It's the time of year when I try to get all the housecleaning and reorganizing done so I can ignore it during the summer. (Domestic goddess I'm not.) I have to keep plenty of oranges in stock so all the baby birds will be well fed, and I have to trim a few shrubs as well. But that doesn't mean that I forget to look for new and interesting books to read each month. Got to keep that wish list updated, don't you know!
Here are my picks of the new crime fiction being released in May. They're sorted by release date, and I've included all the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite "book procurement" sites. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Happy Reading!
=== May 5 ===
News of the murder soon reaches our heroine Kat Stanford's nemesis Trudy Wynne. A ruthless tabloid journalist and the ex-wife of Kat's discarded lover, Trudy is out for revenge. She is also interested in exposing--and humiliating--Kat's mother Iris, who is secretly the international bestselling romance writer Krystalle Storm.
As the body count begins to build, Kat becomes inextricably embroiled in the ensuing scandal. Is the minister's death the result of a local vendetta, or could it be connected to her mother's unusual (to say the least) past?"
When another child goes missing, and then a third, it's no longer possible to believe that their deaths were accidental, and the villagers must admit that there is a murderer among them. Even Catrin Quinn, a damaged woman living a reclusive life after the accidental deaths of her own two sons a few years ago, gets involved in the searches and the speculation.
And suddenly, in this wild and beautiful place that generations have called home, no one feels safe and the hysteria begins to rise.
But three islanders--Catrin, her childhood best friend, Rachel, and her ex-lover Callum--are hiding terrible secrets. And they have two things in common: all three of them are grieving, and none of them trust anyone, not even themselves."
Title: Thin Air
Author: Ann Cleeves
Series: #6 in the Shetland Island police procedural series
ISBN: 9781250069948
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 400 pages
Synopsis: "A group of old university friends leave the bright lights of London
and travel to Shetland to celebrate the marriage of one of their
friends. But, one of them, Eleanor, disappears--apparently into thin
air. It's mid-summer, a time of light nights and unexpected mists. And
then Eleanor's body is discovered lying in a small loch close to the
cliff edge.
Detectives Jimmy Perez and Willow Reeves are
dispatched to investigate. Before she went missing, Eleanor claimed to
have seen the ghost of a local child who drowned in the 1920s. Her
interest in the ghost had seemed unhealthy--obsessive, even--to her
friends: an indication of a troubled mind. But Jimmy and Willow are
convinced that there is more to Eleanor's death than they first thought.
Is there a secret that lies behind the myth? One so shocking that someone would kill--many years later--to protect?"
Is there a secret that lies behind the myth? One so shocking that someone would kill--many years later--to protect?"
Title: Rock With Wings
Author: Anne Hillerman
Series: #2 in the Bernadette Manualito police procedural series set on the Navajo nation of Arizona and New Mexico
ISBN: 9780062270511
Publisher: Harper
Hardcover, 336 pages
Synopsis: "Doing a good deed for a relative offers the perfect opportunity for
Sergeant Jim Chee and his wife, Officer Bernie Manuelito, to get away
from the daily grind of police work. But two cases will call them back
from their short vacation and separate them—one near Shiprock, and the
other at iconic Monument Valley.
Chee follows a series of
seemingly random and cryptic clues that lead to a missing woman, a
coldblooded thug, and a mysterious mound of dirt and rocks that could be
a gravesite. Bernie has her hands full managing the fallout from a drug
bust gone wrong, uncovering the origins of a fire in the middle of
nowhere, and looking into an ambitious solar energy development with
long-ranging consequences for Navajo land.
Under the guidance of
their mentor, retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, Bernie and Chee will
navigate unexpected obstacles and confront the greatest challenge yet to
their skills, commitment, and courage."
Title: Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall
Author: Hannah Dennison
Series: #2 in the Honeychurch Hall cozy series set in England
ISBN: 9781250007803
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 304 pages
Synopsis: "When the body of a transport minister is discovered in the grounds on
Honeychurch Hall, suspicion about his unusual demise naturally falls on
the folks in the village. After all, who could possibly want a
high-speed train line built in their front yard?
News of the murder soon reaches our heroine Kat Stanford's nemesis Trudy Wynne. A ruthless tabloid journalist and the ex-wife of Kat's discarded lover, Trudy is out for revenge. She is also interested in exposing--and humiliating--Kat's mother Iris, who is secretly the international bestselling romance writer Krystalle Storm.
As the body count begins to build, Kat becomes inextricably embroiled in the ensuing scandal. Is the minister's death the result of a local vendetta, or could it be connected to her mother's unusual (to say the least) past?"
Title: See Also Murder
Author: Larry D. Sweazy
Series: #1 in the Marjorie Trumaine historical series set in 1964 North Dakota
ISBN: 9781633880061
Publisher: Seventh Street Books
Paperback, 253 pages
Synopsis: "1964—Life on the North Dakota farm hasn’t always been easy for Marjorie
Trumaine. She has begun working as a professional indexer to help with
the bills—which have only gotten worse since the accident that left her
husband, Hank, blind and paralyzed. When her nearest neighbors are
murdered in their beds, though, Marjorie suddenly has to deal with new
and terrifying problems.
Sheriff Hilo Jenkins brings her a strange amulet, found clutched in the hand of her murdered neighbor, and asks her to quietly find out what it is. Marjorie uses all the skills she has developed as an indexer to research the amulet and look into the murders, but as she closes in on the killer, and people around her continue to die, she realizes that the murderer is also closing in on her."
Sheriff Hilo Jenkins brings her a strange amulet, found clutched in the hand of her murdered neighbor, and asks her to quietly find out what it is. Marjorie uses all the skills she has developed as an indexer to research the amulet and look into the murders, but as she closes in on the killer, and people around her continue to die, she realizes that the murderer is also closing in on her."
=== May 7 ===
Title: Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins
Author: James Runcie
Series: #3 in the Grantchester historical series set in 1960s Cambridgeshire, England
ISBN: 9781408862209
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Hardcover, 416 pages
Synopsis: "The loveable full-time priest and part-time detective, Canon Sidney
Chambers, continues his sleuthing adventures in 1960's Cambridge. On a
snowy Thursday morning in Lent 1964, a stranger seeks sanctuary in
Grantchester's church, convinced he has murdered his wife. Sidney and
his wife Hildegard go for a shooting weekend in the country and find
their hostess has a sinister burn on her neck. Sidney's friend Amanda
receives poison pen letters when at last she appears to be approaching
matrimony. A firm of removal men 'accidentally' drop a Steinway piano on
a musician's head outside a Cambridge college. During a cricket match, a
group of schoolboys blow up their school Science Block. And on a family
holiday in Florence, Sidney is accused of the theft of a priceless
painting. Meanwhile, on the home front, Sidney's new curate Malcolm
seems set to become rather irritatingly popular with the parish; his
baby girl Anna learns to walk and talk; Hildegard longs to get an au
pair and Sidney is offered a promotion. Entertaining, suspenseful,
thoughtful, moving and deeply humane, these six new stories are bound to
delight the clerical detective's many fans."
=== May 12 ===
Title: Dry Bones
Author: Craig Johnson
Series: #11 in the Sheriff Walt Longmire series set in fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming
ISBN: 9780525426936
Publisher: Viking
Hardcover, 320 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "When Jen, the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever
found surfaces in Sherriff Walt Longmire’s jurisdiction, it appears to
be a windfall for the High Plains Dinosaur Museum—until Danny Lone Elk,
the Cheyenne rancher on whose property the remains were discovered,
turns up dead, floating face down in a turtle pond. With millions of
dollars at stake, a number of groups step forward to claim her,
including Danny’s family, the tribe, and the federal government. As
Wyoming’s Acting Deputy Attorney and a cadre of FBI officers descend on
the town, Walt is determined to find out who would benefit from Danny’s
death, enlisting old friends Lucian Connolly and Omar Rhoades, along
with Dog and best friend Henry Standing Bear, to trawl the vast Lone Elk
ranch looking for answers to a sixty-five million year old cold case
that’s heating up fast."
Title: Anatomy of Evil
Author: Will Thomas
Series: #7 in the Barker and Llewelyn historical series set in Victorian London
ISBN: 9781250041050
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 336 pages
Synopsis: "Cyrus Barker is undoubtedly England's
premiere private enquiry agent. With the help of his assistant Thomas
Llewelyn, he's developed an enviable reputation for discreetly solving
some of the toughest, most consequential cases in recent history. But
one evening in 1888, Robert Anderson, the head of Scotland Yard's
Criminal Investigation Department (CID), appears at Barker's office with
an offer. A series of murders in the Whitechapel area of London are
turning the city upside down, with tremendous pressure being brought to
bear on Scotland Yard and the government itself.
Barker is to be
named temporary envoy to the Royal Family with regard to the case while
surreptitiously bringing his investigative skill to the case. With
various elements of society, high and low, bringing their own agenda to
increasingly shocking murders, Barker and Llewellyn must find and hunt
down the century's most notorious killer. The Whitechapel Killer has
managed to elude the finest minds of Scotland Yard--and beyond--he's
never faced a mind as nimble and a man as skilled as Cyrus Barker. But
even Barker's prodigious skills may not be enough to track down a killer
in time."
=== May 19 ===
Title: The Ghost Fields
Author: Elly Griffiths
Series: #7 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson series set in England
ISBN: 9780544330146
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hardcover, 384 pages
Synopsis: "Norfolk is suffering from record summer heat when a construction crew
unearths a macabre discovery—a downed World War II plane with the pilot
still inside. Forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway quickly realizes that
the skeleton couldn’t possibly be the pilot, and DNA tests identify the
man as Fred Blackstock, a local aristocrat who had been reported
dead at sea. When the remaining members of the Blackstock family learn
about the discovery, they seem strangely frightened by the news.
Events are further complicated by a TV company that wants to make a film about Norfolk’s deserted air force bases, the so-called Ghost Fields, which have been partially converted into a pig farm run by one of the younger Blackstocks. As production begins, Ruth notices a mysterious man lurking on the outskirts of Fred Blackstock’s memorial service. Then human bones are found on the family’s pig farm. Can the team outrace a looming flood to find a killer?"
Events are further complicated by a TV company that wants to make a film about Norfolk’s deserted air force bases, the so-called Ghost Fields, which have been partially converted into a pig farm run by one of the younger Blackstocks. As production begins, Ruth notices a mysterious man lurking on the outskirts of Fred Blackstock’s memorial service. Then human bones are found on the family’s pig farm. Can the team outrace a looming flood to find a killer?"
Title: Six and a half Deadly Sins
Author: Colin Cotterill
Series: #10 in the Dr. Siri Paiboun historical series set in 1970s Laos
ISBN: 9781616955588
Publisher: Soho Crime
Hardcover, 256 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "Laos, 1979: Dr. Siri Paiboun, the twice retired ex-National Coroner of
Laos, receives an unmarked package in the mail. Inside is a handwoven pha sin,
a colorful traditional skirt worn in northern Laos. A lovely present,
but who sent it to him, and why? And, more importantly, why is there a
severed human finger stitched into the sin’s lining?
Siri is convinced someone is trying to send him a message and won’t let the matter rest until he’s figured it out. He finagles a trip up north to the province where the sin was made, not realizing he is embarking on a deadly scavenger hunt. Meanwhile, the northern Lao border is about to erupt into violence—and Dr. Siri and his entourage are walking right into the heart of the conflict."
Siri is convinced someone is trying to send him a message and won’t let the matter rest until he’s figured it out. He finagles a trip up north to the province where the sin was made, not realizing he is embarking on a deadly scavenger hunt. Meanwhile, the northern Lao border is about to erupt into violence—and Dr. Siri and his entourage are walking right into the heart of the conflict."
Title: Death Ex Machina
Author: Gary Corby
Series: #5 in the historical series featuring Nicolaos, an investigator in 461 BCE Athens, Greece
ISBN: 9781616955199
Publisher: Soho Crime
Hardcover, 336 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "It’s the time of the Great Dionysia, the largest arts festival of the
ancient world, held each year in honor of Dionysos, the god of wine. But
there’s a problem: A ghost is haunting Athens’s grand theater.
Nicolaos and his clever partner in sleuthing (and now in matrimony), the priestess Diotima, are hired to rid the theater of the ghost so that the festival can begin. With the help of Theokritos, the High Priest of Dionysos, they exorcise the ghost publicly, while secretly suspecting that a human saboteur is the actual culprit.
Their efforts to protect the theater fall short when one of the actors is found hanged from the machine used to carry actors through the air when they play the part of gods. It’s quite a theatrical murder.
As Nico and Diotima dig into the actor’s past, they discover all was not as it seemed. There are enough suspects to fill a theater. As the festival approaches and pressure mounts on all sides, can they hunt down the killer in time? Or will they simply have to hope for a deus ex machina?"
Nicolaos and his clever partner in sleuthing (and now in matrimony), the priestess Diotima, are hired to rid the theater of the ghost so that the festival can begin. With the help of Theokritos, the High Priest of Dionysos, they exorcise the ghost publicly, while secretly suspecting that a human saboteur is the actual culprit.
Their efforts to protect the theater fall short when one of the actors is found hanged from the machine used to carry actors through the air when they play the part of gods. It’s quite a theatrical murder.
As Nico and Diotima dig into the actor’s past, they discover all was not as it seemed. There are enough suspects to fill a theater. As the festival approaches and pressure mounts on all sides, can they hunt down the killer in time? Or will they simply have to hope for a deus ex machina?"
Title: Little Black Lies
Author: Sharon (S.J.) Bolton
Standalone set in the Falkland Islands
ISBN: 9781250028594
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 368 pages
Synopsis: "In such a small community as the Falkland
Islands, a missing child is unheard of. In such a dangerous landscape it
can only be a terrible tragedy, surely...
When another child goes missing, and then a third, it's no longer possible to believe that their deaths were accidental, and the villagers must admit that there is a murderer among them. Even Catrin Quinn, a damaged woman living a reclusive life after the accidental deaths of her own two sons a few years ago, gets involved in the searches and the speculation.
And suddenly, in this wild and beautiful place that generations have called home, no one feels safe and the hysteria begins to rise.
But three islanders--Catrin, her childhood best friend, Rachel, and her ex-lover Callum--are hiding terrible secrets. And they have two things in common: all three of them are grieving, and none of them trust anyone, not even themselves."
Title: The Harvest Man
Author: Alex Grecian
Series: #4 in the Scotland yard Murder Squad historical series set in Victorian London
ISBN: 9780399166440
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Hardcover, 400 pages
Synopsis: "In The Devil’s Workshop, London discovered that Jack the Ripper
was back, sending the city—and Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad—into chaos.
But now it is even worse. Not only is the Ripper still at large, but so
is another killer just as bad.
For Inspector Walter Day, it has been a difficult time. His wife has given birth to twins, his hostile in-laws have come to stay, and a leg injury has kept him at his desk. But when the Harvest Man begins killing, carving people’s faces off their skulls, the Yard knows they need Day in the field.
Not so Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith. Rash actions have cost him his job, but that doesn’t stop his obsessive hunt for the Ripper. When the mutilated bodies of prostitutes start turning up again, Hammersmith enlists the help of a criminal network to stop Saucy Jack, his methods carrying him further and further from the ideals of the Yard, so far in fact that he may never be able to find his way back.
Of course, the Ripper’s been playing a game with him—with Walter Day, as well. He is pushing both of them to their limits, and what happens when they get there . . . no one can say."
For Inspector Walter Day, it has been a difficult time. His wife has given birth to twins, his hostile in-laws have come to stay, and a leg injury has kept him at his desk. But when the Harvest Man begins killing, carving people’s faces off their skulls, the Yard knows they need Day in the field.
Not so Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith. Rash actions have cost him his job, but that doesn’t stop his obsessive hunt for the Ripper. When the mutilated bodies of prostitutes start turning up again, Hammersmith enlists the help of a criminal network to stop Saucy Jack, his methods carrying him further and further from the ideals of the Yard, so far in fact that he may never be able to find his way back.
Of course, the Ripper’s been playing a game with him—with Walter Day, as well. He is pushing both of them to their limits, and what happens when they get there . . . no one can say."
=== May 26 ===
Title: The Storm Murders
Author: John Farrow
Series: #1 in the Storm Murders trilogy featuring Emile Cinq-Mars and set in Canada
ISBN: 9781250057686
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 320 pages
Synopsis: "On the day after a massive blizzard, two policemen are called to an
isolated farm house sitting all by itself in the middle of a pristine
snow-blanketed field. Inside the lonely abode are two dead people. But
there are no tracks in the snow leading either to the house or away.
What happened here? Is this a murder/suicide case? Or will it turn into
something much more sinister? John Farrow is the pen name of Trevor
Ferguson, a Canadian writer who has been named Canada's best novelist in
both Books in Canada and the Toronto Star. This is the first of a
trilogy he is writing for us called The Storm Murders trilogy. Each book
features Emile Cinq-Mars, the Hercule Poirot of Canada, and extreme
weather conditions."
Wow! Another May is another month with an embarrassment of riches, isn't it?
Elly Griffiths. Craig Johnson. Colin Cotterill. Ann Cleeves. Four of my Auto-Buy authors followed by other personal favorites! Hmm... perhaps I should stay away from The Poisoned Pen for a while. What do you think?
And what do you think about my picks for May? Which titles have you thinking about hiding your credit cards? Inquiring minds would love to know!
