfriend, and left no evidence at all.

Auhl will stick with these cases until justice is done. One way or another.


Title: Heart of Barkness
Author: Spencer Quinn
Series: #9 in the Chet and Bernie P.I. series set in Arizona.
304 pages

Synopsis: "Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe) and P.I. Bernie encounter heartache and much worse in the world of country music. They’re both music lovers, so when Lotty Pilgrim, a country singer from long ago, turns up at a local bar, they drive out to catch her act. Bernie’s surprised to see someone who was once so big performing in such a dive, and drops a C-note the Little Detective Agency can’t afford to part with into the tip jar. The C-note is stolen right from under their noses – even from under Chet’s, the nose that misses nothing – and before the night is over, it’s stolen again. 

Soon they’re working the most puzzling case of their career, a case that takes them back in time in search of old border-town secrets, and into present-day danger where powerful people want those secrets to stay hidden. Chet and Bernie find themselves sucked into a real-life murder ballad where there is no one to trust but each other."


=== July 9 ===


Title: Killing with Confetti
Author: Peter Lovesey
Series: #18 in the Peter Diamond police procedural series set in Bath, England.
336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "As a New Year begins in Bath, Ben Brace proposes to his long-term girlfriend, Caroline, the daughter of notorious crime baron Joe Irving, who is coming to the end of a prison sentence. The problem is that Ben’s father, George, is the Deputy Chief Constable. A more uncomfortable set of in-laws would be hard to imagine. But mothers and sons are a formidable force: a wedding in the Abbey and reception in the Roman Baths are arranged before the career-obsessed DCC can step in.

Peter Diamond, Bath’s head of CID, is appalled to be put in charge of security on the day. Ordered to be discreet, he packs a gun and a guest list in his best suit and must somehow cope with potential killers, gang rivals, warring parents, bossy photographers, and straying bridesmaids. The laid-back Joe Irving seems oblivious to the danger he is in from rival gang leaders, while Brace can’t wait for the day to end. Will the photo session be a literal shoot? Will Joe Irving’s speech as the father of the bride be his last words? Can Diamond pull off a miracle, avert a tragedy and send the happy couple on their honeymoon?
"


=== July 11 ===


Title: No Fixed Line
Author: Dana Stabenow
Series: #22 in the Kate Shugak P.I. series set in Alaska.
336 pages

Synopsis: "It is New Year’s Eve, nearly six weeks into an off-and-on blizzard that has locked Alaska down, effectively cutting it off from the outside world. But now there are reports of a plane down in the Quilak mountains. With the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board—responsible for investigating aviation incidents) unable to reach the crash site, ex-Trooper Jim Chopin is pulled out of retirement to try to identify the aircraft, collect the corpses, and determine why no flight has been reported missing. But Jim discovers survivors: two children who don’t speak a word of English. Meanwhile, PI Kate Shugak receives an unexpected and unwelcome accusation from beyond the grave, a charge that could change the face of the Park forever.


=== July 16 ===


Title: Cliff Hanger
Author: Mary Feliz
Series: #5 in the Maggie McDonald cozy series set in northern California.
226 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Maggie has her work cut out for her helping Renée Alvarez organize her property management office. Though the condominium complex boasts a prime location on the shores of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, aging buildings and the high-maintenance tenants have Renée run ragged. But Maggie’s efforts are complicated when her sons attempt to rescue a badly injured man who crashed his ultra-light on the coastal cliffs.

Despite their efforts to save him, the man dies. Maggie's family members become the prime suspects in a murder investigation and the target of a lawsuit. Her instincts say something’s out of place, but solving a murder won’t be easy. Maggie still needs to manage her business, the pushy press, and unwanted interest from criminal elements. Controlling chaos is her specialty, but with this killer’s crime wave, Maggie may be left hanging . . .
"


Title: Shamed
Series: #11 in the Kate Burkholder police procedural series set in Ohio.
304 pages

Synopsis: "The peaceful town of Painters Mill is shattered when an Amish grandmother is brutally murdered on an abandoned farm. When Chief of Police Kate Burkholder arrives on the scene, she learns that the woman’s seven-year-old granddaughter is gone, abducted in plain sight. Kate knows time is against her—the longer the girl is missing, the less likely her safe return becomes. The girl’s family is a pillar of the Amish community, well-respected by all. But Kate soon realizes they’re keeping secrets—and the sins of their past may be coming back to haunt them. What are they hiding and why?

Kate’s investigation brings her to an isolated Old Order Amish settlement along the river, a community where family is everything and tradition is upheld with an iron fist. But the killer is close behind, drawing more victims into a twisted game of revenge. Left behind at each new crime scene are cryptic notes that lead Kate to a haunting and tragic secret. What she uncovers threatens to change everything she thought she knew about the family she’s fighting for, the Amish community as a whole—and her own beliefs.

As time to find the missing girl runs out, Kate faces a harrowing choice that will test her convictions and leave one family forever changed."


Title: The Other Mrs. Miller
Standalone, Domestic Thriller
352 pages

Synopsis: "Phoebe Miller isn't sure when the rusty car started showing up in the cul-de-sac she calls home, or why its driver would be spying on her. What could be interesting about an unhappy housewife who drowns her sorrows in ice cream and wine and barely leaves her house?

When a new family moves in across the street--the exuberant Vicki, who just might become the gossipy best friend Phoebe's always wanted, and her handsome college-bound son, Jake, who offers companionship of a different variety--Phoebe finds her dull routine infused with the excitement she's been missing. But with her head turned she's no longer focused on the woman in the car. And she really should be...
"


=== July 30 ===


Title: Let's Fake a Deal
Author: Sherry Harris
Series: #7 in the Sarah W. Garage Sale cozy series set in Massachusetts.
304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "As a former military spouse, Sarah Winston’s learned a little about organizing, packing, and moving. Her latest project sounds promising: a couple of tech-industry hipsters, newly arrived in her Massachusetts town, who need to downsize. Unfortunately, when Sarah tries to sell their stuff, she discovers it’s all stolen—and she’s the unwitting fence.

Michelle, an old friend of Sarah’s from the Air Force base, is in line for a promotion—but not everyone is happy about it, and she’s been hit with an anonymous discrimination complaint. When one of the men she suspects is behind the accusations turns up dead in Michelle’s car, Sarah needs to clear Michelle’s name—as well as her own for selling hot merchandise. And she’ll have to do it while also organizing a cat lady’s gigantic collection of feline memorabilia, or they’ll be making room for Sarah in a jail cell . . . 
"


Title: Needled to Death
Author: Annelise Ryan
Series: #1 in the Helping Hands cozy series set in Wisconsin.
336 pages

Synopsis: "As a colleague of deputy coroner Mattie Winston, social worker Clothilde “Hildy” Schneider is no stranger to unsolved murders at Sorenson General Hospital. Except this time, it’s up to her to crack the case . . .

Motivated by her own difficult past, Hildy has an unparalleled commitment to supporting troubled clients through grief and addiction in Sorenson, Wisconsin. But when a distraught group therapy member reveals disturbing details about her late son’s potential murder, Hildy goes from dedicated mental health professional to in-over-her-head amateur sleuth . . .

Alongside her loyal therapy Golden Retriever, Hildy stumbles through incriminating clues—and an unlikely partnership with Detective Bob Richmond, the irresistibly headstrong cop who shares her passion for helping others. With signs of foul play surfacing all over town, can Hildy and Detective Richmond pinpoint the deadly traits of a sharp-witted killer before another seat gets filled at grief therapy?


There's some pretty good reading material coming up in July, isn't there? Hopefully, I've helped you add a title or two to your own wishlists. Have a happy reading summer!



11 comments:

  1. Oooh, lots of good 'uns this time, Cathy. Hmm....Disher, Lovesey, Castillo...yup, much temptation there!

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    1. So far, I can testify that Disher's is very good!

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  2. The Leaden Heart sounds interesting, and I like historical mysteries. Cold Bright Lights also appeals for the Australian setting. And there looks like a nice assortment of canine companions. :)

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    1. Disher's book is very good, and I have a friend who loves Nickson's series.

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  3. I'm always excited about a new Linda Castillo book. Every summer (so far), it's a fun time. Did not know that there would be a new Kate Shugak book (when I looked at Amazon, it said Jan-2020), but maybe it's coming out elsewhere first?. I'm down the rabbit hole with Lena Jones right now, but as I've missed a few Kate books, I might just take a virtual trip to Alaska in upcoming months. I know there are a lot of books, but....you know what I mean.

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    1. Yes, even this non-re-reader knows what you mean!

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  4. I can't believe it's the tenth Mike Bowditch book! I have come to really like the Maggie McDonald books too. And June did go by quickly!

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    1. Time flies when there are so many good books to read!

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  5. Garry Disher's stand-alones are always good.

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  6. Excellent. More books on the TBR list (sigh).

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