Care Homes Are Murder by Mike Befeler

First Line: We made it safely to Honolulu, without the plane crashing and me drowning in the ocean or my old body being consumed by sharks.

Eighty-something Paul Jacobson is on vacation in Hawaii with his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. Everyone's all set to have fun, but if anyone can blunder into trouble, it's Paul. First he finds a dead body floating in the Ala Wai Marina. Then someone is killed at the care home when he's there visiting friends. This old geezer with short-term memory loss is going to need all his resources to get himself out of trouble.

I've enjoyed Mike Befeler's "Geezer Lit" series since the first book, Retirement Homes Are Murder-- probably because the main character reminds me of my own grandfather in so many ways. Paul Jacobson has a bit of a short fuse and tends to shoot off his mouth when he should keep it closed. He also has short-term memory loss. Every morning when he wakes up, he's completely forgotten everything that's happened in the recent past. That last thing alone would turn most people into curmudgeons, but not Paul. In spite of everything, he's been incredibly blessed with a son and daughter-in-law who love him and include him in as much of their lives as possible. His granddaughter thinks he's the bee's knees and loves spending time with him. He's found love for the second time, and his wife doesn't mind waking up every morning to be asked who she is. He's even found a way to cope with his memory loss: before bed, he writes down all the events of the day so that he can read it all when he gets up in the morning. Yes, Paul Jacobson is a wonderful main character, and Befeler backs him up with a strong supporting cast.

For my money, Care Homes Are Murder is the strongest book in the series so far. The Jacobsons see and do as many things as possible, and as a result, the setting of Hawaii comes to life. The mystery itself is truly intriguing, with just enough plot threads to keep me guessing. In fact there were several times that the author set me up to believe that something specific was going to happen. Each and every time I got that idea in my head, nothing happened. Befeler really kept me on my toes.

This is a series that could easily get repetitive-- Paul having to write down the day's events each evening, none of the police believing that short-term memory loss malarkey, and so on. Befeler avoids the repetition, and I particularly appreciated the fact that Paul didn't have the same old run-around with the police.

The humor in this book is what helps put it a big step above the rest in the series. Paul and his granddaughter are a formidable-- and funny-- team of sleuths, and Paul's son's fixation on renting white SUVs is a laugh-out-loud running joke throughout the book. And then... there's the inclusion of a new character referred to as "Hurricane Madeline." Madeline is a force of nature who could easily be turned into a caricature, but Befeler gives the woman depth. And funny! I was almost rolling in the floor with laughter several times. Madeline comes within an eyelash of stealing the book away from Paul, and I hope this isn't the last time I see her.

A mystery that kept me guessing, a tropical paradise for a setting, wonderful characters, laugh-out-loud humor, and the chance to see a vital group of people of all ages who love each other and love spending time with each other. Speaking of love... I love this series, and I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Paul Jacobson gets into next!
 

Care Homes Are Murder by Mike Befeler

eISBN: 9781432828424

Five Star © 2013

eBook, 268 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #5 Paul Jacobson/Geezer-Lit mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

January 2015 New Mystery Releases!

I'd like to see a show of hands. How many of you can't believe that we're staring 2015 right in the face? I thought so. Neither can I! In fact, I'm still compiling my 2014 reading statistics which will appear in a few days (if I can get all my graphs and other gizmos to cooperate).

Time may flash by all too quickly, but one thing never changes when you're a bookaholic: the never-ending and totally satisfying quest for new books and authors to read. 

These are my picks from new crime fiction that will be released during the month of January. I've grouped them by release date, and naturally I've included all the information you'll need to find them at your favorite "book procurement" locations. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon.  Happy New Year-- and Happy Reading!

=== January 1 ===

Title: A Meditation on Murder

Author: Robert Thorogood

Series: #1 in the Death in Paradise series set on an island in the Caribbean

ISBN: 9781848453609

Publisher: MIRA

Paperback, 368 pages

*UK release, Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Robert Thorogood is the creator and writer of the hit BBC One series Death in Paradise. Now, for the first time, he brings the characters to life on the page in an all-new, locked-room mystery. 

Aslan Kennedy has an idyllic life: Leader of a Spiritual Retreat for wealthy holidaymakers on one of the Caribbean's most unspoilt islands, Saint Marie. Until he’s murdered, that is. The case seems open and shut: when Aslan was killed he was inside a locked room with only five other people, one of whom has already confessed to the murder.
Detective Inspector Richard Poole is hot, bothered, and fed up with talking to witnesses who’d rather discuss his ‘aura' than their whereabouts at the time of the murder. But he also knows that the facts of the case don’t quite stack up. In fact, he’s convinced that the person who’s just confessed to the murder is the one person who couldn’t have done it. 

Determined to track down the real killer, DI Poole is soon on the trail, and no stone will be left unturned." 

=== January 2===

Title: The Soul of Discretion

Author: Susan Hill

Series: #8 in the Simon Serailler police procedural series set in England

ISBN: 9781468301458

Publisher: Overlook

Hardcover, 336 pages

Synopsis: "From the outside, the cathedral town of Lafferton seems idyllic, but in many ways it is just like any other place. It suffers from the same kinds of crime, is subject to the same pressures from a rapidly changing world, and has the same hopes and fears as any number of towns up and down the land.

When Simon Serrailler is called in by Lafferton’s new Chief Constable, Kieran Bright, he is met by two plainclothes officers, who ask him to take the principal role in a difficult, potentially dangerous undercover operation. He must leave town immediately, without telling anyone—not even his girlfriend Rachel, who has only just moved in with him.

Meanwhile, Simon's sister Cat is facing difficult choices at work, as Lafferton’s hospice closes its bedded units—and at home, as her daughter is presented with a glittering opportunity that they would have to struggle to afford. And all is not well with Simon and Cat's stepmother, Judith, either.

To complete his special operation, Simon must inhabit the mind of the worst kind of criminal. This takes its toll on Simon and—as the investigation unfolds—also on the town and some of its most respected citizens." 

=== January 6 ===

Title: A String of Beads

Author: Thomas Perry

Series: #8 in the Jane Whitefield series based in New York state

ISBN: 9780802123299

Publisher: Mysterious Press

Hardcover, 400 pages

Synopsis: "After two decades protecting innocent victims on the run, and a year after getting shot on a job that took a dangerous turn for the worse, Jane McKinnon, née Whitefield, has settled into the quiet life of a suburban housewife in Amherst, New York—or so she thinks.

One morning as she comes back from a long run, Jane is met by an unusual sight: all eight clan mothers, the female leaders of the Seneca clans, parked in her driveway in two black cars. A childhood friend of Jane’s from the reservation, Jimmy, is wanted by the police for the murder of a local white man. But instead of turning himself in, he's fled, and no one knows where he is hiding out. At the clan mothers’ request, Jane retraces a walking trip she and Jimmy took together when they were fourteen in hopes that he has gone the same way again. But it soon becomes clear that the police aren’t the only ones after him. As the chase intensifies, the number of people caught up in this twisted plot multiplies, and Jane is the only one who can protect those endangered by it. A String of Beads is an addictive, fast-paced thriller about how abandoning the past can sometimes be the hardest thing to do, even when your life—and the life of those you love—depends on it." 

Title: Feta Attraction

Author: Susannah Hardy

Series: #1 in the Greek to Me cozy series set in upstate New York

ISBN: 9780425271650

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Georgie Nikolopatos manages the Bonaparte House, a Greek restaurant and historic landmark in beautiful upstate New York rumored to possess ghosts and hidden treasure. But when her husband disappears and her main competitor is found dead, it’s up to Georgie to solve a big fat Greek murder.

With her husband, Spiro, inexplicably gone for days, Georgie has her hands full running the restaurant and dealing with the crew of the TV show Ghost Squad, called in by Spiro to inspect the house for haunting. So when she has a chance to take a boating excursion on the St. Lawrence River with her friend Keith Morgan, she jumps on it. But their idyll is quickly ruined when they discover the body of rival restaurant owner Domenic “Big Dom” DiTomasso floating in the water.

When the police start asking questions, it doesn’t help that Spiro can’t be found—and with Georgie on their suspect list, it’s up to her to find her missing husband and find out who killed Big Dom before someone else’s order is up." 

Title: Twisted Threads

Author: Lea Wait

Series: #1 in the Mainely Needlepoint cozy series set in Maine

ISBN:  9781617730047

Publisher: Kensington

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Returning to the quaint coastal town of Harbor Haven, Maine—a place she once called home—Angie Curtis finds her memories aren’t all quite pleasant ones…

After leaving a decade ago, Angie has been called back to Harbor Haven by her grandmother, Charlotte, who raised her following her mother’s disappearance when she was a child. Her mother has been found, and now the question of her whereabouts has sadly become the mystery of her murder.

The bright spot in Angie’s homecoming is reuniting with Charlotte, who has started her own needlepointing business with a group called Mainely Needlepointers. But when a shady business associate of the stitchers dies suddenly under suspicious circumstances, Charlotte and Angie become suspects. As Angie starts to weave together clues, she discovers that this new murder may have ties to her own mother’s cold case…" 

Title: Ghost in the Guacamole

Author: Sue Ann Jaffarian

Series: #5 in the Ghost of Granny Apples cozy series set in California

ISBN: 9780425262498

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "When two sisters feud over the family business, medium Emma Whitecastle doesn’t need a Ouija board to know it spells trouble. But with a little help from the spirited ghost of Granny Apples, she may be able to solve one murder and prevent another . . .

Sisters Lucinda and Ricarda Ricardo—better known as Lucy and Rikki—are at each other’s throats over the family business, Roble Foods. Lucy wants to sell and Rikki is against it. Rikki asks Emma to contact their deceased father, Felix, to help her convince Lucy not to sell.

But the ghost of Felix Ricardo has his own bombshell to drop—his death was not an accident, and Rikki’s life may be in danger if the girls don’t sell. Now it’s up to Emma and Granny Apples to chip away at the mystery and stop a killer from double dipping in death . . ." 

Title: As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

Author: Alan Bradley

Series: #7 in the Flavia de Luce series set in England

ISBN: 9780345539939

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Hardcover, 416 pages

Synopsis: "Banished! is how twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce laments her predicament, when her father and Aunt Felicity ship her off to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy, the boarding school that her mother, Harriet, once attended across the sea in Canada. The sun has not yet risen on Flavia’s first day in captivity when a gift lands at her feet. Flavia being Flavia, a budding chemist and sleuth, that gift is a charred and mummified body, which tumbles out of a bedroom chimney. Now, while attending classes, making friends (and enemies), and assessing the school’s stern headmistress and faculty (one of whom is an acquitted murderess), Flavia is on the hunt for the victim’s identity and time of death, as well as suspects, motives, and means. Rumors swirl that Miss Bodycote’s is haunted, and that several girls have disappeared without a trace. When it comes to solving multiple mysteries, Flavia is up to the task—but her true destiny has yet to be revealed." 

=== January 13 ===

Title: The Ice Queen

Author: Nele Neuhaus

Series: #3 in the von Bodenstein and Kirchhoff police procedural series set in Germany

ISBN: 9780312604264

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 352 pages

Synopsis: "The body of 92-year-old Jossi Goldberg, Holocaust survivor and American citizen, is found shot to death execution style in his house near Frankfurt. A five-digit number is scrawled in blood at the murder scene. The autopsy reveals an old and unsuccessfully covered tattoo on the corpse's arm—a blood type marker once used by Hitler's SS. Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver Bodenstein are faced with a riddle. Was the old man not Jewish after all? Who was he, really? Two more, similar murders happen—one of a wheelchair-bound old lady in a nursing home, and one of a man with a cellar filled with Nazi paraphernalia—and slowly the connections between the victims becomes evident: All of them were lifelong friends with Vera von Kaltensee, baroness, well-respected philanthropist, and head of an old, rich family that she rules with an iron fist. Pia and Oliver follow the trail, which leads them all the way back to the end of World War II and the area of Poland that then belonged to East Prussia. No one is who they claim to be, and things only begin to make sense when the two investigators realize what the bloody number stands for, and uncover an old diary and an eyewitness who is finally willing to come forward. 

Nele Neuhaus's The Ice Queen is a character- and plot-driven mystery about revenge, power, and long-forgotten and covered up secrets from a time in German history that still affects the present." 

Title: The Unquiet Dead

Author: Ausma Zehanat Khan

Series: #1 in the Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty series set in Toronto, Canada

ISBN: 9781250055118 

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Despite their many differences, Detective Rachel Getty trusts her boss, Esa Khattak, implicitly. But she’s still uneasy at Khattak’s tight-lipped secrecy when he asks her to look into Christopher Drayton’s death. Drayton’s apparently accidental fall from a cliff doesn’t seem to warrant a police investigation, particularly not from Rachel and Khattak’s team, which handles minority-sensitive cases. But when she learns that Drayton may have been living under an assumed name, Rachel begins to understand why Khattak is tip-toeing around this case. It soon comes to light that Drayton may have been a war criminal with ties to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995.

If that’s true, any number of people might have had reason to help Drayton to his death, and a murder investigation could have far-reaching ripples throughout the community. But as Rachel and Khattak dig deeper into the life and death of Christopher Drayton, every question seems to lead only to more questions, with no easy answers. Had the specters of Srebrenica returned to haunt Drayton at the end, or had he been keeping secrets of an entirely different nature? Or, after all, did a man just fall to his death from the Bluffs?" 

Title: The Girl on the Train

Author: Paula Hawkins

Standalone Thriller

ISBN: 9781594633669

Publisher: Riverhead

Hardcover, 336 pages

Synopsis: "Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?" 

=== January 21 ===

Title: Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse

Author: Mike Befeler

Standalone

ISBN: 9781432829643

Publisher: Five Star

Hardcover

Synopsis: "When a staged murder at a mystery dinner playhouse turns into a real poisoning death‚ recently retired detective Gabe Tremont is called back to solve the crime and discovers the playhouse director‚ the cast and a spy from a competing theater all have reasons to want the murdered man dead. "

=== January 22 ===

Title: Unbecoming

Author: Rebecca Scherm

Standalone set in Tennessee and Paris, France

ISBN: 9780525427506

Publisher: Viking

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "On the grubby outskirts of Paris, Grace restores bric-a-brac, mends teapots, re-sets gems. She calls herself Julie, says she’s from California, and slips back to a rented room at night. Regularly, furtively, she checks the hometown paper on the Internet. Home is Garland, Tennessee, and there, two young men have just been paroled. One, she married; the other, she’s in love with. Both were jailed for a crime that Grace herself planned in exacting detail. The heist went bad—but not before she was on a plane to Prague with a stolen canvas rolled in her bag. And so, in Paris, begins a cat-and-mouse waiting game as Grace’s web of deception and lies unravels—and she becomes another young woman entirely.

Unbecoming is an intricately plotted and psychologically nuanced heist novel that turns on suspense and slippery identity. With echoes of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Scherm’s mesmerizing debut is sure to entrance fans of Gillian Flynn, Marisha Pessl, and Donna Tartt." 

There's a little something for everyone during the month of January, isn't there? Which titles caught your eye? Inquiring minds would love to know! As for me, of the new-to-me authors on this list, I have to admit that I'm really looking forward to reading The Unquiet Dead.

Here's to plenty of books on our wish lists-- and well-stocked To Be Read shelves!

 

May 2014 New Mystery Releases!

While many of you folks are finally experiencing spring, the Sonoran Desert is already beginning to slip into our two-part summer. Yes, that's right-- the Sonoran Desert really has five seasons, the normal four plus an extra summer because monsoon season differs so much from the blazingly hot and dry May and June. Don't cry for me, I love the heat, and (both) summers are my optimal times to devour books!

Here are my picks for new mysteries being released in May. They're sorted by release dates and contain all the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite "book procurement locations." Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Happy Reading!

=== May 1 ===

Title: The Shroud Maker

Author: Kate Ellis

#18 in the Wesley Peterson police procedural series set in South Devon, England 

ISBN: 9780749958046

Publisher: Piatkus Books

Hardcover, 368 pages

Synopsis: "A year after the mysterious disappearance of Jenny Bercival, DI Wesley Peterson is called in when the body of a strangled woman is found floating out to sea in a dinghy. The discovery mars the festivities of the Palkin Festival, held each year to celebrate the life of John Palkin, a 14th century Mayor of Tradmouth who made his fortune from trade and piracy. Now it seems like death and mystery have returned to haunt the town. Could there be a link between the two women? One missing, one brutally murdered? And is there a connection to a fantasy website called Shipworld which features Palkin as a supernatural hero with a sinister, faceless nemesis called the Shroud Maker? When archaeologist Neil Watson makes a grim discovery on the site of Palkin's warehouse, it looks as if history might have inspired the killer. And it is only by delving into the past that Wesley comes to learn a truth that will bring mortal danger in its wake."

Title: Red Man Down

Author: Elizabeth Gunn

#5 in the Sarah Burke police procedural series set in Tucson, Arizona

ISBN: 9780727883674

Publisher: Severn House Publishers

Hardcover, 192 pages

Synopsis: "Sarah Burke's Saturday off is interrupted when she is called to a shooting – a rookie cop has been involved in a shootout with a criminal stealing copper wire from a warehouse. When the criminal in question turns out to be ex-cop and Red Man Ed Lacey, Sarah is shocked. The evidence suggests he wanted the cop to shoot him. But why?

Sarah and her team delve into Ed’s life, and soon decide to re-open an investigation into three deaths. The more they investigate, the more obstacles they encounter – particularly from the family, who quickly close ranks. What are they hiding?"  

=== May 6 ===

Title: Death of a Mad Hatter

Author: Jenn McKinlay

#2 in the Hat Shop cozy series set in London, England

ISBN: 9780425258903

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Scarlett Parker and her British cousin, Vivian Tremont, are hard at work at Mim’s Whims—their ladies’ hat shop on London’s chic Portobello Road—to create hats for an Alice in Wonderland themed afternoon tea, a fund-raiser for a local children’s hospital. It seems like a wonderfully whimsical way to pass the hat, and Scarlett and Viv are delighted to outfit the Grisby family, the hosts who are hoping to raise enough money to name a new hospital wing after their patriarch.

Unfortunately, the Grisby heir will not live to see it—he’s been poisoned. When traces of the poison are found on the hat Scarlett and Viv made for him, the police become curiouser and curiouser about their involvement. Now the ladies need to don their thinking caps and find the tea party crasher who’s mad enough to kill at the drop of a hat…"

Title: Doing It at the Dixie Dew

Author: Ruth Moose

Debut cozy set in Littleboro, North Carolina

ISBN: 9781250046383

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 256 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "When Beth McKenzie returns to her hometown and attempts to turn an old Southern mansion into a bed and breakfast called The Dixie Dew, her first guest is murdered. Three days later a young priest who looks better in tennis whites than cleric black is found strangled in his chapel. The whole town of Littleboro is turned upside down, inside out, and Ossie Delbardo, the town cop whose job heretofore mainly involved controlling football traffic on Friday nights, is not cut out to solve the murders. Beth fears her newly opened B&B is in danger of failing. She’s even more worried that she is Ossie’s number one suspect. Aided by her friend from high school and trusty handyman, she sets out to discover the truth of the murders.

Littleboro has its share of characters, some of which are helpful and others misleading. There's Crazy Reba who lives in a tree, bathes in any bathtub she finds empty, and Dumpster dives; Verna, the town know-it-all and affectionate owner of Robert Redford, a huge white rabbit; and Miss Tempie Merritt, music teacher and organist who always wears hat, gloves, and lace-trimmed white socks. When Beth herself is attacked, there’s no more time for baking muffins and stenciling pineapples on the porch. She’s in a race to uncover her neighbors’ secrets before her hometown becomes her burial ground."

Title: Invisible City

Author: Julia Dahl

#1 in the Rebekah Roberts series set in New York City

ISBN: 9781250043399  

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Just months after Rebekah Roberts was born, her mother, an Hasidic Jew from Brooklyn, abandoned her Christian boyfriend and newborn baby to return to her religion. Neither Rebekah nor her father have heard from her since. Now a recent college graduate, Rebekah has moved to New York City to follow her dream of becoming a big-city reporter. But she’s also drawn to the idea of being closer to her mother, who might still be living in the Hasidic community in Brooklyn.

Then Rebekah is called to cover the story of a murdered Hasidic woman. Rebekah’s shocked to learn that, because of the NYPD’s habit of kowtowing to the powerful ultra-Orthodox community, not only will the woman be buried without an autopsy, her killer may get away with murder. Rebekah can’t let the story end there. But getting to the truth won’t be easy—even as she immerses herself in the cloistered world where her mother grew up, it's clear that she's not welcome, and everyone she meets has a secret to keep from an outsider."

=== May 13 ===

Title: Any Other Name

Author: Craig Johnson

#10 in the Sheriff Walt Longmire police procedural series set in Absaroka County, Wyoming

ISBN:  9780670026463

Publisher: Viking

Hardcover, 336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Sheriff Walt Longmire had already rounded up a sizable posse of devoted readers when the A&E television series Longmire sent the Wyoming lawman’s popularity skyrocketing. Now, with three consecutive New York Times bestsellers to his name and the second season of Longmire reaching an average of 5.4 million viewers per episode, Craig Johnson is reaching a fan base that is both fiercely loyal and ever growing.

In Any Other Name, Walt is sinking into high-plains winter discontent when his former boss, Lucian Conally, asks him to take on a mercy case in an adjacent county. Detective Gerald Holman is dead and Lucian wants to know what drove his old friend to take his own life. With the clock ticking on the birth of his first grandchild, Walt learns that the by-the-book detective might have suppressed evidence concerning three missing women. Digging deeper, Walt uncovers an incriminating secret so dark that it threatens to claim other lives even before the sheriff can serve justice—Wyoming style."

Title: Fatal Enquiry

Author: Will Thomas

#6 in the Barker and Llewelyn PI historical series set in late Victorian England

ISBN:  9781250041043

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Brimming with wit, atmosphere, and unforgettable characters, FATAL ENQUIRY reintroduces private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewellyn, and their unforgettable world of Victorian London.

Some years ago, Cyrus Barker matched wits with Sebastian Nightwine, an aristocrat and sociopath, and in exposing his evil, sent Nightwine fleeing to hide from justice somewhere in the far corners of the earth. The last thing Barker ever expected was to encounter Nightwine again—but the British government, believing they need Nightwine’s help, has granted him immunity for his past crimes, and brought him back to London. Nightwine, however, has more on his mind than redemption—and as Barker and Llewellyn set out to uncover and thwart Nightwine’s real scheme, they find themselves in the gravest danger of their lives."

Title: Murder at Honeychurch Hall

Author: Hannah Dennison

#1 in the Kat Standford cozy series set in Devon, England

ISBN: 9781250007797

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Kat Stanford is just days away from starting her dream antique business with her newly widowed mother Iris when she gets a huge shock. Iris has recklessly purchased a dilapidated carriage house at Honeychurch Hall, an isolated country estate located several hundred miles from London. 


Yet it seems that Iris isn’t the only one with surprises at Honeychurch Hall. Behind the crumbling façade, the inhabitants of the stately mansion are a lively group of eccentrics to be sure—both upstairs and downstairs —and they all have more than their fair share of skeletons in the closet. 


When the nanny goes missing, and Vera, the loyal housekeeper ends up dead in the grotto, suspicions abound. Throw in a feisty, octogenarian countess, a precocious seven year old who is obsessed with the famous fighter pilot called Biggles, and a treasure trove of antiques, and there is more than one motive for murder. 


As Iris’s past comes back to haunt her, Kat realizes she hardly knows her mother at all. A when the bodies start piling up, it is up to Kat to unravel the tangled truth behind the murders at Honeychurch Hall."

=== May 15 ===

Title: Trouble in the Cotswolds

Author: Rebecca Tope

#12 in the Thea Osborne series set in the Cotswolds in England

ISBN:  9780749014438

Publisher: Allison and Busby

Hardcover, 288 pages

Synopsis: "Thea Osborne hopes to spend a quiet Christmas house-sitting in the picturesque village of Stanton. Walks in the local countryside with the dogs are all the excitement she wants. Her arrival at the village coincides with the funeral of Douglas Callender and the murder of his girlfriend the following day.

Thea finds herself thrust into the middle of another Police investigation as she unwraps motives and scandals across the village. The arrival of Drew Slocombe is the best present Thea could receive. Amid the bleak winter of Stanton and the murderous scandal, Thea is determined that she will survive the festive season.

Thea’s interest is stirred but the onset of flu looks to prevent any sleuthing. However, when two people show up brutally murdered the following afternoon, even when battling a fever Thea finds herself thrust into the middle of yet another Police investigation. With the Callendar family linked to most of the village Stanton is bursting with motives for the murders including jealousy, closures of footpaths and secret animal testing. Thea turns to local resident Dennis Ireland for safety but Dennis, as with the other villagers, may not be as safe as first appears and Thea wonders who she can trust to help her survive the festive season." 

=== May 20 ===

Title: The Devil's Workshop

Author: Alex Grecian

#3 in the Murder Squad historical police procedural series set in late Victorian England

ISBN: 9780399166433

Publisher: Putnam

Hardcover, 400 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "London, 1890. Four vicious murderers have escaped from prison, part of a plan gone terribly wrong, and now it is up to Walter Day, Nevil Hammersmith, and the rest of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad to hunt down the convicts before the men can resume their bloody spree. But they might already be too late. The killers have retribution in mind, and one of them is heading straight toward a member of the Murder Squad, and his family.

And that isn’t even the worst of it. During the escape, the killers have stumbled upon the location of another notorious murderer, one thought gone for good but now prepared to join forces with them.

Jack the Ripper is loose in London once more."

=== May 21 ===

Title: Nursing Homes Are Murder

Author: Mike Befeler

#6 in the Paul Jacobson Geezer-Lit series set in Hawaii

ISBN: 9781432828165

Publisher: Five Star

Hardcover

Synopsis: "Paul Jacobson, who suffers from short-term memory loss, becomes an undercover resident at a nursing home to help the Honolulu police track down a sexual assault perpetrator.
The police give Paul the names of three persons-of-interest and Paul begins investigating. None of the three appear suspicious.

Things go downhill when the woman who had been assaulted is found murdered.

Paul meets interesting residents, including a woman with synesthesia, a woman who eats soap, and a woman who races wheelchairs.

After another sexual assault, someone tries to smother Paul.

Interrupting a third attempted sexual assault, Paul figures out who the culprit is.
The bad guy tries to abduct Paul at gunpoint, but Paul escapes when a resident in an electric wheelchair runs into the bad guy."

=== May 22 ===

Title: The Killing Club

Author: Paul Finch

#3 in the DS Mark "Heck" Heckenburg of Scotland Yard's Serial Crimes Unit series set in England

ISBN: 9780007551255

Publisher: Avon

Paperback, 400 pages

Synopsis: "Get hooked on Heck: the maverick detective who knows no boundaries. The perfect read for fans of Stuart Macbride and Luther. DS Mark 'Heck' Heckenburg is used to bloodbaths. But nothing can prepare him for this. Heck's most dangerous case to date is open again. Two years ago, he put the ringleader of The Nice Guys Club - a vicious rape and murder gang - behind bars. But Heck knows that this depraved organisation stretches far beyond UK shores. When brutal murders start happening across the country, it's clear that the Nice Guys are at work again. Their victims are killed in cold blood, in broad daylight, and by any means necessary. And Heck knows it won't be long before they come for him. Brace yourself as you turn the pages of a living nightmare. Welcome to The Killing Club."

=== May 29 ===

Title: Sundance

Author: David Fuller

Standalone Historical mystery set in the USA at the turn of the twentieth century

ISBN:  9781594632457

Publisher: Riverhead

Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Legend has it that bank robber Harry Longbaugh and his partner Robert Parker were killed in a shootout in Bolivia. That was the supposed end of the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy.

Sundance tells a different story. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Longbaugh is very much alive, though serving in a Wyoming prison under an alias.

When he is released in 1913, Longbaugh reenters a changed world. Horses are being replaced by automobiles. Gas lamps are giving way to electric lights. Workers fight for safety, and women for the vote. What hasn’t changed are Longbaugh’s ingenuity, his deadly aim, and his love for his wife, Etta Place.

It’s been two years since Etta stopped visiting him, and, determined to find her, Longbaugh follows her trail to New York City. Confounded by the city’s immensity, energy, chaos, and crowds, he learns that his wife was very different from the woman he thought he knew. Longbaugh finds himself in a tense game of cat and mouse, racing against time before the legend of the Sundance Kid catches up to destroy him.

By turns suspenseful, rollicking, and poignant, Sundance is the story of a man dogged by his own past, seeking his true place in this new world. "

This is what I call a Jackpot Month. There's nothing like watching a mature woman dance around the house clutching a book to her bosom like I did when I received an unsolicited copy of Craig Johnson's newest book, Any Other Name. (I'm so glad Denis wasn't home that afternoon-- video may have been made available!) I was just as thrilled to see another of my favorites, Will Thomas, appear with a long overdue book in his Barker and Llewelyn series. Stay tuned because I'll have five copies of Fatal Enquiry to give away during the week of its release! Then there's two more additions to favorite series... if I were a grasshopper, I wouldn't know which way to jump. As it is, I'm a simple human "bean" who can only read and concentrate on one book at a time....

What new mysteries are you looking forward to in May? Did any of these titles tickle your fancy? Which ones? Inquiring minds want to know!

Senior Moments Are Murder by Mike Befeler

First Line: I awoke with a start. The head of a woman I didn't recognize rested on the pillow next to me.

This is nothing new for octogenarian Paul Jacobson. Don't get me wrong, the man doesn't sleep around, he has short term memory loss. Each night as he sleeps, his mind does a reset, and when he wakes up in the morning, it's literally a brand-new day. Paul doesn't remember a thing.

In this third entry in the Geezer Lit series, Paul and his fiancée are in Venice Beach, California, preparing for their wedding. When Paul decides to take an early morning walk, he discovers a body floating in the canal, and once the police discover that the victim is someone Paul had argued with, the cantankerous old geezer has his hands full getting himself off the Most Wanted list.

The books in this series are, by design, formulaic. The only way Paul Jacobson has of combating his memory loss is to sit down each night and write down the events of the day so he can read them in the morning. To keep on an even keel, Paul has to stick to a regimen-- a formula-- that works for him, and thankfully it's a formula that works for me most of the time. Author Mike Befeler has created a main character who's smart, observant, and usually sees the bright side of life-- but his temper can get him in hot water.

It's easy to care about Paul Jacobson, even though I've never seen a man more prone to tripping over dead bodies. He also has a sharp-witted little granddaughter who loves him to bits and is always willing to help him out of his legal difficulties. You'd think that most police would look at a man in his eighties who has a few mental problems and then move on to the next person on their suspect list, but Paul doesn't have that kind of luck. The fun of these books is watching Paul extricate himself from these difficulties and go on to unmask the killer. There are always plenty of laughs along the way, too.

I think the thing I like the most about this series is that it shows that no matter our age, no matter our physical or mental condition, we are all capable of making a difference. Paul Jacobson may shoot off his mouth at all the wrong times, and he may find too many corpses, but he has a lot to show us about perseverance, and honesty, and humor.

Senior Moments Are Murder by Mike Befeler

ISBN: 9781432825096

Five Star © 2011

Hardcover, 267 pages

Cozy Mystery, #3 Paul Jacobson/Geezer Lit mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased as an eBook through Amazon. 

July 2013 New Mystery Releases!

So far this summer has been an excellent time for reading. This past week I've read two "A+" books back to back. No wonder I call book time in the pool my PT (Prune Time)-- more than once it's been almost impossible for me to close the book and get out of the water!

The end of June is here, and it's time for me to share with you some of the books being released next month that I'm really anticipating. This month I succeeded in keeping the list to thirteen (my lucky number). I've included all the information you'll need to find any of these titles in your favorite book spots, and they are grouped by release date.  Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

I hope you're having as great a summer as I am-- Happy Reading!

=== July 1 ===

Title: The Riddle of Solomon

Author: D.J. Niko

Series: #2 in the Sarah Weston Chronicles set in Israel, Saudi Arabia and India

ISBN: 9781605425290

Publisher: Medallion Press

Paperback, 472 pages

Synopsis: "Cambridge archaeologist Sarah Weston and anthropologist Daniel Madigan team up for another expedition and adventure in this second book in the Sarah Weston Chronicles. While working on the Qaryat al-Fau archaeological site in Saudi Arabia, the pair uncovers a mysterious ancient scroll composed as a riddle. As they attempt to date and decipher the scroll, a flurry of ills befalls their expedition and the scroll is stolen. A trail of clues leads to India, Jerusalem, and the Judean wilderness, where the two discover the scroll was written by the enigmatic King Solomon as a map to an ancient manuscript. Meanwhile a privileged young Briton, Trent Sacks, has invested years and a fortune looking for his manuscript. Believing he is the last descendant of the House of David in the line of Solomon, Sacks will do whatever it takes to amass the ancient relics which will prove he is the Jewish Messiah. Leaving a string of murders in his wake, Sacks vows to crush Sarah and Daniel for challenging his quest. Journeying through the worlds of the occult, corporate greed, geopolitical conflict, Judaic mysticism, and biblical archaeology, Sarah and Daniel race to uncover the powerful ancient message that could have an explosive impact on modern Israel."

=== July 2 ===

Title: Tulle Death Do Us Part

Author: Annette Blair

Series: #6 in the Vintage Magic series set in Mystick Falls, Connecticut

ISBN:  9780425251935

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 272 pages

Synopsis: "Maddie’s love of classic fashion has made her Vintage Magic boutique a success—even if the visions she experiences when touching certain items often lead her into trouble. Decades ago, at a Mystic Country Club costume ball, a secret scavenger hunt ended in an unexplained death, hastily concealed.

Now, Maddie's invited to participate in a similar anniversary event: but one touch of the vintage petticoat used to hide evidence of the original crime hurtles Maddie into a scavenger hunt of her own. She must find missing petticoat pieces and re-stitch the clues it reveals...to expose a killer!"

Title: The Fire Witness

Author: Lars Kepler

Series: #3 in the Joona Linna series set in Stockholm, Sweden

ISBN:  9780374298661

Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books

Hardcover, 512 pages

Synopsis: "Flora Hansen calls herself a medium and makes a living by pretending to commune with the dead. But after a gruesome murder at a rural home for wayward girls, Hansen begins to suffer visions that are all too real. She calls the police, claiming to have seen a ghost, but only one detective puts aside his skepticism long enough to listen: Joona Linna.

Linna has spent more time at the scene of the crime than any other detective would. The case seems obvious on the face of it: One of the girls at the home escaped in the middle of the night, leaving behind a bloody bed with a hammer under the pillow. But why does Hansen insist that the murder instrument was a stone, not a hammer? And what’s the story behind the dark red grain of sand, almost like a splinter from a ruby, stuck beneath the dead girl’s fingernail? As Linna refuses to accept easy answers, his search leads him into darker, more violent territory, and finally to a shocking confrontation with a figure from his past.

Just as Lars Kepler’s The Hypnotist and The Nightmare did, The Fire Witness has spent months at number one on the Swedish bestseller lists. As the newspaper Dagens Nyheter put it, you start the thriller “on the subway home, keep reading at the dinner table, and then don’t stop until well into the wee hours.” Kepler writes with the force of Stieg Larsson and the plotting of Jo Nesbø. The Fire Witness is an unflinching page-turner, sure to join the ranks of its predecessors as an international sensation." 

Title: Dyeing Wishes

Author: Molly MacRae

Series: #2 in the Haunted Yarn Shop series set in fictional Blue Plum, Tennessee

ISBN:  9780451239563

Publisher: Signet

Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Kath Rutledge’s grandmother left her a charming fiber and fabric shop, a close-knit group of needlework lovers, and a television-addicted ghost in the attic. She may also have inherited the special skills required to untangle a murder.

Always up for trying something new, Kath and her friends from the fiber and needlework group TGIF—Thank Goodness it’s Fiber—are visiting Cloud Hollow Farm for the day to learn the fine art of dyeing.  With spring in the air, the friends head out to greet the sheep.  But the sheep are more interested in something else—two bodies spread under a tall tree.  And one of those bodies is someone they know.

Kath’s friends nudge her to investigate, and no one is more adamant than Geneva, the ghost who loves to play assistant sleuth. But when Kath discovers another murder cut from the same cloth, she’s more determined than ever to hang a roving killer out to dry…"

Title: Not the Killing Type

Author: Lorna Barrett

Series: #7 in the Booktown series set in fictional Stoneham, New Hampshire

ISBN:  9780425252222

Publisher: Berkley Hardcover

Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "It’s November in Stoneham, New Hampshire, and that means it’s time for the Chamber of Commerce elections. The race is already a bit heated, as the long-standing Chamber president is being challenged by a former lover—Tricia’s own sister, Angelica. Then local small business owner Stan Berry throws his hat in the ring.

Unfortunately, it’s not there for long when he’s found murdered in the Brookview Inn. The murder weapon is a brass letter opener belonging to the inn’s receptionist. Tricia knows there’s no way the receptionist is a killer. And when Angelica asks Tricia to help clear her name and win the election, she sees little choice except to start snooping.

She soon uncovers a ballot box full of lies and betrayals, and a chamber full of people who had grudges against the victim. But were they serious enough to lead to murder? And who truly had something to gain? Tricia will have to do some serious sleuthing before she pulls the lever on a killer."

Title: Final Sentence

Author: Daryl Wood Gerber (AKA Avery Aames)

Series: #1 in the Cookbook Nook series set in fictional Crystal Cove, California

ISBN:  9780425258040

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Welcome to A Cookbook Nook Mystery series, where Jenna Hart, an avid reader, admitted foodie, and new owner of a cookbook store and café in picturesque Crystal Cove, California, is up to her neck in trouble when she finds her college roommate, celebrity chef Desiree Divine, buried on the beach, and a fellow shop owner accuses Jenna of murder."

Title: A Murder in Passing

Author: Mark de Castrique

Series: #4 in the Sam Blackman series set in Asheville, North Carolina

ISBN: 9781464201516

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Paperback, 250 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "In Asheville, North Carolina, the Blackman & Robertson Detective Agency faces a disturbing reality – no clients. Sam Blackman finds inactivity intolerable. So when partner Nakayla Robertson suggests a mushroom hunt on the site of an historic, freed-slave commune called The Kingdom of the Happy Land, Sam reluctantly agrees. When he stumbles across a skeleton, his adventure mushrooms into a case of murder. But it isn’t his case. He has no client, and the local authorities tell him to butt out.

Then Marsha Montgomery comes to the office asking Sam and Nakayla to investigate a burglary at her mother’s home. Someone stole a rifle and a photograph of Marsha’s mother, grandmother, and great grandmother taken in 1932 by renowned photographer Doris Ulmann. The site of the photograph is The Kingdom of the Happy Land. The date of the burglary, 1967. Marsha’s visit is no coincidence. Sam’s being played. But why?

When Marsha’s eighty-five-year-old mother Lucille is arrested for murder, Sam has his answer and his case.  Is the skeleton that of Jimmy Lang, Marsha’s white father and her mother’s lover, who disappeared in 1967 right after interracial couples were allowed to marry in North Carolina? Jimmy’s brother says no. Jimmy left to seek his fortune after Lucille rejected his marriage proposal. But others stood to gain from his disappearance. A veil of betrayal and deceit hides a killer desperate to protect a dark secret, and no one, not even Sam, is safe from the deadly consequences of a murder in passing."

Title: The Fame Thief
Author: Timothy Hallinan
Series: #3 in the Junior Bender series set in Los Angeles, California
ISBN:  9781616952808
Publisher: Soho Crime
Hardcover, 336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
 
Synopsis: "There are not many people brave enough to say no to Irwin Dressler, Hollywood’s scariest mob boss-turned-movie king. Even though Dressler is ninety-three years old, LA burglar Junior Bender is quaking in his boots when Dressler’s henchman haul him in for a meeting. 

Dressler wants Junior to solve a 'crime' he believes was committed more than sixty years ago, when an old friend of his, once-famous starlet Dolores La Marr, had her career destroyed after compromising photos were taken of her at a Las Vegas party. Dressler wants justice for Dolores and the shining career she never had.

Junior can’t help but think the whole thing is a little crazy. After all, it’s been seventy years. Even if someone did set Dolores up for a fall from grace back then, they’re probably long dead now. But he can't say no to Irwin Dressler (no one can, really). So he starts digging. And what he finds is that some vendettas never die—they only get more dangerous."

=== July 4 ===

Title: An Act of Kindness

Author: Barbara Nadel

Series: #2 in the Hakim and Arnold series set in London

ISBN:  9780857387783

Publisher: Quercus

Paperback, 464 pages

Synopsis: "London's East End has always been a social and racial melting pot and never more so than today. PI Lee Arnold and his assistant Mumtaz Hakim don't mind - it keeps them on their toes. It is November. The days are getting darker and they have a new case on their hands. A young Asian couple moves into a dilapidated house in Upton Park. The woman, Nasreen, spends much of her time working alone on the house, her husband Abdullah preoccupied with his job. John Sawyer is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. Since his discharge, he has been volatile and is now homeless. An unlikely friendship develops between Nasreen and John, one that her husband would frown upon. When John's body is discovered, Nasreen's suspicions light upon Abdullah. Did he know they were friends? Reluctant to go to the police, Nasreen reaches out to the Arnold Detective Agency. Mumtaz Hakim begins to dig into Abdullah's past and into the house itself which, she finds, holds its own grim secrets."

=== July 9 ===

Title: The Devil's Cave

Author: Martin Walker

Series: #5 in the Bruno Chief of Police series set in southwestern France

ISBN:  9780385349529

Publisher: Knopf

Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "It’s spring in St. Denis. The village choir is preparing for its Easter concert, the wildflowers are blooming, and among the lazy whorls of the river a dead woman is found floating in a boat. It’s another case for Bruno, the town’s cherished chief of police. With the discovery of sinister markings and black candles near the body, it seems to him that the occult might be involved. And as questions mount—regarding a troubling real estate proposal in the region; a suspicious, violent death made to look accidental; and the sudden reappearance of a politically controversial elderly countess—Bruno and his colleagues and friends are drawn ever closer to a climactic showdown in the Gouffre de Colombac: the place locals call the Devil’s Cave.

With the enchanting backdrop of France’s pastoral heartland, a cast of local characters as vibrant as their surroundings, enough sumptuous repasts to satisfy any literary gourmand, and a hero winningly capable of balancing the good life with a dogged dedication to solving the crimes that threaten it, The Devil’s Cave invites readers to raise a glass and turn the page."

=== July 10 ===

Title: Care Homes Are Murder

Author: Mike Befeler

Series: #5 in the Geezer-Lit series featuring Paul Jacobson, an 80-something amateur sleuth with short-term memory loss

ISBN: 9781432826925

Publisher: Five Star

Hardcover, 268 pages

Synopsis: "In this the fifth of the Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series crotchety octogenarian Paul Jacobson returns to Hawaii for a vacation with his family and becomes involved in a series of crimes while struggling with the problems of his short-term memory loss. Paul finds a dead body in the Honolulu Ala Wai Yacht Harbor and must deal with a murder in the care home where his friends reside. He has to use all his geezer resources to solve a case involving the local drug cartel."

=== July 16 ===

Title: Countdown City

Author: Ben H. Winters

Series: #2 in the Last Policeman trilogy set in Concord, New Hampshire

ISBN: 9781594746260

Publisher: Quirk Books

Paperback, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "The Last Policeman received the 2013 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original--along with plenty of glowing reviews.  

Now Detective Hank Palace returns in Countdown City, the second volume of the Last Policeman trilogy. There are just 77 days before a deadly asteroid collides with Earth, and Detective Palace is out of a job. With the Concord police force operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, Hank's days of solving crimes are over...until a woman from his past begs for help finding her missing husband.

Brett Cavatone disappeared without a trace—an easy feat in a world with no phones, no cars, and no way to tell whether someone’s gone 'bucket list' or just gone. With society falling to shambles, Hank pieces together what few clues he can, on a search that leads him from a college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off 'impact zone' refugees.

Countdown City presents another fascinating mystery set on brink of an apocalypse--and once again, Hank Palace confronts questions way beyond 'whodunit.' What do we as human beings owe to one another? And what does it mean to be civilized when civilization is collapsing all around you?"

=== July 30 === 

Title: The Highway

Author: C.J. Box

Standalone

ISBN: 9780312583200

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 400 pages

Synopsis: "When two sisters set out across a remote stretch of Montana road to visit their friend, little do they know it will be the last time anyone might ever hear from them again. The girls—and their car—simply vanish.  Former police investigator Cody Hoyt has just lost his job and has fallen off the wagon after a long stretch of sobriety.  Convinced by his son and his former rookie partner, Cassie Dewell, he begins the drive south to the girls’ last known location.  As Cody makes his way to the lonely stretch of Montana highway where they went missing, Cassie discovers that Gracie and Danielle Sullivan aren’t the first girls who have disappeared in this area.  This majestic landscape is the hunting ground for a killer whose viciousness is outmatched only by his intelligence.  And he might not be working alone.  Time is running out for Gracie and Danielle…Can Cassie overcome her doubts and lack of experience and use her innate skill?  Can Cody Hoyt battle his own demons and find this killer before another victim vanishes on the highway?"

I wonder if any of the rest of you noticed the same thing I did with the book covers. Take a look at all the book covers for the cozy mysteries I listed. I wonder if July is Put a Cat on a Book Cover Month?  *wink*

Hopefully my list includes a few titles that you just have to put on your wish lists. Which books jumped out at you and yelled, "Buy me! Buy ME!" ??? Inquiring minds want to know!