@ The Poisoned Pen with Cara Black, Libby Fischer Hellmann & Sophie Littlefield

On St. Patrick's Day, I found myself donning some green and heading to The Poisoned Pen while my husband slaved away at Sky Harbor Airport. It's always more fun when the two of us go together, but I wasn't about to miss this evening's lineup: Cara Black, author of the Aimée Leduc series set in Paris; Libby Fischer Hellmann, author of two series featuring Ellie Foreman and Georgia Davis (as well as three excellent standalones); and Sophie Littlefield, author of the Stella Hardesty series as well as urban fantasy and young adult series. Wow, what a trio!

For some reason, I couldn't keep my mind on my book, so I watched people browse and buy and then talked books when others began to take their seats.

"A thriller unfolding..."

L to R: Cara Black, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Sophie Littlefield

Bookstore owner Barbara Peters came out to introduce her guests before leaving them in charge, but she couldn't resist talking about the headlines that had been filling the news: the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane. Peters had been following this with some interest and said, "It almost feels like a thriller unfolding, doesn't it?" She then proceeded to wonder why there was an on/off switch on transponders... could the co-pilot have stolen the plane... and the one thing that astounded her the most: the fact that only three countries in the world check passengers' passports against the Interpol watch list. At that point, Cara Black and Libby Fischer Hellmann broke in to say, "You know, Barbara, we are flying home tomorrow!" which made everyone in the bookstore break into sympathetic laughter.

Introduction complete, the three authors (unofficially led by Hellmann) decided to begin by taking turns talking a bit about their books.

Cara Black

Cara Black started first. Her private investigator, Aimée Leduc, works in Paris, France, and each book is centered on a different area of the city. Her first book is set in November 1993, and #14 (her latest), Murder in Pigalle, takes place in June 1998.

She enjoys writing her series. Doing research in Paris is wonderful, and she has the added bonus of having a character who doesn't have to deal with Facebook, Google, or Twitter. When she explained that to a reader who was unfamiliar with her books, the woman exclaimed, "Oh, you write historicals!"

Cara then went on to talk about Pigalle, the area of Paris in which her latest book is set. It's an area known for its artists-- François Truffaut lived in Pigalle while making the film The 400 Blows, and composer Georges Bizet wrote Carmen while living there. Just two of many examples!

Libby Fischer Hellmann

Libby told us that her first two published series are both set in Chicago, where she lives. Ellie Foreman, a divorced mother who makes video documentaries, is an open and sharing character, while ex-cop private investigator Georgia Davis is much more reserved.

"I was a history major in college," Libby told us. "I like writing about extreme conflicts peopled with ordinary characters." Her latest three books are standalones that she refers to as the Revolution Trilogy. The first, Set the Night on Fire, is set in Chicago in the late 1960s. The second, A Bitter Veil, is set in Iran when the Shah is deposed. The third, Havana Lost, is set during the Cuban Revolution and has the first female Mafia don in Chicago as a character.

Sophie Littlefield

Sophie Littlefield, whose latest book is House of Glass, told us a bit of the history behind her writing. "I've had four different publishers and seven different editors," she said. "I write so broadly-- fifteen books in five different genres-- because I didn't find success right away.

"My first book was about a fifty-year-old cranky widow that I wrote when I was forty-four. Now I'm a fifty-year-old cranky divorcée. I didn't kill my husband, but I did get rid of him!

"I like to focus on families trying to figure out what they're going to do in extraordinary circumstances. While Barbara was talking about the Malaysia Airlines plane, I was sitting here thinking about the passengers."

House of Glass is based on a real-life Connecticut home invasion that disturbed Littlefield deeply. Her editor told her to deal with her emotions by writing about it and giving the family the chance for a different outcome. "I now feel really comfortable writing standalone family-based thrillers," Sophie said.

Questions, Questions, Questions...

After those brief introductions, the three women began asking each other questions.

Libby: While we're jumping all over the place, I want to know how you keep Aimée fresh?

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Cara: I read Deborah Crombie's books to see how she does it. I love Deborah Crombie's books! (laughing)

Seriously though, I keep Aimée fresh through things I've written into the backgrounds of her mother, her father, and her godfather. Now Aimée is pregnant. As a character, she's also something of an outsider, since she's half French and half American.

Libby: We also want to find out if the dog is going to be jealous of the baby! But back to the books-- do you have the arrondissements of Paris in a certain order in your mind? How do you choose the area you're going to write about?

Cara: I have to consider what sort of crime would be organic in a particular area... what character or flavor does that area have?

One of the fans in the audience then mentioned her favorite character, Aimée's partner, René, who is a dwarf. 

Cara: I was a pre-school teacher in another life, and one day I sat in on the interviews for a position we were trying to fill. One of the applicants happened to be a dwarf. She did not get the position, but later on, I happened to walk into a children's art class. I was so impressed by the children-- and that same woman was the teacher. I was ashamed of myself. I'd been looking at her disability instead of her ability. I'm assuaging my guilt through the character of René.

Black also told us of meeting a French undercover cop and walking with him through the streets of Pigalle. Occasionally he would say things like "See those kids dealing drugs?" or "See those two? They specialize in armed home invasion." It was an eye-opening experience to say the least. 

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When asked about how she did research when she didn't live in the book's setting or time period, Libby Fischer Hellmann told us about A Bitter Veil, which is set in Iran during the time the Shah was deposed. "This is one of the most documented revolutions in the world. I watched lots of film and read lots of fiction and non-fiction. After five or six weeks I felt I had a handle on it. Iranians here in the United States helped me doublecheck everything.

"I wanted to dedicate A Bitter Veil to my classmate who inspired me to write the book, but when I tracked her down, she told me that I had it wrong. She had lived through a very similar situation in a predominantly Muslim area in India!"

For her book, Havana Lost, Hellmann spent two weeks in Cuba. She looked at everyone in the audience and said, "Go now before Fidel dies and America rushes in and McDonaldizes everything! It's a fascinating place and well worth the visit."

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Sophie Littlefield felt like the odd woman out. "I'm not well-traveled, and I was a rotten student," she admitted. "I wrote nine books before I was published. I'm always leery of setting one of my books in an unfamiliar area. However, my book that's coming out this fall is set in an oil camp, and I did live in one in order to do research."

There was one final question before the evening wound down to a close. Barbara Peters wanted to know, "Which book are you most proud of?"

Sophie: My fall book set in North Dakota. I was told that I couldn't do it, and I proved 'em wrong!

Cara: Murder in Pigalle.

Libby: Havana Lost.

Barbara: You've all taken a risk in your writing.

Sophie: In terms of my life and my writing, I think being fifty is great. I don't see the downside!

Barbara: I have to agree, Sophie. I opened a bookstore when I was fifty!


What a privilege to be able to meet these three talented writers. I don't know what I'd do if places like The Poisoned Pen didn't exist!

A Bad Day for Pretty by Sophie Littlefield

First Line: Mama was already down in the cellar with Gracellen and Patches.

Fifty-something Stella Hardesty may have a sewing machine business that gets the bills paid, but this widow (and former abused wife) has a sideline that means a great deal more. When women come to her who need help with abusive spouses and boyfriends, Stella shows these men the error of their ways-- and sometimes it takes force. She's good at it, but business in that "second job" has been a bit light lately, and Stella's found herself cozying up to Sheriff "Goat" Jones instead.  One night when she and Goat are getting comfortable, a tornado roars through town and drops Goat's estranged wife right on the doorstep. Talk about a mood killer.

Not only has the tornado dumped an unwelcome guest in town, it's also torn down the snack shack at the local demolition derby track, and a woman's body has been discovered. All the circumstantial evidence points to a man Stella believes is innocent, and since she can't cozy up to the sheriff, she decides to prove this man not guilty of murder in the first degree. With a lot of help from Chrissy Shaw who helps out at the sewing shop, Stella aims to solve a crime before an innocent man goes to jail.

I enjoyed the first book in the Stella Hardesty series, A Bad Day for Sorry, but I found this book to be a bit harder getting into. So much of the wit and feistiness that charmed me in that first book is missing here, and it's due to the fact that Stella does a lot of soul-searching. It's necessary introspection because many people who read the first book may not have liked the idea of Stella taking the law into her own hands to rehabilitate abusers whom the law couldn't seem to touch. As Stella works her way through lessons she learned during her childhood and on through memories of her marriage and beyond, readers really get to see the type of person she is. Like I said, this is necessary for our understanding of the character even if it does remove some of the sparkle from the story.

Chrissy Shaw, the young woman who helps Stella in her sewing machine shop, is turning into a fascinating character in her own right. Stella helped Chrissy out of an abusive relationship, and although Chrissy doesn't have much education, she's all natural-born smarts and sharp edges-- a woman to reckon with who's raising her child and working to make better lives for them both. She's also becoming increasingly important in Stella's life.

The crime is a puzzler, but with two women like Stella and Chrissy hard at work to solve it, the killer doesn't have a chance. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series, and I'm hoping there will be less introspection and more smart alecky feistiness.

A Bad Day for Pretty by Sophie Littlefield

ISBN: 9780312559755

Minotaur Books © 2010

Hardcover, 304 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #2 Stella Hardesty mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet

Spicing Up Crime Fiction With Romance

For those not familiar with the crime fiction genre, it's probably imagined to be populated by grim policemen and wisecracking private eyes. For those of us who love the genre, we're well aware of the fact that mysteries have something for everyone-- even on Valentine's Day. Yes, there are thousands of mysteries out there where the hero travels alone. There's nary a significant other in sight, and relationships consist of one night stands. But there are also thousands of mysteries out there that are spiced up with couples in committed relationships.

What better topic for Valentine's Day than this? A few of my favorite series immediately came to mind, but I thought I'd ask for recommendations on my blog's Facebook page. More series were brought to my attention, so after making a list and checking it a dozen times, I thought I'd share six authors who write crime fiction series in which the relationships between the main characters are every bit as important as who died and why. I found that they fit quite nicely into three categories: Works in Progress, Tried and True, and Forbidden Fruit. I've included two links with each series, one for the author's website and the second to a page where you can see all the books in the series in order.

Are you ready for some top notch recommendations? I hope so because I'm banking on all of you to chime in with your own!

Works in Progress

Facebook friend, Martha D., mentioned one of the series that popped into my head very quickly: Earlene Fowler's Benni Harper series set in central California. When the series begins, Benni is a young widow who's just become the director of a folk art museum. She meets and eventually marries Police Chief Gabe Ortiz, and I have to admit that I almost stopped reading the series because of Gabe!

When we first meet Gabe, he's a typical Hispanic male, full of machismo and the knowledge that all women have their place-- and it's definitely not in the middle of murder investigations. But Fowler's two main characters work hard at their relationship. Benni and Gabe still have their rough patches, but they're getting used to each other. Their strengthening relationship-- and all the books in this series-- work.

The series that immediately sprang to my mind was Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James series set in England. When this series begins, Duncan is a superintendent at Scotland Yard, and Gemma is his sergeant. Their working relationship gradually blossoms into love. Duncan is divorced and has a young son. Gemma is a single mother with a young boy of her own. Through each of the books readers experience these two melding together with their children into a family: how their relationship factors into their careers, how they work to make sure their children feel loved and important through the transition, how their diverse backgrounds lead to misunderstandings, and how they can all  be affected by tragedy. Crombie's series is one of my very favorites, and when the talk is about relationships, Duncan and Gemma are tied for the number one spot on my Billboard Top of the Charts. You'll just have to wait to learn about the other series!

Tried and True

My dear friend, Jean T., recommended Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, set in Victorian England. I vividly remember beginning to read it back in 1979 or so. It has to be one of the longest running mystery series ever!

Thomas Pitt comes from humble beginnings and has worked hard to become a police inspector. His wife, Charlotte, is from an upper class family, and her connections often help Thomas with his investigations. These two people from such very different backgrounds have certainly had their misunderstandings, but they've worked hard to forge a lasting relationship that's just as much fun to read about as the mysteries they solve.

Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series was recommended by Cath of the excellent blog Read Warbler. Daisy is a journalist in 1920s England, and her husband, Alec Fletcher, is a Scotland Yard detective. (I'm beginning to see a theme here, with all these British policemen marrying smart and intrepid women!)

Their marriage has lasted through twenty books, so I'm sure their love is here to stay-- because of their genuine love for each other and because of their need to face all life has in store side by side.

In the top five of my "relationship mystery" books is Donis Casey's Alafair Tucker series. Alafair Tucker is a ranch woman in the Oklahoma of the 1910s. She and her husband are raising ten children, and now that the eldest are old enough to help keep an eye on the younger ones, Alafair has a bit of free time to solve crimes. (Of course with children being children, some of Alafair's brood manage to get involved with a few of the crimes, too.)  Alafair and her husband Shaw have grown together over the years. They are well acquainted with each other's strengths and weaknesses. It's a marriage filled with love and commitment, and Casey's books are a delight to read whether Alafair and Shaw are taking care of their passel of young'uns or trying to solve a crime while running their ranch.

Forbidden Fruit

In my first category, I mentioned that two series tied for the number one spot on my personal list. Julia Spencer-Fleming's Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne series is the other one tied for first.

The first book in the series, In the Bleak Midwinter, won a boatload of awards, and although it took me a few years to overcome my innate skepticism over all the hype, I now know why it did. Clare and Russ are wonderful, fully fleshed characters, and readers get to know their endearing quirks as well as how strong each of them is.

Clare is Reverend Clare Fergusson of St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Millers Kill, New York. She is single and she works very hard to do as much as she can for her fellow human beings. Russ is the Millers Kill police chief, and he is very much married, although he and his wife have grown apart over the years. With Clare and Russ spending so much time in each other's company, readers can see how good they are together-- how they belong together. As the series progresses, the two fall in love, and it is painful to watch because these are two very good, very honorable, people. As Clare says in Out of the Deep I Cry, "We're going to break each other's heart."  This is forbidden fruit at its finest, and I have to know how their lives are going to turn out.

They're Not All Fairy Tales

As I said at the beginning of this post, crime fiction lovers know that there's something for everybody. This also holds true for "relationship" mysteries. Not all relationships turn out well. Sometimes partners prove themselves to be abusive. 

Just ask Stella Hardesty, a 50-year-old widow who once suffered domestic violence and now runs a sewing shop in Missouri. You see, Sophie Littlefield in her Stella Hardesty series has created a woman who's been there, survived that, and refuses to wear the t-shirt-- but she won't refuse to help any woman who comes to her for help with an abusive partner. Stella knows what relationships are supposed to be like, and with her on the scene, abusers had best change their ways!

Now that I've listed mine-- with the help of a few of my friends-- it's time for some much-wanted input from all of you. Did I list any of your personal favorites? Which ones? More importantly: which ones did I leave out? A true bookaholic can never have too many recommendations!

June 2012 New Mystery Releases!

Mercy, there's a boatload of new mysteries coming out in June that I can't wait to get my hands on! It's as if the publishers know that this is the time of year where I'm to be found sitting in the shady end of the pool, book in hand.

One of these days, I'm going to show you the sheet of notebook paper on which I compile the list of books I intend to feature in a new release post. It's a miracle that I can decipher all the cross-outs, color codes, scribble-throughs, arrows, asterix, and check marks! It turns out that June proved to be a particularly difficult month to narrow down to a dozen titles.

Here are the ones that made the final cut. The books are grouped by release dates, and I've included the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book spots. Hopefully I've chosen a title or two that you just can't do without. (I don't want to be all alone with my endless wish list....) Happy summer  reading!

=== June 5 ===

Title: Threaded for Trouble

Author: Janet Bolin

Series: #2 in the Threadville mystery series set in Elderberry Bay, Pennsylvania

ISBN: 9780425251324

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Synopsis: "Darlene Coddlefield, the winner of a national sewing competition, has come to Willow Vanderling’s embroidery shop, In Stitches, to be presented with a top-of-the-line Chandler Champion sewing and embroidery machine as her prize. But Darlene’s triumph is short-lived after she’s found dead under her sewing table, apparently crushed by the heavy machine.

It soon becomes clear that this was no freak accident. Who had it in for Darlene Coddlefield? The long string of suspects includes Darlene’s fire chief husband. So Willow and her best friend, Haylee, become volunteer firefighters to uncover the truth. But when a second sewing machine sparks trouble, the friends realize they may have jumped from the frying pan into the fire…."

Title: Target: Tinos

Author: Jeffrey Siger

Series: #4 in the Chief Inspector Kaldis series set in Greece

ISBN: 9781590589786

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Paperback, 250 pages

Synopsis: "Set on the Aegean pilgrimage island of Tinos, Siger’s superb fourth procedural featuring Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis cleverly integrates the ancient with the modern. When Andreas looks into the mysterious immolation of two gypsies on Tinos, apparently a hate crime against immigrants, he faces formidable pressures from his fiery fiancée, Lila, whom he’s to marry in six days on nearby Mykonos—and from his wily boss, Spiros Renatis, who abruptly orders him to close the investigation. While the Greek government can’t afford bad publicity during the country’s current financial crisis, Andreas, aided by his feisty chief assistant, Yianni Kouros, and his friend Tassos Stamatos, chief homicide investigator for the Cyclades, pursues this eerie case, which soon involves ruthless Albanian mobsters, the history of Greek independence from Turkey, and a Tinos-based esoteric cult. A likable, compassionate lead; appealing Greek atmosphere; and a well-crafted plot help make this a winner." (Starred review from Publishers Weekly)

Title: An Unmarked Grave

Author: Charles Todd

Series: #4 in the Bess Crawford historical mystery series set in World War I England and France

ISBN: 9780062015723

Publisher: William Morrow

Hardcover, 272 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "In the spring of 1918, the Spanish flu epidemic spreads, killing millions of soldiers and civilians across the globe. Overwhelmed by the constant flow of wounded soldiers coming from the French front, battlefield nurse Bess Crawford must now contend with hundreds of influenza patients as well. 

However, war and disease are not the only killers to strike. Bess discovers, concealed among the dead waiting for burial, the body of an officer who has been murdered. Though she is devoted to all her patients, this soldier's death touches her deeply. Not only did the man serve in her father's former regiment, he was also a family friend. 

Before she can report the terrible news, Bess falls ill, the latest victim of the flu. By the time she recovers, the murdered officer has been buried, and the only other person who saw the body has hanged himself. Or did he? 

Working her father's connections in the military, Bess begins to piece together what little evidence she can find to unmask the elusive killer and see justice served. But she must be as vigilant as she is tenacious. With a determined killer on her heels, each move Bess makes could be her last."

Title: Hearse and Buggy
Author: Laura Bradford
Series: #1 in the Amish mystery series set in Pennsylvania
ISBN: 9780425251317
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages

Synopsis: "Claire Weatherly has fled a high-stress lifestyle for a slower pace—in Amish country: Heavenly, Pennsylvania. She only planned a short visit but instead found herself opening an Amish specialty shop, Heavenly Treasures, and settling in. Claire loves her new home, and she’s slowly making friends among the locals, including Esther, a young Amish woman who works in the shop. So when the store’s former owner,the unlikable Walter Snow, is murdered, and the man Esther is sweet on becomes a suspect, Claire can’t help but get involved.

Newly returned Detective Jakob Fisher, who left Heavenly—and his Amish upbringing—as a teenager, is on the case. But his investigation is stalled by the fact that none of his former community will speak with him. Claire’s connections make her the perfect go-between.

As Claire investigates, she uncovers more than she wanted to know about her neighbors. And suddenly, everything she had hoped to find in this peaceful refuge is at risk...."

Title: Kingdom of Strangers

Author: Zoë Ferraris

Series: #4 in the Hijazi and Sharqi mystery series set in Saudi Arabia

ISBN: 9780316074247

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Hardcover, 368 pages


Synopsis: "A secret grave is unearthed in the desert revealing the bodies of 19 women and the shocking truth that a serial killer has been operating undetected in Jeddah for more than a decade.

However, lead inspector Ibrahim Zahrani is distracted by a mystery closer to home. His mistress has suddenly disappeared, but he cannot report her missing since adultery is punishable by death. With nowhere to turn, Ibrahim brings the case to Katya, one of the few women in the police department. Drawn into both investigations, she must be increasingly careful to hide a secret of her own.

Portraying the lives of women in one of the most closed cultures in the world, award-winning author Zoë Ferraris weaves a tale of psychological suspense around an elusive serial killer and the sinister forces trafficking in human lives in Saudi Arabia."

Title: Dead Scared

Author: S.J. Bolton

Series: #2 in the Detective Constable Lacey Flint series set in England

ISBN: 9780312600532

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 384 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "When a rash of suicides tears through Cambridge University, DI Mark Joesbury recruits DC Lacey Flint to go undercover as a student to investigate. Although each student’s death appears to be a suicide, the psychological histories, social networks, and online activities of the students involved share remarkable similarities, and the London police are not convinced that the victims acted alone. They believe that someone might be preying on lonely and insecure students and either encouraging them to take their own lives or actually luring them to their deaths. As long as Lacey can play the role of a vulnerable young woman, she may be able to stop these deaths, but is it just a role for her? With her fragile past, is she drawing out the killers, or is she herself being drawn into a deadly game where she’s a perfect victim?

Dark and compelling, S. J. Bolton’s latest thriller—a follow-up to the acclaimed Now You See Me—is another work of brilliant psychological suspense that plumbs the most sinister depths."

=== June 12 ===

Title: Cop to Corpse
Author: Peter Lovesey
Series: #12 in the police detective Peter Diamond series set in Bath, England
ISBN: 9781616950781
Publisher: Soho Crime
Hardcover, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "PC Harry Trasker is the third policeman in the Bath area to be shot dead in less than twelve weeks. The assassinations are the work of a sniper who seems to be everywhere and nowhere at once, always a step ahead.The younger detectives do their best with what little evidence he leaves, but they're no match for this murderer and his merciless agenda.

When Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond is assigned to the case, he begins to find curious connections between the dead officers after talking to their widows. But then a chilling encounter wit the killer leaves Diamond in the lurch and the sniper in the wind. Things get even more complicated when the evidence starts to suggest that the killer might be one of Britain's finest--a theory unpopular among Diamond's colleagues. Can Diamond manage to capture an elusive and increasingly dangerous killer while keeping his team from losing faith in him?"

Title: Q: Awakening
Author: G.M. Lawrence
Standalone
ISBN: 9781935142539
Publisher: Variance Publishing
Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "Q: Awakening is the provocative tale of the lost Christian gospel called Q--for the German word "quelle" (the source)--and the brilliant but damaged scholar Declan Stewart, whose destiny is inextricably intertwined with it. From the stormy coasts of New Zealand to the deserts of the Sinai, from the cobbled streets of Zurich to the desolate mountains of Syria, Declan Stewart must locate the scattered clues to solve a 2,000-year-old puzzle in a race against hostile forces that would turn Q to their own dark ends.

Combining the unrelenting tension of an international thriller with the intellectual breadth of a spiritual hero's journey, Q: Awakening delves deeply into the human heart and the yearning of people from every age to find meaning and purpose in the enduring challenges and great questions of life."

=== June 19 ===

Title: A Bad Day for Mercy

Author: Sophie Littlefield

Series: #4 in the Stella Hardesty series set in Missouri

ISBN: 9780312648381

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 272 pages

Synopsis: "A call from Stella’s little sister brings the news that Stella’s step-nephew, Chip, has been threatened with serious bodily harm if he doesn’t settle his unpaid gambling debts. Stella makes the drive to Chip’s home in Wisconsin, only to walk in on a wee-hours dismemberment. Chip and his Russian girlfriend, Natalya, insist the man was left, already dead, on their porch. Suspicious but compelled to help family, Stella tracks down other suspects, including the deceased’s business partner, a purveyor of black-market Botox, and a jilted violist. Matters are complicated by the unexpected arrival of BJ Broderson, who has picked the worst possible time to pursue his amorous intentions toward Stella. Meanwhile, thoughts of Sheriff “Goat” Jones make Stella blush and wonder where, and with whom, she will spend her fifty-first birthday."

Title: Gone Missing

Author: Linda Castillo

Series: #4 in the Kate Burkholder series set in Ohio

ISBN: 9780312658564

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "Rumspringa is the time when Amish teens are allowed to experience life without the rules. It’s an exciting time of personal discovery and growth before committing to the church. But when a young teen disappears without a trace, the carefree fun comes to an abrupt and sinister end, and fear spreads through the community like a contagion. 

A missing child is a nightmare to all parents, and never more so than in the Amish community, where family ties run deep. When the search for the presumed runaway turns up a dead body, the case quickly becomes a murder investigation. And chief of Police Kate Burkholder knows that in order to solve this case she will have to call upon everything she has to give not only as a cop, but as a woman whose own Amish roots run deep.

Kate and state agent, John Tomasetti, delve into the lives of the missing teen and discover links to cold cases that may go back years. But will Kate piece together all the parts of this sinister puzzle in time to save the missing teen and the Amish community from a devastating fate? Or will she find herself locked in a fight to the death with a merciless killer?" 

Title: Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach

Author: Colin Cotterill

Series: #2 in the Jimm Juree series set in rural Thailand

ISBN: 9780312564544

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 336 pages

Synopsis: "When Jimm Juree’s mother sold the family house and invested in a rundown 'holiday camp' at the southern end of Thailand on the Gulf of Siam, the family had little choice but to follow. Jimm Juree, who was well on her way to achieving her goal of becoming the primary crime reporter for the major daily newspaper in Chiang Mai, is less than thrilled to have lost her job as a reporter and to be stuck in the middle of nowhere where little of interest happens. So it is with mixed feelings that she greets the news that a head has washed up on the beach. It’s tragic, of course, but this could be the sort of sensational murder that would get her a byline in a major daily and keep her toehold on her journalism career. Now all she has to do is find out who was murdered, and why."

Title: Blessed Are the Dead

Author: Malla Nunn

Series: #3 in the Emmanuel Cooper series set in 1950s South Africa

ISBN: 9781451616927

Publisher: Atria Books

Paperback, 336 pages

Synopsis: "The body of a beautiful seventeen-year-old Zulu girl, Amahle, is found covered in wildflowers on a hillside in the Drakensberg Mountains, halfway between her father’s compound and the enormous white-owned farm where she worked. Detective Sergeant Cooper and Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala are sent to the desolate landscape to investigate. They soon discover that Amahle’s life was woven into both the black and white communities in ways they could never have imagined. Cooper and Shabalala must enter the guarded worlds of a traditional Zulu clan and a divided white farming community to gather up the secrets she left behind and bring her murderer to justice. 

In a country deeply divided by apartheid, where the law is bent as often as it is broken, Emmanuel Cooper fights against all odds to deliver justice and bring together two seemingly disparate and irreconcilable worlds despite the danger that is arising."

Wow, what a choice list, eh?  Did you add any of these to your wish list? Which ones? Inquiring minds want to know!

June 2011 New Mystery Releases!

With the beginning of June, we've moved right into my prime season for reading. Nothing beats reading in the shade out by the pool with a cold drink close at hand. Beautiful sky, flowers, birds singing, fresh air, sunshine, cool water, and books-- wonderful books. I can't ask for much more than that!

Another thing that's so exciting about June is that there are tons of good books being published, and I have the pleasure of sharing with you the ones that I am anticipating.

The titles are grouped by release dates, and I've included the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book spots.  I hope you're looking forward to reading one or two of these titles outdoors in beautiful summer weather, too!

===June 1===

Title: Classic in the Barn

Author: Amy Myers

Series: #1 in the Jack Colby Car Detective series set in Kent, England

ISBN: 9780727880185
Publisher: Severn House, 2011
Hardcover, 224 pages

Classic car enthusiasts will relate to Jack Colby, the appealing hero of this series debut from British author Myers. During a walk in the Kent countryside, Jack spots a possible project for his classic car restoration business, "a dark-blue 1938 or '39 V12 drophead coupé Lagonda," tucked away in a barn. He's confronted by the owner, widow and former news anchor Polly Davis, who rejects his offer to restore the vehicle. Jack's later efforts to court Polly romantically are cut short by her murder. At the request of Polly's grown daughter, Bea, Jack brings detecting skills acquired helping the police with auto theft cases to bear on finding the killer. Readers, even those neither interested nor versed in the lead's field of expertise, will enjoy this lively, fast-paced mystery and look forward to the sequel.

===June 2===

Title: Hell Is Empty

Author: Craig Johnson

Series: #7 in the Sheriff Walt Longmire series set in Absaroka County, Wyoming

ISBN: 9780670022779

Publisher: Viking Adult, 2011

Hardcover, 320 pages

Well-read and world-weary, Sheriff Walt Longmire has been maintaining order in Wyoming's Absaroka County for more than thirty years, but in this riveting seventh outing, he is pushed to his limits. Raynaud Shade, an adopted Crow Indian, has just confessed to murdering a boy ten years ago and burying him deep within the Big Horn Mountains. After transporting Shade and a group of other convicted murderers through a snowstorm, Walt is informed by the FBI that the body is buried in his jurisdiction-and the victim's name is White Buffalo. Guided only by Indian mysticism and a battered paperback of Dante's Inferno, Walt pursues Shade and his fellow escapees into the icy hell of the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area, cheating death to ensure that justice-both civil and spiritual-is served.

===June 7===

Title: Ink Flamingos

Author: Karen E. Olson

Series: #4 in the Brett Kavanaugh tattoo shop series set in Las Vegas, Nevada

ISBN: 9780451233790

Publisher: Signet, 2011

Paperback, 320 pages

Dee Carmichael, lead singer of the pop sensation The Flamingoes, has been one of Brett Kavanaugh's most dedicated customers at her tattoo shop. When Dee is discovered dead surrounded by ink pots and needles, Brett is branded a suspect.

It seems that someone is impersonating Brett. And if she doesn't act fast, the killer is sure to put the dye in dying once again... 

Title: Dire Threads
Author: Janet Bolin
Series: #1 in the Threadville mystery series set in Elderberry Bay on the shore of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania
ISBN: 9780425241899
Publisher: Berkley, 2011
Paperback, 336 pages

Threadville has everything - a fabric store, yarn shop, notions store, quilting boutique, and Willow Vanderling's brand new shop, In Stitches, a hit with tourists eager to learn embroidering in the latest way, with software and machines.

But when the village's bullying zoning commissioner picks a fight with Willow and turns up dead in Willow's yard, the close-knit community starts unraveling at the seams.

Willow must stitch together clues and find the real murderer, or the next thing she embroiders may be an orange prison jumpsuit...

Title: Sentenced to Death
Author: Lorna Barrett
Series: #5 in the Booktown mystery series set in Stoneham, New Hampshire
ISBN: 9780425241868
Publisher: Berkley, 2011
Paperback, 352 pages

As the owner of Stoneham, New Hampshire's mystery bookstore Haven't Got a Clue, Tricia Miles can figure out whodunit in the latest bestseller long before she gets to the last page. But when her friend is killed in a freak accident, Tricia must use her sleuthing skills to solve a murder mystery that promises to be much more sinister than the books on her shelves. 

Title: Escape Artist
Author: Ed Ifkovic
Series: #2 in the Edna Ferber series
ISBN: 9781590588499
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2011
Paperback, 254 pages

In 1904 Edna Ferber is a nineteen-year-old girl reporter for the Appleton, Wisconsin Crescent, an occupation that many townspeople, including her own family, consider scandalous for a proper young girl. By chance, she interviews Harry Houdini, in town visiting old friends. Houdini, as Ehrich Weiss, spent his boyhood years in the small town. When Frana Lempke, a beautiful young German high-school girl, disappears and is soon discovered murdered, Edna asks Houdini for help in solving the murder.

Title: Sister
Author: Rosamund Lupton
Standalone
ISBN: 9780307716514
Publisher: Crown, 2011
Hardcover, 336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

When her mom calls to tell her that Tess, her younger sister, is missing, Bee returns home to London on the first flight. She expects to find Tess and give her the usual lecture, the bossy big sister scolding her flighty baby sister for taking off without letting anyone know her plans. Tess has always been a free spirit, an artist who takes risks, while conservative Bee couldn’t be more different. Bee is used to watching out for her wayward sibling and is fiercely protective of Tess (and has always been a little stern about her antics). But then Tess is found dead, apparently by her own hand.

Bee is certain that Tess didn’t commit suicide. Their family and the police accept the sad reality, but Bee feels sure that Tess has been murdered.  Single-minded in her search for a killer, Bee moves into Tess's apartment and throws herself headlong into her sister's life--and all its secrets.

Title: To Sketch a Thief
Author: Sharon Pape
Series: #2 in the Portrait of Crime mystery series
ISBN: 9780425241929
Publisher: Berkley, 2011
Paperback, 304 pages

After a stray dog named Hobo leads former police sketch artist turned paranormal private eye Rory McCain back to his owner's corpse, she finds herself involved in another homicide case-- not to mention the new owner of a lovable pooch which makes Rory's ghostly partner, Zeke, more than a little spooked.

Title: Now You See Me
Author: S.J. Bolton
Standalone
ISBN: 9780312600525
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2011
Hardcover, 400 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

One night after interviewing a reluctant witness at a London apartment complex, Lacey Flint, a young detective constable, stumbles onto a woman brutally stabbed just moments before in the building’s darkened parking lot. Within twenty-four hours a reporter receives an anonymous letter that points out alarming similarities between the murder and Jack the Ripper’s first murder—a letter that calls out Lacey by name. If it’s real, and they have a killer bent on re-creating London’s bloody past, history shows they have just five days until the next attempt.

No one believes the connections are anything more than a sadistic killer’s game, not even Lacey, whom the killer seems to be taunting specifically. However, as they investigate the details of the case start reminding her more and more of a part of her past she’d rather keep hidden. And the only way to do that is to catch the killer herself.

===June 21===

Title: Breaking Silence

Author: Linda Castillo

Series: #3 in the Kate Burkholder series set in the Ohio Amish country

ISBN: 9780312374990

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2011

Hardcover, 320 pages

The Slabaugh family are model Amish farmers, prosperous and hardworking, with four children and a happy extended family. When the parents and an uncle are found dead in their barn, it appears to be a gruesome accident: methane gas asphyxiation caused by a poorly ventilated cesspit. But in the course of a routine autopsy, the coroner discovers that one of the victims suffered a head wound before death—clearly, foul play was involved. But who would want to make orphans of the Slabaughs’ children? And is this murder somehow related to a recent string of shocking hate crimes against the Amish? 

Having grown up Amish, Kate is determined to bring the killer to justice. Because the other series of attacks are designated hate crimes, the state sends in agent John Tomasetti, with whom Kate has a long and complex relationship. Together, they search for the link between the crimes—and uncover a dark secret at work beneath the placid surface of this idyllic Amish community. 

Title: A Bad Day for Scandal
Author: Sophie Littlefield
Series: #3 in the Stella Hardesty series set in smalltown Missouri
ISBN: 9780312648374
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2011
Hardcover, 304 pages

When Prosper homegirl turned big-city businesswoman Priss Porter returns to town with a body in her trunk, she calls Stella Hardesty to dispose of it. Her uppity ways don’t convince Stella to take the job, and Priss attempts to blackmail her with a snapshot of Stella doing what she does best: curing woman-beaters by the use of force.      
Stella refuses to cooperate and goes home, only to hear later that Priss and her brother, Liman, have gone missing after calling in a disturbance. Stella is implicated when Sheriff “Goat” Jones discovers the scarf she left behind at the house. He warns her to stay local but Stella and her partner, Chrissy Shaw, go looking for Priss in Kansas City, where they discover that she runs an unusual business. When Priss herself—along with two other bodies—turns up in a pond belonging to one of Stella’s ex-clients, Stella must investigate a host of suspects, including a crooked but libidinous female judge, a coterie of jealous male escorts, and a Marxist ex-professor.

===June 24===

Title: The Samaritan

Author: Stephen Besecker

Standalone

ISBN: 9781610880091

Publisher: Bancroft Press, 2011

Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

As a kid, Kevin ''Hatch'' Easter never had it easy, growing up half Seneca Indian in a mostly white society. Following the tragic death of his parents when he was only nine, Hatch found himself living on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation with his shaman grandfather.

But as an adult, he's found a job he believes in--tracker for the Central Intelligence Agency--and a wife, Karen, he cherishes. That life is shattered on a hot August night in New York City when a mob collection gone wrong leaves three people dead, Karen Easter among them. Just a few days later, police find the gunman dead, the murder weapon on him, and the criminal case is all but closed. Except someone doesn't buy it. Someone thinks the guilty parties are still out there. And that someone wants revenge.

Now, a highly professional hunter stalks the streets of New York City, taking out anyone who may have had a hand in the murders. As the city threatens to descend into all-out war, one question is paramount: Who is the hunter killing the killers, and how can he be stopped?

===June 28===

Title: Lake Charles

Author: Ed Lynskey

Standalone

ISBN: 9781434430465

Publisher: Wildside Press, 2011

Paperback, 188 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Ed Lynskey, one of the most acclaimed modern crime noir authors, returns to the Smoky Mountains with a new hardboiled tale of murder, passion, and intense action. 

Title: The Map of Time
Author: Felix J. Palma
Standalone
ISBN: 9781439167397
Publisher: Atria, 2011
Hardcover, 624 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

The phenomenal international bestseller set in Victorian London with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time is a page-turner that boasts a triple play of intertwined plots in which a skeptical H. G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including Dracula and The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence. What happens if we change history? Félix J. Palma explores this question in The Map of Time, weaving a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting—a story full of love and adventure that transports readers to a haunting setting in Victorian London for their own taste of time travel. 


See what I mean about June being loaded with books that scream to be read? Which ones did you add to your own wish lists? Do tell!

A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield

Title: A Bad Day for Sorry
Author: Sophie Littlefield
ISBN: 9780312643232
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2010
Paperback, 288 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth, #1 Stella Hardesty mystery
Rating: B
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

First Line: Stella knew from experience that Roy Dean Shaw wasn't a particularly brave young buck.

Just before her fiftieth birthday, Stella couldn't take it anymore. When her abusive husband laid into her, she dispatched him with a wrench. Now a few years later, she's so busy helping other women deal with their own abusive husbands and handing out her own brand of justice, there's scarcely any time left for her to run her sewing shop.

Stella works outside the law, so she's free to do whatever it takes to convince these violent men to stop what they've been doing. All she has to do is keep her distance from Goat Jones, the handsome local sheriff. When young mother Chrissy Shaw asks for Stella's help with her abusive husband, Roy Dean, it looks like just another day in Stella's office. But when Chrissy's two-year-old son is taken from her, Stella finds that she's got a lot more to worry about than skinny old Roy Dean.

A Bad Day for Sorry has to have one of the most memorable prologues I've read in years. Stella is an original; she endured an abusive husband for years, and as a result she tends to view things differently from those of us who haven't. Her own homegrown brand of justice must appeal to any woman who's found our existing legal system less than ideal for dealing with a man who believes beating the crap out of a woman is a divine right.

Unfortunately for Stella, word of mouth has spread, and she's now got so much business that, not only is her real business-- the sewing shop-- suffering, she can't even have a day off:

Stella picked off the sons-of-bitches one by one, leaving their women free to breathe easy, to live without dread as their constant companion. And now this sideline threatened to overtake her real job, the shop she'd inherited from Ollie, supplying the women of Prosper with sewing notions and keeping their sewing machines in good working order. Every time she thought she'd earned some time off, a new woman would show up, terrified or battered or both, but finally ready to make it stop. And Stella knew what kind of courage that took-- and she never turned a client away.

I liked the character of Stella and her voice, and although I did enjoy the book as a whole, I did have a couple of problems with it. For a woman in her mid-fifties, Stella has a tendency to behave as though she's ten feet tall and bullet-proof-- for example going alone to a deserted area after dark to meet someone when she knows something's not right. Chrissy Shaw, the young mother whose son is taken from her, begins her characterization as the complete blond bimbo-- totally cowed by an abusive husband, unable to think or talk above a slow stumble. Less than twenty-four hours after losing her son, Chrissy goes from Bimbo to Rambo in the blink of an eye. I just find it difficult to believe that someone who's been so completely under her husband's thumb could make such a stunning transformation that quickly.

But, as I said, I did enjoy this book. Stella is feisty and funny, and as long as she's not being beaten up on a regular basis, I can see myself reading this series for a long time to come. A word of caution, however: the language can be salty at times and there is violence. Both fell well within my parameters, but your mileage may vary.

Buy from Amazon.

Buy from The Book Depository.

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