Casa Kittling has had its share of comings and goings and worrying and fretting, but one thing that always has the power to calm me right down is looking for new books to read. I don't think that will ever change.
June has a bumper crop of exciting new crime fiction, and I seem to have overindulged a bit when it comes to advance reading copies, but I'll muddle through somehow. *wink*
The following list contains my choices for the best new crime fiction being released during the month of June. I've grouped them by their release dates, and their covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.
Now it's time to see if I've chosen any books that tickle your fancy, too. Let's get started!
=== June 7 ===
Author: Ellen Byron
Series: #1 in the Vintage Cookbook cozy series set in Louisiana.
301 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Twenty-eight-year-old widow Ricki James leaves Los Angeles to
start a new life in New Orleans after her showboating actor husband
perishes doing a stupid internet stunt. The Big Easy is where she was
born and adopted by the NICU nurse who cared for her after Ricki’s teen
mother disappeared from the hospital.
Ricki’s dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, the city’s legendary restauranteur. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware. Then she discovers that a box of donated vintage cookbooks contains the body of a cantankerous Bon Vee employee who was fired after being exposed as a book thief.
The skills Ricki has developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures come in handy for investigations. But both her business and Bon Vee could wind up as deadstock when Ricki’s past as curator of a billionaire’s first edition collection comes back to haunt her.
Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success … or a recipe for disaster?"
Ricki’s dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, the city’s legendary restauranteur. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware. Then she discovers that a box of donated vintage cookbooks contains the body of a cantankerous Bon Vee employee who was fired after being exposed as a book thief.
The skills Ricki has developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures come in handy for investigations. But both her business and Bon Vee could wind up as deadstock when Ricki’s past as curator of a billionaire’s first edition collection comes back to haunt her.
Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success … or a recipe for disaster?"
Author: T.E. Kinsey
Series: #8 in the Lady Hardcastle historical series set in early twentieth century England.
333 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Summer
1911. A scorching heatwave engulfs the quiet town of Littleton
Cotterell and brings about an unusually early harvest. The villagers are
thrilled, but events quickly turn sour when one of them turns up dead
in an apple orchard, stabbed through the heart. 
Title: The Physicists' Daughter
Amateur sleuth Lady Hardcastle and her trusty lady’s maid, Flo, suddenly have a juicy case on their hands. Might the mysterious stranger they recently met in the village be to blame?
When a second cider-related murder takes place, it quickly becomes clear that there’s more to these mysterious deaths than meets the eye. The daring duo uncover whispers of an ancient order and moonlit rituals. And evidence points to a macabre secret in the village stretching back years. A secret someone will do anything—anything at all—to keep hidden.
Something
is rotten, that’s for sure. With the local constabulary baffled, Lady
Hardcastle and Flo must use all their powers of wit and whimsy to get to
the bottom of the dastardly deed. But can they catch the killer before
any more people drop dead?"
Author: Mary Anna Evans
Standalone historical thriller set in Louisiana.
345 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "New Orleans, 1944. 
Title: The Woman in the Library
Sabotage. That's the word on factory worker Justine Byrne's mind as she is repeatedly called to weld machine parts that keep failing with no clear cause. Could someone inside the secretive Carbon Division be deliberately undermining the factory's Allied war efforts?
Raised by her late parents to think logically, she also can't help wondering just what the oddly shaped carbon gadgets she assembles day after day have to do with the boats the factory builds. When a crane inexplicably crashes to the factory floor, leaving a woman dead, Justine can no longer ignore her nagging fear that German spies are at work within the building, trying to put the factory and its workers out of commission.
Unable
to trust anyone—not the charming men vying for her attention, not her
unpleasant boss, and not even the women who work beside her—Justine
draws on the legacy of her unconventional upbringing to keep her
division running and protect her coworkers, her country, and herself
from a war that is suddenly very close to home."
Author: Sulari Gentill
Standalone mystery set in the Boston Public Library
292 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Ned Kelly award winning author, Sulari Gentill sets this mystery-within-a-mystery in motion with a deceptively simple, Dear Hannah, What are you writing? pulling us into theornate reading room at the Boston Public Library. 
Title: The Girl They All Forgot
But fair reader, in every person's story, there is something to hide...
The tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.
Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an
unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated
nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous
weapons of all."
Author: Martin Edwards
Series: #8 in the Lake District contemporary series set in England and featuring retired Oxford historian Daniel Kind and DCI Hannah Scarlett of the Cold Case Squad.
345 pages
Synopsis: "What happened to Ramona Smith? 
Title: Rock of Ages
History always repeats itself. After a father and son commit suicide on the same day, twenty years apart, DCI Hannah Scarlet, and her Cold Cases Division reopen the investigation of Ramona Smith, a woman who disappeared twenty-one years ago. Desperate to finally find answers, Hannah and her team chase leads as meandering as the shoreline. As the body count rises, the Cold Cases Division must unravel the loves of those on The Crooked Shore before another murder plot unfolds."
=== June 14 ===
Author: Timothy Hallinan
Series: #8 in the Junior Bender contemporary series set in California
336 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Junior
Bender, Los Angeles burglar and off-the-books detective to the
felonious, is reminded that rock and roll will never die (no matter how
fervently he wishes some of it would) when Hollywood's most dangerous
geriatric mobster, Irwin Dressler, retains Junior's
investigative services to solve a rather unharmonious problem.
Four of Dressler's old gangster colleagues have put together a national tour of once-popular rock bands they own a piece of: three nights of concerts by guys (and a few gals) who were big shots back in the 1960s and 1970s, and who are now hoping for one more gasp of glory with this nostalgia exhibition. The Rock of Ages tour has proved itself to be anything but a love fest: plenty of the bandmates have been feuding for forty years, and—perhaps unsurprisingly—drugs and bad behavior have created health, wellness, and legal problems for the musicians and managers. Plus there have been two near-fatal accidents that might have been attempted murders.
But they're not what Irwin Dressler is concerned about. It's that someone—one of his own colleagues—is using the tour as a front to steal Dressler's money. And that simply cannot be allowed.
Title: The Self-Made Widow
Title: The Key to Deceit 
Title: The Lost
Title: Outside 
Title: Hatchet Island
Four of Dressler's old gangster colleagues have put together a national tour of once-popular rock bands they own a piece of: three nights of concerts by guys (and a few gals) who were big shots back in the 1960s and 1970s, and who are now hoping for one more gasp of glory with this nostalgia exhibition. The Rock of Ages tour has proved itself to be anything but a love fest: plenty of the bandmates have been feuding for forty years, and—perhaps unsurprisingly—drugs and bad behavior have created health, wellness, and legal problems for the musicians and managers. Plus there have been two near-fatal accidents that might have been attempted murders.
But they're not what Irwin Dressler is concerned about. It's that someone—one of his own colleagues—is using the tour as a front to steal Dressler's money. And that simply cannot be allowed.
Now the tour has pulled into LA, and Junior has one
weekend to figure out who's to blame—a weekend that begins with his
tires being slashed, threatening notes left on his car, and a theatrical
backdrop falling on a drummer during the truly terrible first set of
the first concert. To make things worse, Junior is saddled for the
weekend with his teenage daughter, Rina, who lately has been much, much
too interested in how her father earns his living. Can Junior recover
Dressler's money, prevent a murder, talk his daughter out of pursuing a
life of crime, and somehow survive all that bad music?"
=== June 21 ===
Author: Fabian Nicieza
Series: #2 in the Andie Stern & Kenny Lee contemporary series set in New Jersey
400 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "From the cocreator of Deadpool and author of Suburban Dicks
comes a diabolically funny murder mystery that features two unlikely
sleuths investigating a murder that reveals the dark underbelly of
suburban marriage.
After mother of five and former FBI profiler Andie Stern solved a murder—and unraveled a decades-old conspiracy—in her New Jersey town, both her husband and the West Windsor police hoped that she would set aside crime-fighting and go back to carpools, changing diapers, and lunches with her group of mom-friends, who she secretly calls The Cellulitists. Even so, Andie can’t help but get involved when the husband of Queen Bee Molly Goode is found dead. Though all signs point to natural causes, Andie begins to dig into the case and soon risks more than just the clique’s wrath, because what she discovers might hit shockingly close to home.
Meanwhile, journalist Kenny Lee is enjoying a rehabilitated image after his success as Andie’s sidekick. But when an anonymous phone call tips him off that Molly Goode killed her husband, he’s soon drawn back into the thicket of suburban scandals, uncovering secrets, affairs, and a huge sum of money. Hellbent on justice and hoping not to kill each other in the process, Andie and Kenny dust off their suburban sleuthing caps once again."
After mother of five and former FBI profiler Andie Stern solved a murder—and unraveled a decades-old conspiracy—in her New Jersey town, both her husband and the West Windsor police hoped that she would set aside crime-fighting and go back to carpools, changing diapers, and lunches with her group of mom-friends, who she secretly calls The Cellulitists. Even so, Andie can’t help but get involved when the husband of Queen Bee Molly Goode is found dead. Though all signs point to natural causes, Andie begins to dig into the case and soon risks more than just the clique’s wrath, because what she discovers might hit shockingly close to home.
Meanwhile, journalist Kenny Lee is enjoying a rehabilitated image after his success as Andie’s sidekick. But when an anonymous phone call tips him off that Molly Goode killed her husband, he’s soon drawn back into the thicket of suburban scandals, uncovering secrets, affairs, and a huge sum of money. Hellbent on justice and hoping not to kill each other in the process, Andie and Kenny dust off their suburban sleuthing caps once again."
Author: Ashley Weaver
Series: #2 in the Electra McDonnell historical series set in World War II England
272 pages
Synopsis: "London, 1940. After years of stealing from the rich and giving to
the poor—well, to themselves, anyway—Ellie McDonnell and her family have
turned over a new leaf as they help the government’s war effort. It’s
true that the straight-laced Major Ramsey didn’t give them much choice,
but still, Ellie must admit she doesn’t miss breaking and entering as
much as she might have thought. What she does miss is the challenge of
unlocking an impossible code and the adrenaline rush that comes from
being somewhere she shouldn’t.
So when Major Ramsey turns up unannounced with another job, she can’t say no. A woman’s body has been found floating in the Thames, with a bracelet locked onto her wrist, and a cameo locket attached to it. It’s clear this woman was involved in espionage, but whose side was she on? Who was she reporting to? And who wanted her dead?"
So when Major Ramsey turns up unannounced with another job, she can’t say no. A woman’s body has been found floating in the Thames, with a bracelet locked onto her wrist, and a cameo locket attached to it. It’s clear this woman was involved in espionage, but whose side was she on? Who was she reporting to? And who wanted her dead?"
=== June 28 ===
Author: Jeffrey B. Burton
Series: #3 in the Mace Reid K-9 series set in Illinois.
288 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Glencoe, Illinois: A home
invasion turned kidnapping at the mansion of billionaire financier
Kenneth J. Druckman brings Mason “Mace” Reid and his cadaver dog, Vira,
to this wealthy northern suburb of Chicago. Druckman was assaulted, left
behind while his wife and young daughter were taken for ransom.
Brought to the scene by the FBI, Reid specializes in human remains detection, and Vira is the star of his pack of cadaver dogs he’s dubbed The Finders. After Vira finds the dead body of the mother, former supermodel Calley Kurtz, everyone is on high alert to find Druckman’s missing daughter before the five-year-old disappears forever. But the trail Vira finds on the property’s dense woodlands leads right back to Druckman himself.
With the help of Detective Kippy Gimm, Reid and Vira must race against the clock. Nothing is as it appears to be . . . and the red herrings could be lethal."
Brought to the scene by the FBI, Reid specializes in human remains detection, and Vira is the star of his pack of cadaver dogs he’s dubbed The Finders. After Vira finds the dead body of the mother, former supermodel Calley Kurtz, everyone is on high alert to find Druckman’s missing daughter before the five-year-old disappears forever. But the trail Vira finds on the property’s dense woodlands leads right back to Druckman himself.
With the help of Detective Kippy Gimm, Reid and Vira must race against the clock. Nothing is as it appears to be . . . and the red herrings could be lethal."
Author: Ragnar Jónasson
Standalone thriller set in Iceland.
352 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Four friends. One night. Not everyone will come out alive . . .
When a deadly snowstorm strikes the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in a small, abandoned hunting lodge.
It is in the middle of nowhere and there's no way of communicating with the outside world.
They are isolated, but they are not alone . . .
As the night darkens, and fears intensify, an old tragedy gradually surfaces - one that forever changed the course of their friendship.
Those dark memories could hold the key to the mystery the friends now find themselves in.
And whether they will survive until morning . . ."
When a deadly snowstorm strikes the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in a small, abandoned hunting lodge.
It is in the middle of nowhere and there's no way of communicating with the outside world.
They are isolated, but they are not alone . . .
As the night darkens, and fears intensify, an old tragedy gradually surfaces - one that forever changed the course of their friendship.
Those dark memories could hold the key to the mystery the friends now find themselves in.
And whether they will survive until morning . . ."
Author: Paul Doiron
Series: #13 Game Warden Mike Bowditch mystery set in Maine.
320 pages
Synopsis: "A call for help from a former colleague leads Maine game warden
investigator Mike Bowditch and his girlfriend Stacey Stevens on a sea
kayaking trip to a research station far off the coast. Stacey spent
summers interning on the island, a sanctuary for endangered seabirds,
and they are shocked by the atmosphere of tension they encounter when
they come ashore. The biologists are being threatened and stalked by a
mysterious boatman who they suspect is trespassing on the refuge late at
night. And now the sanctuary’s enigmatic founder, whose mind has been
slowly unraveling, has gone missing.
Camped on an islet for the night, Mike and Stacey waken to the sound of a gunshot. When they return to the refuge at dawn, their darkest fears are confirmed: two of the three researchers have been brutally murdered and the third has disappeared, along with the island skiff. Mike’s quest to find the missing man leads to a nearby island owned by a world-renowned photographer and his equally brilliant wife. The inhabitants of this private kingdom quickly close ranks, and Mike increasingly comes to believe that someone in the village knows more about the killings than they dare admit.
With no one to trust and miles from shore, Mike Bowditch must stop a ruthless murderer determined to make sure a terrifying secret never sees the light of day."
Camped on an islet for the night, Mike and Stacey waken to the sound of a gunshot. When they return to the refuge at dawn, their darkest fears are confirmed: two of the three researchers have been brutally murdered and the third has disappeared, along with the island skiff. Mike’s quest to find the missing man leads to a nearby island owned by a world-renowned photographer and his equally brilliant wife. The inhabitants of this private kingdom quickly close ranks, and Mike increasingly comes to believe that someone in the village knows more about the killings than they dare admit.
With no one to trust and miles from shore, Mike Bowditch must stop a ruthless murderer determined to make sure a terrifying secret never sees the light of day."
There's a little something for everyone during June which makes it such a fabulous month for new books. There are so many titles that tickle my fancy on this list that I don't know where to start. How did I do? Were some of these books already on your wish lists? Or did I manage to add some? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!
