Race With Danger by Pamela Beason

 

First Lines: It wasn't even eleven p.m. How could the streets of Bellingham be so deserted?

 

Seventeen-year-old champion endurance racer Tanzania Grey has been running ever since she came home from a Halloween party with friends to find her parents murdered and her little brother screaming. It's been three long years, but now she's an emancipated teenager with a new name and a need to win the Verde Island Endurance Race's million-dollar prize to save the life of her friend, Bailey.

The five-day race traverses a remote volcanic island that's home to beasts that slither, fly, swim, and slink through the jungle. As daunting as that sounds, the wildlife turns out to be the least of Tana's problems when she draws the name of Sebastian Callendro as her partner. Sebastian's personal life has put him firmly in the national spotlight-- a spotlight that Tana absolutely does not need. Not only is her name false, but everything else in her biography is invented, too. She's been running from the men who murdered her parents, and if her cover is blown, she could be next.

~

Pamela Beason has a knack for creating interesting main characters who have a penchant for wildlife and the great outdoors. I've read two of her other series, one featuring Summer Westin, a wildlife biologist and freelance writer, and her series featuring Dr. Grace McKenna and Neema, a gorilla who uses sign language. I've enjoyed both, so when I read the synopsis of Race With Danger, I had to give it a try. I'm glad I did.

Tanzania Grey is a bristly, opinionated seventeen-year-old who's spent the past three years hiding from the men who killed her parents. She doesn't know why anyone would want to kill them, and she doesn't know what happened to her little brother. She feels guilty about leaving him behind, but there's no way she could've kept both of them alive. It's a miracle she finally found a good family to take her in. 

Tana may work as a zookeeper, but her passion-- and her talent-- is for endurance racing, a sport that I knew nothing about until I picked up this book. As the author tells us, "Natural dangers are what set endurance races apart from mere marathons," and the terrain Tana, her partner, Sebastian Callendro, and the other runners must cover is extremely treacherous. In many ways, Sebastian is every bit as interesting as Tana due to all the media attention that's turned his life upside down. I enjoyed watching the two of them learn to trust each other as they conquered each new obstacle in the race. 

During this five-day endurance race, Tana is tested many times, not just physically but morally as well. As she reminds herself, "...there's a big difference between being alive and being able to live with yourself." The action sequences of the race are thrilling, but it's watching Tana make these tough decisions, and wondering about the circumstances surrounding her parents' deaths that will definitely have me reading the next book in the trilogy.

Race With Danger by Pamela Beason

eISBN: 9780991271511

Wildwing Press © 2015

eBook, 272 pages

Thriller, #1 Run for Your Life trilogy

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Undercurrents by Pamela Beason

First Line: Sam Westin stared out her back window at the endless cold rain drizzling through the shaggy limbs of the Douglas firs.

When wildlife biologist and freelance reporter Sam Westin is hired to cover a marine survey expedition in the Galápagos Islands, she jumps at the chance-- only having momentary qualms about fudging her diving experience. The company she's working for wants her to post articles as two different people, which Sam does think is strange, but she wants to see those giant tortoises and marine iguanas, so if the bosses want posts with two bylines, that's what they're going to get. 

Dr. Daniel Kazaki, the marine biologist and Sam's diving partner is a nice guy who knows his stuff, but when the locals learn that he's working for the Natural Planet Foundation these two suddenly can't find a boat or guide to take them out on their dives, and they're kicked out of their hotel. The Galápagos are supposed to be a pristine paradise for wildlife, but Sam rapidly learns that governmental controls are very loosely enforced and poachers are killing sea cucumbers and sharks for the lucrative Asian market. With someone already trying to sabotage their expedition, Sam is slowly realizing that human predators are much more deadly than any shark.

In the space of three books, the Sam Westin environmental mysteries have become some of my favorites. If you enjoy Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon novels, you're definitely going to want to read Beason's series. Sam Weston is smart, tough, committed to spreading awareness of issues involving wildlife, and is much more likely to pick up her camera than she is to even think about touching a gun. 

In Undercurrents, it's Sam's show, but Beason's secondary characters provide solid backup. Some of the characters are capitalists wanting to profit from appearing to be pro-environment while others are local and show both sides of the poaching issue the Galápagos face. One of the strengths of Beason's characterizations is that-- although you may grow fond of some of these characters-- they can surprise you by being achingly human.

Beason's characters then proceed to populate a wondrous underwater world, and the scenes are so vivid that you'll probably find yourself wanting to join Sam on her dives. This underwater Garden of Eden isn't really paradise, however, and the author doesn't candycoat what humans are doing to it.

Okay, I've talked about the characters, the setting, and the environmental issues the author raises... what about the mystery? It's a good one. I was convinced I knew the identity of the killer-- but I never saw it coming. Hopefully what I will see in the near future is another Sam Westin mystery. I'm becoming addicted.

Undercurrents by Pamela Beason

ISBN: 9780425252055

Berkley Prime Crime © 2013

Mass Market Paperback, 336 pages

Environmental Mystery, #3 Summer Westin mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen. 

Bear Bait by Pamela Beason

First Line: The leaves rustled on the bushes ahead.

Summer ("Sam") Westin is working on a twelve-week project for the National Park Service in Olympic National Park. One night when filling in as a firewatcher, she hears an explosion and sees fire light the sky over at Marmot Lake. When the fire is put out, the body of a young woman who was working on the park's trail crew is discovered, and she's barely alive.

Sam senses that something's going on, and she begins to ask questions. With each question she asks, three new ones pop up. Does the explosion have anything to do with an old gold mine? Are illegal bear hunters poaching on what is now National Park land? And what is the significance of all the weird numbers  she's finding carved on trees?

No matter how fast Nevada Barr writes her Anna Pigeon books, she can't do it fast enough, so I am thrilled that I've found Pamela Beason's Summer Westin series. Since "Sam" is a wildlife biologist, blogger, and photographer and not a law enforcement ranger, readers are able to see beautiful remote locations and learn about the wildlife that inhabits it from an entirely new perspective. Sam is smart, strong and dedicated, and although I was happy to see that she didn't carry a gun in the first book in this series (Endangered), I may have to change my mind. More than once in Bear Bait Sam is reckless with her life-- camping alone in areas where she's seen illegal-- and very unfriendly-- hunters. The handsome FBI agent she's falling in love with isn't around often enough to keep hauling her bacon out of the fire. I would really like to see this element of her character toned down a bit. If she's so intelligent, she should be smart enough not to endanger her own life stupidly.

Secondary characters assume more importance in this book, I'm happy to say. Sam's clergyman father has always been disappointed in his daughter, believing that she's not living up to her true potential. He redeems himself-- and rises from the ranks of a stock character-- in a very touching way. Same, too, with Joe, a ranger in the park, his wife Laura and their thirteen-year-old daughter Lili. Beason shows us that raising a child in a remote area can be every bit as treacherous as raising one in the city. This subplot with Lili isn't tied off neatly at book's end, which I liked. There's enough ambiguity left for the reader to wonder what path Lili will choose to take.

The setting is superb, and I'm not just saying that because I've been there. Getting around this incredibly beautiful area called the Olympic Peninsula isn't easy. Roads are few, and you often find yourself relying on a ferry schedule to get to any kind of city. The reader gets a real sense of this, and also has a few chuckles along the way, since Forks is the nearest town of any size. Most of us have heard of other characters with which someone named Stephenie Meyer populated the town in a very different series of books.

Many important environmental issues are also touched upon: the issues surrounding public land that is turned over to the National Park Service, illegal bear hunting, and outdated mining laws involving abandoned mines to name three. All this, and  a climactic scene that contains heart-pounding suspense and a speech that can bring a tear to the eye.

Anna Pigeon, if you were twenty years younger, I'd feel a bit disloyal saying this, but... Move over: there's a new woman in town, and her name is Summer Westin.

Bear Bait by Pamela Beason

ISBN: 9780425251652

Berkley Prime Crime © 2012

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Environmental Mystery, #2 Summer Westin mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

Scene of the Crime with Author Pamela Beason!

As many of you know, not only do I love to read crime fiction, I love wildlife and the wide open spaces. A perfect day to me is my husband and I loading up the Jeep with food, drink, and cameras to head out on a trail to some much-less-traveled location where we can wander at will. When I can find crime fiction that lets me do the same thing, you have to know that I'm in heaven. I've always relied on Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon for some crime-solving wilderness wanderlust, but I'm here to say that there's a new woman in town: Pamela Beason's Summer Westin. Summer is a wildlife biologist who finds herself in some beautiful, remote areas where she takes care of the local wildlife and solves a mystery at the same time. The first book in the Summer Westin series, Endangered, made my Best of 2012 list, and if you stop by tomorrow you'll be able to see how the second book, Bear Bait, compares.

Pamela Beason

Although I know these interviews are read by a lot of folks, you all seem to be incredibly shy about leaving comments, which is why I do some research to give you a few links to follow. Not only will you be able to learn more about Pam, you'll have other ways to connect with this talented writer:

Pam's website

Pam's blog

Pam on Facebook

Pam on Twitter

Pam on Goodreads

Enough of the introduction-- let's get this show on the road. Pam has a lot of very interesting things to tell us!

What was the very first book you remember reading and loving? What makes that book so special?

I have always been an animal lover, so I read everything that had to do with animals of any kind. But the first book that I wanted to read over and over again was The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss. I was fascinated by the idea of building a life in the wilderness and all the ingenuity and adventures associated with that undertaking.

Outside of your writing and all associated commitments, what do you like to do in your free time?

My biggest problem in life is that no matter what I’m doing, I wish I were doing three other things. I hike, kayak, snowshoe, cross-country ski, scuba dive, and I do Zumba and country line dancing. If only I could give up sleeping, I’d like to spend more time painting and doing embroidery and quilting, too. I often find it frustrating to be only one person. Did I mention that I’m a licensed private investigator? So sometimes I’m working on legal cases, too.

If I were to visit your hometown, where would you recommend that I go? (I like seeing and doing things that aren't in all the guide books.)

Because I have lived in Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Washington, I’m always a bit confused by the label “hometown.” I’ll answer based on where I live now: Bellingham, Washington.

To get the true flavor of this ‘green,’ outdoorsy university town, you’ve got to go to Whatcom Falls Park to see the beautiful waterfalls and huge trees and miles of paths, and walk on the Interurban and/or Railway Trails to experience how easily you can get around on foot or by bike.

You also need to have a cold brew and delicious meal at Boundary Bay Brewery and chat with the local students, professors, and everyone in between who hang out there. Then walk around the harbor before sunset and lust after the many beautiful boats, and be sure to stop by Hardware Sales to see what a hardware store should be. I often walk in holding a little piece that broke off some piece of gear and say “I need one of these,” and one of the many clerks will cheerfully lead me through the astounding floor-to-ceiling maze to precisely the right bin and help me sort out exactly what I need.

You’ll want to go see a movie at the Pickford, our beautiful downtown theatre that shows the best foreign and indie films. And I can’t leave out Village Books, our amazing indie bookstore that also does a radio show featuring corny jokes, local musicians, and authors that come from everywhere.

You have total control over casting a movie based on your life. Which actor would you cast as you?

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster! She’s taller and better looking than I am, but she’s smart and gutsy, physically strong and sometimes a bit snarky, and I like to think I have been and still am all those things. Besides, my mother’s maiden name is Foster, so I figure Jodie and I are related in some way.


Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

Darn! I’m torn. Just like I don’t have one favorite activity, I don’t have one favorite author or character. My biggest faves are Ranger Anna Pigeon from the Nevada Barr books because we share a love of nature, and PI Kinsey Milhone from the Sue Grafton series, because she’s such a funny and realistic private investigator. Runners-up would be Warden Joe Pickett from C.J. Box’s series, Chief of Police Kate Burkholdt from Linda Castillo’s series, and zookeeper Iris Oakley from Ann Littlewood’s zoo mysteries. Okay, I think I’ve definitively proved my multiple personality disorder now; sorry about that. Can you tell I’m a voracious reader?

[Don't look now, Pam, but you've just fallen into an entire nest of VRs!]


If you could have in your possession one signed first edition of any book in the world, which book would that be? Why that particular book?

Ack! This question could keep me dithering for years. But I guess I’ll answer off the top of my head with the book that I’ve recommended to so many readers: My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. It’s so beautifully written and—talk about drama and conflict!—there’s no way for all the characters to get what they want, and the reader is rooting for everyone in the family. Someday I hope to be able to write a story that compelling.


How did you celebrate when you first heard you were to be published? What did you do the first time you saw one of your books on a shelf in a bookstore?

To be honest, all I did was call my friends and family after my agent called me. I’m always a bit perplexed about when an author should celebrate because the process takes so long and comes in stages. Do you break out the champagne when you a) accept the offer, b) sign the contract, c) get your first payment, or d) see your book on the shelf? To add to my confusion, I originally self-pubbed my first mystery before my series was picked up by Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin), so I had already been published, although not traditionally. And now I’ve self-pubbed several other books while my agent continues to pitch them to publishers, so should I celebrate when I publish a book myself? I imagine a lot of other indie authors have the same dilemma. I now know the answer is: Celebrate as often you can!


Name one thing on your Bucket List.

I struck a big item off my list late last year when I went back to Africa on safari, so there actually aren’t too many left. (You may have already deduced that I am a big believer in having adventures throughout life.) And of course, a few goals are too personal to share with the public. One thing I can admit to is that I want to volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center and help restore animals to the wild. I plan to do that someday soon.


You've just received a $100 gift card to the bookstore of your choice. Which bookstore are you making a bee-line for?

Village Books

Village Books of course, my wonderful local indie bookstore. Now hand over that card and make us all happy!

AVAILABLE NOW!

 

Thank you so much, Pam, for spending this time with us. It was a pleasure to be able to get to know you a little better.

May your book sales do nothing but increase!



Don't forget to stop by tomorrow to read my review of the second Summer Westin mystery, Bear Bait. (Hint: I can't wait for the third in the series!)

 

Endangered by Pamela Beason

First Line: It was almost time.

Wildlife biologist and freelance writer Summer Westin is on assignment in southern Utah for the Save the Wilderness Fund. As she's about to hike out to her camp, she hears a mother calling for her child and has a little boy run into her, but before she can do anything, the little boy runs toward a man on the other side of the trees. Assuming the man is the child's father, she waves, the man waves back, and Summer heads out for her camp.

She arrives in time to take once-in-a-lifetime photos of a female cougar and her cub walking out across Rainbow Bridge. Having all the latest portable technology, she uploads her photos and her article to SWF and calls it a night. Returning to town the next day, she's stunned when she learns that the little boy has gone missing and is presumed to be the victim of a cougar attack. The news media has swarmed over the story and is inciting every nut with a gun to show up and blast holes in the killer cougars.

Knowing the cougars had nothing to do with it, Summer is in a race with the clock before the government sends in trained shooters to track down the big cats. Getting in her way at every turn is FBI agent Chase Perez, and Perez hopes the cougars are at fault-- because the alternative could be a whole lot worse.

As soon as Summer took those photos of the cougars at Rainbow Bridge, I had a huge smile on my face. For years, I've loved Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, not only for Anna herself, but for the National Park settings and the wildlife. Now here is Summer Westin, a woman who carries a camera instead of a gun, and she likes to get out in the middle of nowhere to observe wildlife.  I'm in heaven!

Beason also provides romantic interest in FBI agent Chase Perez. Normally I prefer my crime fiction sans romance, but Beason hits just the right note with hers, and the sparks between Summer and Chase add to the story rather than detract from it.

This is pretty much a two-person show, but two secondary characters-- both rangers in the park-- perform admirably and show just how dangerous it can be to be a solitary ranger facing a motley assortment of park visitors. And if you like excitement along with wilderness and wildlife, you're going to love the tour of caves in a rainstorm that the author supplies. I couldn't read fast enough!

Are you looking for another writer who can fill your craving for adventure, wilderness, wildlife, and strong characters? Add Pamela Beason to your list. The second book in this series, Bear Bait, is already in my sights.

Endangered by Pamela Beason

ISBN: 978042524498 
Berkley Prime Crime © 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Environmental Mystery, #1 Summer Westin
Rating: A+
Source: Paperback Swap

October 2012 New Mystery Releases!

It's still triple digit heat here in Phoenix, but the thought has already crossed my mind about bringing out the Christmas decorations. Yikes!

Instead, I think I will force my mind to think about the new mysteries coming out in October. Let's face it-- it's not a difficult thing for me to do, but it's always hard to pare down the list. If I get it down to twelve or thirteen, I consider myself lucky.

All the books are grouped according to their release dates, and I've included all the information you'll need to find them at your favorite book spots. (Just to let you know, I get most of my information from Amazon. I love to do my research there and then buy the books elsewhere... not that I'm contrary or anything!)

Let's take a look at my picks for the month of October!

=== October 1 ===

Title: The Taste of Wormwood

Author: Keith McCarthy

Series: #9 in the Eisenmenger and Flemming series set in England

ISBN:  9780727881908

Publisher: Severn House

Hardcover, 224 pages

Synopsis: "Arthur Meadows has just returned home from a trip to southwest Europe, supposedly bringing back a consignment of cloth, but actually bringing back something far more deadly. Meanwhile, a young Asian couple are murdered in their small house in Gloucester, the killings done with ruthless efficiency. Beverley Wharton, now Chief Inspector, does not relish the investigation of the murders: partly due to the choice of pathologist, Charles Sydenham. She would have preferred John Eisenmenger, but he has his own problems trying to work out why Arthur Meadows died so unexpectedly . . ."

=== October 2 ===

Title: The Woman Who Died A Lot

Author: Jasper Fforde

Series: #7 in the Tuesday Next series set in an England that never was

ISBN: 9780670025022

Publisher: Viking Adult

Hardcover, 384 pages

Synopsis: "The Bookworld’s leading enforcement officer, Thursday Next, has been forced into a semiretirement following an assassination attempt, returning home to Swindon and her family to recuperate.

But Thursday’s children have problems that demand she become a mother of invention: Friday’s career struggles in the Chronoguard, where he is relegated to a might-have-been; Tuesday’s trouble perfecting the Anti-Smote shield, needed in time to thwart an angry Deity’s promise to wipe Swindon off the face of the earth; and the issue of Thursday’s third child, Jenny, who doesn’t exist except as a confusing and disturbing memory.

With Goliath attempting to replace Thursday at every opportunity with synthetic Thursdays, and a call from the Bookworld to hunt down Pagerunners who have jumped into the Realworld, Thursday’s convalescence is going to be anything but restful as the week ahead promises to be one of the Next family’s oddest."

Title: Black Heart on the Appalachian Trail

Author: T.J. Forrester

Standalone

ISBN: 9781439175613

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Paperback, 208 pages

Synopsis: "In the vast wilderness of the Appalachian Trail, three hikers are searching for answers. Taz Chavis, just released from prison, sees the thru-hike as his path to salvation and a way to distance himself from a toxic relationship. Simone Decker, a young scientist with a dark secret, is desperate to quell her demons. Richard Nelson, a Blackfoot Indian, seeks a final adventure before taking over the family business back home. As they battle hunger, thirst, and loneliness, and traverse the rugged terrain, their paths begin to intersect, and it soon becomes clear that surviving the elements may be the least of their concerns. Hikers are dying along the trail, their broken bodies splayed on the rocks below. Are these falls accidental, the result of carelessness, or is something more sinister at work?"

Title: A Fatal Stain

Author: Elise Hyatt

Series: #3 in the Daring Finds series set in Goldport, Colorado

ISBN: 9780425255230

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "As her wedding to detective Cas Wolfe approaches, Candyce "Dyce" Dare, sole owner (and employee) of the furniture refinishing business Daring Finds desperately needs to find something to do to avoid sitting down and planning the event with her mother and her best friend (particularly since she suspects their plans involve having her cat dress in a tuxedo). Working on a table she recently bought at a yard sale fits the bill.

Until her sanding efforts uncover a disturbing stain—one that looks like it might be blood. Dyce knows that, with a fiancé who’s a policeman, parents who own a mystery bookstore, and a recent history of inadvertent involvement in murder cases, she can be prone to seeing things that aren’t there. But then she discovers that the table’s previous owner has gone missing—and once more, she is drawn into a solve-it-yourself mystery project. And when Dyce starts a project, she just has to see it through…"

Title: Invisible Murder

Authors: Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis

Series: #2 in the Nina Borg series set in Denmark

ISBN: 9781616951702

Publisher: Soho Crime

Hardcover, 339 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "In the ruins of an abandoned Soviet military hospital in northern Hungary, two impoverished Roma boys are scavenging for old supplies or weapons they could sell on the black market when they find more than they ever anticipated. The resulting chain of events threatens to blow the lives of a frightening number of people into bits and pieces.

In this feverishly anticipated follow-up to 2011’s critically acclaimed The Boy in the Suitcase, Danish Red Cross nurse Nina Borg doesn’t realize she is putting life and family on the line when she tries to treat a group of sick Hungarian gypsies who are living illegally in a Copenhagen garage. Nina has unwittingly thrown herself into a deadly nest of the unscrupulous and the desperate, and what is at stake is much more terrifying than anyone had realized."

Title: Bear Bait

Author: Pamela Beason

Series: #2 in the Sam Westin wildlife biologist series

ISBN: 9780425251652

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Synopsis: "Sam Westin is working on a twelve-week project for the National Park Service as a biologist and a volunteer firewatcher when, one night, she hears an explosion. Above a nearby lake, fire lights the sky. She calls it in and is the first on the scene to do battle. When the blaze is finally extinguished, a body is discovered in the embers. It’s a young woman who was working on the park’s trail crew for the summer—and she’s still clinging to life.

Sensing something sinister, Sam starts asking questions. Who started the fire? Was the young woman involved? Does this have something to do with an old gold mine? Is the recent sighting of an illegal bear hunter just coincidence? Sam wants the answers—but someone else wants her out of the way before she finds them..."

Title: Postcards from the Dead

Author: Laura Childs

Series: #10 in the Scrapbooking Mysteries series set in New Orleans, Louisiana

ISBN: 9780425252758

Publisher: Berkley Hardcover

Hardcover, 336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "There’s a parade rolling through the historic French Quarter, with gigantic floats, silver beads, and dizzying lights—and Kimber Breeze of KBEZ-TV is broadcasting live from a small balcony on the fourth floor of the Hotel Tremain, interviewing locals and capturing the spectacle down below. Her next subject will be Carmela Bertrand, owner of Memory Mine scrapbooking shop. Carmela has never been a fan of Kimber, but she isn’t about to turn down the chance of good publicity for her shop.

But before Carmela’s shop gets its five minutes of fame, a killer slips onto the balcony and strangles Kimber with a cord, leaving her body dangling above the parade. Carmela is horrified, but she quickly discovers the nightmare isn’t over. Because someone is now leaving strange postcards at Carmela’s shop—signed by the dead Kimber. Now Carmela and her friend Ava will have to risk their own necks to find out who’s posing as a ghost—and to expose a killer…"

Title: The Vanishing Point

Author: Val McDermid

Standalone

ISBN: 9780802120526

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Hardcover, 416 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Young Jimmy Higgins is snatched from an airport security checkpoint while his guardian watches helplessly from the glass inspection box. But this is no ordinary abduction, as Jimmy is no ordinary child. His mother was Scarlett, a reality TV star who, dying of cancer and alienated from her unreliable family, entrusted the boy to the person she believed best able to give him a happy, stable life: her ghost writer, Stephanie Harker. Assisting the FBI in their attempt to recover the missing boy, Stephanie reaches into the past to uncover the motive for the abduction. Has Jimmy been taken by his own relatives? Is Stephanie’s obsessive ex-lover trying to teach her a lesson? Has one of Scarlett’s stalkers come back to haunt them all?"

Title: Iced Chiffon

Author: Duffy Brown

Series: #1 in the Consignment Shop mystery series set in Savannah, Georgia

ISBN: 9780425251607

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages  

Synopsis: "Reagan’s messy divorce has left her with nothing but a run-down Victorian and a bunch of designer clothes. Strapped for cash, Reagan makes use of the two things she has left, turning the first floor of her home into a consignment shop and filling it with the remnants of her rich-wife wardrobe.

Thanks to his cunning lawyer Walker Boone, her ex got everything else, including the Lexus—not to mention a young blond cupcake. When Reagan finds the cupcake dead in the Lexus, she’s determined to beat Boone to finding the murderer. As it turns out, the gossip fiends flooding Reagan’s shop will give her a lot more than just their unwanted clothes—they have information more precious than a vintage Louis Vuitton…"

=== October 16 ===

Title: Princess Elizabeth's Spy

Author: Susan Elia MacNeal

Series: #2 in the Maggie Hope mystery series set in World War II England

ISBN: 9780553593624  

Publisher: Bantam

Paperback, 384 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited, strong-willed, and possessing one of the sharpest minds in government for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle, where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth in math. Yet castle life quickly proves more dangerous—and deadly—than Maggie ever expected. The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a shocking murder, which draws Maggie into a vast conspiracy that places the entire royal family in peril. And as she races to save England from a most disturbing fate, Maggie realizes that a quick wit is her best defense, and that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets, even within her own family."

=== October 23 ===

Title: Pago Pago Tango

Author: John Enright

Series: #1 in the Detective Sergeant Apelu Soifua Jungle Beat mystery series set in American Samoa

ISBN: 9781612185002

Publisher: Thomas and Mercer

Paperback

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Detective Sergeant Apelu Soifua spent seven years in the San Francisco Police Department, where the job was just a job and solving crimes required cool detachment. But back home on American Samoa, life is personal—especially for a cop. Because on a small island where no one is a stranger and secrets are widely known but never discussed, solving crimes requires a certain…finesse. 

Here, Apelu must walk the line between two cultures: Samoan versus American, native versus new. And that gulf never yawns wider than when a white family’s home in Pago Pago is burglarized. And what appears to be a simple, open-and-shut case turns out to anything but. As the evidence piles up, Apelu follows a tangled trail between cultures, dead bodies, hidden codes, and a string of lies on his hunt for the ugly truth buried at the heart of paradise."

=== October 25 ===

Title: A Question of Identity

Author: Susan Hill

Series: #7 in the Simon Serailler police procedural series set in England

ISBN:  9781468300505

Publisher: Overlook

Hardcover, 336 pages

Synopsis: "A particularly unpleasant murder, that of a very old woman in a housing project, rocks the town of Lafferton. The murderer has left a distinctive "sign" on the body and at the scene of crime. A couple of weeks later, a similar murder occurs, and a month or so later, so does another.

Initial investigations discover that the mysterious "sign" left on the body was the calling card of a suspect who was charged with several murders in the northwest of the country, tried but acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence. All indications suggest that this person has simply vanished. Or is he right under their noses?" 

=== October 30 ===

Title: A Small Hill to Die On

Author: Elizabeth J. Duncan

Series: #4 in the Penny Brannigan mystery series set in Wales

ISBN: 9781250008244

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 272 pages

Synopsis: "The North Wales market town of Llanelen is abuzz when a Vietnamese family moves into Ty Brith Hall. It isn’t long before the family’s business dealings have the townsfolk wondering what’s really going on up at the big house on the hill.

Things take a sinister turn when Penny Brannigan, spending a midwinter afternoon sketching the magnificent views that surround the town, discovers the body of the new family’s teenage daughter. Many secrets lie buried in the shallow grave, along with the girl, who Penny identifies by the snakeskin manicure she received at Penny’s salon. When an elderly woman returns to Llanelen to care for her ailing brother, Penny discovers the truth about another death at Ty Brith Hall, one that hits very close to home. Though Penny's romantic interest, Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Davies, warns her to stay away, Penny can't resist getting involved, and her urge to help will ultimately put her in danger."

How's that for an excellent month of new mysteries? Of the new-to-me authors, I have to admit that I'm looking forward to traveling to American Samoa in John Enright's Pago Pago Tango. I wonder if my armchair can get frequent flier miles???

Did any of these titles find their way onto your own wish lists? Which ones? You know I just have to ask!