Tuesday, July 26, 2022

August 2022 New Mystery Releases!

 
It's been a busy but rather lonely summer here at Casa Kittling, and I sincerely hope that Denis will be home by the time this posts. The poor man's been gone so long that i might find it strange to have another soul in the house with me-- but I'm sure I'll adjust within a blink or two. (It's going to take me awhile to stop wanting to hug the stuffing out of him!)
 
What have I been doing besides putting together flat-pack furniture, clearing out rooms, cleaning, and knitting so much that I'm wearing out my needles? Why, keeping an eye peeled for new crime fiction to read, of course! 
 
Boy howdy, August has a bumper crop of prime reading, and it was extremely difficult to keep any sort of control over the length of my list of choices.
 
The ones that made the cut are grouped according to their release dates. Their covers and synopses are courtesy of my favorite showroom, Amazon. Now it's time to shut up and show you the list...
 
 
=== August 1 ===
 
 
Title: Tahoe Moon
Author: Todd Borg
Series: #20 in the Owen McKenna P.I. series set in Lake Tahoe.
396 pages
 
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
 
Synopsis: "Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna is heading to a meeting when he finds a lost, deaf girl. McKenna learns that the girl, Camille Dexter, is 8 years old. Her grandfather, Charlie Dexter, left her to wait for him, but he has disappeared.

McKenna calls Sergeant Jack Santiago. They discover Dexter's body crushed by a recently-cut tree. The cause of death appears to be suicide. But as McKenna investigates, the details don't make sense, and he learns of other apparent suicides that are suspicious.

McKenna's girlfriend Street Casey is driving with Camille Dexter when someone runs them off a steep mountain road. They miraculously survive.

When McKenna finds a common thread to all the deaths, that connection leads to the girl, the only person in the group who's still alive. McKenna thinks he knows the killer's identity, the meanest, most twisted man he's ever met. But before McKenna can find him, the man kidnaps Camille...


=== August 2 ===


Title: Shutter
Author: Ramona Emerson
Standalone thriller with a strong supernatural element.
312 pages
 
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
 
Synopsis: "Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. 

As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law.
 
And now it might be what gets her killed.

When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim—who insists she was murdered—latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque’s most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose,
Shutter is an explosive debut from one of crime fiction's most powerful new voices.
 
 
=== August 4 ===
 
 
Title: The Way It Is Now
Author: Garry Disher
Standalone thriller set in Australia.
384 pages
 
*UK Release
 
Synopsis: "Twenty years ago, Charlie Deravin's mother went missing, believed murdered. Her body has never been found, and his father has lived under a cloud of suspicion ever since.

Now Charlie has returned to the coastal town where his mother vanished, on disciplinary leave from his job with the police sex-crimes unit, and permanent leave from his marriage. After two decades worrying away at the mystery of his mother's disappearance, he's run out of leads.

Then the skeletal remains of two people are found in the excavation of a new building site... and the past comes crashing in on Charlie.
"
 
 
Title: Serpent's Point
Author: Kate Ellis
Series: #26 in the D.I. Wesley Peterson police procedural series set in England
368 pages
 
*UK Release
 
Synopsis: "Serpent's Point in South Devon is the focus of local legends. The large house on the headland is shrouded in an ancient tale of evil, and when a woman is found strangled on the coastal path DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate.

The woman had been house-sitting at Serpent's Point and Wesley is surprised to discover that she was conducting an investigation into unsolved missing persons cases. Could these enquires have led to her murder?

While the case takes Wesley to Yorkshire and the Cotswolds, archaeologist Neil Watson is making a dramatic discovery of his own in the fields near the house.

When a skeleton is uncovered, the pressure rises to find a killer, and Wesley and Neil realise that Serpent's Point holds more secrets than anyone could have imagined.
"
 
 
Title: The Bookseller of Inverness
Author: S.G. MacLean
Historical standalone thriller set in 18th-century Scotland
416 pages
 
*UK Release
 
Synopsis: "After Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drumossie Moor. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades.

Six years later, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands subsumed into the British state, Iain lives a quiet life, working as a bookseller in Inverness. One day, after helping several of his regular customers, he notices a stranger lurking in the upper gallery of his shop, poring over his collection. But the man refuses to say what he's searching for and only leaves when Iain closes for the night.

The next morning Iain opens up shop and finds the stranger dead, his throat cut, and the murder weapon laid out in front of him - a sword with a white cockade on its hilt, the emblem of the Jacobites. With no sign of the killer, Iain wonders whether the stranger discovered what he was looking for - and whether he paid for it with his life. He soon finds himself embroiled in a web of deceit and a series of old scores to be settled in the ashes of war.


=== August 9 ===


Title: Bark to the Future
Series: #13 in the Chet and Bernie series set in Arizona.
320 pages
 
Synopsis: "When Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe), and his human partner, PI Bernie Little, are approached by a down-and-out older man with a cardboard sign at an exit ramp, Bernie is shocked to discover the man is a former teammate from his high school baseball team. Chet and Bernie take Rocket out for a good meal, and later, Bernie investigates Rocket’s past, trying to figure out what exactly went wrong.

Then, Rocket goes suspiciously missing. With his former teammate likely in danger, Bernie goes back to his old high school for answers, where much that he remembers turns out not to be true―and there are powerful and dangerous people not happy with the questions Bernie is asking.

Bernie soon learns that he misunderstood much about his high school years – and now, Chet and Bernie are plunged into a dangerous case where the past isn’t dead and the future could be fatal.
 
 
Title: To Kill a Troubadour
Series: #15 in the Bruno Chief of Police series set in France.
320 pages
 
Synopsis: "Les Troubadours, a folk music group that Bruno has long supported, go viral with their new number, “Song for Catalonia,” when the Spanish government suddenly bans the song. The songwriter, Joel Martin, is a local enthusiast for the old Occitan language of Périgord and the medieval troubadours, and he sympathizes with the Catalan bid for independence. The success of his song provokes outrage among extreme Spanish nationalists. Then, in a stolen car found on a Périgord back road, police discover a distinctive bullet for a state-of-the-art sniper's rifle that can kill at three kilometers, and they fear that Joel might be the intended target. 
 
The French and Spanish governments agree to mount a joint operation to stop the assailants, and Bruno is the local man on the spot who mobilizes his resources to track them down. While Bruno tries to keep the peace, his friend Florence reaches out for help. Her abusive ex-husband is about to be paroled from prison and she fears he will return to reclaim their children. Will Bruno and Florence be able to prevent this unwanted visit? Despite the pressures, there is always time for Bruno to savor
les plaisirs of the Dordogne around the table with friends.


=== August 16 ===


Title: Bride Price
Author: Barbara Nadel
Series: #24 in the Çetin Ikmen police procedural series set in Istanbul, Turkey.
400 pages
 
Synopsis: "When jeweller Fahrettin Muftugolu is found dead in his apartment in the Istanbul district of Vefa, it looks like suicide. Searching the jeweller's home, Inspector Mehmet Suleyman and his team come across a hoard of extraordinary artefacts including solid gold religious relics and a mummified human head. But are they real and, if so, who owns these priceless possessions?

As his colleagues begin their investigation, Suleyman is distracted by troubles of his own. His wedding to Gonca Serekoglu is days away, but when Gonca receives her bridal bedcover from a Roma haberdasher and discovers that it is covered in blood, she sees this as a curse on their marriage. Suleyman asks his old friend Cetin Ikmen to help him uncover the truth, but the task is not that simple...

Meanwhile, as the stories swirling around Muftugolu become increasingly sinister, the dead man's wife appears, laying claim to his valuables, and Suleyman is drawn into a dark and dangerous world of smuggling and savagery . . .
"
 
 
=== August 18 ===
 
 
Title: The Lost Man of Bombay
Author: Vaseem Khan
Series: #3 in the Persis Wadia historical police procedural series set in 1950s Bombay, India.
352 pages
 
Synopsis: "Bombay, 1950
When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media.
Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed?

As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case in Bombay, they uncover a trail left behind by the enigmatic Ice Man - a trail leading directly into the dark heart of conspiracy.

Meanwhile, two new murders grip the city. Is there a serial killer on the loose, targeting Europeans?

Rich in atmosphere, the thrilling third chapter in the CWA Historical Dagger-winning
Malabar House
series pits Persis against a mystery from beyond the grave, unfolding against the backdrop of a turbulent post-colonial India, a nation struggling to redefine itself in the shadow of the Raj."
 
 
Title: 1989
Author: Val McDermid
Series: #2 in the Allie Burns historical series set in Glasgow, Scotland.
432 pages
 
*UK Release
 
Synopsis: "1989. The world is changing, and Allie Burns is still on the front line, covering the stories that count.

Although Allie is no longer an investigative journalist, her instincts are sharper than ever. When she discovers a lead about the exploitation of society's most vulnerable, Allie is determined to give a voice to those who have been silenced.

As Allie edges closer to exposing the truth, she travels behind the Iron Curtain, to East Berlin on the brink of revolution. The dark heart of the story is more shocking than she ever imagined. And to tell it, Allie must risk her freedom and her life . . .


Title: The Red Notebook
Author: Michel Bussi
Standalone thriller set in France.
448 pages
 
*UK Release
 
Synopsis: "Leyli Maal is a beautiful Malian woman, mother of three, living in a tiny apartment on the outskirts of Marseille.

Her quiet life as a well-integrated immigrant is suddenly shaken when her beautiful eldest daughter, Bamby, becomes the main suspect in two murders linked to a lethal illegal immigration racket.

Is Bamby really involved? And why is everyone desperate to get their hands on Leyli's mysterious red notebook?


=== August 23 ===


Title: What She Found
Series: #9 in the Tracy Crosswhite police procedural series set in Washington.
367 pages
 
Synopsis: "Detective Tracy Crosswhite has agreed to look into the disappearance of investigative reporter Lisa Childress. Solving the cold case is an obsession for Lisa’s daughter, Anita. So is clearing the name of her father, a prime suspect who became a pariah. After twenty-five years, all Anita wants is the truth―no matter where it leads.

For Tracy, that means reopening the potentially explosive investigations Lisa was following on the dark night she vanished: an exposé of likely mayoral graft; the shocking rumors of a reserved city councilman’s criminal sex life; a drug task force scandal compromising the Seattle PD; and an elusive serial killer who disappeared just as mysteriously as Lisa.

As all the pieces come together, it becomes clear that Tracy is in the midst of a case that will push her loyalties and her resilience to the limit. What she uncovers will come with a greater price than anyone feared.
 
 
=== August 30 ===
 
 
Title: Bad Day Breaking
Series: #4 in the Heidi Kick police procedural series set in Bad Axe County, Wisconsin.
336 pages
 
Synopsis: "A strange religious sect has arrived in Bad Axe County, Wisconsin. Armed with guns, an enigmatic spiritual leader and his followers set up their compound in an abandoned storage lot. It’s not long before rumors start to spread of sadistic rituals and a planned takeover of the local government. But when one of the followers is found dead in the river, that’s when full-on panic sets in.

Sheriff Heidi Kick may not be a fan of the new group, but she is also dismayed by the hostile reaction of the Bad Axe community. With a murder investigation on her hands, the situation becomes more complicated when Sheriff Kick finds out an ex-boyfriend from her youth is out on parole early and looking to hunt her down. With a tumultuous snowstorm on the horizon, the cult members are on the verge of freezing, Bad Axe is on the edge of violence, and Sheriff Kick is just one false step away from losing her family, her town, and her very life.

By a writer at the height of his powers,
Bad Day Breaking is a thrilling mystery that explores the price paid for following false leaders and the power we each have to triumph over trauma.
"
 
 
There are so many of my favorite authors in this list that I don't know where to start first! And may I just say that (Arizona lover that I am) I love the cover of Bark to the Future! Weathered sandstone always reminds me of some of my favorite places in the world that are right up in northern Arizona. (Wupatki, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, Lake Powell, Sedona...)

What about you? Does my list include any books that tickle your fancy? Which ones? You know inquiring minds would love to know! 

15 comments:

  1. Oh, my, Cathy! Way too many fantastic books coming out for my poor budget!! I'm drawn in by the Walker, the MacLean, the Quinn, the Ellis, the Disher... August sure has a bumper crop of good 'uns!

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  2. August does seem to be a bonanza month for those of us who love reading mysteries. I see a number of titles here that interest me and I sense my TBR list is going to grow accordingly.

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    1. When the subject is books, I have to admit that I like being an enabler. ;-)

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  3. I can see that there are a big bunch of your favorite authors here, Cathy! Yay! That will be fun for you. I do have a couple on my list - the new Robert Dugoni and I'm already #1 on the hold list at my library for Shutter. That one caught my eye several weeks ago. Enjoy!

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    1. I'm just about to write my review of Shutter.

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  4. So many of these new releases look so good! I'm adding to my TBR list as I type. ;D And Bark to the Future totally made me laugh out loud! What a great cover and title.

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    1. The Chet & Bernie books are such a treat. :-)

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  5. Oh my. I'm getting a case of the vapors and have to lay down to contemplate all the books I am adding to the lists and all I want to read soon. August is Reading Month in my life, and I'm taking it.

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    Replies
    1. I have some smelling salts here in case you need them... ;-)

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    2. I would take you up on it, if it I lived in Phoenix.

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  6. Oh my! There are lots of good new releases in August. I like the sound of the Bookseller of Inverness.

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    1. I'm looking forward to reading it so I can see if any of the places mentioned are familiar to me. If I won an obscene amount of money in the lottery, I'd have a home in the Highlands within reach of Inverness. Wonderful shopping and a fantastic bookshop, AND a castle and so many other historical places to visit!

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  7. I'd like one of everything, please 🙂

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  8. The Bookseller of Inverness is the one I would like to read very much. Thank you for the links.

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Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!