Instead of walking past the shelves that house my staggering numbers of books to be read and averting my eyes, I'm walking up to them, removing books, and reading them. Guess what? The numbers of A+ (AKA "Wow") books I've read is growing.
Does this mean that I've also stopped looking for books to add to those to-be-read shelves? Please, don't make me snort (and we'll both be happy). I've gleaned a baker's dozen of books I've added to to my wish list that are being released during the month of August. I've grouped them according to release dates, and naturally I've included all the information you need so you can add them to your lists, too. Yeah, I know. Ain't I nice? *wink*
=== August 1 ===
Title: Guilt Edged
Author: Judith Cutler
Series: #6 in the Lina Townend series about an antiques dealer in England
ISBN: 9780727882936
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Hardcover, 224 pages
Synopsis: "When a middle-aged woman enters Lina Townend’s antiques shop wanting to sell a white Beswick china horse which she claims is a cherished heirloom, Lina’s instincts tell her to avoid the sale. Suddenly, wherever she goes, Lina sees the supposedly rare white horses. Something strange is afoot.
As she looks further into the matter, it turns out that the horses are only the tip of the iceberg. But Lina’s investigations are attracting unwelcome attention. With her business partner Griff laid up in hospital and her relationship with her boyfriend Morris floundering, when she herself falls under suspicion for theft, Lina doesn’t know where to turn."
Title: Tahoe Chase
Author: Todd Borg
Series: #11 in the Owen McKenna series set around Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California
ISBN: 9781931296212
Publisher: Thriller Press
Paperback, 351 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "92-year-old former Olympic ski racer Joe Rorvik is devastated when he finds his wife Cynthia down below their deck, still alive but comatose after a fall. While the fall looks like an accident, Joe Rorvik hires Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna to investigate.
McKenna can't find anything suspicious until people close to Joe's wife start dying in other accidents. McKenna finds motive when he discovers that the victims all opposed a new ski resort development.
Joe's wife had made friends with a young French woman named Simone Bonnaire. While Simone is in danger from her abusive boyfriend, she hasn't taken a position against the ski resort. She doesn't appear to be a target of the killer. McKenna encourages Simone to escape her boyfriend by pursuing her dream, a solo ski trek through the Desolation Wilderness. After she leaves, McKenna learns that he's made a terrible mistake and that Simone is the next to die. But he can't save her because she is out of touch and unreachable except by the killer who has already begun his final chase."
Synopsis: "It’s the end of March and Trafalgar, British Columbia, is
preparing for the last influx of the seasonal skiers. Teachers, parents,
and students are preparing to relax at home or head off on vacation.
But for high school English teacher Cathy Lindsay, the week of
relaxation doesn’t work out as planned. She’s gunned down by a sniper on
a hiking trail, her small dog the only witness.
Cathy Lindsay is an unlikely candidate for a murderous ambush: she was a respected teacher, in an apparently solid marriage to an Internet developer, living a quiet life. Sergeant John Winters, with the help of young Constable Molly Smith, digs into the Lindsay marriage and friendships, searching for a motive, but one thought continually niggles at the back of his mind: is it possible this was not a random killing but a case of mistaken identity?"
Author: Judith Cutler
Series: #6 in the Lina Townend series about an antiques dealer in England
ISBN: 9780727882936
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Hardcover, 224 pages
Synopsis: "When a middle-aged woman enters Lina Townend’s antiques shop wanting to sell a white Beswick china horse which she claims is a cherished heirloom, Lina’s instincts tell her to avoid the sale. Suddenly, wherever she goes, Lina sees the supposedly rare white horses. Something strange is afoot.
As she looks further into the matter, it turns out that the horses are only the tip of the iceberg. But Lina’s investigations are attracting unwelcome attention. With her business partner Griff laid up in hospital and her relationship with her boyfriend Morris floundering, when she herself falls under suspicion for theft, Lina doesn’t know where to turn."
Author: Todd Borg
Series: #11 in the Owen McKenna series set around Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California
ISBN: 9781931296212
Publisher: Thriller Press
Paperback, 351 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "92-year-old former Olympic ski racer Joe Rorvik is devastated when he finds his wife Cynthia down below their deck, still alive but comatose after a fall. While the fall looks like an accident, Joe Rorvik hires Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna to investigate.
McKenna can't find anything suspicious until people close to Joe's wife start dying in other accidents. McKenna finds motive when he discovers that the victims all opposed a new ski resort development.
Joe's wife had made friends with a young French woman named Simone Bonnaire. While Simone is in danger from her abusive boyfriend, she hasn't taken a position against the ski resort. She doesn't appear to be a target of the killer. McKenna encourages Simone to escape her boyfriend by pursuing her dream, a solo ski trek through the Desolation Wilderness. After she leaves, McKenna learns that he's made a terrible mistake and that Simone is the next to die. But he can't save her because she is out of touch and unreachable except by the killer who has already begun his final chase."
=== August 6 ===
Title: If Bread Could Rise to the Occasion
Author: Paige Shelton
Series: #3 in the Country Cooking School series set in southern Missouri
ISBN: 9780425252239
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Synopsis: "A
fresh school year begins as Gram and Betts anxiously await the arrival
of their new crop of students. But their enthusiasm is thwarted when a
stranger named Freddie O’Bannon arrives and claims to have proof that he
was accepted to the school despite what is in their files. And when the
ghost of Cylas Gent, a young man who might have a romantic past with
Gram, also appears, there are suddenly two mysteries demanding their
attention.
But just as Gram and Betts start sifting through the past, one of their new students is murdered. Does the seemingly sweet Freddie O’Bannon have something sinister to hide, or are Gram’s ghosts trying to teach her a lesson? Either way, it’s up to the country cooks to catch a killer before another living soul gets burned."
But just as Gram and Betts start sifting through the past, one of their new students is murdered. Does the seemingly sweet Freddie O’Bannon have something sinister to hide, or are Gram’s ghosts trying to teach her a lesson? Either way, it’s up to the country cooks to catch a killer before another living soul gets burned."
Title: Heirs and Graces
Author: Rhys Bowen
Series: #7 in the Royal Spyness historical mystery series set in England
ISBN: 9780425260029
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Hardcover, 304 pages
Synopsis: "Here I am thinking the education I received at my posh Swiss finishing
school would never come in handy. And while it hasn’t landed me a job,
or a husband, it has convinced Her Majesty the Queen and the Dowager
Duchess to enlist my help. I have been entrusted with grooming Jack
Altringham—the Duke’s newly discovered heir fresh from the Outback of
Australia—for high society.
The upside is I am to live in luxury at one of England’s most gorgeous stately homes. But upon arrival at Kingsdowne Place, my dearest Darcy has been sent to fetch Jack, leaving me stuck in a manor full of miscreants…none of whom are too pleased with the discovery of my new ward.
And no sooner has the lad been retrieved than the Duke announces he wants to choose his own heir. With the house in a hubbub over the news, Jack’s hunting knife somehow finds its way into the Duke’s back. Eyes fall, backs turn, and fingers point to the young heir. As if the rascal wasn’t enough of a handful, now he’s suspected of murder. Jack may be wild, but I’d bet the crown jewels it wasn’t he who killed the Duke…"
The upside is I am to live in luxury at one of England’s most gorgeous stately homes. But upon arrival at Kingsdowne Place, my dearest Darcy has been sent to fetch Jack, leaving me stuck in a manor full of miscreants…none of whom are too pleased with the discovery of my new ward.
And no sooner has the lad been retrieved than the Duke announces he wants to choose his own heir. With the house in a hubbub over the news, Jack’s hunting knife somehow finds its way into the Duke’s back. Eyes fall, backs turn, and fingers point to the young heir. As if the rascal wasn’t enough of a handful, now he’s suspected of murder. Jack may be wild, but I’d bet the crown jewels it wasn’t he who killed the Duke…"
Title: Cover Story
Author: Erika Chase
Series: #3 in the Ashton Corners Book Club series set in Alabama
ISBN: 9780425252116
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Synopsis: "It’s time to celebrate when club member Molly Mathews’s childhood
friend, Teensy Coldicutt, moves back to town—complete with a published
book. But as the club plans Teensy’s book launch, Molly is attacked and
Teensy’s books are stolen. Who would be so desperate for 150 copies of a
sexy novel written by an elderly widow? Then Ashton Corners is hit with
another shock when Teensy’s publisher turns up dead—and fellow club
member and former police chief Bob Miller is taken into custody.
Convinced that Teensy’s missing books hold the key to the murder, Lizzie Turner and her band of readers are determined to hunt them down. But the plot thickens when their search leads them straight into a counterfeiting ring. Now they must unravel this surprise twist before the killer gets the chance to write someone else off…"
Convinced that Teensy’s missing books hold the key to the murder, Lizzie Turner and her band of readers are determined to hunt them down. But the plot thickens when their search leads them straight into a counterfeiting ring. Now they must unravel this surprise twist before the killer gets the chance to write someone else off…"
Title: Cloche and Dagger
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Series: #1 in the Hat Shop series set in London
ISBN: 9780425258897
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Synopsis: "Not only is Scarlett Parker’s love life in the loo—as her British cousin
Vivian Tremont would say—it’s also gone viral with an embarrassing
video. So when Viv suggests Scarlett leave Florida to lay low in London,
she hops on the next plane across the pond. Viv is the proprietor of
Mims’s Whims, a ladies’ hat shop on Portobello Road bequeathed to both
cousins by their beloved grandmother, and she wants Scarlett to finally
join her in the millinery business.
But a few surprises await Scarlett in London. First, she is met at the airport not by Viv, but by her handsome business manager, Harrison Wentworth. Second, Viv—who has some whims of her own—seems to be missing. No one is too concerned about the unpredictable Viv until one of her posh clients is found dead wearing the cloche hat Viv made for her—and nothing else. Is Scarlett’s cousin in trouble? Or is she in hiding?"
But a few surprises await Scarlett in London. First, she is met at the airport not by Viv, but by her handsome business manager, Harrison Wentworth. Second, Viv—who has some whims of her own—seems to be missing. No one is too concerned about the unpredictable Viv until one of her posh clients is found dead wearing the cloche hat Viv made for her—and nothing else. Is Scarlett’s cousin in trouble? Or is she in hiding?"
Title: Pall in the Family
Author: Dawn Eastman
Series: #1 in the Family Fortune series set in Michigan
ISBN: 9780425264270
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Synopsis: "The aptly named Crystal Haven is the destination for tourists
seeking psychics, séances, and the promise of contacting the spirit
world. In this small western Michigan town, everyone knows the Fortune
family. Rose is gifted with tarot card readings. Her sister, Vi, is a
self-proclaimed pet psychic. And Rose’s daughter Clyde is…
A cop. A cop on leave from Ann Arbor, more specifically, who’s come home to kooky Crystal Haven to reevaluate her life. Mom and Aunt Vi can’t wait for Clyde to finally embrace her own psychic gifts and join the family business. Clyde would prefer the low-stress lifestyle of a dog walker and the low-key company of her nephew, Seth.
But when a local psychic is killed, leaving behind a traumatized Shih Tzu, it seems to be in the cards for Clyde to get involved. With her old flame Mac leading the investigation, that may prove awkward. Whether she uses her skills as a cop or her long-denied psychic abilities, it’s up to Clyde to divine a killer’s identity before someone else suffers more misfortune."
A cop. A cop on leave from Ann Arbor, more specifically, who’s come home to kooky Crystal Haven to reevaluate her life. Mom and Aunt Vi can’t wait for Clyde to finally embrace her own psychic gifts and join the family business. Clyde would prefer the low-stress lifestyle of a dog walker and the low-key company of her nephew, Seth.
But when a local psychic is killed, leaving behind a traumatized Shih Tzu, it seems to be in the cards for Clyde to get involved. With her old flame Mac leading the investigation, that may prove awkward. Whether she uses her skills as a cop or her long-denied psychic abilities, it’s up to Clyde to divine a killer’s identity before someone else suffers more misfortune."
Title: A Cold White Sun
Author: Vicki Delany
Series: #6 in the Molly Smith police procedural series set in British Columbia, Canada
ISBN: 9781464201608
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Paperback, 250 pages
Cathy Lindsay is an unlikely candidate for a murderous ambush: she was a respected teacher, in an apparently solid marriage to an Internet developer, living a quiet life. Sergeant John Winters, with the help of young Constable Molly Smith, digs into the Lindsay marriage and friendships, searching for a motive, but one thought continually niggles at the back of his mind: is it possible this was not a random killing but a case of mistaken identity?"
Title: A Place of Confinement
Author: Anna Dean
Series: #4 in the Miss Dido Kent series set in Regency England
ISBN: 9781250029676
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 416 pages
Synopsis: "The dependably sharp Miss Dido Kent is suffering her sister-in-law’s
attempts to marry her off to the ghastly clergyman Doctor Prowdlee.
Dido, however, is determined to refuse him, as well as his abominable
side whiskers. As punishment she is sent to accompany her
hypochondriac—and quite wealthy—Aunt Manners on a trip to Charcombe
Manor. The family hopes that revisiting her childhood home will keep
Aunt Manners in good spirits, and Dido in her good graces.
However, upon their arrival it’s clear to Dido that there is much more at stake than her aunt’s favor. The rich heiress Letitia Verney has disappeared while visiting Charcombe, and Mr. Tom Lomax is suspected of abducting her. Dido is inclined to believe in his innocence, but how is she to explain by what method a young lady could enter through the front door and not appear on the other side? And this isn’t the only enigma that the Elizabethan manor holds: there is a deserted wing in which lights mysteriously appear at night, a crying ghost which keeps visitors awake, and memories of old family quarrels.
When the senior Mr. Lomax comes to town to defend his son, the mystery intensifies—and so does Dido’s romantic life. With lives and reputations on the line, it’s up to Dido to put the pieces together to save the Lomaxes and find the vanished young Miss Verney."
However, upon their arrival it’s clear to Dido that there is much more at stake than her aunt’s favor. The rich heiress Letitia Verney has disappeared while visiting Charcombe, and Mr. Tom Lomax is suspected of abducting her. Dido is inclined to believe in his innocence, but how is she to explain by what method a young lady could enter through the front door and not appear on the other side? And this isn’t the only enigma that the Elizabethan manor holds: there is a deserted wing in which lights mysteriously appear at night, a crying ghost which keeps visitors awake, and memories of old family quarrels.
When the senior Mr. Lomax comes to town to defend his son, the mystery intensifies—and so does Dido’s romantic life. With lives and reputations on the line, it’s up to Dido to put the pieces together to save the Lomaxes and find the vanished young Miss Verney."
Title: Eva's Eye
Author: Karin Fossum
Series: #1 in the Inspector Sejer police procedural series set in Norway. (They've finally published the first book in the series in English!!!)
ISBN: 9780547738758
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hardcover, 304 pages
Synopsis: "The original Inspector Sejer mystery available for the first time in English.
Eva Magnus is a struggling artist and the divorced mother of a seven-year-old child, Emma. One afternoon she and Emma are walking by the river when an unknown man's body floats to the surface of the icy water. She tells her daughter to wait patiently while she calls the police, but when she reaches the phone box Eva dials another number altogether.
When the police discover the body, it doesn't take long for Inspector Sejer and his team to determine that the man, Egil, died in a violent attack. But Egil has been missing for months and the trail to his killer has gone cold. It's as puzzling as another unsolved case on Sejer's desk: the murder of a prostitute who was found dead just three days before Egil went missing.
Sejer sets to work piecing together the fragments of these two impossible cases; soon enough he realizes that they might not be as separate as they had seemed."
Eva Magnus is a struggling artist and the divorced mother of a seven-year-old child, Emma. One afternoon she and Emma are walking by the river when an unknown man's body floats to the surface of the icy water. She tells her daughter to wait patiently while she calls the police, but when she reaches the phone box Eva dials another number altogether.
When the police discover the body, it doesn't take long for Inspector Sejer and his team to determine that the man, Egil, died in a violent attack. But Egil has been missing for months and the trail to his killer has gone cold. It's as puzzling as another unsolved case on Sejer's desk: the murder of a prostitute who was found dead just three days before Egil went missing.
Sejer sets to work piecing together the fragments of these two impossible cases; soon enough he realizes that they might not be as separate as they had seemed."
=== August 20 ===
Title: It Happens in the Dark
Author: Carol O'Connell'
Series: #11 in the Kathleen Mallory police procedural series set in New York City
ISBN: 9780399165399
Publisher: Putnam
Hardcover, 368 pages
Synopsis: "The reviews called it 'A Play to Die For' after the woman was found dead
in the front row. It didn’t seem so funny the next night, when another
body was found—this time the playwright’s, his throat slashed.
Detective Kathy Mallory takes over, but no matter what she asks, no one seems to be giving her a straight answer. The only person—if 'person' is the right word—who seems to be clear is the ghostwriter. Every night, an unseen backstage hand chalks up line changes and messages on a blackboard. And the ghostwriter is now writing Mallory into the play itself, a play about a long-ago massacre that may not be at all fictional. 'MALLORY,' the blackboard reads. 'TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT. NOTHING PERSONAL.'
If Mallory can’t find out who’s responsible, heads will roll. Unfortunately, one of them may be her own."
Detective Kathy Mallory takes over, but no matter what she asks, no one seems to be giving her a straight answer. The only person—if 'person' is the right word—who seems to be clear is the ghostwriter. Every night, an unseen backstage hand chalks up line changes and messages on a blackboard. And the ghostwriter is now writing Mallory into the play itself, a play about a long-ago massacre that may not be at all fictional. 'MALLORY,' the blackboard reads. 'TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT. NOTHING PERSONAL.'
If Mallory can’t find out who’s responsible, heads will roll. Unfortunately, one of them may be her own."
=== August 27 ===
Title: A Question of Honor
Author: Charles Todd
Series: #5 in the Bess Crawford historical series set in World War I-era England and France
ISBN: 9780062237156
Publisher: William Morrow
Hardcover, 320 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
A decade later, tending to the wounded on the battlefields of France during World War I, Bess learns from a dying Indian sergeant that the supposed murderer, Lieutenant Wade, is alive—and serving at the Front. Bess cannot believe the shocking news. According to reliable reports, Wade's body had been seen deep in the Khyber Pass, where he had died trying to reach Afghanistan. Soon, though, her mind is racing. How had he escaped from India? What had driven a good man to murder in cold blood?
Wanting answers, she uses her leave to investigate. In the village where the first three killings took place, she discovers that the locals are certain that the British soldier was innocent. Yet the present owner of the house where the crime was committed believes otherwise, and is convinced that Bess's father helped Wade flee. To settle the matter once and for all, Bess sets out to find Wade and let the courts decide.
But when she stumbles on the horrific truth, something that even the famous writer Rudyard Kipling had kept secret all his life, she is shaken to her very core. The facts will damn Wade even as they reveal a brutal reality, a reality that could have been her own fate."
Author: Louise Penny
Series: #9 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache police procedural series set in Canada
ISBN: 9780312655471
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 416 pages
Synopsis: "Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it’s a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive season for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department, his old friend and lieutenant Jean-Guy Beauvoir hasn’t spoken to him in months, and hostile forces are lining up against him. When Gamache receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to arrive for Christmas in the village of Three Pines, he welcomes the chance to get away from the city. Mystified by Myrna's reluctance to reveal her friend's name, Gamache soon discovers the missing woman was once one of the most famous people not just in North America, but in the world, and now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo.
As events come to a head, Gamache is drawn ever deeper into the world of Three Pines. Increasingly, he is not only investigating the disappearance of Myrna’s friend but also seeking a safe place for himself and his still-loyal colleagues. Is there peace to be found even in Three Pines, and at what cost to Gamache and the people he holds dear?"
Books, glorious books; August is awash with them! Favorite writers (like Todd Borg and Louise Penny), writers I've just discovered and want to read more of (like Anna Dean), and series that I've enjoyed, abandoned, and want to get back to (like Karin Fossum and Carol O'Connell).
Which ones of my baker's dozen caught your eye???
