The Woman in the Blue Cloak by Deon Meyer

First Line: He was hungry and thirsty, frightened, and weary to the marrow.

The local investigation into the discovery of the bleached body of a woman found by a busy highway stalls, so the two stars of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations-- Captain Benny Griessel and his partner Vaughn Cupido-- are called in from Cape Town, South Africa. The two learn that the woman was an expert in old Dutch Masters paintings and the item she was looking for. What will surprise them is how and why the woman died and by whose hands.

This novella is a little gem that's slow to take off but once the woman's identity is established, it's hard to stop turning the pages. It was just as good to see Benny on the wagon and not craving alcohol as it was to see him working together with Cupido. There's a nice little twist for the whodunit, although it may not be totally unexpected for the more seasoned readers of crime.

The Woman in the Blue Cloak by Deon Meyer

Translated from the Afrikaans by K.L. Seegers.

eISBN: 9780802147240

Atlantic Monthly Press © 2019

eBook, 160 pages

Novella, Part of the Benny Griessel police procedural series

Rating: B+

Source: NetGalley

May 2019 New Mystery Releases!

After attending the event for Ragnar Jónasson last week at The Poisoned Pen, I have the urge to attend the Iceland Noir Festival next year in Reykjavik-- even though it's scheduled for November when it's dark 24/7. Everything's cheaper because no tourists go to Iceland then. The Northern lights. Ian Rankin. Anthony Horowitz. Louise Penny. Ann Cleeves. (With more authors to come.) Can you blame me for wanting to go? I don't think Denis is too keen on the idea, but you never know. And this is all because I went to see Ragnar Jónasson, an author whose books I decided to sample because I'm always on the lookout for something new!

Speaking of being on the lookout for something new, here are my picks for the best in new crime fiction being released throughout the month of May. (Covers and synopses courtesy of Amazon.) Hopefully, I've chosen a title or two that tickles your fancy. Let's take a look!

=== May 7 ===

Title: The Woman in the Blue Cloak

Author: Deon Meyer

Standalone Novella set in South Africa

160 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Early on a May morning in the depth of South Africa’s winter, a woman’s naked body, washed in bleach, is discovered on a stone wall beside the N2 highway at the top of Sir Lowry’s Pass, some thirty-five miles from Cape Town. The local investigation stalls, so the case is referred to Captain Benny Griessel and his colorful partner Vaughn Cupido of the Hawks―the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations. The woman proves to be Alicia Lewis, an expert in old Dutch Masters paintings specializing in the recovery of valuable lost art. Discovering the two men she had contacted before coming to South Africa reveals what she was seeking―a rare painting by Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt’s finest student, not seen since it disappeared from Delft in 1654. But how Lewis died, why, and at whose hand shocks even the two veteran detectives."

Title: The Scent of Murder

Author: Kylie Logan

#1 in the Jazz Ramsey series set in Ohio.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "The way Jazz Ramsey figures it, life is pretty good. She’s thirty-five years old and owns her own home in one of Cleveland’s most diverse, artsy, and interesting neighborhoods. She has a job she likes as an administrative assistant at an all-girls school, and a volunteer interest she’s passionate about―Jazz is a cadaver dog handler.

Jazz is working with Luther, a cadaver dog in training. Luther is still learning cadaver work, so Jazz is putting him through his paces at an abandoned building that will soon be turned into pricey condos. When Luther signals a find, Jazz is stunned to see the body of a young woman who is dressed in black and wearing the kind of make-up and jewelry that Jazz used to see on the Goth kids back in high school.

She’s even more shocked when she realizes that beneath the tattoos and the piercings and all that pale makeup is a familiar face.

The lead detective on the case is an old lover, and the murdered woman is an old student. Jazz finds herself sucked into the case, obsessed with learning the truth." 

Title: The Stone Circle

Author: Elly Griffiths

#11 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway series set in England.

368 pages

Synopsis: "DCI Nelson has been receiving threatening letters. They are anonymous, yet reminiscent of ones he has received in the past, from the person who drew him into a case that’s haunted him for years. At the same time, Ruth receives a letter purporting to be from that very same person—her former mentor, and the reason she first started working with Nelson. But the author of those letters is dead. Or is he?

The past is reaching out for Ruth and Nelson, and its grip is deadly."

=== May 8 ===

Title: The Jean Harlow Bombshell

Author: Mollie Cox Bryan

#1 in the Classic Star Biography mysteries set in New York City.

336 pages

Synopsis: "Justine Turner is a world-famous biographer of Hollywood stars. She's also Charlotte Donovan's overbearing boss. So it comes as no surprise to Charlotte when Justine requests an emergency meeting related to her latest in-progress biography. It is a surprise, though, when Justine up and dies before their urgent discussion can begin.

In the wake of such a tragedy, all Charlotte wants to do is finish the Jean Harlow biography that Justine had started. Instead, she finds herself in grave danger―stalked both online and in person by a drop-dead Jean Harlow look-alike. Together with police sergeant Den Brophy, Charlotte uncovers shocking revelations. But will these revelations be enough to catch the killer?"

=== May 14 ===

Title: The Satapur Moonstone

Author: Sujata Massey

#2 in the Perveen Mistry historical series set in 1920s India.

360 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "India, 1922: It is rainy season in the lush, remote Sahyadri mountains, where the princely state of Satapur is tucked away. A curse seems to have fallen upon Satapur’s royal family, whose maharaja died of a sudden illness shortly before his teenage son was struck down in a tragic hunting accident. The state is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur’s two maharanis, the dowager queen, and her daughter-in-law.

The royal ladies are in a dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer’s counsel is required. However, the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men. Just one person can help them: Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female lawyer. Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house and make a sound recommendation for the young prince’s future, but she arrives to find that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the palace’s deadly curse?"

Title: Disappearing Earth

Author: Julia Phillips

Standalone set on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia.

272 pages

Synopsis: "One August afternoon, on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, two girls--sisters, eight and eleven--go missing. In the ensuing weeks, then months, the police investigation turns up nothing. Echoes of the disappearance reverberate across a tightly woven community, with the fear and loss felt most deeply among its women.

Taking us through a year in Kamchatka, Disappearing Earth enters with astonishing emotional acuity the worlds of a cast of richly drawn characters, all connected by the crime: a witness, a neighbor, a detective, a mother. We are transported to vistas of rugged beauty--densely wooded forests, open expanses of tundra, soaring volcanoes, and the glassy seas that border Japan and Alaska--and into a region as complex as it is alluring, where social and ethnic tensions have long simmered, and where outsiders are often the first to be accused.

In a story as propulsive as it is emotionally engaging, and through a young writer's virtuosic feat of empathy and imagination, this powerful novel brings us to a new understanding of the intricate bonds of family and community, in a Russia unlike any we have seen before."

=== May 21 ===

Title: Deception Cove

Author: Owen Laukkanen

#1 in the Neah Bay thriller series set in Washington state.

384 pages

Synopsis: "Former US Marine Jess Winslow reenters civilian life a new widow, with little more to her name than a falling-down house, a medical discharge for PTSD, and a loyal dog named Lucy. The only thing she actually cares about is that dog, a black-and-white pit bull mix who helps her cope with the devastating memories of her time in Afghanistan.

After fifteen years -- nearly half his life -- in state prison, Mason Burke owns one set of clothes, a wallet, and a photo of Lucy, the service dog he trained while behind bars. Seeking a fresh start, he sets out for Deception Cove, Washington, where the dog now lives.

As soon as Mason knocks on Jess's door, he finds himself in the middle of a standoff between the widow and the deputy county sheriff. When Jess's late husband piloted his final "fishing" expedition, he stole and stashed a valuable package from his drug dealer associates. Now the package is gone, and the sheriff's department has seized Jess's dearest possession-her dog. Unless Jess turns over the missing goods, Lucy will be destroyed.

The last thing Mason wants is to be dragged back into the criminal world. The last thing Jess wants is to trust a stranger. But neither of them can leave a friend, the only good thing in either of their lives, in danger. To rescue Lucy, they'll have to forge an uneasy alliance. And to avoid becoming collateral damage in someone else's private war, they have to fight back -- and find a way to conquer their doubts and fears."

Title: The Island

Author: Ragnar Jónasson

#2 in the Hidden Iceland police procedural series.

352 pages

Synopsis: "Autumn of 1987 takes a young couple on a romantic trip in the Westfjords holiday―a trip that gets an unexpected ending and has catastrophic consequences.

 

Ten years later a small group of friends goes for a weekend in an old hunting lodge in Elliðaey. A place completely cut off from the outside world, to reconnect. But one of them isn't going to make it out alive. And Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir is determined to find the truth in the darkness.

Ragnar Jonasson burst onto the American scene with Snowblind and Nightblind, the first two novels in the Ari Thor thriller series, and the praise was overwhelming. With The Darkness, he launched a new series featuring a completely new sleuth, Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir of the Reykjavik Police department. The Island is the second book in this series."

Title: Cari Mora
Author: Thomas Harris
Standalone thriller set in Miami, Florida.
320 pages

Synopsis: "Twenty-five million dollars in cartel gold lies hidden beneath a mansion on the Miami Beach waterfront. Ruthless men have tracked it for years. Leading the pack is Hans-Peter Schneider. Driven by unspeakable appetites, he makes a living fleshing out the violent fantasies of other, richer men.

Cari Mora, caretaker of the house, has escaped from the violence in her native country. She stays in Miami on a wobbly Temporary Protected Status, subject to the iron whim of ICE. She works at many jobs to survive. Beautiful, marked by war, Cari catches the eye of Hans-Peter as he closes in on the treasure. But Cari Mora has surprising skills, and her will to survive has been tested before.

Monsters lurk in the crevices between male desire and female survival. No other writer in the last century has conjured those monsters with more terrifying brilliance than Thomas Harris. Cari Mora, his sixth novel, is the long-awaited return of an American master."

=== May 28 ===

Title: Murder at Morrington Hall 

Author: Clara McKenna

#1 in the Stella and Lyndy historical series set in England.

304 pages

Synopsis: "Spring, 1905:  Free-spirited like the Thoroughbreds she rides across the Kentucky countryside, Stella takes adventure by the reins when she’s asked to attend a mysterious wedding in rural England. But once she arrives at the lush Morrington Hall estate, her cold and ambitious father confesses that he won’t only give away his best racehorses as gifts—he has also arranged to give away his daughter as bride to the Earl of Atherly’s financially strapped son . . .

Stella refuses to be sold off like a prized pony. Yet despite a rough start, there’s something intriguing about her groom-to-be, the roguish Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst. The unlikely pair could actually be on the right track with each other . . . until they find the vicar who was to marry them dead in the library.

With culture clashes mounting between families, a scandalous murder case hangs over Morrington Hall. Now, Stella and Lyndy must go from future spouses to amateur sleuths as they team up to search for the truth—and prevent an unbridled criminal from destroying their new life together right out of the gate..."

Title: The Sentence Is Death

Author: Anthony Horowitz

#2 in the Daniel Hawthorne P.I. series set in England.

384 pages

Synopsis: "'You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late ...'

These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine—a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.

Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?

Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.

But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realizes that these secrets must be exposed—even at the risk of death..."

All I can say about the new crime fiction being released in May is WOW. A new book by Thomas Harris, the man who changed how I thought with his book Red Dragon! New books by Anthony Horowitz, Sujata Massey, Elly Griffiths, and Ragnar Jónasson-- all of whom have made my annual Best Reads list! And none of the others are slackers by any stretch of the imagination. I'm in a dizzy tizzy, thinking of all the wonderful reading I have ahead of me.

Now... how about you? Which books on my list are on your own Must Read lists? Inquiring minds would love to know!

Icarus by Deon Meyer

First Line: Heaven and earth conspired to expose Ernst Richter's corpse, the universe seemingly intent on reaching out a helping hand for justice.

When the plastic-wrapped corpse of tech wiz Ernst Richter is found in the sand dunes north of Cape Town, the case becomes the focus of intense media speculation. Richter was the creator of an internet service called MyAlibi which provided unfaithful partners with sophisticated cover stories to hide their affairs.

With a long suspect list and intense media scrutiny, the higher-ups insist detective Benny Griessel be put on the case. In less than a week, a connection to a well-known family winery is found-- and tensions rise even higher. But Griessel must tread carefully; with so much attention on the case, if he makes one wrong move, his head could be on the chopping block.

This is not the first book by Deon Meyer that I've read and enjoyed. One of his standalone thrillers, Blood Safari, is very good, and I distinctly remember reading one of his Benny Griessel mysteries-- but evidently, it was one in which Benny was on the wagon. You see, I have very few "buttons" that can be pushed when it comes to my reading. Due to personal experiences, the major button is main characters who are alcoholics. I don't like reading about alcoholics. In Icarus, Benny Griessel falls off the sobriety wagon big time, and I came extremely close to saying goodbye to this book. It says a lot about Meyer's strength as a storyteller that I decided to ignore Benny as best I could and read another page. Then another page. Then a chapter... all the way to the end.

There are two timelines in this book. One takes the form of a rambling legal disposition that begins a few days after Richter's corpse was found. The second is the one of the investigation itself that starts as soon as the dead man is found. It was a bit slow going until the two timelines began to converge. Once that happens, the book picks up speed until its conclusion. It was fascinating to watch the investigation progress and to see the life and personality of the dead man (and others) unfold.

Yes, I learned a lot about the history of winemaking in South Africa and about many other things. Meyer has created a strong story, but even though I did, in the end, rather grudgingly enjoy Icarus, I think I'll stick to his standalones. Sorry, Benny!

Icarus by Deon Meyer

eISBN: 9780802190918

Atlantic Monthly Press © 2015

eBook, 373 pages

Police Procedural, #5 Benny Griessel mystery

Rating: B-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

September 2012 New Mystery Releases!

I can already see (and feel) that summer is beginning to pack its bags and head south for the winter, but I'm going to continue reading in my favorite spot in the pool for as long as I can. I figure I can get a few books from this month's list read before the water's too cold!

It was murder trying to prune the list down to a manageable size; I hate leaving anyone out! There are some excellent books in store for us in September, and (after grouping them by release dates) I've included all the information you'll need to find them at your favorite book spots. Hopefully, I've chosen a title or two that tickles your fancy. Which of these are on your own wish lists?

=== September 1 ===

Title: Watching the Ghosts

Author: Kate Ellis

Series: #4 in the Joe Plantagenet series set in present-day North Yorkshire, England

ISBN: 9781780290270

Publisher: Creme de la Crime

Hardcover, 240 pages

Synopsis: "DI Joe Plantagenet investigates a house with a disturbing past in the fourth of this popular police procedural series. Boothgate House has a sinister past. Once an asylum for the insane, serial killer Peter Brockmeister was sent there on his release from prison in 1978. Three years later, it closed, and Brockmeister died in mysterious circumstances. Solicitor Melanie Hawkes is investigating the suspicious events when her young daughter is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Boothgate House resident Lydia Brookes is burgled. And why is a paranormal researcher fascinated by the building’s basement? As Joe uncovers the appalling truth, he faces an evil that threatens those closest to him – and puts his own life in jeopardy."

=== September 4 ===

Title: Wall-to-Wall Dead

Author: Jennie Bentley

Series: #6 in the Do It Yourself Home Renovation series set in Maine

ISBN: 9780425255568

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Avery Baker never thought she’d leave Manhattan, until she inherited her aunt’s old Maine cottage and found her true calling—home renovation. But when Avery goes to work restoring a condominium, she discovers it’s another condo owner who’s been condemned... 

Avery and her partner, Derek, are fixing up a cute little condo in homey Waterfield, Maine, hoping for a quick turnaround and some extra money. It seems like a simple project—and Avery is looking forward to using her big-city experience with small spaces.

But they didn’t expect to have their every move watched by the resident busybody in the condo, Hilda Shaw, who loves snooping on everyone’s comings and goings. When the busybody becomes a dead body, Avery suspects foul play. Soon she’s doing some snooping of her own—and it seems everyone in the complex has a secret. Could one of them be worth killing for? Avery needs to work fast, before someone decides to fix her...for good."

Title: Last Wool and Testament

Author: Molly MacRae

Series: #1 in the Haunted Yarn Shop series set in Tennessee

ISBN: 9780451237828

Publisher: Signet

Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Molly MacRae spent twenty years in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Upper East Tennessee, where she managed the Book Place, an independent bookstore; may it rest in peace. Before the lure of books hooked her, she was curator of the history museum in Jonesborough, Tennessee's oldest town. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine for more than twenty years, and she has won the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. MacRae lives with her family in Champaign, Illinois, where she connects children with books at the public library.

Coming in September 2012 - Last Wool and Testament, first in a new, light paranormal, mystery series from Signet starring Kath Rutledge, a textile preservationist, who inherits her grandmother's wool shop in Blue Plum, Tennessee, and also ends up with a depressed ghost on her hands. Think of it as the series that puts the woo-woo in wool."

Title: Face of the Enemy

Authors: Joanne Dobson and Beverle Graves Myers

Series: #1 in the New York in Wartime series set in New York City during World War II

ISBN: 9781464200311

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Hardcover, 250 pages

Synopsis: "December, 1941: With New Yorkers painfully aware of their vulnerability after the Pearl Harbor attack, the FBI prowls the city snatching up Japanese residents. Tension increases for a sensitive Japanese artist when she’s accused of murder as well as espionage. Is Masako Fumi guilty? Or a victim of racial paranoia? Nurse Louise Hunter is outraged and vows to help her friend.

When the murdered body of Masako’s art dealer is discovered in the gallery where he’d been closing down her controversial show, Masako’s troubles multiply. Homicide detective Michael McKenna doubts her guilt, but an ambitious G-man schemes to lever the homicide and ensuing espionage accusations into a political cause célèbre.

Struggling to focus on one man’s murder while America plunges into a worldwide war, Louise and McKenna defy both racism and ham-fisted government agents in order to expose the real killer."

Title: The Other Woman

Author: Hank Phillippi Ryan

Series: #1 in the Jane Ryland series set in Boston

ISBN: 9780765332578

Publisher: Forge Books

Hardcover, 416 pages

Synopsis: "Jane Ryland was a rising star in television news…until she refused to reveal a source and lost everything. Now a disgraced newspaper reporter, Jane isn’t content to work on her assigned puff pieces, and finds herself tracking down a candidate’s secret mistress just days before a pivotal Senate election.

Detective Jake Brogan is investigating a possible serial killer. Twice, bodies of unidentified women have been found by a bridge, and Jake is plagued by a media swarm beginning to buzz about a 'bridge killer' hunting the young women of Boston. 

As the body count rises and election looms closer, it becomes clear to Jane and Jake that their cases are connected…and that they may be facing a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to silence a scandal."

Title: More Than Sorrow
Author: Vicki Delany
Standalone
ISBN: 9781590589854
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 250 pages

Synopsis: "Once, Hannah Manning was an internationally-renowned journalist and war correspondent. Today, she’s a woman suffering from a traumatic brain injury. Haunted by her memories, Hannah goes to her sister’s small-scale vegetable farm in Prince Edward County, Ontario to recover and spend time with her ten-year-old niece, Lily.

Hannah retreats into the attic full of boxes and moldy letters that have accumulated for more than two centuries. As she reads about the original settlers of this land, she is increasingly drawn to the space beneath the old house.

More than carrots, potatoes, soups and jams are down in the dark, damp root cellar. Hannah experiences visions of a woman emerging from the icy cold mist. Is the woman real?

In this modern Gothic novel of heart-wrenching suspense, past and present merge into a terrifying threat to the only thing Hannah still holds dear—Lily."

Title: Seven Days
Author: Deon Meyer
Series: #3 in the Benny Griessel series set in Capetown, South Africa
ISBN: 9780802120359
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "A police officer is shot dead. The next day, one of his colleagues is as well. Then the South African police receive an email threatening an additional cop killed each day until a cold case is solved. Inspector Benny Griessel is charged with reopening the file on the murder of Hanneke Sloet, an ambitious lawyer stabbed to death in her luxury apartment. There’s no apparent motive and no leads, just a set of nude photographs and a burly ex-boyfriend with a rock-solid alibi. Then more policemen are shot and the pressure mounts. Can Bennie solve the case and stay sober?

Featuring the fantastic characters from Deon Meyer’s Thirteen Hours, which won the Barry Award for Best Thriller in 2011, Seven Days is another gripping adventure from a masterful writer at the top of his game."

=== September 5 ===

Title: A Door in the River

Author: Inger Ash Wolfe

Series: #3 in the Hazel Micallef series set in Ontario, Canada

ISBN: 9781605984209

Publisher: Pegasus

Hardcover, 288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "Stinging deaths aren't uncommon in the summertime, but when Henry Wiest turns up stung to death at an Indian reservation, Detective Hazel Micallef senses not all is as it seems.  And when it turns out the 'bee' was a diabolical teenaged girl on a murder spree with a strange weapon, a dark and twisted crime begins to slowly emerge.  The questions, contradictions, and bodies begin to mount, as two separate police forces struggle to work together to save the soul of Westmuir County."

=== September 8 ===

Title: Hide and Snoop

Author: Sue Ann Jaffarian

Series: #7 in the Odelia Grey series set in southern California

ISBN: 9780738718897

Publisher: Midnight Ink

Paperback, 288 pages

Synopsis: "A merger at Odelia Grey’s law firm has put her job in jeopardy, and her new icy-cold boss, Erica Mayfield, has it in for her. The humiliation doubles when Erica dumps her three-year-old niece with Odelia and disappears for the weekend. The nerve! Primed for a confrontation, Odelia impulsively goes to her boss’s house in the middle of the night—and finds Erica’s sister murdered. Before she knows it, Odelia’s madcap misadventure to prove her own innocence ends up in a cuddly cradle of crime."

=== September 18 ===

Title: Lucky Stuff

Author: Sharon Fiffer

Series: #8 in the Jane Wheel series set in Illinois

ISBN: 9780312643034

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "Officially divorced, antiques picker and private investigator Jane Wheel finally faces the reality that she needs to sell her house, which means clearing out her extensive—and beloved—antique collection. While it’s a daunting task, the preemptive move proves worthwhile when her house sells in one day. Finding herself suddenly homeless, Jane heads to her hometown, Kankakee, Illinois, to find that it, too, has been turned upside down.

Lucky Miller, a little-known comedian, is staging what he calls a comeback. It’s all part of his plan to break into showbiz by making it seem like he’s always been a big name. Suspicious of what Lucky’s trying to prove and why he’s chosen to prove it in Kankakee, Jane’s mother, Nellie, hires Jane to investigate. But why does Nellie care? Lucky would sure like to know, so he, too, calls on Jane to find out. Still, Nellie may be the least of his problems when a driver on his crew turns up dead hours after claiming that Lucky tried to kill him."

=== September 25 ===

Title: Murder in the Rue Dumas

Author: M.L. Longworth

Series: #2 in the Verlaque and Bonnet series set in Aix-en-Provence, France

ISBN: 9780143121541 

Publisher: Penguin Books

Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "When the director of the theology department at a university in Aix is found dead, Judge Verlaque is dumbfounded. Professor Moutte was about to announce the recipient of both a fellowship, and his position as Director—which includes the coveted apartment in a 17th century mansion. The prospective recipients and others close to Moutte make up a long list of suspects, but Verlaque isn’t convinced any of the eager students or desperate teachers are capable of murder, and he must dig deeper.

With Marine’s help—and that of her plucky mother—Verlaque uncovers a world that proves more complicated than university politics, and doing his best to keep his love life with Marine above water."

Title: Talking to the Dead

Author: Harry Bingham

Series: #1 in the Fiona Griffiths series set in Wales

ISBN: 9780345533739

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "At first, the murder scene appears sad, but not unusual: a young woman undone by drugs and prostitution, her six-year-old daughter dead alongside her. But then detectives find a strange piece of evidence in the squalid house: the platinum credit card of a very wealthy—and long dead—steel tycoon. What is a heroin-addicted hooker doing with the credit card of a well-known and powerful man who died months ago? This is the question that the most junior member of the investigative team, Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths, is assigned to answer.

But D.C. Griffiths is no ordinary cop. She’s earned a reputation at police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, for being odd, for not picking up on social cues, for being a little over-intense. And there’s that gap in her past, the two-year hiatus that everyone assumes was a breakdown. But Fiona is a crack investigator, quick and intuitive. She is immediately drawn to the crime scene, and to the tragic face of the six-year-old girl, who she is certain has something to tell her . . . something that will break the case wide open.

Ignoring orders and protocol, Fiona begins to explore far beyond the rich man’s credit card and into the secrets of her seaside city. And when she uncovers another dead prostitute, Fiona knows that she’s only begun to scratch the surface of a dark world of crime and murder. But the deeper she digs, the more danger she risks—not just from criminals and killers but from her own past . . . and the abyss that threatens to pull her back at any time."

Title: A Lack of Temperance

Author: Anna Loan-Wilsey

Series: #1 in the Hattie Davish historical series set in Arkansas

ISBN: 9780758276346

Publisher: Kensington

Paperback, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "Have typewriter will travel...and track down dead bodies. Not the usual motto for a Victorian private secretary and certainly not what Miss Hattie Davish has in mind when she responds to the latest summons for her services.  On the eve of the 1892 Election, Hattie arrives in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a booming health spa and vacation resort, hoping to hike the hills, botanize and placate the demands of her newest high-society employer.  Yet her employer is missing, and this idyllic Ozark village is being plagued by a league of temperance women attacking saloons with hatchets and bricks, a city council candidate fighting in the streets and a trail of cryptic death threats.  With her reputation and life on the line, Hattie will put more than her trusty typewriter to the test."

Title: Big Maria

Author: Johnny Shaw

Standalone

ISBN: 9781612184395

Publisher: Thomas and Mercer

Paperback,384 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "There’s gold in them thar hills—or more precisely, in Arizona’s Chocolate Mountains, where one hundred years ago a miner stashed a king’s ransom of the stuff. But times have changed. The world has changed. And now the Chocolate Mountains are the home of the largest military artillery range in the world.

Harry’s living on disability and getting liquored up and beaten down. Frank’s a feisty old-timer battling cancer and a domineering daughter. And Ricky’s a good kid in a bad spot, doing everything for family. Together they’re staking what little they have left on a dangerous quest to the Big Maria Mine— and the gold that can offer them a new beginning.

Unfortunately a meth-dealing biker wants a piece, a trigger-happy AWOL soldier wants to play chicken in a live minefield, two stubborn burros want to go home, a starving mountain lion wants his dinner, and the US Army wants to rain on our heroes’ parade with real bombs.

When you’re all out of crazy ideas, you’ve got to try the stupid ones."


So... how'd it go? Did you add as many books to your wish list as I did to mine? Which ones in particular are you looking forward to? Inquiring minds want to know!

Scene of the Crime with Author Deon Meyer!

I credit this week's featured author with renewing my interest in reading books set in Africa. South African author Deon Meyer's books have been translated into 25 languages from the original Afrikaans. From experience, I know that his thrillers are hard to put down, and-- good news for anyone wanting to pick up one of his books for the first time-- almost all his books are standalones, so you won't get the feeling that you have to "invest" in trying a new series.

Deon Meyer

When I first contacted Deon about an interview, he told me that he was just about to set out on his motorcycle to do research in a remote corner of South Africa. He believes in taking a lot of photos during these research trips, and if you visit his website, you can see where many of the scenes in his latest book, Trackers, are set.

Here are a few links so you can learn more about this talented writer:

Deon Meyer's website

Deon Meyer on Twitter

Deon Meyer on Facebook

More on Deon Meyer's books

Now let's get started with the interview!

What was the very first book you remember reading and loving? What makes that book so special?

It was probably one of the books in the Afrikaans ‘Huppelkind’ series. It is a long time ago, and today I can only recall being lost in the enchantment and magic of the storytelling.

Outside of your writing and all associated commitments, what do you like to do in your free time?

Reading, off-road motorcycling, ballroom dancing, movies, trying to learn Adobe After Effects, and growing fruit and vegetables.

If I were to visit your hometown, where would you recommend that I go? (I like seeing and doing things that aren't in all the guide books.)

Night view from Lion's Head  ©Vermaakjeanne

When you visit Cape Town, have lunch at Bizerca Bistro, buy flowers from the market in the Heerengracht, feed the squirrels in the Company Gardens, watch the world go buy from any of the coffee shops in Long Street, and go climb Lion’s Head on a night when the moon is full.

You have total control over casting a movie based on your life. Which actor would you cast as you?

John Goodman

Good grief, it’s not exactly going to be a blockbuster … John Goodman?

Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

Detective 2nd Grade Stephen Louis "Steve" Carella in Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series.

Name one book that you've read that you wish you had written. What is it about that book that made it come to mind?

J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace. It is perfect, on every level. Not a single word wasted.

How did you celebrate when you first heard you were to be published? What did you do the first time you saw one of your books on a shelf in a bookstore?

I was too dirt poor to afford any sort of celebration, but I do remember making considerable noise. When I first saw my book on a shelf, I furtively moved it to a more prominent spot ….

I don't know if you've seen it, but I love Parnell Hall's video about book signings. What is the most unusual experience you've had at a book signing or author event?

At an arts festival in South Africa, I was enjoying the spotlight whilst being interviewed (a first for me at the time). An agitated woman walked onto the stage and asked us to please keep it down, because the judges in a fruit preserve competition next door found it hard to concentrate.

What's the best thing about eBooks? What's the worst?

The convenience while travelling is the best thing about eBooks. The worst is probably the piracy.

On Sale Now!

Thank you so much for taking the time for this interview, Deon. We appreciate the opportunity to get to know you a little better.

May your book sales do nothing but increase!

September 2010 New Mystery Releases!

It's almost impossible to believe that another month has flown by. If someone asked me where summer went, I certainly wouldn't be able to come up with an answer!

Like every other bookaholic in the world, I have my favorite genres, and I always want to know when new books are being published. Whether they're by new-to-me authors or ones who are tried and true, I'm insatiable when it comes to new books.

The following books are my top ten picks for new mysteries being released in September. (Don't tell anyone, but I squeezed in one historical fiction title...shhhh!) The titles are grouped by release dates, and I've included the information you'll need to find them all at your favorite book spots. Let's see which titles have me drooling this month!

===September 2 Release===

 

Title: The Shadows in the Street
Author: Susan Hill
Series: #5 in the Simon Serrailler series set in Lafferton, England
ISBN: 9781590204085
Publisher: Overlook
Hardcover, 384 pages

===September 7 Release===

Title: Russian Winter
Author: Daphne Kalotay
Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9780061962165
Publisher: Harper
Hardcover, 480 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Title: Dexter Is Delicious
Author:Jeff Lindsay
Series: #5 in the Dexter Morgan series set in Florida
ISBN: 9780385532358
Publisher: Doubleday
Hardcover, 368 pages

Title: Thirteen Hours
Author: Deon Meyer
Series: #2 Benny Griessel mystery set in South Africa
ISBN: 9780802119582
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Hardcover, 384 pages

Title: The Crocodile's Last Embrace
Author: Suzanne Arruda
Series: #6 in the Jade del Cameron historical series set in Kenya
ISBN: 9780451231178
Publisher: NAL Trade
Paperback, 400 pages

===September 28 Release===

 

Title: Blue Lightning
Author: Ann Cleeves
Series: #4 in the Shetland Island Quartet
ISBN: 9780312384357
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 368 pages

Title: Bury Your Dead
Author: Louise Penny
Series: #6 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series set in Ontario, Canada
ISBN: 9780312377045
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 384 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Title: Saving Max
Author: Antoinette Van Heugten
ISBN: 9780778329633
Publisher: Mira Books
Paperback, 384 pages

Title: You Are Next
Author: Katia Lief
ISBN:  9780061809026
Publisher: Avon
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Title: The Day of Small Things
Author: Vicki Lane
ISBN: 9780385342636
Publisher: Dell
Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books









It looks as though September is another wonderful month for crime fiction-- in particular the 28th with the books by two of my favorites, Ann Cleeves and Louise Penny.

Which ones did you just add to your own wish list?

Blood Safari by Deon Meyer

Title: Blood Safari
Author: Deon Meyer
Translated from the Afrikaans by K.L. Seegers
ISBN: 9780802119032, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009
Genre: Thriller
Rating: A

First Line: I swung the sledge hammer in a lazy rhythm.

Emma Le Roux is getting dressed when her Cape Town home is broken into by three masked men. She manages to get away, and she's convinced that the break-in has something to do with her brother Jacobus, a man whom everyone believes has been dead for twenty years. Emma hires professional bodyguard Martin Lemmer to protect her while she investigates. Lemmer is a true tough guy with a checkered past and the skills that would normally keep Emma safe, but when she's critically injured Lemmer commits himself to finishing her investigation even though his own life is now in danger.

This book grabbed me by the throat and would not let go. The translation is beautifully done, and the settings on the game preserves of South Africa lend the perfect note of the exotic. If you're leery of snakes, there is one scene in this book that could give you nightmares. I didn't have nightmares, but I certainly was jumpy for an hour or two after reading it. (I can still get nervy just writing about it!)

Lemmer is a fascinating character, and not just because he has a questionable past. He has prejudices-- he willingly admits to them-- but when he's shown that he was wrong to think that way, he's a person who can admit his mistakes, apologize, and learn from them.

Meyer's plot is well-woven and moves like a wildfire. I did not want to put this book down. I had to know how this cast of characters fit together. I had to know what was going to happen next.

Above the fast-moving plot, above the intricately drawn characters, is the land of South Africa. Meyer gives strangers to his country a well-seasoned taste of life in that land-- not only for humans, but also for the animals in that unique area of planet Earth.

I don't read that many thrillers because the ones I have read tend to skimp on elements that I consider to be very important: characterization and setting. It's been my experience that thrillers are all about plot. Deon Meyer has made me see that this "ain't necessarily so." There can be thrillers with rich settings that you can see and hear and taste. There can be thrillers with characters so well-drawn that you feel as if you know them. There can be because I've just read one-- Deon Meyer's Blood Safari.


*Review copy provided by the Amazon Vine program.