I'm putting this post together on the Wednesday before Christmas. Denis and I just got back from the Desert Botanical Garden, all is quiet, and since I'm behind on blogging, I figured this would be the perfect time for a little catch-up. Come to think of it, writing blog posts isn't the only thing that needs to be caught up.
I use Firefox as my browser, and last month they decided to do away with a staple of my online life, Speed Dial, in which I kept track of all my important bookmarks. Did they give any warning? Heavens to Murgatroyd, no! I just logged on one day and found it was -- POOF!-- gone. This isn't the first time that Firefox has done this to me with the same thing, and I know one way to get around it, but I decided to be contrary and not do it. I am slowly gathering together my bookmarks, and I'll have to come up with the best solution to squirrel them away somewhere that Firefox can't get to them.
One of the things that this debacle messed up for me was all the blogs I like to keep track of, so... if some of you haven't heard from me in awhile, that's why.
Time to drag this post back on track! The following list contains my picks of the best new crime fiction being released throughout the month of January. I've grouped them by their release dates, and the covers and synopses are courtesy of my favorite showroom, Amazon.
Let's see if I've chosen any titles that tickle your fancy, too.
=== January 4 ===
Title: Palms, Paradise, Poison
Series: #3 in the Teddy Creque police procedural series set in the British Virgin Islands and Cuba.
224 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Constable Teddy Creque, the sole police officer on the tiny, sun-soaked
island of Anegada, is used to weathering storms. So when Hurricane
Leatha hits the Caribbean with brutal force, his main concern is keeping
the island’s two hundred residents safe.
Teddy expects the
power to go out. He expects the phone lines to go down. But he doesn’t
expect the radioed message from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force
headquarters, informing him of a dangerous escaped prisoner. Queen Ya-Ya
is a practitioner of ancient Afro-Cuban rites – and rumor has it she
can kill with magic.
Teddy doesn’t believe in magic, and when he
easily recaptures the dignified, imposing Queen Ya-Ya, he doesn’t
believe his prisoner is dangerous either. But when she mysteriously
kills a man from inside her locked cell, before vanishing once more into
the night, Teddy is forced to reconsider . . .
This
page-turning mystery from award-winning author John Keyse-Walker takes
readers on an exciting journey from the storm-tossed British Virgin
Islands to the heart of Cuba, and is a perfect pick for readers who like
their mysteries international, atmospheric and adventurous."
Title: Spirits and Smoke
Series: #2 in the Mystic's Accomplice historical series set in Chicago in the 1920s.
224 pages
Synopsis: "December, 1924. Young widow Maddie Pastore feels fortunate to be
employed by the well-meaning but fraudulent medium Carlotta Romany.
Investigating Carlotta’s clients isn’t work she’s proud of, but she’s
proud of how well she does it.
Maddie’s talents, however, draw
them unwelcome attention: sharp-eyed Officer O’Rourke from the Chicago
Police. He doesn’t believe in spiritualism – but in a city packed with
mobsters, con artists and criminals, he’ll take any help he can get.
It’s not long before Maddie has a case to bring him. Why did teetotal
banker Herman Quillen die of alcohol poisoning? And who is the
gold-toothed man claiming to be his brother, and demanding the spirits
reveal where Herman hid his money?
All Maddie wants is to
uncover the truth – but to her horror, she’s soon mixed up in a tangled
web of secrets and deception that leads to the heart of Chicago’s
violent gangs . . . and she’ll need all her wits about her if she, and
her loved ones, are going to make it out again alive.
Spirits and Smoke, the sequel to The Mystic’s Accomplice,
to is an ideal pick for readers who enjoy Jazz Age mysteries with
feisty female sleuths, sparkling historical detail and Prohibition
high-jinks."
Title: Gone Missin'
Author: Peggy O'Neal Peden
Series: #2 in the cozy Nashville mystery series set in Tennessee and Mexico.
192 pages
Synopsis: "Travel agent Campbell Hale isn’t surprised when she hears her good
friend, socialite and talented artist Bitsy Carter, has booked a luxury
Mexican spa vacation through her agency. Bitsy often takes solo trips
abroad, and who’d want to spend February in grey Nashville when they
could avoid it?
She is, however, extremely surprised – and extremely worried – when Bitsy doesn’t come back.
What could compel warm, friendly Bitsy to run away without telling
anyone her plans? And most puzzling of all: what could make her leave
her small children behind?
The answers lie in Zihuatanejo, and Campbell barely needs to twist new
boyfriend Detective Sam Davis’ arm to get him to agree to accompany her
there. Campbell’s determined to uncover the truth, but will this be a
vacation to remember . . . or one to die for?"
Title: The Maid
Standalone amateur sleuth mystery set in Canada.
304 pages
Synopsis: "Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills
and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the
world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been
navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws
herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character,
along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her
an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform
each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and
returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of
perfection.
But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she
enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find
it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before
she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police
targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in
a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately
for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for
clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to
find the real killer before it’s too late?"
=== January 11 ===
Title: A Three Book Problem
Series: #7 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop cozy series set in Massachusetts.
320 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "It's a crisp, early October weekend, and business is slowing down as
fall descends at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium and adjacent
Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room. Wealthy philanthropist and prominent Sherlockian
David Masterson has rented Suffolk Gardens House, where he plans to
entertain his friends in a traditional English country house weekend.
As
the chosen caterers, Jayne Wilson and Gemma Doyle get to work preparing
lavish meals and setting up Sherlockian books and props for
entertainment. Meanwhile, police detective Ryan Ashburton has taken time
away from his duties to assist in the kitchen. It quickly becomes
apparent that David's guests don't like each other--or their host. Plus,
some of them aren't even acquainted with the adventures of the Great
Detective.
Before Gemma can ponder their relationships a poisoned
dart sails through the window of the library, presenting Gemma Doyle
with a three-book problem."
Title: A Flicker in the Dark
Standalone thriller set in Louisiana
368 pages
Synopsis: "When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small
Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed
to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of
her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while
dealing with the aftermath.
Now twenty years later, Chloe is a
psychologist in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. While she
finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to
achieve, she sometimes feels as out of control of her own life as the
troubled teens who are her patients. So when a local teenage girl goes
missing, and then another, that terrifying summer comes crashing back.
Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren't actually
there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a
killer?
From debut author Stacy Willingham comes a masterfully done, lyrical thriller, certain to be the launch of an amazing career. A Flicker in the Dark is eerily compelling to the very last page."
Title: Wolf Hollow
Series: #1 in the Lew Ferris police procedural series set in Wisconsin.
288 pages
Synopsis: "It's mid-May in the tiny northwoods Wisconsin town of Loon Lake, and the
fish are biting. Walleye's not the only thing on the hook. There are
rumors that a precious vein of nickel and copper is buried on the
property of wealthy Grace McDonough, and the drilling is about to begin.
But not if environmentalist Pete Ferris can help it.
When
Grace's 24-year-old son, Noah, is caught in a sordid sex crime, police
chief Lew Ferris makes the arrest. But a day later, Lew is stricken when
her brother Pete turns up dead, a bloody pry bar found in the woods
nearby. Then, Grace's body is discovered in a car at the bottom of a
river--and Noah has vanished. Lew puts out a statewide APB, but before
long, Noah is also found murdered on the McDonough property.
It's
beginning to look like mother and son were killed by the same person.
And when Lew learns that her brother had planned to file a lawsuit to
prevent drilling for the sulfide mine, a key piece of the puzzle
suddenly falls into place.
Lew is beginning to close in on the truth. But has the killer set his bait again, angling for his biggest catch yet?"
=== January 25 ===
Title: The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Standalone mystery set in the rare books department of a large university.
336 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "
Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes
in the distinguished rare books department of a large university,
managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the
department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to
run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is
missing.Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police
about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet,
to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian
unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both
disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a
rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department
must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty
manuscripts she has worked among for so long―and about the people who
care for and revere them―shakes the very foundation on which she has
built her life."
Title:
Murder at a Scottish SocialSeries: #3 in the Scottish Shire cozy series set on the north coast of Scotland.
288 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Opening her shop Cashmere Crush and making a new home for herself, her
son Brody, Gramps, and their black Scottish terrier Wallace in the
beautiful Scottish village of Nairn is a dream come true. So Paislee is
happy to give back by donating a luxurious cashmere sweater for an
auction to raise money for the Nairn Food Bank. She’s less happy to make
the acquaintance of a clique of competitive moms at the charity event,
who treat a baking contest like it’s life or death. It turns out to be
the latter for Queen Bee Kristen Buchanan when a peanut-laced shortbread
cookie triggers her fatal nut allergy.
Who would poison
Kristen? How about half the town? But when Paislee’s pal Blaise is
suspected, the sweater-selling sleuth leaps into action to unravel the
mystery. Along with gruff but handsome DI Mack Zeffer, she has to sort
through a batch of suspects without becoming this cookie-cutter killer’s
next target…"
Title:
A Valiant Deceit Series: #2 in the Olive Bright historical series set in World War II England.
320 pages
Synopsis: "Returning to Pipley following her FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry)
training, Olive is eager to step up her involvement in the war effort.
Her pigeons are being conscripted to aid the Belgian resistance, and
it’s up to Olive to choose the best birds for the mission. To protect
the secrecy of their work, she must also continue the ruse of being
romantically involved with her superior, Captain Jameson Aldridge, a
task made more challenging by the fact that she really does have
feelings for the gruff Irish intelligence officer.
But perhaps
the greatest challenge of all comes when an instructor at Station XVII,
the top-secret training school housed at Brickendonbury Manor, is found
dead in Balls Wood by a troop of Girl Guides. The police quickly rule
Lieutenant Jeremy Beckett’s death an accident, but based on clues she
finds at the scene, Olive begins to suspect he might have been a spy.
Involving the reluctant Jamie, she is determined to solve the murder and
possibly stop a threat to their intelligence efforts which could put
the Belgians—not to mention her pigeons—in grave danger."
Well... how did I do? Did I choose any books that tickled your fancy? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!
