September 2019 New Mystery Releases!

Since summer is my favorite season when September rolls around I'm always glad that I live in the Sonoran Desert. That way, I get an extra month of my favorite time of year. I know... I can already hear some of you groaning.

I've been reading some mighty fine books lately, but you know me-- I always keep my eyes peeled for new ones.

The following are my picks for the best new crime fiction being released throughout the month of September-- and September has an abundance of riches.

I've grouped my picks according to their release dates, and the covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Let's see if I've chosen any titles that are going to be on your own pre-order and/or wishlists! (I'll bet I have!)

=== September 3 ===

Title: The Long Call

Author: Ann Cleeves

Series: #1 in the Two Rivers police procedural series set in North Devon, England.

382 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his estranged father’s funeral takes place. On the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.

Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed, and his new life is forced into a collision course with the world he thought he’d left behind.

From Ann Cleeves, bestselling author of Vera and Shetland, beloved by readers and TV viewers alike, comes a spectacular new series, told with deep compassion and searing insight."

Title: Word to the Wise

Author: Jenn McKinlay

Series: #10 in the Library Lovers cozy series set in coastal Connecticut.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Lindsey Norris is finally getting married to the man of her dreams—but it's not all roses for Briar Creek's beloved library director, as gardening enthusiast and town newcomer Aaron Grady gives the term “book lover” a whole new meaning. Inappropriate looks and unwelcome late-night visits to Lindsey's house have everyone from the crafternooners to Lindsey's fiancé, Sully, on edge.

When Grady's dead body is found staged outside the library and all the clues point to Sully, Lindsey knows it's up to her to dig through the hidden chapters of Grady's previous life to find the real culprit and clear Sully's name. But becoming a thorn in the killer's side is not without its consequences, and the closer Lindsey gets to the truth, the more determined the murderer is to make her just a footnote."

Title: Molten Mud Murder

Author: Sara E. Johnson

Series: #1 in the Alexa Glock forensics expert series set in New Zealand.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "When a body is found half-submerged in a molten mud pot in one of Rotorua's famous geothermal wonderlands, forensics expert Alexa Glock spots a way to prolong her stay in New Zealand, which she has been visiting for work. Teeth are her expertise, and the investigation needs her help, as other ways of identifying the body may have... melted away.

Joining Detective Inspector Bruce Horne and his team, Alexa discovers that the murder victim, a city councilman, had trespassed on an island sacred to the Maori. The ancient punishment for such a transgression is a disaster, demonic possession, or death... and when she visits the island to investigate, the same outcome is promised for her. Alexa doesn't believe in ancient spirits returning to exact revenge, and when another victim turns up dead she begins to wonder whether the real threat is something—or someone—much closer to home." 

Title: The Bone Fire

Author: S.D. Sykes

Series: #4 in the Somerhill Manor historical series set in fourteenth-century England.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "When the Black Death reappears in England in 1361, Oswald de Lacy knows that the safest place for his wife and young son is the island-fortress of Eden, where his eccentrically pious friend Godfrey has invited the family to stay to wait out the plague during the long, dark winter. But Oswald has barely had time to settle in when a brutal murder shocks the household and it soon becomes clear that the castle is not the stronghold of security that they were so desperately looking for.  

Oswald knows the castle isn’t safe, but neither is the plague-infested countryside outside its walls. His only hope is to solve the mystery of the murder before the killer strikes again. With a cast of characters like something out of Chaucer―a lord and lady, a knight, a religious radical, a court jester, a drunk, and a couple of traveling craftsmen are just some of the suspects Oswald must reckon with―and the all-consuming threat of the plague hovering just outside the castle walls, the newest novel in the Somershill Manor Mysteries is the most brilliant and frightening yet."

Title: The Other End of the Line

Author: Andrea Camilleri

Series: #26 in the Inspector Montalbano police procedural series set in Sicily.

304 pages

Synopsis: "A wave of refugees has arrived on the Sicilian coast, and Inspector Montalbano and his team have been stationed at port, alongside countless volunteers, to receive and assist the newcomers. Meanwhile, Livia has promised their presence at a friend's wedding, and the inspector, agreeing to get a new suit tailored, meets the charming master seamstress Elena Biasini. But while on duty at the dock one late night, tragedy strikes, and Elena is found gruesomely murdered. Between managing the growing crowds at the landing, Montalbano delves into the world of garments, in the company of an orphaned cat, where he works to weave together the loose threads of the unsolved crimes and close the case."

Title: To the Lions

Author: Holly Watt

Series: #1 in the Casey Benedict journalist series set in London.

400 pages

Synopsis: "Casey Benedict, star reporter at the Post, has infiltrated the lives and exposed the lies of countless politicians and power players. Using her network of contacts, and her ability to slip into whatever identity suits the situation, Casey is always on the search for the next big story, no matter how much danger this might place her in, or what the cost might be, emotionally.

Tipped off by an overheard conversation at an exclusive London nightclub, she begins to investigate the apparent suicide of a wealthy young British man whose death has left his fiancée and family devastated. The young man's death, however, is only the tipping point of a much more sinister and dangerous scandal involving the world's most powerful leaders and magnates—men who are gathering in northern Africa for an extreme and secret hunt. With fellow reporter Miranda and combat veteran Ed by her side, Casey's determined hunt for the truth will take her from the glitz of St. Tropez to the deserts of Libya and on to the very darkest corners of the human mind."

=== September 10 ===

Title: The Vanished Bride

Author: Bella Ellis

Series: #1 in the historical Brontë sisters series set in 19th-century England.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Yorkshire, 1845. A young wife and mother has gone missing from her home, leaving behind two small children and a large pool of blood. Just a few miles away, a humble parson’s daughters—the Brontë sisters—learn of the crime. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are horrified and intrigued by the mysterious disappearance.

These three creative, energetic, and resourceful women quickly realize that they have all the skills required to make for excellent “lady detectors.” Not yet published novelists, they have well-honed imaginations and are expert readers. And, as Charlotte remarks, “detecting is reading between the lines—it’s seeing what is not there.”

As they investigate, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne are confronted with a society that believes a woman’s place is in the home, not scouring the countryside looking for clues. But nothing will stop the sisters from discovering what happened to the vanished bride, even as they find their own lives are in great peril..." 

=== September 17 ===

Title: What Rose Forgot

Author: Nevada Barr

Standalone thriller

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. When she overhears one of the administrators saying about her that she's "not making it through the week," Rose is convinced that if she's to survive, she has to get out of the nursing home. She avoids taking her medication, putting on a show for the aides, then stages her escape.

The only problem is―how does she convince anyone that she's not actually demented? Her relatives were the ones to commit her, all the legal papers were drawn up, the authorities are on the side of the nursing home, and even she isn't sure she sounds completely sane. But any lingering doubt Rose herself might have had is erased when a would-be killer shows up in her house in the middle of the night. Now Rose knows that someone is determined to get rid of her.

With the help of her computer hacker/recluse sister Marion, thirteen-year-old granddaughter Mel, and Mel's friend Royal, Rose begins to gather her strength and fight back―to find out who is after her and take back control of her own life. But someone out there is still determined to kill Rose, and they're holding all the cards."

Title: Gallows Court

Author: Martin Edwards

Series: #1 in the Jacob Flint historical series set in 1930s London.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "LONDON, 1930. Sooty, sulfurous, and malign: no woman should be out on a night like this. A spate of violent deaths the details too foul to print has horrified the capital and the smog-bound streets are deserted. But Rachel Savernake is no ordinary woman. To Scotland Yard's embarrassment, she solved the Chorus Girl Murder, and now she's on the trail of another killer. Jacob Flint, manning The Clarion's crime desk, is looking for the scoop that will make his name. He's certain there is more to the Miss Savernake's amateur sleuthing than meets the eye. Flint's pursuit of his story will mire him ever-deeper into a labyrinth of deception and corruption. Murder-by-murder, he is swept ever-closer to that ancient place of execution, where it all began and where it will finally end: Gallows Court."

Title: Heaven, My Home

Author: Attica Locke

Series: #2 in the Highway 59 police procedural series set in rural Texas.

304 pages

Synopsis: "9-year-old Levi King knew he should have left for home sooner; now he's alone in the darkness of vast Caddo Lake, in a boat whose motor just died. A sudden noise distracts him - and all goes dark.

Darren Matthews is trying to emerge from another kind of darkness; after the events of his previous investigation, his marriage is in a precarious state of re-building, and his career and reputation lie in the hands of his mother, who's never exactly had his best interests at heart. Now she holds the key to his freedom, and she's not above a little maternal blackmail to press her advantage.

An unlikely possibility of rescue arrives in the form of a case down Highway 59, in a small lakeside town where the local economy thrives on nostalgia for antebellum Texas - and some of the era's racial attitudes still thrive as well. Levi's disappearance has links to Darren's last case, and to a wealthy businesswoman, the boy's grandmother, who seems more concerned about the fate of her business than that of her grandson.

Darren has to battle centuries-old suspicions and prejudices, as well as threats that have been reignited in the current political climate, as he races to find the boy and to save himself.

Attica Locke proves that the acclaim and awards for Bluebird, Bluebird were justly deserved, in this thrilling new novel about crimes old and new."

Title: Elevator Pitch

Author: Linwood Barclay

Standalone thriller set in New York City.

464 pages

Synopsis: "It all begins on a Monday when four people board an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Each presses a button for their floor, but the elevator proceeds, non-stop, to the top. Once there, it stops for a few seconds and then plummets.

Right to the bottom of the shaft.

It appears to be a horrific, random tragedy. But then, on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And when Wednesday brings yet another high-rise catastrophe, one of the most vertical cities in the world—and the nation’s capital of media, finance, and entertainment—is plunged into chaos.

Clearly, this is anything but random. This is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. And it’s working. Fearing for their lives, thousands of men in women working in offices across the city refuse to leave their homes. Commerce has slowed to a trickle. Emergency calls to the top floors of apartment buildings go unanswered.

Who is behind this? Why are they doing it? What do these deadly acts of sabotage have to do with the fingerless body found on the High Line? Two seasoned New York detectives and a straight-shooting journalist must race against time to find the answers before the city’s newest, and tallest, residential tower has its ribbon-cutting on Thursday." 

Title: Land of Wolves

Author: Craig Johnson

Series: #15 in the Walt Longmire series set in Wyoming.

336 pages

Synopsis: "Attempting to recover from his harrowing experiences in Mexico, in Land of Wolves Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire is neck-deep in the investigation of what could or could not be the suicidal hanging of a shepherd. With unsettling connections to a Basque family with a reputation for removing the legs of Absaroka County sheriffs, matters become even more complicated with the appearance of an oversize wolf in the Big Horn Mountains to which Walt finds himself feeling more and more empathetic."

See what I mean about an abundance of riches? Craig Johnson! Ann Cleeves! Jenn McKinlay! Nevada Barr! And on and on and on. On a little side note here, I love the cover of The Bone Fire. There's something about the castle, the colors and how they're blended that really catches my eye.

How about you? Is September going to wreck your book-buying budget? Which titles can't you do without? Inquiring minds would love to know!

At The Poisoned Pen with Hank Phillippi Ryan & Linwood Barclay!

With Denis scheduled to work, I found myself jumping in the Jeep and heading to The Poisoned Pen all by my lonesome to see Hank Phillippi Ryan and Linwood Barclay. I was already acquainted with Barclay, having both read his novels and seen him in a previous appearance at my favorite bookstore, but this would be the first time I'd see Ryan, whose books I have yet to read.

One of the first things we all learned was that this wasn't a mere promotional stop for either writer. Ryan had flown in from Boston and Barclay from Toronto to attend meetings of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, the latter occurring after this event. Rhys Bowen was also in town and was in attendance. 

L to R: Linwood Barclay, Barbara Peters, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Rhys Bowen

When host Barbara Peters mentioned that this wasn't the usual time of year for Barclay to be visiting the bookstore, he smiled and said, "Yes. I'm very glad the book came out now so I didn't have to visit Phoenix in August!" The book Barclay was talking about was The Twenty-Three, the last of three interconnected books with a background story that explodes in this last novel.

Available Now!

Barclay wrote all three books in fifteen months and thought that he would be able to put his feet up for the next year and a half... until he learned that his publisher had tightened his writing schedule. The trilogy, in order, is Broken Promise, Far From True, and The Twenty-Three. The author did have an unpleasant dream or two about something happening to him before he finished the trilogy-- which reminded him of the horrific accident that Stephen King had several years ago. King received so many messages from his fans, many of which said something along the lines of "We're so glad you're okay because now we'll get to read the end of the Dark Tower series!"

From the beginning, Barclay knew that the major story was about someone who had an ax to grind with the town of Promise Falls. Looking at all of us in the audience, the author assured us, "All questions will be answered."

Linwood Barclay

Barclay had a reader contact him to say that he was so angry that the meaning behind the number twenty-three wasn't given by the second book that he wasn't going to bother reading the third. "So... what's the deal with the number twenty-three?" the reader asked. Barclay refused to tell him. (Good for him! I wouldn't either.)

Hank Phillippi Ryan told Barclay, "You've juggled the point of view so beautifully in these books!"

Barclay thanked her and then explained to the uninitiated that each book in the trilogy was told from one person's point of view, and that person changed from book to book.

The two authors were conducting their own interview. Barbara Peters had joined Rhys Bowen in the audience. Ryan then asked Barclay, "Did you know what was going to happen at the end of book three? Did you have a big plan from the very beginning?"

"Yes," Barclay replied.

"How did you feel when you finished the third book? Happy? Sad?" Ryan asked. 

"Actually my reaction was 'Thank God, it's all over,'" Barclay said, "especially since all three were written back to back." He is one writer who knows how to buckle down and make his deadlines. He wrote three humor columns for the Toronto Star for fifteen years. Newspaper reporting will teach you to make deadlines.

Hank Phillippi Ryan

Hank Phillippi Ryan has no fear of deadlines either; she's been a television reporter for forty years. She is used to working very fast. As a writer, Ryan feels that her first job is "to be entertaining. I also like to take something complicated and make it fascinating. Imagine someone reading my book on the subway and missing their stop. I love that image."

With her latest book, Say No More, Ryan knew that she wanted the book to contain two different stories so it wasn't "just this linear thing."

One of the ideas that became Say No More happened to Ryan when she and her husband saw a Cadillac smash into a van and then leave the scene. The author got a description and wrote the license plate number in the dust on the dashboard of their vehicle. A month later she was called and asked to perform a nonsuggestive identification in which she would be in the courtroom and asked if the person driving the car was present.

The trial dealt with some unsavory characters, and Ryan's reaction was, "No thank you! I'm recognizable, and this could put my life in danger." She then realized that her whole life had been devoted to getting people to tell her things, and this one incident-- and her very personal reaction to it-- had shifted her entire perspective. Now she understood why some people do not want to cooperate.

Available Now!

In her latest novel, Jane Ryland sees a hit-and-run that ruins someone's alibi, and her silence is the only thing that's keeping three women alive. 

Barclay wasn't done with that nonsuggestive identification. "Was the guy you saw in the courtroom?" 

"Yes, he was!" Ryan exclaimed.

"The moral of that story is Do Not Dust Your Dashboard," Barclay quipped.

"These days, we'd have our phones," she replied.

Ryan and Barclay then began to talk a bit about their writing processes.

Barclay said, "By 8:30 or 9 AM, I'm in the study with my coffee, and I write until 2 or 3 PM. My wife calls up the stairs, 'It's vodka o'clock!' and I hear that whistle blow. Normally I write 2,000 words a day."

Ryan told us, "I have an author friend who was going to ask for a two-month extension on her deadline because she 'wasn't feeling it.' I can just see myself at the television station saying, 'What if I go on at 6:10 instead of 6? I'm not feeling it.'"

Linwood Barclay

"She must've been writing literary fiction," Barclay deadpanned, which reminded me of Barbara Peters' definition of that genre.

"Another person took ten years to write a book on brown paper that she'd attached to the walls. When she finished, she tore the paper off the walls and started over again. In sentences this time," Ryan said. 

In answer to a fan's question, Barclay said, "When I start writing a book, I know the end point, but I don't know what route I'm going to take to get there. Pace is also important. A really good crime novel has a sense of momentum."

"I love it when I'm in the zone, writing so fast that Word can no longer correct my spelling," Ryan said. "I never know the ending of my book. I surprised myself with the ending of Say No More. I love that!" 

Hank Phillippi Ryan

"I had my first Zack Walker book halfway written  when my agent, Helen, asked me who did it. I said, 'It's either....' She cut me short. 'Stop. Don't write another word until you know whodunit,'" Barclay said. 


"I like digging for information. I like real life," Ryan commented. "We don't know what's going to happen."

These two were bouncing from one question to the next.  Barclay's two favorite films? Rear Window and Vertigo, and he'll be finishing his next book by December 1 (which means it's done). 

Ryan's next book is a standalone whose working title is "The Truth as I Know It." It deals with the truth that someone tries to convince us is true and the indefinable real truth. She also shared that her first draft of her first book, Prime Time, was over seven hundred pages long. 

Most of Barclay's books start out with his thinking a simple "what if?"

An extremely enjoyable and informative afternoon ended all too soon. What should come as a surprise to none of you is that I went home with my first Hank Phillippi Ryan book to read. Ah, the perils of The Poisoned Pen!

Hank and Linwood

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

First Line: When Cynthia woke up, it was so quiet in the house she thought it must be Saturday.

Rebellious fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge fights with her father, storms up to her room, and goes to bed. When she wakes up in the morning, she discovers that she's the only one home. Her parents, her brother, they've all vanished, never to be seen again. Twenty-five years later, Cynthia is married and has a small daughter. She is still haunted by the disappearance of her family, and she turns to television to help her find some answers. What she's going to find out will shake her to her core.

I came late to the Linwood Barclay party, but I'm enjoying catching up. I enjoyed the "voice," the story, and the pacing of No Time for Goodbye, although I did have a problem or two with the book over all. 

This plot is very carefully constructed. Seemingly unimportant objects mentioned casually are mentioned for a reason, and the same holds true for characters. Speaking of characters, my favorite was young Jane Scavullo, a troubled teen with so much potential. I don't know if she shows up in another Barclay novel, but I certainly wouldn't mind seeing her again.

Now for the two things that rubbed me the wrong way. Quite frankly, I found main character Cynthia Bigge to be a royal pain in the neck. Everything is about her. No one can voice an opinion if it might be "against" her, and she's in real danger of smothering her young daughter. Yes, it's realistic behavior for someone whose family vanished without explanation, but that doesn't mean I have to like her.

The other thing that bothered me was the explanation for what actually happened to Cynthia's parents and brother, so I can't say much about it without giving it away. I'll just say that Barclay's solution was a bit over-the-top for me, and I had trouble suspending my disbelief enough to accept it all.

But Linwood Barclay can write like a house afire. I love his plots, I love his voice, and just because I didn't like one of his characters doesn't mean I'm going to stop reading his books!
       

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

eISBN: 9780553904222

Bantam Books © 2007

eBook, 468 pages

Thriller

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 


  

Bad Guys by Linwood Barclay

First Line: "So, what are you asking me?" Harley said.

To the profound relief of Zack Walker's family, they have moved out of the suburbs and back to the city. Not only that, but Zack is now working as a features writer for the city newspaper. No longer will he be able to hatch his paranoid protection plots from the comfort of his own home. But is that really going to stop him from driving his wife and children nuts?

Zack is researching his first feature article and finds himself riding along on stakeouts with a private detective. Someone is going around burglarizing high-end men's clothing stores. When Walker stumbles into a real-life hit-and-run crime scene, he finds himself heading straight for a confrontation with syndicate boss Barbie Bullock, a man known for his ruthlessness and his doll collection.

You'd think that Zack would have more than enough on his plate with that feature assignment, but wait-- there's more! His college student daughter has a strange boy following her around. His son's not acting right either. What's more important to a paranoid father-- a ruthless mob boss who's after him, or his two kids acting strangely? You know as well as I do-- Zack tries to do it all because he's Super Dad!

Zack Walker is the kind of guy who would undoubtedly drive me insane in real life. He spends way too much of his time "borrowing trouble." Fortunately I don't know anyone like him; therefore, I can laugh my way through his escapades in Linwood Barclay's wonderful books. There is indeed plenty of laugh-out-loud humor in Bad Guys, as there was in the first book in the series, Bad Move.

One of the things that makes us laugh the most when reading about Zack is that most of his problems are caused by his own paranoia. He does B to prevent A, which creates C. C collides with A, making all Hades break loose in D, with no one in Zack's family talking to him or even wanting to look at him. If he'd just left well enough alone... but no, he can't, and he should just save time and build himself a dog house out in the backyard, complete with heating, air conditioning, TV... the works. He'll be spending a lot of time there. He just can't help himself. If he weren't so good-hearted and well-intentioned, we wouldn't love him so much as we shake our heads and laugh.

Another fun thing to do is to pay attention to the things or the people Zack is introduced to and try to figure out how they're going to blend into the story a few chapters down the road. Because they will. Barclay has a very subtle way of shining a little spotlight on something that lets you know you need to pay attention. Whether it's a route to avoid paying parking fees, or a son who actually seems to like some creepy guy following his sister around, readers not only need to laugh when reading a Zack Walker book, they need to pay attention and to think ahead. Just think of yourselves as Sherlock Holmes to Zack's Dr. Watson.

Now that I've laughed (and gasped) my way through Bad Guys (because Barclay knows how to write first-rate action scenes that scare the pudding out of us), I have to get my hands on the third book in the series, Lone Wolf. Linwood Barclay's Zack Walker books should not be missed!
 

Bad Guys by Linwood Barclay

ISBN: 9780553587050

Bantam Books © 2006

Mass Market Paperback, 448 pages

Humorous Mystery, #2 Zack Walker mystery

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap


 

July 2015 New Mystery Releases!

Hard to believe that the second half of a Sonoran Desert summer is already underway. We're special here. We get two summers. One with dry, blast furnace heat. The second (which just started a very few days ago) not so dry humidity-wise, with dust storms (AKA haboobs), and... hopefully... some rain.

I've been out in the pool, reading as fast as I can go, stopping only for the necessities. But you know me. I may be out in the pool in the afternoons turning pages lickety-split, but I'm going to find some time to keep an eye on new crime fiction that I'm going to want to read!

The following are my picks for new books being released during the month of July. They're grouped by release date, and you'll find all the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite "book procurement locations." Synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Happy Reading!

=== July 1 ===

Title: The Case of the Dotty Dowager
Author: Cathy Ace
Series: #1 in the WISE Enquiries Agency cozy series set in Wales
ISBN: 9780727884954 
Publisher: Severn House
Hardcover, 224 pages

Synopsis: "Henry Twyst, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is convinced his mother is losing her marbles. She claims to have seen a corpse on the dining-room floor, but all she has to prove it is a bloodied bobble hat.

Worried enough to retain the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency – one is Welsh, one Irish, one Scottish and one English – Henry wants the strange matter explained away. But the truth of what happened at the Chellingworth Estate, set in the rolling Welsh countryside near the quaint village of Anwen by Wye, is more complex, dangerous, and deadly, than anyone could have foreseen . . ." 

Title: Empty Houses
Author: Betsy Thornton
Series: #1 in the Kate Waters series set in southeastern Arizona
ISBN: 9780727884985
Publisher: Severn House
Hardcover, 224 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Dudley, Arizona is an isolated desert town attracting people who need to escape. Kate Waters flees there following an abusive relationship. Phoenix cop Malcolm MacGregor comes to recover from the death of his wife. No one knows why Carrie and Wes Cooper arrived. But when they are shot dead, the town authorities’ first instinct is to protect the lucrative tourist trade and make a quick arrest – without asking too many questions.

Having once spoken to Carrie briefly, Kate becomes increasingly convinced that the wrong man has been arrested for the crime. Was the shooting random, or is there something in the victims’ history back east that would explain it? Teaming up with Malcolm MacGregor, Kate is about to uncover disturbing links between her own and Carrie’s past. Is Kate herself at risk?" 

Title: Walking by Night
Author: Kate Ellis
Series: #5 in the Joe Plantagenet police procedural series set in Yorkshire, England
ISBN: 9781780290737
Publisher: Crème de la Crime
Hardcover, 224 pages

Synopsis: "Taking a short cut home beneath the ruined abbey in the centre of the city, a teenage girl reports stumbling across a body. She also claims to have seen a mysterious nun-like figure watching her from the shadows. But during the subsequent search, no body is found. The girl’s inebriated state and her troubled history make the police sceptical of her story, and only Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet is inclined to believe her.

Then a woman is reported missing, and Joe finds himself caught up in a complex investigation involving a production of The Devils at the local Playhouse. Could the play, with its shocking religious and sexual violence, have something to do with the woman’s disappearance? And is there really a connection with the tragic death of a young nun at the site many centuries before? Nothing is as it first appears." 

=== July 7 ===

Title: Green Hell

Author: Ken Bruen

Series: #11 in the Jack Taylor noir series set in Galway, Ireland

ISBN: 9780802123565

Publisher: Mysterious Press

Hardcover, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "The award-winning crime writer Ken Bruen, called 'the best-kept literary secret in Ireland' by the Independent, is as joyously unapologetic in his writing as he is wickedly poetic, mixing high and low with hypnotic mastery. In the previous book in the series, Purgatory, ex-cop Jack Taylor had finally turned his life around, only to be taunted back into fighting Galway’s corruption by a twisted serial killer named C33. In the new novel Green Hell, Bruen’s dark angel of a protagonist has again hit rock bottom: one of his best friends is dead, the other has stopped speaking to him; he has given up battling his addiction to alcohol and pills; and his firing from the Irish national police, the Guards, is ancient history. But Jack isn’t about to embark on a self-improvement plan. Instead, he has taken up a vigilante case against a respected professor of literature at the University of Galway who has a violent habit his friends in high places are only too happy to ignore. And when Jack rescues a preppy American student on a Rhodes Scholarship from a couple of kid thugs, he also unexpectedly gains a new sidekick, who abandons his thesis on Beckett to write a biography of Galway’s most magnetic rogue.

Between pub crawls and violent outbursts, Jack’s vengeful plot against the professor soon spirals toward chaos. Enter Emerald, an edgy young Goth who could either be the answer to Jack’s problems, or the last ripped stitch in his undoing. Ireland may be known as a 'green Eden,' but in Jack Taylor’s world, the national color has a decidedly lethal sheen." 

Title: Down Among the Dead Men

Author: Peter Lovesey

Series: #15 in the Peter Diamond police procedural series set in southern England

ISBN: 9781616956264

Publisher: Soho Crime

Hardcover, 384 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "In a Sussex town on the south coast of England, a widely disliked art teacher at a posh private girls’ school disappears without explanation. None of her students miss her boring lessons, especially since her replacement is a devilishly hunky male teacher with a fancy car. But then her name shows up on a police missing persons list. What happened to Miss Gibbon, and why does no one seem to care?

Meanwhile, detective Peter Diamond finds himself in Sussex, much against his wishes. His irritating and often obtuse supervisor, Assistant Chief Constable Georgina Dallymore, has made Diamond accompany her on a Home Office internal investigation. A Sussex detective has been suspended for failing to link DNA evidence of a relative to a seven-year-old murder
case—a bad breach of ethics. Diamond is less than thrilled to be heading out on a road trip with his boss to investigate a fellow officer, but he becomes much more interested in the case when he realizes who the suspended officer is—an old friend, and not a person he knows to make mistakes.

As Diamond asks questions, he begins to notice unsettling connections between the cold case and the missing art teacher. Could the two mysteries be connected? How many other area disappearances have gone unnoticed and uninvestigated? Diamond and his hapless supervisor have stumbled into a web of related crimes. Will Diamond be able to disentangle them?" 

Title: The Fraud

Author: Brad Parks

Series: #6 in the Carter Ross investigative reporter series set in New Jersey

ISBN: 9781250064400

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 352 pages

Synopsis: "In the most thrilling entry yet in Brad Parks's award-winning series, investigative reporter Carter Ross must chose who gets to live: him or his unborn child.

A rash of carjackings terrorizing Newark become newsworthy when one such theft ends in the murder of a wealthy banking executive. The affable, wisecracking Ross is assigned the story, but he's weary of only writing about victims of crime who happen to be rich and white. To balance his reporting, he finds a Nigerian immigrant of more modest means who was also killed during a recent carjacking.

When it turns out the two victims knew each other, sharing an unexplained round of golf at a tony country club shortly before their deaths, Carter is plunged onto the trail of a deadly band of car thieves that includes a sociopathic ex-convict. When his unborn child is put in harm's way, it becomes more than just a story for Carter. And he'll stop at nothing to rescue the baby-even if it costs him his own life.

Parks, a rising star on the crime fiction scene known for his mix of wit and grit, delivers his most emotionally resonant book yet." 

Title: A Study in Death

Author: Anna Lee Huber

Series: #4 in the Lady Darby historical series set in 1830s Scotland

ISBN: 9780425277522

Publisher: Berkley

Hardcover, 336 pages

Synopsis: "Scotland, 1831. After a tumultuous courtship complicated by three deadly inquiries, Lady Kiera Darby is thrilled to have found both an investigative partner and a fiancé in Sebastian Gage. But with her well-meaning—and very pregnant—sister planning on making their wedding the event of the season, Kiera could use a respite from the impending madness.

Commissioned to paint the portrait of Lady Drummond, Kiera is saddened when she recognizes the pain in the baroness’s eyes. Lord Drummond is a brute, and his brusque treatment of his wife forces Kiera to think of the torment caused by her own late husband.

Kiera isn’t sure how to help, but when she finds Lady Drummond prostrate on the floor, things take a fatal turn. The physician called to the house and Lord Drummond appear satisfied to rule her death natural, but Kiera is convinced that poison is the real culprit.

Now, armed only with her knowledge of the macabre and her convictions, Kiera intends to discover the truth behind the baroness’s death—no matter what, or who, stands in her way…" 

Title: Caught Read-Handed

Author: Terrie Farley Moran

Series: #2 in the Read 'Em and Eat cozy series set on the Florida Gulf Coast

ISBN: 9780425270295

Publisher: Berkley

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "From the national bestselling author of Well Read, Then Dead comes the second mystery featuring Sassy Cabot and Bridgy Mayfield, who bring Fort Myers Beach, Florida, residents plenty of sinful treats and killer reads at their bookstore café, Read ’Em and Eat.

Happy to help her fellow bibliophiles, Sassy visits the local library with book donations for their annual fundraising sale. Unfortunately, the welcoming readers’ haven is in turmoil as an argument erupts between an ornery patron and new staff member, Tanya Lipscombe—also known as “Tanya Trouble.” She may lack people skills, but everyone is shocked when she’s later found murdered in her own hot tub.

The man last seen arguing with Tanya is soon arrested. But Alan Mersky, a veteran with PTSD, happens to be the brother of Sassy’s former boss—and he’s no murderer. Now it’s up to Sassy and Bridgy to clear Alan’s name and make sure the real killer gets booked.

Includes a recipe for Miss Marple scones!" 

Title: Hooked on Ewe

Author: Hannah Reed

Series: #2 in the Scottish Highlands cozy series

ISBN: 9780425265833

Publisher: Berkley

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

 

Synopsis: "It’s early September in Glenkillen, Scotland, when American expat (and budding romance novelist) Eden Elliott is recruited by the local inspector to act as a special constable. Fortunately it’s in name only, since not much happens in Glenkillen.

For now Eden has her hands full with other things: preparing for the sheepdog trial on the MacBride farm—a fundraiser for the local hospice—and helping her friend Vicki with her first yarn club skein-of-the-month deliveries. Everything seems to be coming together—until the head of the welcoming committee is found strangled to death with a club member’s yarn.

Now Eden feels compelled to honor her commitment as constable and herd together the clues, figure out which ones are dogs, and which ones will lead to a ruthless killer . . ." 

=== July 14 ===

Title: After the Storm

Author: Linda Castillo

Series: #7 in the Kate Burkholder police procedural series set in Ohio Amish country

ISBN: 9781250061560

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

 

Synopsis: "When a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones--and notifying the family. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident and Kate finds herself plunged into a thirty year old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged. 

 Meanwhile, turmoil of an emotional and personal nature strikes at the very heart of Kate's budding relationship with state agent John Tomasetti. A reality that strains their fragile new love to the breaking point and threatens the refuge they've built for themselves--and their future.

Under siege from an unknown assailant--and her own personal demons--Kate digs deep into the case only to discover proof of an unimaginable atrocity, a plethora of family secrets and the lengths to which people will go to protect their own." 

=== July 28 ===

Title: Badlands

Author: C.J. Box

Standalone set in North Dakota

ISBN: 9780312583217

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 288 pages

Synopsis: "Twenty miles across the North Dakota border, where the scenery goes from rolling grass prairie to pipeline fields, detective Cassie Dewell has been assigned as the new deputy sheriff of Grimstad-a place people used to be from, but were never headed to. Grimstad is now the oil capital of North Dakota. With oil comes money, with money comes drugs, and with drugs come the dirtiest criminals hustling to corner the market.

In the small town resides twelve-year-old Kyle Westergaard. Even though Kyle has been written off as the "slow" kid, he has dreams deeper than anyone can imagine. He wants to get out of town, take care of his mother, and give them a better life. While delivering newspapers, he witnesses a car accident and takes a mysterious bundle from the scene. Now in possession of a lot of money and packets of white powder, Kyle wonders if his luck has changed.

When the temperature drops to 30 below and a gang war heats up, Cassie realizes that she may be in over her head. As she is propelled on a collision course with a murderous enemy, she finds that the key to it all might come in the most unlikely form: an undersized boy on a bike who keeps showing up where he doesn't belong. Because a boy like Kyle is invisible. But he sees everything." 

Title: Brush Back

Author: Sara Paretsky

Series: #18 in the V.I. Warshawski series set in Chicago, Illinois

ISBN: 9780399160578

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Hardcover, 480 pages

Synopsis: "No one would accuse V. I. Warshawski of backing down from a fight, but there are a few she’d be happy to avoid. High on that list is tangling with Chicago political bosses. Yet that’s precisely what she ends up doing when she responds to Frank Guzzo’s plea for help.

For six stormy weeks back in high school, V.I. thought she was in love with Frank. He broke up with her, she went off to college, he started driving trucks for Bagby Haulage. She forgot about him until the day his mother was convicted of bludgeoning his kid sister, Annie, to death. Stella Guzzo was an angry, uncooperative prisoner and did a full twenty-five years for her daughter’s murder.

Newly released from prison, Stella is looking for exoneration, so Frank asks V.I. for help. V.I. doesn’t want to get involved. Stella hated the Warshawskis, in particular V.I.’s adored mother, Gabriella.

But life has been hard on Frank and on V.I.’s other childhood friends, still stuck on the hardscrabble streets around the dead steel mills, and V.I. agrees to ask a few questions. Those questions lead her straight into the vipers’ nest of Illinois politics she’s wanted to avoid. When V.I. takes a beating at a youth meeting in her old hood, her main question becomes whether she will live long enough to find answers. " 

Title: Broken Promise

Author: Linwood Barclay

Standalone set in New York State

ISBN: 9780451472670

Publisher: NAL

Hardcover, 512 pages

Synopsis: "After his wife’s death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can’t find a way to stop his descent.

Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions. A year after a devastating miscarriage, David’s cousin Marla has continued to struggle. But when David’s mother asks him to check on her, he’s horrified to discover that she’s been secretly raising a child who is not her own—a baby she claims was a gift from an “angel” left on her porch.

When the baby’s real mother is found murdered, David can’t help wanting to piece together what happened—even if it means proving his own cousin’s guilt. But as he uncovers each piece of evidence, David realizes that Marla’s mysterious child is just the tip of the iceberg.

Other strange things are happening. Animals are found ritually slaughtered. An ominous abandoned Ferris wheel seems to stand as a warning that something dark has infected Promise Falls. And someone has decided that the entire town must pay for the sins of its past…in blood." 

======

There's some mighty fine reading coming up during the month of July, isn't there? I'd be hard-pressed to figure out where to start first!

What about you? Did you find any books in this list that tickled your fancy? Which ones? You know that inquiring minds want to know!