You betcha!
I've also had time to choose what I think will be the cream of the crop when it comes to new mysteries being released in May.
They're grouped by release date, and I've included all the information you'll need to find your own copies. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon.
I hope I've found some titles to add to your wish lists and shelves. Happy Reading!
=== May 3 ===
Title: The Woman in Blue
Author: Elly Griffiths
Series: #8 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson series set in Norfolk, England
ISBN: 9780544417854
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hardcover, 368 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "Known as England’s Nazareth, the medieval town of Little Walsingham is
famous for religious apparitions. So when Ruth Galloway’s druid friend
Cathbad sees a woman in a white dress and a dark blue cloak standing
alone in the local cemetery one night, he takes her as a vision of the
Virgin Mary. But then a woman wrapped in blue cloth is found dead the
next day, and Ruth’s old friend Hilary, an Anglican priest, receives a
series of hateful, threatening letters. Could these crimes be connected?
When one of Hilary’s fellow female priests is murdered just before
Little Walsingham’s annual Good Friday Passion Play, Ruth, Cathbad, and
DCI Harry Nelson must team up to find the killer before he strikes
again."
Title: A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall
Author: Hannah Dennison
Series: #3 in the Kat Stanford cozy series set in Devon, England
ISBN: 9781250065506
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 304 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Meanwhile, the unexpected appearance of
former lothario Bryan Laney sets female hearts aflutter. Despite the
passing years, time has not dampened his ardor for Iris, but the feeling
is not reciprocated.
Synopsis: "Luisa “Lu” Brant is the newly elected—and first female—state’s
attorney of Howard County, Maryland, a job in which her widower father
famously served. Fiercely intelligent and ambitious, she sees an
opportunity to make her name by trying a mentally disturbed drifter
accused of beating a woman to death in her home. It’s not the kind of
case that makes headlines, but peaceful Howard county doesn’t see many
homicides.
As Lu prepares for the trial, the case dredges up painful memories, reminding her small but tight-knit family of the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man’s life. Only eighteen, AJ was cleared by a grand jury. Now, Lu wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. What details might have been withheld from her when she was a child?
Synopsis: "Anna Pigeon, in her career as a National Park Service Ranger, has had
to deal with all manner of crimes and misdemeanors, but cyber-bullying
and stalking is a new one. The target is Elizabeth, the adopted teenage
daughter of her friend Heath Jarrod. Elizabeth is driven to despair by
the disgusting rumors spreading online and bullying texts. Until, one
day, Heath finds her daughter Elizabeth in the midst of an unsuccessful
suicide attempt. And then she calls in the cavalry---her aunt Gwen and
her friend Anna Pigeon.
While they try to deal with the fragile state of affairs---and find the person behind the harassment---the three adults decide the best thing to do is to remove Elizabeth from the situation. Since Anna is about to start her new post as Acting Chief Ranger at Acadia National Park in Maine, the three will join her and stay at a house on the cliff of a small island near the park, Boar Island.
With stories of hidden treasure and secret
chambers, past and present collide. As Kat becomes embroiled once more
in her mother’s mysterious and tumultuous bygone days, she comes to
realize that life is never black and white, and sometimes it is
necessary to risk your own life to protect the lives of the ones you
love."
Title: Wilde Lake
Author: Laura Lippman
Standalone
ISBN: 9780062083456
Publisher: William Morrow
Hardcover, 368 pages
As Lu prepares for the trial, the case dredges up painful memories, reminding her small but tight-knit family of the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man’s life. Only eighteen, AJ was cleared by a grand jury. Now, Lu wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. What details might have been withheld from her when she was a child?
The
more she learns about the case, the more questions arise. What does it
mean to be a man or woman of one’s times? Why do we ask our heroes of
the past to conform to the present’s standards? Is that fair? Is it
right? Propelled into the past, she discovers that the legal system, the
bedrock of her entire life, does not have all the answers. Lu realizes
that even if she could learn the whole truth, she probably wouldn’t want
to."
=== May 10 ===
Title: Prayers the Devil Answers
Author: Sharyn McCrumb
Series: #11 in the Appalachian Ballad series set in Tennessee and North Carolina
ISBN: 9781476772813
Publisher: Atria Books
Hardcover, 352 pages
Synopsis: "Years later, after the tragedy, someone remembered the Dumb Supper
and what had happened there. That was the cause of it, they said,
because the ritual wasn’t a game after all. It really was magic, but
magic has rules, and she broke them.
Suddenly thrust into the role of primary caretaker for her family following the tragic death of her husband, Ellie Robbins is appointed to serve out his term as sheriff of their rural Tennessee mountain town. The year is 1936, and her role is largely symbolic, except for the one task that only a sheriff can do: execute a convicted prisoner.
Ellie has long proven she can handle herself. But becoming sheriff is altogether different, and the demands of the role are even more challenging when she is forced to combat society’s expectations for a woman. Soon enough, dark secrets come to light, and Ellie must grapple with small town superstitions and the tenuous ties she shares with a condemned killer as she carves out a place for herself in an uncertain future.
“There is no one quite like Sharyn McCrumb. No one better either” (San Diego Union-Tribune), and her luscious narrative brings her unforgettable characters to life with the “pure poetry” (The New York Times Book Review) that defines her astounding novels. Prayers the Devil Answers combines masterful historical research and captivating folklore to make an atmospheric and suspenseful tour de force."
Suddenly thrust into the role of primary caretaker for her family following the tragic death of her husband, Ellie Robbins is appointed to serve out his term as sheriff of their rural Tennessee mountain town. The year is 1936, and her role is largely symbolic, except for the one task that only a sheriff can do: execute a convicted prisoner.
Ellie has long proven she can handle herself. But becoming sheriff is altogether different, and the demands of the role are even more challenging when she is forced to combat society’s expectations for a woman. Soon enough, dark secrets come to light, and Ellie must grapple with small town superstitions and the tenuous ties she shares with a condemned killer as she carves out a place for herself in an uncertain future.
“There is no one quite like Sharyn McCrumb. No one better either” (San Diego Union-Tribune), and her luscious narrative brings her unforgettable characters to life with the “pure poetry” (The New York Times Book Review) that defines her astounding novels. Prayers the Devil Answers combines masterful historical research and captivating folklore to make an atmospheric and suspenseful tour de force."
Title: See Also Deception
Author: Larry D. Sweazy
Series: #2 in the Marjorie Trumaine historical series set in 1960s North Dakota
ISBN: 9781633881266
Publisher: Seventh Street Books
Paperback, 270 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "October 1964—Just months after freelance indexer Marjorie Trumaine
helped solve a series of murders in Dickinson, North Dakota, she is
faced with another death that pulls her into an unwanted investigation.
Calla Eltmore, the local librarian, is found dead at work and everyone
considers it suicide. But Marjorie can't believe that Calla would be
capable of doing such a thing.
Marjorie's suspicions are further aroused when she notices something amiss at Calla's wake, but the police seem uninterested in her observations.
Despite pressing job commitments and the burden of caring for a husband in declining health, Marjorie sets out to uncover the truth. What she finds is a labyrinth of secrets—and threats from someone who will kill to keep these secrets hidden."
Marjorie's suspicions are further aroused when she notices something amiss at Calla's wake, but the police seem uninterested in her observations.
Despite pressing job commitments and the burden of caring for a husband in declining health, Marjorie sets out to uncover the truth. What she finds is a labyrinth of secrets—and threats from someone who will kill to keep these secrets hidden."
Title: Reliance, Illinois
Author: Mary Volmer
Historical Fiction (with a lot of secrets) standalone set in a Mississippi River town in Illinois in the 1870s
ISBN: 9781616956721
Publisher: Soho Press
Hardcover, 368 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "Reliance, Illinois tells the story of a young woman faced with
choices that will alter the course of her own future, and offers a
brilliant window into American life during a period of tumultuous
change. Illinois, 1874: With a birthmark covering half her face,
thirteen-year-old Madelyn Branch is accustomed to cold and awkward
greetings, and expects no less in the struggling town of Reliance. After
all, her mother, Rebecca, was careful not to mention a daughter in the Matrimonial Times
ad that brought them there. When Rebecca weds, Madelyn poses as her
mother’s younger sister and earns a grudging berth in her new house.
Deeply injured by her mother’s deceptions, Madelyn soon leaves to enter
the service of Miss Rose Werner, prodigal daughter of the town’s
founder. Miss Rose is a suffragette and purveyor of black market birth
control who sees in Madelyn a project and potential acolyte. Madelyn,
though, wants to feel beautiful and loved, and she pins her hopes on
William Stark, a young photographer and haunted Civil War veteran."
=== May 17 ===
Title: Boar Island
Author: Nevada Barr
Series: #19 in the Anna Pigeon series set in Maine
ISBN: 9781250064691
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 384 pages
While they try to deal with the fragile state of affairs---and find the person behind the harassment---the three adults decide the best thing to do is to remove Elizabeth from the situation. Since Anna is about to start her new post as Acting Chief Ranger at Acadia National Park in Maine, the three will join her and stay at a house on the cliff of a small island near the park, Boar Island.
But the move east doesn't solve the problem. The stalker
has followed them east. And Heath (a paraplegic) and Elizabeth aren't
alone on the otherwise deserted island. At the same time, Anna has
barely arrived at Acadia before a brutal murder is committed by a killer
uncomfortably close to her."
Title: The Singer from Memphis
Author: Gary Corby
Series: #6 in the historical Athenian series set in 461 BCE
ISBN: 9781616956684
Publisher: Soho Crime
Hardcover, 352 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "Nicolaos, the only private investigator in ancient Athens, discovers
that helping an author with his book research can be very dangerous. The
would-be author Herodotus has hired Nico and his priestess wife,
Diotima, to accompany him to Egypt to research that ancient country’s
history. Unfortunately, Egypt happens to be in the throes of a rebellion
against its overlords, the Persian Empire. Pirates infest the sea
route. Three different armies roam the Egyptian countryside. The river
is full of crocodiles. Everywhere Nico turns, there’s a secret agent
ready to kill him, and he can’t find a decent cup of wine anywhere. A
simple historical investigation turns into a dangerous adventure of
international espionage."
Title: Lost and Gone Forever
Author: Alex Grecian
Series: #5 in the historical Murder Squad series set in London, England
ISBN: 9780399176104
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Hardcover, 384 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "Many changes have happened to the Murder Squad. Rash actions have cost
Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith his job, and in response he has set up his
own private detective agency. Inspector Walter Day has been missing for a
year, and no one knows where he is—though there is a strong suspicion
that Saucy Jack has him. Hammersmith has made finding Day his primary
case, and he has company—a pair of bounty hunters, a man and a woman. It
is only gradually that he has come to realize that they are not what
they seem . ."
Title: The Highwayman
Author: Craig Johnson
Series: #14 in the Sheriff Walt Longmire series set in Wyoming
ISBN: 9780735220898
Publisher: Viking
Hardcover, 208 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "When Wyoming highway patrolman Rosey Wayman is transferred to the
beautiful and imposing landscape of the Wind River Canyon, an area the
troopers refer to as no-man's-land because of the lack of radio
communication, she starts receiving “officer needs assistance” calls.
The problem? They're coming from Bobby Womack, a legendary Arapaho
patrolman who met a fiery death in the canyon almost a half-century ago.
With an investigation that spans this world and the next, Sheriff Walt
Longmire and Henry Standing Bear take on a case that pits them against a
legend: The Highwayman."
Synopsis: "Five years ago, fourteen-year-old Max Wheeler disappeared from
Priest's Island, an isolated but bleakly beautiful place on the edge of
the Atlantic Ocean.
In the closeknit local community, there are no secrets, except what happened to Max. None of the police or private investigations since have shed any light on what happened the night he went missing, presumed dead.
But there is one man who is yet to take on the case: The Sea Detective.
Cal McGill is an oceanographer and unique investigator who uses his knowledge of tides, winds and currents to solve mysteries no-one else can.
However, Cal is an unwelcome stranger who must navigate the tensions between Max's inconsolable father, the broken family he has neglected, and the embittered locals, resentful after years of suspicion.
As Cal arrives, a violent storm approaches, threatening to completely cut off the island, with a possible murderer at large.."
May is a feast! Craig Johnson. Nevada Barr. Elly Griffiths. And on. And on. And on. Wow!
Which of these books are going on your reading lists?
=== May 19 ===
Title: The Malice of Waves
Author: Mark Douglas-Home
Series: #3 in the Sea Detective series set in Scotland
ISBN: 9780718182755
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Hardcover, 304 pages
UK Release
In the closeknit local community, there are no secrets, except what happened to Max. None of the police or private investigations since have shed any light on what happened the night he went missing, presumed dead.
But there is one man who is yet to take on the case: The Sea Detective.
Cal McGill is an oceanographer and unique investigator who uses his knowledge of tides, winds and currents to solve mysteries no-one else can.
However, Cal is an unwelcome stranger who must navigate the tensions between Max's inconsolable father, the broken family he has neglected, and the embittered locals, resentful after years of suspicion.
As Cal arrives, a violent storm approaches, threatening to completely cut off the island, with a possible murderer at large.."
May is a feast! Craig Johnson. Nevada Barr. Elly Griffiths. And on. And on. And on. Wow!
Which of these books are going on your reading lists?
