The Harvey Girl by Dana Stabenow

First Lines from Prologue: January 28, 1868. It was less than three years since Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.

After successfully concluding her latest assignment, young Pinkerton agent Clare Wright finds herself working undercover in New Mexico as a hostess in Fred Harvey's Harvey House restaurant. Robberies are plaguing this newest addition to Harvey's empire, and he's depending on Clare to find the answers.

However, this assignment is going to be far from easy. Not only is the restaurant work exhausting, Clare risks exposure each and every day. And then there are those train robberies. No wonder Clare can only trust two things: herself and her derringer.

~

Several years ago, my reading took me into the world of Fred Harvey, his Harvey House hotels, the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe Railroad, and the tourism that grew from them. The history of the Harvey Girls themselves is fascinating, and I always thought this would be a gold mine for a mystery series. So did talented writer Dana Stabenow, and after reading The Harvey Girl, I can't wait for the further adventures of Clare Wright.

Clare Wright is a fascinating character. Her backstory unfolds throughout the book as we see her in all sorts of different situations, thinking on her feet, and relying on her unusual skill set. One of the things I really appreciated in this book was the fact that Clare couldn't sneak away from her duties as a Harvey Girl, as so often happens in other mysteries. The work was detailed, the long hours exhausting, and it was difficult for Clare to be both waitress and detective.

Stabenow brings a fascinating chapter in the history of the Old West to life in this new mystery series, and I can't wait for more.

The Harvey Girl by Dana Stabenow

eISBN: 9781035916610

Head of Zeus © 2026

eBook, 272 pages

Historical Mystery, #1 Clare Wright

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley 

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

Author: Linda Castillo

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

Author: Allison Dickson

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!

December 2018 New Mystery Releases!

Yikes! When I typed the post header, it dawned on me that the next one of these would be for 2019. Too bad a person isn't allowed to having a savings account in which time can be stored.

At the time of writing, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and the week following, which is when my second cataract surgery will be done. I'm listening to children playing next-door and a bird on the windowsill that seems to want my attention. Instead, I'll share with you my picks of the new crime fiction being released throughout the month of December.

I've grouped these picks of mine according to their release dates. I hope I've chosen some that tickle your fancy and that you'll include on your own wishlists. Book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. So without further ado, let's take a look at the brand-new mysteries coming out in December!

=== December 1 ===

Title: Bleak Harbor

Author: Bryan Gruley

Series: #1 in the Bleak Harbor series set in Michigan.

378 pages

Synopsis: "Summertime in Bleak Harbor means tourists, overpriced restaurants, and the Dragonfly Festival. One day before the much-awaited and equally chaotic celebration, Danny Peters, the youngest member of the family that founded the town five generations ago, disappears.

When Danny’s mother, Carey, and stepfather, Pete, receive a photo of their brilliant, autistic, and socially withdrawn son tied to a chair, they fear the worst. But there’s also more to the story. Someone is sending them ominous texts and emails filled with information no one else should have. Could the secrets they’ve kept hidden—even from one another—have led to Danny’s abduction?

As pressure from the kidnapper mounts, Carey and Pete must face their own ugly mistakes to find their son before he’s taken from them forever."

=== December 4 ===

Title: Not of This Fold

Author: Mette Ivie Harrison

Series: #4 in the Linda Wallheim series set in Utah.

361 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Now that all five of her sons have left home, Mormon bishop’s wife Linda Wallheim has quite a bit of time on her hands, most of which she spends worrying about the state of the country and how her youngest son, Samuel, who is openly gay, is faring on his mission in Boston. She has also become close with one of the women in her ward, Gwen Ferris.

But Gwen is quickly losing faith in the church, and her issues with the Mormon power structure are only reinforced by her work in Draper’s local “Spanish ward.” The ward’s members comprise both legal and undocumented immigrants who aren’t always getting the community support they should be from their church.

When Gabriela Gonzalez, a young mother and Gwen’s friend in the Spanish Ward, is found strangled at a gas station, Gwen is paralyzed with guilt. The dead woman’s last phone call was to Gwen, and her voicemail reveals that she knew she was in danger. When Gwen decides the police aren’t doing enough to get justice for Gabriela, who was undocumented, she decides to find the killer herself. Linda reluctantly takes part in Gwen’s vigilante sleuthing, fearing for her young friend’s safety, but what the pair discovers may put them both in danger."

Title: Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors

Author: Christopher Fowler

Series: #16 in the Bryant & May police procedural series set in England.

420 pages

Synopsis: "Hard to believe, but even positively ancient sleuths like Bryant and May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit were young once . . . or at least younger. Flashback to London 1969: mods and dolly birds, sunburst minidresses—but how long would the party last?

After accidentally sinking a barge painted like the Yellow Submarine, Bryant and May are relegated to babysitting one Monty Hatton-Jones, the star prosecution witness in the trial of a disreputable developer whose prefabs are prone to collapse. The job for the demoted detectives? Keep the whistle-blower safe for one weekend.

The task proves unexpectedly challenging when their unruly charge insists on attending a party at the vast estate Tavistock Hall. With falling stone gryphons, secret passageways, rumors of a mythical beast, and an all-too-real dismembered corpse, the bedeviled policemen soon find themselves with “a proper country house murder” on their hands.

Trapped for the weekend, Bryant and May must sort the victims from the suspects, including a hippie heir, a blond nightclub singer, and Monty himself—and nobody is quite who he or she seems to be."

Title: Mind Games

Author: Nancy Mehl

Series: #1 in the  Kaely Quinn Profiler series set in St. Louis.

336 pages

Synopsis: "Kaely Quinn's talents as an FBI behavior analyst are impossible to ignore, no matter how unorthodox her methods. But when a reporter outs her as the daughter of an infamous serial killer, she's demoted to field agent and transferred to St. Louis.

When the same reporter who ruined her career claims to have received an anonymous poem predicting a string of murders, ending with Kaely's, the reporter's ulterior motives bring his claim into question. But when a body is found that fits the poem's predictions, the threat is undeniable, and the FBI sends Special Agent Noah Hunter to St. Louis.

Initially resentful of the assignment, Noah is surprised at how quickly his respect for Kaely grows, despite her oddities. But with a brazen serial killer who breaks all the normal patterns on the loose, Noah and Kaely are tested to their limits to catch the murderer before anyone else--including Kaely herself--is killed."

Title: Murder at the Mill

Author: M.B. Shaw

Series: #1 in the Iris Grey series set in rural England

387 pages

Synopsis: "Iris Grey rents a quaint cottage in a picture-perfect Hampshire village, looking to escape from her crumbling marriage. She is drawn to the neighboring Wetherby family and is commissioned to paint a portrait of Dominic Wetherby, a celebrated crime writer.

At the Wetherby's Christmas Eve party, the mulled wine is in full flow - but so are tensions and rivalries among the guests. On Christmas Day, the youngest member of the Wetherby family, Lorcan, finds a body in the water. A tragic accident? Or a deadly crime?

With the snow falling, Iris enters a world of village gossip, romantic intrigue, buried secrets, and murder."

=== December 5 ===

Title: Broken Ground

Author: Val McDermid

Series: #5 in the Karen Pirie police procedural series set in Scotland.

432 pages

Synopsis: "Internationally bestselling author Val McDermid is one of our finest crime writers, and her gripping, masterfully plotted novels have garnered millions of readers from around the globe. In Broken Ground, cold case detective Karen Pirie faces her hardest challenge yet. 

Six feet under in a Highland peat bog lies Alice Somerville’s inheritance, buried by her grandfather at the end of World War II. But when Alice finally uncovers it, she finds an unwanted surprise―a body with a bullet hole between the eyes. Meanwhile, DCI Pirie is called in to unravel a case where nothing is quite as it seems. And as she gets closer to the truth, it becomes clear that not everyone shares her desire for justice. Or even the idea of what justice is. 

An engrossing, twisty thriller, Broken Ground reaffirms Val McDermid’s place as one of the best crime writers of her generation."

=== December 6 ===

Title: Death of an Eye

Author: Dana Stabenow

Series: #1 in the Eye of Isis historical mysteries set in Egypt in 47 BCE.

400 pages

Synopsis: "Alexandria, 47BCE: Cleopatra shares the throne with her brother Ptolemy under the auspices of Julius Caesar, by whom Cleopatra is heavily pregnant with child. A shipment of new coin meant to reset the shaky Egyptian economy has been stolen, the Queen’s Eye has been murdered and Queen Cleopatra turns to childhood friend Tetisheri to find the missing shipment and bring the murderer to justice."

=== December 11 ===

Title: The Big Empty

Author: Stan Jones & Patricia Watts

Series: #6 in the Nathan Active police procedural series set in Alaska.

264 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Evie Kavoonah, a young mother-to-be, and her fiancé, Dr. Todd Brenner, are on a flight over the Brooks Range when their bush plane runs out of gas and hits a ridge, instantly killing them both. Chukchi police chief Nathan Active doubts he’ll find anything amiss when his close friend, Cowboy Decker, asks him to look into the possibility of foul play. Evie was like a daughter to Cowboy, who trained her to fly, and he insists there’s no way his protégée made a fatal mistake that day. Nathan reluctantly plays along and discovers that Cowboy’s instincts are correct—the malfunction that led to the crash was carefully planned, and several people in the village have motives for targeting the pair.

Meanwhile, Nathan’s wife, Gracie, is pregnant, but so scarred by memories of domestic abuse that she isn’t sure she should have the baby. Nathan must support her and their adopted daughter, Nita, while managing an increasingly complex and dangerous murder case." 

Title: A Suspicion of Silver

Author: P.F. Chisholm

Series: #9 in the Sir Robert Carey historical series set in Elizabethan England.

300 pages 

Synopsis: "Edinburgh, 1593. The new year begins.

Sir Robert Carey has just foiled a double plot against King James. He rides for Leith hunting the would-be assassin now identified as Joachim Hochstetter, also known as Jonathan Hepburn. Has he taken ship for the Continent, or ridden nearly 130 miles south and west into England? There at Keswick, his family, originally from Augsburg, runs a mining operation that pays a royalty to Queen Elizabeth in gold. It's ruled by the widow Radagunda Hochstetter, his mother.

Sir Robert's other problem? His dour, difficult, and now treasonous henchman, Sergeant Henry Dodd, has disappeared somewhere on the snowy moors. Why can't anyone find Dodd's body?

Before going after Hochstetter, Carey must escort Dodd's widow back to her home at Gilsland. It's a complex operation involving a cart, Widow Ridley and Skinabake Armstrong. That's the man who sold Janet Dodd to Wee Colin, the Elliot headman, on her way to Edinburgh before Dodd disappeared.

If Hochstetter goes to ground in Keswick, how far will the colony of German miners go to protect Radagunda's favourite child? He may be an outlaw in Scotland, and King James certainly wants his head, but Carey has no official authorization to kill the man in England.

Predictably, the Hochstetter family is politely obstructive. But something else is going on. What in the name of everything unholy is that well-known reiver, Wattie Graham of Netherby, doing so far over the border in peaceful Keswick?

Sir Robert is tested to the utmost in chasing the traitor (underground), solving a murder, arranging a duel - and then his courtship of another man's wife takes a deadly turn."

=== December 13 ===

Title: Carrion Comfort

Author: Aline Templeton

Series: #2 in the DI Kelso Strang police procedural series set in rural Scotland.

329 pages

UK Release

Synopsis: "Gabrielle, daughter of a brilliant and charismatic local businessman, thinks she’s losing her mind. Recovering from a nervous breakdown triggered by her father’s death and the loss of her unborn child, her sanity is pushed to the brink when she starts suffering memory lapses. Knowing that the other major shareholder of her father’s business is looking for any excuse to squeeze her out, Gabrielle can’t trust anyone.

When a man’s body is found in a dilapidated cottage, DCI Kelso Strang is drafted in from Edinburgh to take charge of the investigation. Still grieving the loss of his wife, battle-scarred Strang finds himself burdened with an over-eager detective constable and a lazy, obtuse detective sergeant. With inadequate resources at his fingertips, and his boss breathing down his neck to wrap up the case quickly and without embarrassment to the force, Strang must pick his way through the minefield of the local relationships and resentments of the sleepy village community. But will he be able to put this case to rest before more lives are destroyed?"

=== December 18 ===

Title: Liars' Paradox

Author: Taylor Stevens

Series: #1 in the Jack and Jill thriller series.

320 pages

Synopsis: "They live in the shadows, Jack and Jill, feuding twins who can never stop running. From earliest memory they’ve been taught to hide, to hunt, to survive. Their prowess is outdone only by Clare, who has always been mentor first and mother second. She trained them in the art of espionage, tested their skills in weaponry, surveillance, and sabotage, and sharpened their minds with nerve-wracking psychological games. As they grew older they came to question her motives, her methods—and her sanity . . .

Now twenty-six years old, the twins are trying to lead normal lives. But when Clare’s off-the-grid safehouse explodes and she goes missing, they’re forced to believe the unthinkable: Their mother’s paranoid delusions have been real all along. To find her, they’ll need to set aside their differences; to survive, they’ll have to draw on every skill she’s trained them to use. A twisted trail leads from the CIA, to the KGB, to an underground network of global assassins where hunters become the hunted. Everyone, it seems, wants them dead—and, for one of the twins, it’s a threat that’s frighteningly familiar and dangerously close to home . . ."

Most publishers must think that no one has time to read in December because the selection is a bit light compared to other months, but there's still plenty of good reading to be found. And if we're talking covers, isn't Dana Stabenow's Death of an Eye eye-catching?

Did I manage to choose any books that made it onto your personal wishlists? Which ones? You know inquiring minds would love to know!

May 2017 New Mystery Releases!

When I was a child growing up in central Illinois, spring brought me a special misery: when the sap started rising in the maple trees, I got sick. Well, I'm living in the Sonoran Desert, so I moved away from that particular ailment. Now when the sap starts rising, I want to get out and about and do things. That's how I feel right now, so I'm going to dive right into my picks of the new crime fiction available in May.

I've grouped them by their release dates, and I've included all the information you'll need to find them at your favorite book procurement locations. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Let's not waste any more time! 

=== May 1 ===

Title: Dancing with Death

Author: Amy Myers

Series: #1 Nell Drury historical mystery set in 1920s England

ISBN: 9780727886859

Publisher: Severn House

Hardcover, 224 pages

Synopsis: "1925. The fashionable Bright Young Things from London have descended on Wychbourne Court, the Kentish stately home of Lord and Lady Ansley, for an extravagant fancy dress ball followed by a midnight Ghost Hunt – and Chef Nell Drury knows she’s in for a busy weekend. What she doesn’t expect to encounter is sudden, violent death.

When a body is discovered in the minstrels’ gallery during the Ghost Hunt, Nell finds herself caught up in the police investigation which follows. As the darker side of the Roaring Twenties emerges and it becomes increasingly clear that at least one person present that night has a sinister secret to hide, Nell determines to unmask the killer among them. Could the Wychbourne Ghosts hold the key to the mystery?"

=== May 2 ===

Title: Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall

Author: Hannah Dennison

Series: #4 in the Kat Stanford cozy series set in a stately home in Devon, England

ISBN: 9781250065490

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "When the only copy of Ravished, Iris Stanford’s new manuscript, never arrives at her London publisher’s office, her daughter Kat investigates the tiny local village post office, where it appears the package never left the building. Iris is on tenterhooks―not only is her novel gone with the wind, but she’s deathly afraid that Muriel Jarvis, the postmistress and notorious busybody, will expose her secret identity as the bestselling romance writer Krystalle Storm. Meanwhile, Muriel has her own problems with the sudden death of her husband Fred, which has left her heavily in debt. In the spine-tingling climax, both past and present collide as Kat fights for her life and those she holds most dear, dancing once again with the dark forces lurking behind the grandeur of Honeychurch Hall."

Title: Killer Characters

Author: Ellery Adams

Series: #8 in the Books by the Bay cozy series set in North Carolina

ISBN: 9780451488442

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Restaurant owner and aspiring novelist Olivia Limoges is happily enjoying her new marriage. Sadly, the same doesn’t hold true for Laurel, a fellow Bayside Book Writer. While struggling with a demanding job, twin boys, and a terminally ill mother-in-law, Laurel learns that her perfect marriage is mostly fictional. When she catches her husband fooling around with his mother’s hospice nurse, she issues impassioned threats that will later come back to haunt her.

After the nurse meets a deadly denouement, Chief Rawlings is forced to take Laurel into custody. While Olivia protests the arrest, the rest of the Bayside Book Writers become a group divided, with Rawlings and Harris on one side and Olivia and Millay on the other. Now the women must race against the clock to prove that Laurel’s not the sort for murder before her story ends in tragedy…"

Title: Too Lucky to Live

Author: Annie Hogsett

Series: #1 in the Somebody's Bound to Wind Up Dead series set in Cleveland, Ohio

ISBN: 9781464207884

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Paperback, 316 pages

Synopsis: "Lonely and broke, Cleveland divorce-survivor Allie Harper believes all her problems would be solved if she could find a nice, smart, hot guy and enough money to get her car fixed.

The hot guy arrives first: he's in a crosswalk clutching a bag of groceries while a blonde in a Hummer is learning hard on her horn, sending the man's groceries and white cane flying. How has this woman missed that fact that the man is blind? From the curb, an outraged Allie jumps to his rescue, rebagging the groceries as well.

The money is in the bag. Literally- Thomas Bennington III, for that's who the handsome guy proves to be, has bought a MondoMegaJackpot ticket along with canned tomatoes. Allie takes him home and turns his groceries into dinner for two. Later that night, Tom hears the numbers announced. He's won. And he's less than thrilled. PhD Tom had gambled on the odds of losing (175 million to one) to prove a point to Rune, a kid from the projects he's befriended, that only losers buy lottery tickets. Instead, Rune, who'd helped pick the Mondo numbers, will share Tom's jackpot.

Allie and Tom grasp two things: one, they're hot for each other, and two, the ticket is a hot target, and now so are they. Every scheming weasel in Cleveland will be after Tom's millions. $550 of them. Yes, once the Mondo ball drops, it's game on with killers and kidnappers as players.

Allie and Tom need to get smarter about the threats all around them. On the run from one fancy hotel refuge to another and from one danger moment to the next, with only Allie s feisty landlady, Margo, and a couple of Cleveland cops for back-up, Allie and Tom evolve a strategy. First, turn in the ticket and claim the jackpot. Second, set up accounts to manage the millions. Third, stay alive to the end of the week…if they can."

Title: Your Killin' Heart

Author: Peggy O'Neal Peden

Series: #1 in the Nashville Mystery cozy series

ISBN: 9781250122681

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 272 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in Nashville is an aspiring country music star. Campbell Hall, for one, just wants to get her travel agency off the ground and move on from a break-up. But when she gets the opportunity to visit the mansion of mysterious country icon Jake Miller, she jumps at the chance. After all, who knows what clues are lurking around the long-dead star’s last home?

But as Campbell pokes around, she discovers more than a few sequined suits and priceless memorabilia. She finds Hazel Miller, Jake’s widow, quietly resting in a bedroom on the main floor. But Hazel might just be dead quiet. And Campbell might just be the last person to have seen her alive.

Juggling the twisty plots of high-profile country stars with her blossoming business―not to mention the tattered remains of her love life―Campbell thinks she’s got everything figured out. But when the danger becomes personal, she must uncover a killer who will stop at nothing to get what they want―or face the music."

=== May 6 ===

Title: Less Than a Treason

Author: Dana Stabenow

Series: #21 in the Kate Shugak private investigator series set in Alaska

ISBN: 9781786695697

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Hardcover, 336 pages

Synopsis: "Kate Shugak is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5'1" tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat, and owns a half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine—and she needs to be, to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her. And throw their worst the wilds have: Kate and Mutt have both been shot."

=== May 9 ===

Title: The Thirst

Author: Jo Nesbø

Series: #11 in the Harry Hole police procedural series set in Norway

ISBN: 9780385352161

Publisher: Knopf

Hardcover, 480 pages

Synopsis: "The murder victim, a self-declared Tinder addict. The one solid clue—fragments of rust and paint in her wounds—leaves the investigating team baffled.

 Two days later, there’s a second murder: a woman of the same age, a Tinder user, an eerily similar scene. 

 The chief of police knows there’s only one man for this case. But Harry Hole is no longer with the force. He promised the woman he loves, and he promised himself, that he’d never go back: not after his last case, which put the people closest to him in grave danger.

 But there’s something about these murders that catches his attention, something in the details that the investigators have missed. For Harry, it’s like hearing “the voice of a man he was trying not to remember.” Now, despite his promises, despite everything he risks, Harry throws himself back into the hunt for a figure who haunts him, the monster who got away."

Title: Edited Out

Author: E.J. Copperman

Series: #2 in the Mysterious Detective cozy series

ISBN: 9781683311997

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Paperback, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Rachel Goldman writes mysteries in which Duffy Madison, consultant to the county prosecutor’s office, helps find missing persons. Rachel is busy finishing up her next book, when a man calls out of the blue asking for help in a missing persons case. The caller's name? Duffy Madison.

Is this real or has she lost her mind? She doesn't have much time to find out because a serial killer is on the loose, kidnapping and murdering mystery authors. And Rachel may just be the next target."

Title: A Rising Man

Author: Abir Mukherjee

Series: #1 in the Captain Sam Wyndham historical series set in 1919 Calcutta

ISBN: 9781681774169

Publisher: Pegasus Books

Hardcover, 400 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Calcutta, 1919. Captain Sam Wyndham, former Scotland Yard detective, is a new arrival to Calcutta. Desperately seeking a fresh start after his experiences during the Great War, Wyndham has been recruited to head up a new post in the police force. He is immediately overwhelmed by the heady vibrancy of the tropical city, but with barely a moment to acclimatize or to deal with the ghosts that still haunt him, Wyndham is caught up in a murder investigation that threatens to destabilize a city already teetering on the brink of political insurgency.

The body of a senior official has been found in a filthy sewer, and a note left in his mouth warns the British to quit India, or else. Under tremendous pressure to solve the case before it erupts into increased violence on the streets, Wyndham and his two new colleagues―arrogant Inspector Digby and Sergeant Banerjee, one of the few Indians to be recruited into the new CID―embark on an investigation that will take them from the opulent mansions of wealthy British traders to the seedy opium dens of the city.

Masterfully evincing the sights, sounds, and smells of colonial Calcutta, A Rising Man is the start of an enticing new historical crime series."

Title: The Girl on the Bridge

Author: James Hayman

Series: #5 in the Mccabe police procedural series set in Maine

ISBN: 9780062661333

Publisher: William Morrow

Paperback, 368 pages

Synopsis: "On a freezing December night, Hannah Reindel leaps to her death from an old railway bridge into the rushing waters of the river below. Yet the real cause of death was trauma suffered twelve years earlier when Hannah was plucked from a crowd of freshman girls at a college fraternity party, drugged, and then viciously assaulted by six members of the college football team.

Those responsible have never faced or feared justice. Until now. A month after Hannah’s death, Joshua Thorne—former Holden College quarterback and now a Wall Street millionaire—is found murdered, his body bound to a bed and brutally mutilated.

When a second attacker dies in mysterious circumstances, detectives Mike McCabe and Maggie Savage know they must find the killer before more of Hannah’s attackers are executed. But they soon realize, these murders may not be simple acts of revenge, but something far more sinister."

=== May 16 ===

Title: Two Lost Boys

Author: L.F. Robertson

Standalone

ISBN: 9781785652783

Publisher: Titan Books

Paperback, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Janet Moodie has spent years as a death row appeals attorney. Overworked and recently widowed, she’s had her fill of hopeless cases, and is determined that this will be her last. Her client is Marion ‘Andy’ Hardy, convicted along with his brother Emory of the rape and murder of two women. But Emory received a life sentence while Andy got the death penalty, labeled the ringleader despite his low IQ and Emory’s dominant personality.

Convinced that Andy’s previous lawyers missed mitigating evidence that would have kept him off death row, Janet investigates Andy’s past. She discovers a sordid and damaged upbringing, a series of errors on the part of his previous counsel, and most worrying of all, the possibility that there is far more to the murders than was first thought. Andy may be guilty, but does he deserve to die?"

=== May 23 ===

Title: The Long Drop

Author: Denise Mina

Standalone set in 1950s Glasgow, Scotland

ISBN: 9780316380577

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Hardcover, 240 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "In 1950's Glasgow, a household of women were found slaughtered in their beds. The father, William Watt, had a cast iron alibi but police were convinced he was guilty. Determined to clear his name, Watt let it be known that he would pay for information. Step forward career criminal Peter Manuel, with compelling details only the murderer could know. Watt agreed to meet him. They spent twelve hours together, driving and drinking in Glasgow pubs and clubs. No one knows what happened that night. The next time they met was in the High Court where Peter Manuel was defending himself against the murder charges. He called Watt as a witness and quizzed him about their long, shady night together. A fictionalized imagining of a real life case, THE LONG DROP is an explosive novel about guilt, innocence and the power of a good story to hide the difference."

=== May 30 ===

Title: The Chalk Pit

Author: Elly Griffiths

Series: #9 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway series set in England

ISBN: 9780544750319

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hardcover, 368 pages

Synopsis: "Norwich is riddled with old chalk-mining tunnels, but no one’s sure exactly how many. When Ruth is called in to investigate a set of human remains found in one of them, she notices the bones are almost translucent, a sign they were boiled soon after death. Once more, she finds herself at the helm of a murder investigation.

Meanwhile, DCI Nelson is hunting for a missing homeless woman, Barbara, who he hears has gone “underground.” Could she have disappeared into the labyrinth? And if so, is she connected to the body Ruth found? As Ruth, Nelson, and the rest of their team investigate the tunnels, they hear rumors of secret societies, cannibalism, and ritual killings. When a dead body is found with a map that appears to be of The Underground, they realize their quest to find the killer has only just begun—and that there may be more bodies underfoot."

I think you'll agree that there are some wonderful authors with new books being released in May! What books did you add to your Need to Buy lists? Inquiring minds would love to know!