We've been enjoying a very unusual cool (and rather damp) May here in the Sonoran Desert. Our normal high temperature for May 22 is 97° but instead, we suffered through a 77° day and got some rain at about 3 AM. Don't get me wrong-- I am enjoying this, but the overcast skies and lower temperatures do have consequences. What consequences, you ask? It's taking my pool water longer to warm up. I have three damaged joints that mean I just can't do a polar bear read in the pool.
Ah well. I'll read on dry land and look for new books to add to my list. Here are my picks for the best new crime fiction being released throughout the month of June. I've grouped them according to release date, and covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. I hope I've included a title or two that tickles your fancy. Let's take a look!
=== June 1 ===
Title: One Small Sacrifice
#1 in the Shadows of New York police procedural series.
366 pages
Synopsis: "NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has had her eye on Alex Traynor ever since his friend Cori fell to her death under suspicious circumstances a year ago. Cori’s death was ruled a suicide, but Sheryn thinks Alex—a wartime photojournalist suffering from PTSD—got away with murder.
When Alex’s fiancée, Emily, a talented and beloved local doctor, suddenly goes missing, Sheryn suspects that Alex is again at the center of a sticky case. Sheryn dislikes loose ends, and Cori’s death had way too many of them.
But as Sheryn starts pulling at the threads in this web, her whole theory unravels. Everyone involved remembers the night Cori died differently—and the truth about her death could be the key to solving Emily’s disappearance."
=== June 2 ===
Title: The Elizabeth Tudor Conspiracy
#2 in the Marquess House trilogy
399 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Nonsuch Palace, England, 1586
Elizabeth I has been queen for 28 years. She has survived hundreds of plots against her but now she faces the revelation of a secret she thought would remain hidden forever…
Elizabeth is not the last of the Tudor line — there are two more legitimate heirs to her crown.
Her sworn enemy, Philip II, King of Spain, has discovered the secret and thinks he can control the missing princess as his puppet queen.
Can Elizabeth maintain control over her throne? And what happened to the lost Tudor heirs?
Castle Jerusalem, Andorra, 2018
Dr. Perdita Rivers and her twin sister Piper are safely hidden in Andorra.
Despite their narrow escape from those pursuing them, Perdita is determined to continue her grandmother’s legacy by uncovering her ground-breaking research into the English royal bloodline.
But she soon realizes that nothing about the Tudor era was as it seemed. And now the national identity of Great Britain must be called into question.
With their enemies still tracking them and the lives of those they love in deadly risk, Perdita and Piper must succeed in exposing the secrets of history or there is no hope of them escaping alive...
THE ELIZABETH TUDOR CONSPIRACY is the second book in the Marquess House trilogy, a dual timeline conspiracy thriller with an ingenious twist on a well-known period of Tudor history."
=== June 4 ===
Title: The Right Sort of Man
Author: Allison Montclair
#1 in the Right Sort Marriage Bureau historical series set in post-World War II London, England.
325 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair—The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world.
But the promising start to their marriage bureau is threatened when their newest client, Tillie La Salle, is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is the prospective husband they matched her with. While the police are convinced they have their man, Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge are not. To clear his name—and to rescue their fledgling operation’s reputation—Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own, using the skills and contacts they’ve each acquired through life and their individual adventures during the recent war.
Little do they know that this will put their very lives at risk."
Title: The Book Supremacy
#13 in the Bibliophile cozy series set in Paris and San Francisco
332 pages
Synopsis: "Newlyweds Brooklyn and Derek are enjoying the final days of their honeymoon in Paris. As they're browsing the book stalls along the Seine, Brooklyn finds the perfect gift for Derek, a first edition James Bond novel, The Spy Who Loved Me. When they bump into Ned, an old friend from Derek’s spy days, Brooklyn shows him her latest treasure.
Once they're back home in San Francisco, they visit a spy shop Ned mentioned. The owner begs them to let him display the book Brooklyn found in Paris as part of the shop's first-anniversary celebration. Before they agree, Derek makes sure the security is up to snuff—turns out, the unassuming book is worth a great deal more than sentimental value.
Soon after, Derek is dismayed when he receives a mysterious letter from Paris announcing Ned’s death. Then late one night, someone is killed inside the spy shop. Are the murders connected to Brooklyn's rare, pricey book? Is there something even more sinister afoot? Brooklyn and the spy who loves her will have to delve into the darkest parts of Derek's past to unmask an enemy who's been waiting for the chance to destroy everything they hold dear."
Title: We Were Killers Once
#4 in the Brigid Quinn law thriller series set in Arizona.
312 pages
Synopsis: "
In 1959, a family of four were brutally murdered in Holcomb, Kansas. Perry Smith and Dick Hickok were convicted and executed for the crime, and the murders and their investigation and solution became the subject of Truman Capote's masterpiece, In Cold Blood. But what if there was a third killer, who remained unknown? What if there was another family, also murdered, who crossed paths with this band of killers, though their murder remains unsolved? And what if Dick Hickok left a written confession, explaining everything?
Retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn and her husband Carlo, a former priest and university professor, are trying to enjoy each other in this new stage in their lives. But a memento from Carlo's days as a prison chaplain--a handwritten document hidden away undetected in a box of Carlo's old things--has become a target for a man on the run from his past. Jerry Beaufort has just been released from prison after decades behind bars, and though he'd like to get on with living the rest of his life, he knows that somewhere there is a written record of the time he spent with two killers in 1959. Following the path of this letter will bring Jerry into contact with the last person he'll see as a threat: Brigid Quinn.
Becky Masterman's unputdownable thrillers featuring unique heroine Brigid Quinn continue with this fascinating alternative look at one of America's most famous crimes."
Title: The Body in the Castle Well
#12 in the Bruno, Chief of Police procedural series set in France.
337 pages
Synopsis: "When Claudia, a young American, turns up dead in the courtyard of an ancient castle in Bruno's jurisdiction, her death is assumed to be an accident related to opioid use. But her doctor persuades Bruno that things may not be so simple. Thus begins an investigation that leads Bruno to Monsieur de Bourdeille, the scholar with whom the girl had been studying, and then through that man's past. He is a renowned art historian who became extraordinarily wealthy through the sale of paintings that may have been falsely attributed--or so Claudia suggested shortly before her death. In his younger days, Bourdeille had aided the Resistance and been arrested by a Vichy policeman whose own life story also becomes inexorably entangled with the case. Also in the mix is a young falconer who works at the Château des Milandes, the former home of fabled jazz singer Josephine Baker. In the end, of course, Bruno will tie all the loose threads together and see that justice is served--along with a generous helping of his signature Périgordian cuisine."
Title: Beyond All Reasonable Doubt
Author: Malin Persson Giolito
Legal Thriller set in Sweden.
480 pages
Synopsis: "I'm giving you a chance to achieve every lawyer's dream, said Sophia Weber's old professor. Freeing an innocent man.
Thirteen years ago, a fifteen-year-old girl was murdered. Doctor Stig Ahlin was sentenced to life in prison. But no one has forgotten the brutal crime. Ahlin is known as one of the most ruthless criminals.
When Sophia Weber discovers critical flaws in the murder investigation, she decides to help Ahlin. But Sophia doing her utmost to get her client exonerated arouses many people's disgust. And the more she learns, the more difficult her job becomes. What kind of man is her client really? What has he done? And will she ever know the truth?"
=== June 10 ===
Title: Deep Waters: Mysteries on the Waves
Edited by Martin Edwards
Anthology of crime fiction short stories with various settings that involve water.
368 pages
Synopsis: "The stories in this collection will dredge up delight in crime fiction fans, as watery graves claim unsuspecting victims on the sands of an estuary and disembodied whispers penetrate the sleeping quarters of a ship's captain. How might a thief plot their escape from a floating crime scene? And what is to follow when murder victims, lost to the ocean floor, inevitably resurface?
This British Library anthology collects the best mysteries set on choppy seas, along snaking rivers and even in the supposed safety of a swimming pool, including stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, C. S. Forester, Phyllis Bentley, and R. Austin Freeman."
=== June 11 ===
Title: The Darwin Affair
Standalone historical thriller set in England.
382 pages
Synopsis: "London, June 1860: When an assassination attempt is made on Queen Victoria, and a petty thief is gruesomely murdered moments later—and only a block away—Chief Detective Inspector Charles Field quickly surmises that these crimes are connected to an even more sinister plot. Was Victoria really the assassin’s target? Are those closest to the Crown hiding something? And who is the shadowy figure witnesses describe as having lifeless, coal-black eyes?
Soon, Field’s investigation exposes a shocking conspiracy in which the publication of Charles Darwin’s controversial On the Origin of Species sets off a string of murders, arson, kidnapping, and the pursuit of a madman named the Chorister. As the investigation takes Field from the dangerous alleyways of London to the hallowed halls of Oxford, the list of possible conspirators grows, and the body count escalates. And as he edges closer to the Chorister, he uncovers dark secrets that were meant to remain forever hidden.
Tim Mason has created a rousing page-turner that both Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would relish and envy."
=== June 18 ===
Title: Died in the Wool
#4 in the Whisky Business cozy series set in Scotland.
300 pages
Synopsis: "Photojournalist Abi Logan is finally ready to put her hectic career on hold and set down roots in the heart of the Scottish countryside. Studying the business and art of distilling whisky at Abbey Glen and volunteering at the Shepherd’s Rest women’s shelter in her spare time seems a surefire way to find the peace and stability she craves. It’s also the logical way to take her mind off her personal life. Abi’s business partner, Grant MacEwan, is facing a career-threatening disability, and as much as Abi longs to be there for him, he seems to prefer the company of a rival.
But as Abi becomes more involved with Shepherd’s Rest, she discovers that their refuge is elusive. When the shelter is rocked by a murder/suicide, Abi is outraged by the police’s lack of attention to these already marginalized women. Increasingly confident in her own skills as an investigator, Abi steps in to find out what the police will not: who left one young woman dead and another missing. But when more deadly deeds come to light, Abi must race to unravel the connections between the shelter’s benefactors and the women they have pledged to protect—and expose the killer before he strikes again."
Title: Conviction
Standalone thriller set in Scotland.
384 pages
Synopsis: "The day Anna McDonald's quiet, respectable life explodes starts off like all the days before: Packing up the kids for school, making breakfast, listening to yet another true crime podcast. Then her husband comes downstairs with an announcement, and Anna is suddenly, shockingly alone.
Reeling, desperate for distraction, Anna returns to the podcast. Other people's problems are much better than one's own -- a sunken yacht, a murdered family, a hint of an international conspiracy. But this case actually is Anna's problem. She knows one of the victims from an earlier life, a life she's taken great pains to leave behind. And she is convinced that she knows what really happened.
Then an unexpected visitor arrives on her front stoop, a meddling neighbor intervenes, and life as Anna knows it is well and truly over. The devils of her past are awakened -- and in hot pursuit. Convinced she has no other options, she goes on the run, and in pursuit of the truth, with a washed-up musician at her side and the podcast as her guide."
=== June 25 ===
Title: Clause & Effect
#2 in the Deadly Edits cozy series set in upper New York state.
288 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Nestled in the picturesque Catskills, the village of Lenape Hollow
prepares to celebrate the 225th anniversary of its founding. Freelance
book editor Mikki Lincoln has been drafted to update and correct the
script, left over from the town's bicentennial, which is housed at the
historical society.
The building is being renovated for the
first time since that last celebration. But when construction reveals a
shocking discovery—human remains walled up in a fireplace—Mikki shifts
focus from cold-reading to solving a cold case.
Just as her
investigation seems to have hit a brick wall, a new murder rattles the
townspeople. Clearly, someone is hiding a few skeletons in the closet.
Now Mikki will need to go off script to make a connection between the
bicentennial bones and the current homicide. But if this book editor
isn't careful, she may be the next one sentenced to death . . ."
Title: Big Sky
#5 in the Jackson Brodie P.I. series set in Scotland.
400 pages
Synopsis: "Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, in the
occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an aging
Labrador, both at the discretion of his ex-partner Julia. It's
picturesque, but there's something darker lurking behind the scenes.
Jackson's
current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his
suspicious wife, is fairly standard-issue, but a chance encounter with a
desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister
network-and back across the path of his old friend Reggie. Old secrets
and new lies intersect in this breathtaking novel by one of the most
dazzling and surprising writers at work today."
There you go-- my picks for the best new crime fiction in June! How many did you add to your own wishlists? Inquiring minds would love to know!
