February 2011 New Mystery Releases!

Late at night when everything slumbers is my favorite time to write. It has been since I was in college, so it's no surprise that I'm sitting here late at night writing up as many posts in advance that I can just in case I go through surgery and decide that I want to lay around and be waited on hand and foot like I'm the Queen of Sheba.

This is one of my favorite posts to prepare for and to write because I love looking ahead at brand-new books that will soon be available for me to read.

The following books are my top picks for mysteries being released in February. The titles are grouped by release dates, and I've included the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book spots. Let's see which titles have me drooling this month....

===February 1===

Title: Kissing Arizona
Author: Elizabeth Gunn
Series: #3 in the Sarah Burke series set in Tucson, Arizona
ISBN: 9780727869616
Publisher: Severn House, 2011
Hardcover, 208 pages

*Author interviewed this week on Scene of the Crime.

Title: Angel's Verdict

Author: Mary Stanton
Series: #4 in the Beaufort and Company series set in Savannah, Georgia
ISBN: 9780425239872

Publisher: Berkley, 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Title: A Crafty Killing
Author: Lorraine Bartlett
Series: #1 in the Victoria Square mysteries
ISBN: 9780425239858

Publisher: Berkley, 2011

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Title: Crying Blood
Author: Donis Casey
Series: #5 in the Alafair Tucker series set in the early 1900s in rural Oklahoma
ISBN:  9781590588314

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2011
Hardcover, 250 pages

*Upcoming author interview on Scene of the Crime.

Title: Ring of Guilt
Author: Judith Cutler
Series: #3 in the Lina Townend series set in southern England
ISBN: 9780727869604
Publisher: Severn House, 2011
Hardcover, 224 pages

Title: Drip Dead
Author: Christy Evans
Series: #3 in the Georgiana Neverall series set in Pine Ridge, Oregon
ISBN: 9780425239896
Publisher: Berkley, 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 256 pages

===February 3===

Title: The Winter Ghosts

Author: Kate Mosse
Historical mystery set in the French Pyrenees in 1928
ISBN: 9780399157158
Publisher: Putnam Adult, 2011
Hardcover, 288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Title: The Jackal Man

Author: Kate Ellis

Series: #15 in the Wesley Peterson series set in southern England

ISBN: 9780749953522

Publisher: Piatkus Books, 2011

Hardcover, 320 pages

*UK release.

===February 4===

Title: Silent Voices

Author: Ann Cleeves

Series: #4 in the Vera Stanhope series set in East Yorkshire, England

ISBN: 9780230745810

Publisher: Macmillan, 2011

Hardcover, 352 pages

*UK release.

===February 15===

Title: Ghost Ship
Author: P.J. Alderman
Series: #2 in the Port Chatham series set in Washington
ISBN: 9780553592115
Publisher: Bantam, 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 368 pages

===February 22===

Title: Shadow Pass AKA The Red Coffin

Author: Sam Eastland
Series: #2 in the Inspector Pekkala series set in Stalinist Russia
ISBN: 9780553807820
Publisher: Bantam, 2011
Hardcover, 304 pages


*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.







Okay, you gotta tell me now-- which of these titles are you looking forward to reading? Inquiring minds want to know!

Defending Angels by Mary Stanton

Title: Defending Angels
Author: Mary Stanton
ISBN: 9780425224984
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime, 2008
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy/Amateur Sleuth, Paranormal, #1 Beaufort and Company mystery
Rating: A
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: "Hanged by the neck until dead, every one of 'em," Lavinia Mather said with enormous satisfaction.

In a move from North Carolina to Savannah, Georgia, in order to escape the smothering concern of her parents, lawyer Brianna Winston-Beaufort took her eccentric uncle's inheritance and ran with it. Unfortunately his law offices were damaged in a fire, and Brianna needs someplace temporary to set up shop until the remodeling is done.

What she finds is in a prime section of historic Savannah, the most haunted city in America, and although the offices are in an old home set right in the middle of the only all-murderers cemetery in the state of Georgia, Brianna can't afford to be picky. Especially when the owner, Lavinia Mather, has the rent set so low. Brianna just hopes her future clients won't mind walking through landscaping that looks like it's straight from a Hammer horror film.

It doesn't take long for Brianna to realize that something very strange is going on; for instance her first client is billionaire Benjamin Skinner who calls and demands her services-- after he had been declared dead.

Defending Angels is a fun read highlighted by its plot and unique angle. It's very difficult to say much about the book without giving away some of its secrets, so I won't even try. If you're in the mood for a light, very fun and fast-paced mystery filled with things that go bump in the night, by all means pick up Defending Angels! I've already gotten the second book in the series sitting on the shelf waiting for me.

Buy from Amazon.

Buy from The Book Depository.

Buy from an Indie Bookseller.