Stick Together by Sophie Hénaff

First Line: Jacques Maire walked along the canal which ran through the centre of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

After bringing a dirty cop to justice in The Awkward Squad, the entire Paris police force considers Commissaire Anne Capestan's squad a bunch of traitors. This certainly isn't going to help them with their latest investigation into the death of Capestan's ex-father-in-law, a former police officer with no shortage of enemies. Even though they're referred to as "the official dregs squad," these misfits seem to be putting clues together faster than their fellow officers in other divisions and have already found two additional murders that tie into theirs.

With everyone expecting them to fall flat on their faces, it's up to Capestan's squad to prove them all wrong, and readers are going to enjoy the journey as long as they don't mind a mystery that focuses more on the characters than it does the investigation-- at least from time to time. It's fun to piece together the clues in Stick Together, even though the identity of one of the bad guys is rather transparent.

However much I do enjoy solving the mysteries in the Awkward Squad series, I have to admit that the characters are what I really focus on. It's been proven time and again that, if you treat someone like a loser, they are going to behave like a loser. That's what's happened to the members of the Awkward Squad-- until they're transferred to their new division. Anne Capestan is the perfect boss for this crew. She accepts them as they are and still expects them to do their best everyday. They get no respect from any other police officer in the city of Paris except for the head of the Police Judiciare who secretly helps Anne when he can. When Anne is given a new transfer, he tells her, "I think deep down he's damaged. Fix him if you can, please, commissaire."

It's to Anne's credit that she does seem to be able to fix damaged police officers, and with an officer who's fresh out of the psych ward and another whose last assignment had been as an informer, she needs every ounce of her skill. Yes, Stick Together-- as well as the first book in the series-- can be read as mysteries, but if you're the type of crime fiction reader who likes a bit of humor and a character-driven story, author Sophie Hénaff should really be your cup of tea. The only part of the book that felt a bit over the top to me was a trip to an island at the end, but it does show the group bonding.

I've always loved stories about how a bunch of misfits and losers come together, learn to work together, and begin to take pride in themselves again. If you think about it, Hénaff's series about an improbable group of police officers follows Harry Bosch's Rule: Everybody Counts, or Nobody Counts.

Stick Together by Sophie Hénaff

Translated from the French by Sam Gordon.

eISBN: 9781635060171

Quercus © 2019

eBook, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Awkward Squad mystery

Rating: B+

Source: NetGalley


 

April 2019 New Mystery Releases!

Spring has been busting out all over here in the Phoenix metro area. With all the Tombstone roses and sweet acacia winding up for super blooms, it smells heavenly here at Casa Kittling, and I'm looking forward to taking photos of those flowers in all their glory.

I'm also looking forward to the water in my pool warming up so I can head back out to my favorite reading spot. And that means I've been trying to ensure that my coffers are filled with good books to read.

The following are my picks of the best in new crime fiction being released throughout the month of April. I've grouped them by their release date, and the book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Let's see if I've managed to include any titles that tickle your fancy, too...

=== April 2 ===

Title: Stick Together

Author: Sophie Hénaff

Series: #2 in the Awkward Squad police procedural series set in Paris, France.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "After their successful solving of three cold cases and exposing corruption at the very highest levels of the Paris police force, Officer Anne Capestan's team of oddballs and no-hopers should be in a celebratory mood. However, now despised by their colleagues at 36, Quai des Orfevres and worried for their future, morale has never been lower among the members of the Awkward Squad.

Capestan is doing her best to motivate the team, but even she cannot maintain a cheerful facade when she has been assigned to investigate the murder of Officer Serge Rufus, the father of her ex-husband. Worse, it soon appears that his murder is linked to two other victims, both of whom were warned by the killer before they struck.

Can Capestan marshal the forces to solve another hopeless mystery, or will her team's previous success be proven just a fluke?"

Title: The Loch Ness Papers
Author: Paige Shelton
Series: #4 in the Scottish Bookshop cozy series set in Scotland.
320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Delaney Nichols is delighted with her life in Edinburgh, working at The Cracked Spine―a shop that specializes in hard-to-find books and artifacts. With a job she loves, and her fast approaching marriage to devastatingly handsome Scottish pub-owner Tom Shannon, Delaney's life could be straight out of a fairy tale―at least it would be if the pastor meant to perform the wedding ceremony hadn't recently passed away. Outside the church where Delaney is searching for another reverend, she stumbles across Norval Fraser: an elderly man obsessed with the Loch Ness monster. Always attracted to the interesting and unusual, Delaney befriends Norval. But when his nephew is found dead, the police decide Norval's obsession has moved from monsters to murder.

With a wedding to plan, her family arriving soon from Kansas, and the arrival of an over-the-top Texan with a wildly valuable book, Delaney's plate is full to bursting, but she can't abandon her new friend. Determined to help Norval, she sets out to learn the truth. The Loch Ness buries its secrets deeply, but Delaney is determined to dig them up―whether Nessie likes it or not."

Title: The Mykonos Mob
Author: Jeffrey Siger
Series: #10 in the Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis police procedural series set in Greece.
336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "The case begins for Athens' Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis with a literal bang when a corrupt former police colonel who runs a protection racket on Mykonos is gunned down. Suddenly, Athens' Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis is face-to-face with Greece's top crime bosses on an island whose natural beauty and reputation as an international playground belies the corruption lurking just beneath the surface.

While Andreas and his Special Crimes unit wrestle for answers, Andreas's wife, Lila, meets an American expat named Toni, a finder of stolen goods and a piano player in a gender-bending bar who has a zest for life and no apparent regard for rules. As Lila and Toni bond over a common desire to mentor young island girls trapped in an exploitative and patriarchal culture, they soon find that their efforts to improve the lives of the Greek girls they've come to care about intersect with Andreas' investigation in ways that prove to be dangerous for all involved...

International bestselling author Jeffrey Siger delivers another heart-stopping story of corruption and intrigue in The Mykonos Mob, the latest entry in the renowned Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis mystery series."

Title: Bluff

Author: Jane Stanton Hitchcock

Standalone social noir set in New York City.

264 pages

Synopsis: "One-time socialite Maud Warner polishes up the rags of her once glittering existence and bluffs her way into a signature New York restaurant on a sunny October day. When she walks out again, a man will have been shot.

Maud has grown accustomed to being underestimated and invisible, and she uses her ability to fly under the radar as she pursues celebrity accountant Burt Sklar, the man she believes stole her mother's fortune and left her family in ruins. Her fervent passion for poker has taught Maud that she can turn weakness into strength to take advantage of people who think they are taking advantage of her, and now she has dealt the first card in her high-stakes plan for revenge.

One unexpected twist after another follows as Maud plays the most important poker hand of her life. The stakes? To take down her enemies and get justice for their victims. Her success depends on her continuing ability to bluff―and on who will fold.

Can she win?"

Title: Loch of the Dead

Author: Oscar de Muriel

Series: #4 in the Frey and McGray historical mystery series set in 1880s Scotland.

448 pages

Synopsis: "A mysterious woman pleads for the help of Inspectors Are and "Nine-Nails" McGray. Her son, illegitimate scion of the Koloman family, has received an anonymous death threat―right after learning he is to inherit the best part of a vast wine-producing estate.

In exchange for their protection, she offers McGray the ultimate cure for his sister, who has been locked in an insane asylum after brutally murdering their parents: the miraculous waters that spring from a small island in the remote Loch Maree.

The island has been a sacred burial ground since the time of the druids, but the legends around it will turn out to be much darker than McGray could have expected. Murder and increasingly bizarre happenings will intermingle throughout this trip to the Highlands before Frey and McGray learn a terrible truth."

Title: Murder at the Marina

Author: Janet Finsilver

Series: #5 in the Kelly Jackson cozy series set in California.

180 pages

Synopsis: "Kelly Jackson, manager of the Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast, is fond of the Doblinsky brothers, Ivan and Rudy, members of the Silver Sentinels, a crew of crime-solving senior citizens in their Northern California seaside hamlet. After she discovers a jewel-encrusted dagger-with what appears to be dried blood on the blade-on their fishing boat, they share their family history with Kelly, and she learns that the knife may be part of a set from their long-ago childhood in Russia. Its sudden reappearance is eerie, but the mystery grows much more serious when a body is found on the boat. The victim was staying at Kelly's inn, in town for a Russian Heritage Festival, and some of the organizers were clearly harboring some bitterness. But the story behind this murder seems as layered as a nesting doll and Kelly's feeling completely at sea . . . "

=== April 8 ===

Title: Scot & Soda
Author: Catriona McPherson
Series: #2 in the Last Ditch humorous mystery series set in California.
312 pages

Synopsis: "Now settled in her little houseboat, moored in the slough at the back of the Last Ditch Motel, Lexy Campbell wants nothing more than to build her counseling business, avoid her mother's phone calls and―who knows?―meet a nice guy. But when she throws a Halloween party for her motley crew of motel pals, the only single man is too old for her, too wrapped up in the case of beer chilling in the slough, and―oh, yes―too dead.

The sensible choice is to leave it up to the cops to identify the body and catch the killer. So faster than you can say "Tam O'Shanter," Lexy and her friends jump into the case themselves, delving deep into their town's past for the roots of a mystifying crime."

=== April 16 ===

Title: Flowers Over the Inferno

Author: Ilaria Tuti

Series: #1 in the Teresa Battaglia police procedural series set in northern Italy.

360 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "In a quiet village surrounded by ancient woods and the imposing Italian Alps, a man is found naked with his eyes gouged out. It is the first in a string of gruesome murders.

Superintendent Teresa Battaglia, a detective with a background in criminal profiling, is called to investigate. Battaglia is in her mid-sixties, her rank and expertise hard-won from decades of battling for respect in a male-dominated Italian police force. While she’s not sure she trusts the young city inspector assigned to assist her, she sees right away that this is no ordinary case: buried deep in these mountains is a dark history that may endanger a group of eight-year-old children toward whom the killer seems to gravitate.

As Teresa inches closer to the truth, she must also confront the possibility that her body and mind, worn down by age and illness, may fail her before the chase is over."

=== April 18 ===

Title: The Burning Issue of the Day

Author: T.E. Kinsey

Series: #5 in the Lady Hardcastle historical series set in England.

312 pages

Synopsis: "January 1910. A journalist has been killed in a suspicious blaze. Everything points to a group of suffragettes, but the apparent culprit insists she is innocent.

When Lady Hardcastle receives a letter from a suffragette requesting her urgent help, the retired spy turned sleuth knows only she stands between an accused young woman and the gallows. Evidence at the scene makes Lizzie Worrel’s innocence difficult to believe, and with the police treating it as an open-and-shut case of arson, Lady Hardcastle faces a barrage of resistance as she tries to dig out the truth.

With her trusted maid and confidante, the formidable Flo, Lady Hardcastle sets off in pursuit of the truth as time runs out for the accused suffragette. Was she set up? And if so, is the real culprit a traitor to the cause—or part of a darker conspiracy?"

=== April 23 ===

Title: Throw Me to the Wolves

Author: Patrick McGuinness

Standalone thriller set in England.

336 pages

Synopsis: "In the aftermath of Brexit, the body of a young woman is found by the river Thames, and a neighbor, a retired teacher from Chapleton College, is arrested. An eccentric loner―intellectual, shy, a fastidious dresser with expensive tastes―he is the perfect candidate for a media monstering.

In custody, he is interviewed by two detectives: the circumspect Ander, and his workaday foil, Gary. Ander is particularly watchful now because the man across the table is someone he knows―someone he hasn’t seen in nearly thirty years. Determined to salvage the truth as ex-pupils and colleagues line up against the accused, he must face a story from decades back, from his own time as a Chapleton student, at the peak of anti-Irish sentiment.

With the momentum of classic crime fiction, Throw Me to the Wolves follows two mysteries―one unfolding in the media-saturated present, and the other bubbling up from the abusive past of the 1980s English school system. Beautifully written and psychologically acute, it is a novel about memory and childhood, prescient and piercingly funny, as wise as it is tragic."

=== April 30 ===

Title: Thread on Arrival

Author: Lea Wait

Series: #9 in the Mainely Needlepoint cozy series set in coastal Maine.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Ike Hamilton is a part of the Haven Harbor community just like anyone else, though he’s fallen on hard times and has to make do on disability checks and deposit bottles. Most of the locals do what they can to help him out, and needlepoint partners Angie and Sarah are happy to see him at the annual Blessing of the Fleet, honoring all those lost at sea over the centuries.

But when harmless Ike is stabbed, suspicion quickly falls on a troubled teenage boy who’s new in town. Angie’s convinced that young Leo is innocent—but if he didn’t do it, who did? Turns out Ike may have appeared simple-minded, but he knew a few secrets that someone might have murdered him to keep quiet. Angie sets out to trace Ike’s bottle-collecting route to find out what he witnessed—and for this killer, there may be no redemption . . ."

Title: Knit One, Die Two

Author: Peggy Ehrhart

Series: #2 in the Knit & Nibble cozy series set in New Jersey.

288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Knit and Nibble’s numbers are growing! In addition to a litter of adorable kittens, the knitting club just welcomed their newest member, Caralee Lorimer, who’s learning to knit for her upcoming role in A Tale of Two Cities. According to the amateur actress, the behind-the-scenes drama at the theater is getting downright catty, and Caralee wants a reckoning for Arborville’s pretentious suburbanites. Her claws are out, and just like her character in the play, Caralee is ready to name names. But before she can finish her snitchy stitches, Caralee is killed in a suspicious theater accident. Someone thinks they’ve staged a perfect murder, but Pamela and her Knit and Nibblers are ready to pounce on the real killer . . . before it’s curtains for anyone else!"

Well, how did I do? Did any of these books make it onto your own wishlists? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!

On My Radar: Sophie Hénaff's Stick Together

This year, one of my surprise reading pleasures was The Awkward Squad, a mystery about a bunch of police misfits being rounded up to form a cold case squad in hopes that they'd fail miserably and their higher-ups would be able to get rid of them.

I was hoping that there would be another book in the series, so I was very happy to see that there will be-- Stick Together, which will be released in April 2019. Here's more information on the book...

Available April 2019!

Synopsis: "After their successful solving of three cold cases and exposing corruption at the very highest levels of the Paris police force, Officer Anne Capestan's team of oddballs and no-hopers should be in a celebratory mood. However, now despised by their colleagues at 36, quai des Orfevres and worried for their future, morale has never been lower among the members of the Awkward Squad.

Capestan is doing her best to motivate the team, but even she cannot maintain a cheerful facade when she has been assigned to investigate the murder of Officer Serge Rufus, the father of her ex-husband. Worse, it soon appears that his murder is linked to two other victims, both of whom were warned by the killer before they struck.

Can Capestan marshal the forces to solve another hopeless mystery, or will her team's previous success be proven just a fluke?"


Sounds like it's going to be a good one, doesn't it? I know I've already added it to my wishlist!

The Awkward Squad by Sophie Hénaff

First Line: Anne Capestan was standing at her kitchen window waiting for dawn to arrive.

Having been suspended for firing "one bullet too many," Commissaire Anne Capestan is expecting the worst when summoned to headquarters in Paris. Instead, she's surprised to learn that she's to head up a new police squad focusing on cold cases. Capestan is relieved to still have a job, but she is not overjoyed by her new role-- especially when she meets her new team: a group of misfits, troublemakers, and problem cases, none of whom are fit for purpose and none of whom can be fired.

But all may not be lost. When they begin investigating some of the cold cases, they all discover that there are real mysteries to be solved... and they may be just the squad to get the job done.

Author Sophie Hénaff starts with a premise that a lot of businesses probably wish they could do: round up all the losers they can't fire and put them someplace where they can be overlooked and forgotten. What I love is the fact that the author then turns this on its head-- what if these police officers aren't the wastes of space everyone believes them to be?

French police hierarchy has rounded up this group of embarrassments, put them in a rundown building with little or no equipment or supplies and tells Commissaire Anne Capestan point-blank, "We're paying you to play dominoes or do some knitting." That was their second mistake. Their first was to put Anne Capestan in charge of this motley crew that includes Bad Luck Torrez, Merlot the drunk, Évrard the gambler, and others. Capestan has absolutely no intention of going quietly into that good night, but she needs the help of the few officers who bothered to show up for duty.

The mysteries this group solve are good ones and make for enjoyable reading, but the real treat of The Awkward Squad is watching this group of misfits come together to form a team, find resources that headquarters won't give them, and solve crimes that no one expected them to solve. The sly humor that appears from time to time is icing on the cake.

There's always been a part of me that roots for the underdog, and now that I've met this unlikely group of crime solvers, I can't wait to cheer them on in the next book. 

The Awkward Squad by Sophie Hénaff

eISBN: 9781681440019

MacLehose Press © 2018

eBook, 271 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Awkward Squad mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

April 2018 New Mystery Releases!

April is turning out to be a much busier month than I'd planned, mostly because my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Not only will our niece Daisy be here from England for two weeks beginning the 23rd, not only do I have to clean house like a crazy person, I also have to see if I can nudge my eyeballs into high speed because I over-committed on advance reading copies. For some reason, this seems to be a lesson I need to re-learn every two to three years.

Nevertheless, I am always on the lookout for new crime fiction, and these are my picks for the month of April. They are grouped according to release dates, and I'd like to thank Amazon for the covers and synopses. Hopefully, I've chosen a title or two that strikes your fancy. Let's see how much I can tempt you...

=== April 3 ===

Title: Lost Books and Old Bones

Author: Paige Shelton

Series: #3 in the Scottish Bookshop cozy series set in Edinburgh, Scotland.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Delaney Nichols, originally of Kansas but settling happily into her new life as a bookseller in Edinburgh, works at the Cracked Spine in the heart of town. The shop is a place filled with curiosities and surprises tucked into every shelf, and it’s Delaney’s job to research the rare tomes and obscure artifacts that people come to buy and sell. When her new friends, also students at the medical school, come to the shop to sell a collection of antique medical books, Delaney knows she’s stumbled across a rare and important find indeed. Her boss, Edwin MacAlister, agrees to buy the multivolume set, perhaps even to keep for his own collection.

But not long after the sale, one of Delaney’s new friends is found murdered in the alley behind the Cracked Spine, and she wonders if there is some nefarious connection between the origin of these books and the people whose hands they fell into. Delaney takes it upon herself to help bring the murderer to justice. During her investigation, Delaney she finds some old scalpels in the bookshop’s warehouse—she and discovers that they belonged to a long-dead doctor whose story and ties to the past crimes of Burke and Hare might be connected to the present-day murder. It’s all Delaney can do to race to solve this crime before time runs out and she ends up in a victim on the slab herself." 

Title: Wedding Cake Crumble

Author: Jenn McKinlay

Series: #10 in the Cupcake Bakery cozy series set in Scottsdale, Arizona.

288 pages

Synopsis: "With Angie and Tate's wedding just around the corner, it's a happy time for Melanie Cooper and the bakery crew. Not only are they finessing the last minute details of the big day, but their bakery, Fairy Tale Cupcakes, has just been hired to bake cupcakes for the blockbuster book signing of a controversial author who wrote a steamy bestseller filled with juicy local gossip.

But one by one, the people Angie has hired to work at the wedding begin turning up dead. As the body count rises, the bestselling author is the next to bite the dust. Mel quickly realizes she needs to figure out how the murders are connected and why--before the killer brings the entire cupcake crew crumbling down. After all, Angie and Tate deserve their sweet happily ever after."

Title: A Necessary Evil

Author: Abir Mukherjee

Series: #2 in the Wyndham and Banerjee historical series set in 1919 Calcutta, India.

381 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "India, 1920. Captain Wyndham and Sergeant Banerjee of the Calcutta Police Force investigate the dramatic assassination of a Maharajah's son, in the sequel to A Rising Man.

The fabulously wealthy kingdom of Sambalpore is home to tigers, elephants, diamond mines, and the beautiful Palace of the Sun. But when the heir to the throne is assassinated in the presence of Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant 'Surrender-Not' Banerjee, they discover a kingdom riven with suppressed conflict. Prince Adhir was a modernizer whose attitudes—and romantic relationships—may have upset the more religious elements of his country, while his brother—now in line to the throne—appears to be a feckless playboy.

As Wyndham and Banerjee desperately try to unravel the mystery behind the assassination, they become entangled in a dangerous world where those in power live by their own rules—and those who cross their paths pay with their lives. They must find a murderer before the murderer finds them . . ."

Title: The Awkward Squad
Author: Sophie Hénaff
Series: #1 in the Awkward Squad police procedural series set in 2012 Paris, France.
271 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Suspended from her job as a promising police officer for firing "one bullet too many", Anne Capestan is expecting the worst when she is summoned to H.Q. to learn her fate. Instead, she is surprised to be told that she is to head up a new police squad, working on solving old cold cases.

Though relieved to still have a job, Capestan is not overjoyed by the prospect of her new role. Even less so when she meets her new team: a crowd of misfits, troublemakers and problem cases, none of whom are fit for purpose and yet none of whom can be fired.

But from this inauspicious start, investigating the cold cases throws up a number a number of strange mysteries for Capestan and her team: was the old lady murdered seven years ago really just the victim of a botched robbery? Who was behind the dead sailor discovered in the Seine with three gunshot wounds? And why does there seem to be a curious link with a ferry that was shipwrecked off the Florida coast many years previously?"

Title: A Dying Note
Author: Ann Parker
Series: #6 in the Silver Rush historical series set in San Francisco.
319 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "It's autumn of 1881, and Inez Stannert, still the co-owner of Leadville, Colorado's Silver Queen Saloon, is settled in San Francisco with her young ward, Antonia Gizzi. Inez has turned her business talents to managing a music store, hoping to eventually become an equal partner in the enterprise with the store's owner, a celebrated local violinist.

Inez's carefully constructed life for herself and Antonia threatens to tumble about her ears when the badly beaten body of a young musician washes up on the filthy banks of San Francisco's Mission Creek canal. Inez and Antonia become entangled in the mystery of his death when the musician turns out to have ties to Leadville, ties that threaten to expose Inez's notorious past. And they aren't the only ones searching for answers. Wolter Roeland de Bruijn, "finder of the lost," has also been tasked with ferreting out the perpetrators and dispensing justice in its most final form. Leadville's leading madam Frisco Flo, an unwilling visitor to the city with a Leadville millionaire, is on the hook as well, having injudiciously financed the young musician's journey to San Francisco in the first place.

Time grows short as Inez and the others uncover long-hidden secrets and unsettled scores. With lives and reputations on the line, the tempo rises until the investigation's final, dying note."

Title: Resurrection Bay
Author: Emma Viskic
Series: #1 in the Caleb Zelic private investigator series set in present-day Australia.
288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Caleb Zelic's childhood friend has been brutally murdered - fingers broken, throat slit - at his home in Melbourne. Caleb vows to track down the killer, but he's profoundly deaf; missed words and misread lips can lead to confusion and trouble. Fortunately, Caleb knows how to read people; a sideways glance, an unconvincing smile, speak volumes. When his friend Frankie, a former cop, offers to help, they soon discover the killer is on their tail. Sensing that his ex-wife may also be in danger, Caleb insists they return to their hometown of Resurrection Bay. But here he learns that everyone - including his murdered friend - is hiding something. And the deeper he digs, the darker the secrets..."

Title: American by Day
Author: Derek B. Miller
Standalone mystery set in the present-day US.
352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "A gripping and timely novel that follows Sigrid—the dry-witted detective from Derek B. Miller's best-selling debut Norwegian by Night—from Oslo to the United States on a quest to find her missing brother.

SHE KNEW IT WAS A WEIRD PLACE. She’d heard the stories, seen the movies, read the books. But now police Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård has to leave her native Norway and actually go there; to that land across the Atlantic where her missing brother is implicated in the mysterious death of a prominent African-American academic. AMERICA.

Sigrid is plunged into a United States where race and identity, politics and promise, reverberate in every aspect of daily life. Working with—or, if necessary, against—the police, she must negotiate the local political minefields and navigate the backwoods of the Adirondacks to uncover the truth before events escalate further.

Refreshingly funny, slyly perceptive, American by Day secures Derek B. Miller's place as one of our most imaginative and entertaining novelists."

=== April 8 ===

Title: Scot Free

Author: Catriona McPherson

Series: #1 in the Last Ditch series set in California.

288 pages.

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Lexy Campbell fell in love and left her native Scotland for a golden life in California—hitched to a hunk, building her marriage counseling practice, living the dream. Six months later she's divorced, broke, and headed home. There's just one last thing. Lexy's only client—sweet little old Mrs. Bombarro—is in jail for murdering her husband with a fireworks rocket. Lexy knows the cops have got it wrong; all she needs is a few days to prove it and somewhere cheap to sleep at night. But checking into the Last Ditch Motel leads Lexy to a whole new cast of characters with troubles of their own."

=== April 10 ===

Title: The Trauma Cleaner

Author: Sarah Krasnostein

Standalone Non-Fiction

293 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Before she was a trauma cleaner, Sandra Pankhurst was many things: husband and father, drag queen, gender reassignment patient, sex worker, small businesswoman, trophy wife. . . But as a little boy, raised in violence and excluded from the family home, she just wanted to belong. Now she believes her clients deserve no less.

A woman who sleeps among garbage she has not put out for forty years. A man who bled quietly to death in his living room. A woman who lives with rats, random debris, and terrified delusion. The still life of a home vacated by accidental overdose.

Sarah Krasnostein has watched the extraordinary Sandra Pankhurst bring order and care to these, the living and the dead—and the book she has written is equally extraordinary. Not just the compelling story of a fascinating life among lives of desperation, but an affirmation that, as isolated as we may feel, we are all in this together." 

Title: A Breath After Drowning

Author: Alice Blanchard

Standalone psychological thriller

448 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Child psychiatrist Kate Wolfe's world comes crashing down when one of her young patients commits suicide, so when a troubled girl is left at the hospital ward, she doubts her ability to help. But the girl knows things about Kate's past, things she shouldn't know, forcing Kate to face the murky evidence surrounding her own sister's murder sixteen years before, bringing Kate face to face with her deepest fear."

=== April 17 ===

Title: Murder at the Mushroom Festival

Author: Janet Finsilver

Series: #4 Kelly Jackson cozy mystery set in California.

176 pages 

Synopsis: "Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast manager Kelly Jackson is hosting a cooking class during the Week of the Mushroom festival to attract guests, not drama. But soon after she finishes foraging for an edible mushroom species on sacred Native American land, a local newspaper reporter gets shot dead at the same site. With suspicions spreading like fungi in the quaint Northern Californian community over the culprit's identity, Kelly and a savvy gang of sleuthing seniors known as the "Silver Sentinels" must uncover the truth about the secluded property before a tricky killer prepares another lethal surprise . . . "

Title: The Dark Side of Town

Author: Sasscer Hill

Series: #2 in the Fia McKee undercover agent series set at the Saratoga Racetrack in New York state.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Fia McKee, now officially employed by the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TPRB), is sent undercover to Saratoga Racetrack to investigate Mars Pizutti, a racehorse trainer whose horses’ wins are suspiciously lucky—and lucrative. Fia’s bosses believe Pizutti’s success is based on illegal drugs and deceitful methods, and they want Fia to work inside his barn to ferret out the truth.

But after witnessing the tragic and inexplicable suicide of a jockey, Fia discovers the rider’s death is only the tip on an iceberg involving the mob, a crooked racing hedge fund, and threats to the lives of another jockey and his young sister. Fia must find out who’s connected to who, and what shadowy forces are at play before someone else dies."

Title: Whispers of the Dead

Author: Spencer Kope

Series: #2 in the Special Tracking Unit series set in El Paso, Texas.

324 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "There has been a murder, but not only is the identity of the victim unknown, most of the body itself is missing. All that’s been found is a pair of feet, stored in a portable cooler, and left in the house of a Federal judge in El Paso, Texas. The killer apparently broke into the judge’s house, left his grizzly message, and disappeared without a trace. With no clues as to the killer, the person killed, or the intent behind the cooler, all the authorities really know is that this likely isn’t the killer’s first—or his last—victim.

Magnus “Steps” Craig is an FBI agent and an elite tracker, easily the best in the world. Steps is renowned for his incredible ability to find and follow trails over any surface. As part of the three-man special team, FBI’s Special Tracking Unit (STU), he is called in on cases where his skills are indispensable. But there’s a secret to his skill. Steps has a kind of synesthesia, an ability that allows him to see whatever each particular person has touched in a unique color—what Steps calls ‘shine.’ His ability is known to only a few people—his father, the director of the FBI, and his partner, Special Agent Jimmy Donovan.

While the Special Tracking Unit tries to grapple with the gruesome scene in El Paso, they soon discover another, earlier victim. Once again, only the feet—in a disposable icebox—were left behind. With almost no clues besides the body parts, Steps and his team find themselves enmeshed in the most difficult case of their careers. And The Icebox Killer has only just begun."

If you've been paying attention to me at all, you know I've been looking forward to Spencer Kope's Whispers of the Dead, but April has quite a few intriguing titles. Which ones have tempted you to put them on your wishlists? Inquiring minds would love to know!