While Denis is in the rehab facility, working hard so that he can come home, I've felt like Penelope at her loom, waiting for the return of Odysseus. I haven't been idle during this limbo, and right now I'm concentrating on trying to get Casa Kittling ready for this man of mine.
The major problem is that I'm basically stuck here in the house. I can't find reliable transportation that will take my electric scooter and me where I need to go and, more importantly, bring me back. One of the things that needs to be done I can ask Claude about. Claude is the wonder worker who remodeled our guest bath and poured the concrete for our "racetrack." Denis is going to need grab bars for the toilets. I've found ones that should do the job, and now it's a matter of consulting Claude about installing them.
The other things are much more problematic. Will I actually be able to shop for a mattress and two recliners here from the house? Well, of course I can, but can I get them delivered, set up, and have the old items hauled away? As the King of Siam would say, "Is...a puzzlement!" But I'm working on it.
While I'm not working on it, I'm keeping my eye peeled for new crime fiction. These are my picks for the best new mysteries available in July. 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 added to or reinforced your own wish list choices!
=== July 5 ===
Title: Confidence
Thriller, Sequel to Conviction
304 pages
Synopsis: "Anna McDonald has made a terrible mistake. She has forced her
blended family to vacation together. The weather is bad, her daughters
are bored, and her ex-husband still insufferable. Oh, and Fin Cohen
brought his latest girlfriend, too. So when news of a shocking
kidnapping breaks, Anna and Fin do the responsible thing. They take off
to solve the case.
Lisa Lee, a young YouTube star, has vanished
after answering the door to what she thought was a pizza delivery.
Police suspect her dad or the delivery guy, but in Lisa’s last known
video she ventured into an abandoned chateau in France, where she
uncovered a priceless artifact. Anna knows they must find this young
woman before it’s too late. To do so, they need to track down that
treasure, a casket that could hold answers to the greatest questions
ever asked.
But Anna and Fin might have misunderstood the stakes
of the game. Soon, they find themselves mixed up with some very dark
characters, on another thrilling chase across Europe—and another race to
save their own lives."
Author: G.M. Malliet Series: #1 in the Augusta Hawke amateur sleuth series set in Virginia 240 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "While Augusta Hawke is a successful author of eighteen crime
novels, since her husband's death she's been living vicariously through
her Jules Maigret-like detective Claude and his assistant Caroline. Then
a handsome police detective appears investigating a real-life mystery.
Where
are her neighbors, the Normans? No one has a clue what's happened -
except Augusta. Although she isn't nosy, spending all day staring out
the windows for inspiration means she does notice things. Like the
Normans arguing. And that they've been missing a week.
Once the
Normans' car is found abandoned, Augusta senses material for a
bestseller and calls on the investigatory skills she's developed as a
crime writer. But she soon uncovers long-hidden secrets and finds
herself facing real-life dangers her characters never faced . . . ones
she can't write her way out of."
Series: #25 in the humorous Andy Carpenter series set in New Jersey
304 pages
Synopsis: "Retired lawyer Andy Carpenter’s calling has always been running
the Tara Foundation. The dog rescue organization places hundreds of dogs
in new homes every year. It’s added up to so many dogs and new owners
that Andy can’t even do the math. But there’s one dog―and one owner―Andy
will always remember.
About a year ago, Rachel Morehouse came to
the foundation looking for a companion. In her sixties and recently
widowed, Rachel wanted a senior dog that also needed someone. Andy took a
liking to her, Rachel took a liking to Lion, an older Chow Chow, and
the rest is history.
That is, until Rachel calls Andy begging for a favor: If Rachel dies, will Andy take care of Lion if her stepson cannot?
Andy agrees, no questions asked, and promptly forgets about it... until
he receives a call from Rachel’s estate to attend her will reading.
Which is where he meets Rachel’s stepson, Tony, who is promptly arrested
for his stepmother’s murder. And he wants Andy to prove his innocence.
Andy
has continued to learn more about the woman he so greatly admired and
the businesses she ran, and holy chow, was this woman impressive. The
person who killed her deserves to be held accountable, and if Tony is to
be believed, they’re still out there. And that possibility is too much
for Andy to remain on the sidelines."
Series: #1 in the Cuban Noir P.I. series set in 1950s Cuba
224 pages
Synopsis: "World-weary American Henry Gore was born in the cold Midwest. But a
lucky connection - and a hundred peso bribe - scores him a license to
operate as a private investigator in Havana, a place where he can
finally get warm. Soon, he's trailing after cheating husbands to finance
his permanent vacation in the land of sun, cigars and compliant señoritas.
But
when he snaps the wrong man's photo at a fancy casino, he receives a
fist in the face for his troubles - and a dark warning from the Mob.
Private dicks are bad for business. If he carries on working, his
license will be permanently revoked. Capisci?
No
work means no money. No way to eat. No way to pay the rent. Desperate
to make ends meet, Henry grabs an offer of work from Fulgencio Batista's
military regime with both hands - setting in motion a chain of events
with dark and deadly consequences.
With its rum-soaked, revolutionary Caribbean setting, dark humour, glamorous femme fatales and chilling twists, Havana Highwire is crime noir at its finest."
Series: #13 in the Rizzoli & Isles police procedural series set in Boston
320 pages
Synopsis: "Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura
Isles are newly plagued by what seems like a completely senseless
murder. Sofia Suarez, a widow and nurse who was universally liked by her
neighbors, lies bludgeoned to death in her own home. But anything can
happen behind closed doors, and Sofia seemed to have plenty of secrets
in her last days, making covert phone calls to traceless burner phones.
When Jane finally makes a connection between Sofia and the victim of a
hit-and-run from months earlier, the case only grows more blurry. What
exactly was Sofia involved in? One thing is clear: The killer will do
anything it takes to keep their secret safe.
Meanwhile, Angela
Rizzoli hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in all the years since her
daughter became a homicide detective. Maybe the apple didn’t fall too
far from the tree: Nothing in Angela’s neighborhood gets by her—not the
gossip about a runaway teenager down the block and definitely not the
strange neighbors who have just moved in across the street. Angela’s
sure there’s no such thing as coincidence in her sleepy suburb. If only
Jane would listen—instead she writes off Angela’s concerns as the result
of an overactive imagination. But Angela’s convinced there’s a real
wolf in her vicinity, and her cries might now fall on deaf ears.
With
so much happening on the Sofia case, Jane and Maura already struggle to
see the forest for the trees, but will they lose sight of something
sinister happening much closer to home?"
Title: Miss Aldridge Regrets Series: #1 in the Lena Aldridge historical series set in 1930s London and on board the RMS Queen Mary.
368 pages
Synopsis: "London, 1936. Lena Aldridge wonders if life has passed her by. The
dazzling theatre career she hoped for hasn’t worked out. Instead, she’s
stuck singing in a sticky-floored basement club in Soho, and her
married lover has just left her. But Lena has always had a complicated
life, one shrouded in mystery as a mixed-race girl passing for white in a
city unforgiving of her true racial heritage.
She’s feeling
utterly hopeless until a stranger offers her the chance of a lifetime: a
starring role on Broadway and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary
bound for New York. After a murder at the club, the timing couldn’t be
better, and Lena jumps at the chance to escape England. But death
follows her onboard when an obscenely wealthy family draws her into
their fold just as one among them is killed in a chillingly familiar
way. As Lena navigates the Abernathy’s increasingly bizarre family
dynamic, she realizes that her greatest performance won't be for an
audience, but for her life.
With seductive glamor, simmering family drama, and dizzying twists, Louise Hare makes her beguiling US debut."
Series: #14 in the Kate Burkholder police procedural series set in the Amish country of Ohio
320 pages
Synopsis: "Over a decade ago, beloved Amish bishop Ananias Stoltzfus
disappeared without a trace. When skeletal remains showing evidence of
foul play are unearthed, his disappearance becomes even more sinister.
The
town’s elders arrive in Painters Mill to ask chief of police Kate
Burkholder for help, but she quickly realizes she has a personal
connection to the crime. The handsome Amish man who stands accused of
the murder, Jonas Bowman, was Kate’s first love. Forced to confront a
painful episode from her past, Kate travels to Pennsylvania’s
Kishacoquillas Valley, where the Amish culture differs dramatically from
the traditions she knows. Though Bishop Stoltzfus was highly respected,
she soon hears about a dark side to this complex man. What was he
hiding that resulted in his own brutal death?
Someone doesn’t
want Kate asking questions. But even after being accosted and threatened
in the dead of night, she refuses to back down. Is she too close to the
case―and to Jonas―to see clearly? There’s a killer in the Valley who
will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. Will they get to Kate
before she can expose the truth? Or will the bishop’s secrets remain
hidden forever?"
=== July 14 ===
Title: Bryant & May's Peculiar London Series: a travel guide and part of the Bryant & May police procedural (and so much more) series set in London.
400 pages
*UK Release
Synopsis: "As the nation's oldest serving detectives, we know more about
London than almost anyone. After all, we've been walking its streets and
impulsively arresting its citizens for decades. Who better to take you
through its less savoury side?
We'll be chatting about odd
buildings, odder characters, lost venues, forgotten disasters, confusing
routes, dubious gossip, illicit pleasures and hidden pubs. We'll be
making all sorts of odd connections and showing you why it's almost
impossible to separate fact from fiction in London.
With the help of
some of our more disreputable friends, each an argumentative and
unreliable expert in his or her own dodgy field, we'll explain why some
streets have genders, why only two Londoners got to meet Dracula, how a
department store and a prison played tricks on your mind, when a theatre
got stranded in the past, how a building vanished in plain sight, what
excited Charlotte Brontë about the city and where the devils hide in
London.
We hope to capture something of the city's restless spirit
by shamelessly and wilfully wandering off course. It goes without saying
that we'll bluff and bamboozle you along the way but that's all part of
the fun. History is what you remember. London is what you forget (and
we've forgotten a lot). So please do join us on this magical mystery
tour of our city. Who knows where we'll end up?"
=== July 19 ===
Series: #4 in the Mercy Carr & Elvis series set in Vermont
352 pages
Synopsis: "When Mercy’s grandmother Patience marries her longtime beau Claude
Renault at the five-star Lady’s Slipper Inn, it promises to be the
destination wedding of the year. Just as the four-day extravaganza is
due to begin, the inn’s spa director Bodhi St. George disappears―and
Mercy’s mother Grace sends Mercy and Elvis to find him. But what they
discover instead is a stranger skewered by a pitchfork in the barn on
the goat farm where St. George lived.
As Mercy tries to figure
out who the victim is and where St. George is hiding, the bride and
groom’s estranged relations gather for the first of the pre-wedding
festivities. Long-buried rivalries and resentments surface―and Mercy
realizes that they’re all keeping secrets that could tear both families
apart. When Elvis interrupts the escalating melodrama to alert Mercy to
an intruder on the estate, she finds a wounded St. George in the cottage
where she and Troy are staying. St. George is not who he says he is―but
when he escapes from the hospital and disappears again, Mercy thinks
he’s gone for good. With the wedding imminent and the families at each
other’s throats, she decides finding St. George will have to wait.
The big day arrives―but the danger is far from over. With the families
and the festivities still under threat, it’s up to Mercy and Elvis
together with Troy and Susie Bear to stop the killer and save the bride
and groom―before death do they part."
=== July 21 ===
Series: #7 in the Eddie Flynn legal thriller series set in New York City
336 pages
*UK Release
Synopsis: "THE MOST HATED WOMAN IN AMERICA
The
Sandman killings have been solved. Daniel Miller murdered fourteen
people before he vanished. His wife, Carrie, now faces trial as his
accomplice. The FBI, the District Attorney, the media and everyone in
America believe she knew and helped cover up her husband's crimes.
THE LAWYER
Eddie
Flynn won't take a case unless his client is innocent. Now, he has to
prove to a jury, and the entire world, that Carrie Miller was just
another victim of the Sandman. She didn't know her husband's dark side
and she had no part in the murders. But so far, Eddie and his team are
the only ones who believe her.
THE FORMER FBI AGENT
Gabriel
Lake used to be a federal agent, before someone tried to kill him. Now,
he's an investigator with a vendetta against the Sandman. He's the only
one who can catch him, because he believes that everything the FBI
knows about serial killers is wrong.
THE KILLER
With
his wife on trial, the Sandman is forced to come out of hiding to save
her from a life sentence. He will kill to protect her and everyone
involved in the case is a target.
Even Eddie Flynn..."
=== July 26 ===
Series: #16 in he Bibliophile cozy series set in California
336 pages
Synopsis: "Brooklyn is excited to be included in the Covington Library’s
first annual Mark Twain Festival. She’ll rebind a rare first edition of The Prince and the Pauper
before an enthusiastic audience of book nerds—her favorite people. The
festival is the passion project of wealthy media mogul, book lover, and
newspaper owner Joseph Cabot, who considers himself Twain’s biggest fan.
Brooklyn’s hunky husband, Derek, and his security team once rescued
Joseph from a corporate kidnapping attempt. Now Derek and his agents are
charged with keeping Joseph and his beautiful young wife safe during
the festivities taking place all over town.
The centerpiece of the festival is a citywide contest based on The Prince and the Pauper:
one lucky look-alike will trade places with Joseph for a few days—with
access to all the money and power that Joseph commands. Brooklyn and
Derek worry that the contest might be generating some dangerous
attention. And when someone is mysteriously poisoned right before
Brooklyn’s eyes, she’s not convinced that the victim was the intended
target. Now she and Derek must frantically chase clues and suspects
through the streets of San Francisco before another murder becomes
front-page news. . . ."
Series: #1 in the Locard Institute thriller series set in the Washington, D.C. area
352 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "When D.C. crime scene analyst Dr. Ellie Carr is called to
investigate the heartrending case of a missing baby, she’s shocked to
discover that the child’s mother is her own cousin. Close during their
impoverished childhoods, Ellie and Rebecca eventually drifted apart.
Rebecca is now half of a Washington power couple, and she and her
wealthy lobbyist husband, Hunter, have been living a charmed life in an
opulent mansion—until their infant son is taken.
“Every contact leaves a trace.” That’s
the basic principle of forensic science followed by pathologist Dr.
Rachael Davies. A reluctant Ellie is teamed with Rachael, employed by
Hunter to help with the investigation. Rachael is assistant dean at the
prestigious Locard Forensic Institute, named in honor of the French
criminologist who inspired the profession. But in this case, discovering
where those traces lead quickly becomes a dangerous journey through a
web of greed and deadly ambition.
At first antagonists, then
allies, Ellie and Rachael race to find the baby alive and bring the
kidnappers to justice. What seemed like a simple ransom grab reveals
links to a lobbying effort to loosen regulations on a billion-dollar
gaming empire. Unless they can piece together the evidence before the
Senate hearing, Rebecca’s son—and others like him—will face an
unthinkable fate…"
Author: Allison Montclair
Series: #4 in the Sparks & Bainbridge historical series set in England
320 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "The Right Sort Marriage Bureau was founded in 1946 by two
disparate individuals - Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge (whose husband was
killed in the recent World War) and Miss Iris Sparks who worked as an
intelligence agent during the recent conflict, though this is not
discussed. While the agency flourishes in the post-war climate, both
founders have to deal with some of the fallout that conflict created in
their personal lives. Miss Sparks finds herself followed, then
approached, by a young woman who has a very personal connection to a
former paramour of Sparks. But something is amiss and it seems that
Iris's past may well cause something far more deadly than mere
disruption in her personal life. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn is struggling to
regain full legal control of her life, her finances, and her son - a
legal path strewn with traps and pitfalls.
Together these indomitable two are determined and capable and not just of making the perfect marriage match."
Good gravy, there's a bumper crop of reading nirvana in July, isn't there?!? There's something for everyone, so we're all spoiled for choice. Which books from my choices are on your own lists? Are there any new-to-you authors here that you're going to add? Inquiring minds would love to know!
