A Well-Timed Murder by Tracee de Hahn

First Line: There was a crowd but none of them mattered.

Still recuperating from injuries she sustained in her last case, Inspector Agnes Lüthi is on leave in Lausanne, Switzerland, visiting the world's premier watch and jewelry trade show with a colleague. Another friend-- Julien Vallotton-- is also there and is looking for her. Vallotton was a friend of Guy Chavanon, a master watchmaker. Chavanon recently died, and his daughter does not think his death was accidental. Shortly before his death, he had boasted that he had discovered a new technique that would revolutionize the watchmaking industry, and his daughter believes someone killed him for it. Reluctantly, Agnes agrees to investigate, not understanding how secretive-- and ultimately dangerous-- the world of Swiss watchmaking is.

This is the second book in Tracee de Hahn's Agnes Lüthi series and like the first book, Swiss Vendetta, the setting of Switzerland in A Well-Timed Murder is particularly well done. I also enjoyed learning about the history of watchmaking, and Lüthi still has her well-developed eye for the telling detail as well as her ability to put all those clues together.

The beginning and the end of this book flowed smoothly and certainly kept my interest, but A Well-Timed Murder, to an even greater degree than the first book in the series, suffers from "too much middle" when the pace drags and the story begins to lose its focus. I'm in a quandry. I truly enjoy the setting and the main character, but I do not like reading a book where I find myself wanting to skim through the middle third. Will I read the next book? I do not know.

A Well-Timed Murder by Tracee de Hahn

eISBN: 9781250110022

Minotaur Books © 2018

eBook, 347 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Agnes Lüthi mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley

February 2018 New Mystery Releases!

When I lived elsewhere, January and February were months I loathed. Some sort of blizzard always blew through for my birthday. The skies were always gray. The snow always rapidly turned to grainy, ugly slush. Yuck.

Now here in the Valley of the Sun, I'm writing this post on January 29, and spring is definitely on the way. Certain flowers and shrubs are blooming, making me sneeze a time or two throughout the day, and it's amazing how quickly the days seem to be getting longer. Huzzah! This makes for a new and improved Miz Kittling, I tell you, and my reading speed has picked up accordingly, so I always have to be on the lookout for new material.

These are my picks of the newest in crime fiction being released throughout the month of February. I've grouped them according to release dates and given you a little information about each one. Covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Hopefully, I've chosen a title or two that tickles your fancy! Let's check them out....

=== February 1 ===

Title: The Mechanical Devil

Author: Kate Ellis

Series: #22 in the Wesley Peterson police procedural series set in the south of England.

384 pages

*UK Release 

Synopsis: "When archaeologist Neil Watson unearths a long-buried mechanical figure in a Dartmoor field, he is determined to discover the truth behind the bizarre find.

Soon, however, the sleepy village becomes the focus of press attention for another reason when two people with no apparent connection to each other are found shot dead in nearby Manor Field, seemingly victims of an execution-style double murder.

DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate, but the two murders aren't his only problem. The daughter of a local MP has gone missing and the pressure is on to find her, especially when it's revealed that she has a connection to one of the murder victims. And Wesley's own life is thrown into turmoil when a woman he helped on a previous investigation finds herself subjected to a campaign of terror . . .

Is there a link between the double murder and the accidental death of a young history student in Manor Field twenty years ago? And just what is the true identity of the Mechanical Devil?"

=== February 6 ===

Title: A Well-Timed Murder

Author: Tracee de Hahn

Series: #2 in the Agnes Lüthi police procedural series set in Switzerland.

352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Swiss-American police officer Agnes Lüthi is on leave in Lausanne, Switzerland, recovering from injuries she sustained in her last case, when an old colleague invites her to the world’s premier watch and jewelry trade show at the grand Messe Basel Exhibition Hall. Little does Agnes know, another friend of hers, Julien Vallotton, is at the same trade show―and he’s looking for Agnes. Julien Vallotton was friends with Guy Chavanon, a master of one of Switzerland’s oldest arts: watchmaking. Chavanon died a week ago, and his daughter doesn’t believe his death was accidental. Shortly before he died, Chavanon boasted that he’d discovered a new technique that would revolutionize the watchmaking industry, and she believes he may have been killed for it. Reluctantly, Agnes agrees to investigate his death. But the world of Swiss watchmaking is guarded and secretive, and before she realizes it, Agnes may be walking straight into the path of a killer."

Title: Forty Dead Men

Author: Donis Casey

Series: #10 in the Alafair Tucker historical mystery series set in 1918 Oklahoma.

250 pages 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "World War I is over. Alafair is overjoyed that her elder son, George Washington Tucker, has finally returned home from the battlefields of France. Yet she is the only one in the family who senses that he has somehow changed.

Gee Dub moves back into his old bunkhouse quarters, but he's restless and spends his days roaming. One rainy day while out riding he spies a woman trudging along the country road. She's thoroughly skittish and rejects his help. So Gee Dub cannily rides for home to enlist his mother in offering the exhausted traveler shelter.

Once made comfortable at the Tucker farm, Holly Johnson reveals she's forged her way from Maine to Oklahoma in hopes of finding the soldier she married before he shipped to France. At the war's end, Daniel Johnson disappeared without a trace. It's been months. Is he alive? Is she a widow?

Holly is following her only lead - that Dan has connected with his parents who live yonder in Okmulgee. Gee Dub, desperate for some kind of mission, resolves to shepherd Holly through her quest although the prickly young woman spurns any aid. Meanwhile, Alafair has discovered that Gee Dub sleeps with two cartridge boxes under his pillow - boxes containing twenty "dead men" each. The boxes are empty, save for one bullet. She recognizes in Gee Dub and Holly that not all war wounds are physical.

Then Holly's missing husband turns up, shot dead. Gee Dub is arrested on suspicion of murder, and the entire extended Tucker family rallies to his defense. He says he had no reason to do it, but the solitary bullet under Gee Dub's pillow is gone. Regardless, be he guilty or innocent, his mother will travel any distance and go to any lengths to keep him out of prison."

Title: The Imam of Tawi-Tawi

Author: Ian Hamilton

Series: #11 in the Ava Lee series featuring a Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant whose work is based in Hong Kong.

400 pages.

Synopsis: "Ava has spent two nights luxuriating in a hotel in Yunnan Province with the actress Pang Fai, with whom she has begun a secret relationship. She receives an urgent phone call from Chang Wang, the right hand to the billionaire Tommy Ordonez and one of Uncle’s oldest friends. Years ago, Ava and Uncle helped Tommy recover $50 million in a land swindle.

Uncle Chang asks Ava to fly to Manila to meet with his friend, Senator Miguel Ramirez. Ramirez asks Ava to investigate a college in Tawi-Tawi, an island province in the Philippines, which he suspects is training terrorists. Ava’s investigation leads to a partnership with a CIA agent, and together they attempt to stop an international plot, horrific in size and scope, only to have it turn on them. Ava’s judgment and morals — which Uncle helped her forge — are tested like never before." 

Title: Force of Nature

Author: Jane Harper

Series: #2 in the Aaron Falk police procedural series set in Australia.

336 pages

Synopsis: "When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.

But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?"

=== February 8 ===

Title: Death & the Viking's Daughter

Author: Loretta Ross

Series: #4 in the Auction Block cozy series set in Missouri. 

288 pages

Synopsis: "Auctioneer Wren Morgan and her private eye fiancé Death (pronounced "Deeth") Bogart are ready to meet each other's parents and settle down together. But their sleuthing days are far from over. While Death and Wren are helping prepare auction items at an old supper club, a Viking reenactor nearly dies at the historical settlement next door. The cause? Seeing the ghost of his daughter, who went missing twenty years ago.

As Wren looks into what happened to the Viking's daughter, Death is hired to investigate the theft of historical items that have high sentimental value. When their respective investigations turn out to be connected, the couple gets caught in a deadly conflict."

Title: The Dark Angel

Author: Elly Griffiths

Series: #10 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway series set in Italy.

368 pages

*UK Release

Synopsis: "Dr. Ruth Galloway is flattered when she receives a letter from Italian archaeologist Dr. Angelo Morelli, asking for her help. He's discovered a group of bones in a tiny hilltop village near Rome but doesn't know what to make of them. It's years since Ruth has had a holiday, and even a working holiday to Italy is very welcome!

So Ruth travels to Castello degli Angeli, accompanied by her daughter Kate and friend Shona. In the town she finds a baffling Roman mystery and a dark secret involving the war years and the Resistance. To her amazement she also soon finds Harry Nelson, with Cathbad in tow. But there is no time to overcome their mutual shock - the ancient bones spark a modern murder, and Ruth must discover what secrets there are in Castello degli Angeli that someone would kill to protect." 

===February 13 ===

Title: The Cat of the Baskervilles

Author: Vicki Delany

Series: #3 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop cozy series set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Legendary stage and movie star Sir Nigel Bellingham arrives on Cape Cod to star in a stage production of The Hound of the Baskervilles put on by the West London Theater Festival. When Sir Nigel, some of the cast, and the director visit the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop at 222 Baker Street, Gemma Doyle realizes that Sir Nigel is not at all suited to the role. He is long past his prime and an old drunk to boot.

The cast, in particular the much younger actor who previously had the role, are not happy, but the show must go on.

Before the play opens, Leslie Wilson, mother of Gemma’s best friend Jayne, arranges a fundraising afternoon tea to be catered by Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room. The tea is a huge success, but when it’s time to leave, Sir Nigel has gone missing―only to be found at the bottom of the rocky cliff, dead. Along with the dead body, Gemma finds evidence incriminating Leslie Wilson. When the police, in the presence of handsome detective Ryan Ashburton and suspicious detective Louise Estrada, focus their attention on Leslie despite the numerous other suspects, the game is once again afoot and it’s again up to the highly perceptive Gemma and the ever-confused but loyal Jayne to clear Jayne’s mother’s name."

Title: A Dangerous Crossing

Author: Ausma Zehanat Khan

Series: #4 in the Esa Khattak & Rachel Getty police procedural series set in various European countries.

352 pages

Synopsis: "For Inspector Esa Khattak and Sergeant Rachel Getty, the Syrian refugee crisis is about to become personal. Esa’s childhood friend, Nathan Clare, calls him in distress: his sister, Audrey, has vanished from a Greek island where the siblings run an NGO. Audrey had been working to fast-track refugees to Canada, but now, she is implicated in the double-murder of a French Interpol agent and a young man who had fled the devastation in Syria.

Esa and Rachel arrive in Greece to a shocking scene, witnessing for themselves the massive fallout of the Syrian war in the wretched refugee camps. Tracing Audrey’s last movements, they meet some of the volunteers and refugees―one of whom, Ali, is involved in a search of his own, for a girl whose disappearance may be connected to their investigation. The arrival of Sehr Ghilzai―a former prosecutor who now handles refugee claims for Audrey’s NGO―further complicates the matter for Esa, as his feelings towards her remain unresolved.

Working against time, with Interpol at their heels, Esa and Rachel follow a trail that takes them from the beaches of Greece to the Turkish–Syrian border, and across Europe, reaching even the corridors of power in the Netherlands. Had Audrey been on the edge of a dangerous discovery, hidden at the heart of this darkest of crises―one which ultimately put a target on her own back?" 

=== February 20 ===

Title: The Tuscan Child

Author: Rhys Bowen

Standalone set in Italy.

352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.

Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.

Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now…"

=== February 27 ===

Title: The Pajama Frame

Author: Diane Vallere

Series: #5 in the Madison Night cozy series set in Texas.

268 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Interior decorator Madison Night is no stranger to the occasional odd inheritance. But when an octogenarian friend dies and leaves her a pajama factory, the bounty is bittersweet.

Once a thriving business, Sweet Dreams closed decades ago after a tragic accident took the life of a young model. Or was that simply a cover-up?

Between her friend’s death and her own stagnant life, Madison is tempted to hide under a blanket of willful ignorance.

But when family members and special interest groups lobby to expose the secrets of the factory, Madison gets caught in a tangle of secrets and lies and discovers that sometimes, the bed you make is not your own." 

Title: I Know What You Bid Last Summer

Author: Sherry Harris

Series: #5 in the Garage Sale cozy series set in Massachusetts.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "When it comes to running a successful garage sale, Sarah Winston believes in doing her homework. She also believes in giving back. But when she agrees to manage an athletic equipment swap, she doesn't bargain on an uncharitable killer. The day of the event, the school superintendent is found dead in the gymnasium.
 
Suddenly the murder suspects are the school board members—including the husband of a very difficult client who's hired Sarah to run a high-end sale and demands she do her bidding. In between tagging and haggling, Sarah studies the clues to see who wanted to teach the superintendent a lesson. But as she closes in on the truth, the killer intends to give her a crash course on minding her own business . . ." 

I think you'll agree with me that February is a strong month for new mysteries. I'm especially pleased that two of my favorite British authors-- Kate Ellis and Elly Griffiths-- have new books out.

Book I'm looking forward to the most? The Dark Angel. Ruth Galloway in Italy? Count me in! Most striking cover? I'd have to make a choice between Force of Nature, Forty Dead Men, and The Dark Angel, and I think the nod would go to Force of Nature.

What say all of you? Which titles are you looking forward to the most? Inquiring minds would love to know!

Swiss Vendetta by Tracee de Hahn

First Line: Felicity Cowell fled, her bare feet slapping the cold stone of the corridor.

Wanting to rid herself of all reminders of her old life following her husband's death, Inspector Agnes Lüthi has just transferred to the Violent Crimes Unit from Financial Crimes in Lausanne, Switzerland. On the eve of the worst blizzard the city has seen in centuries, Lüthi is called out to her first homicide. A young woman has been found stabbed to death on the lawn of the grand Château Vallotton at the edge of Lac Léman. An appraiser for a London auction house, the dead woman had been taking inventory at the château, a medieval fortress crammed with priceless works of art and historical treasures.

Lüthi finds it difficult to obtain information from anyone, and as the blizzard rages on, roads become impassable and the power goes out. The inspector is now trapped with all the players in this mystery, out of her depth in her first murder case, and still struggling to cope with her husband's death.

The investigation in Swiss Vendetta only took four days, but it seemed much longer. This is due in part to the claustrophobic weather and the locked room angle of the story, but it's also due to a slow pace that hampers the first half of the book. It was much too soon for Lüthi to lead any sort of investigation, but once the truth surrounding her husband's death is revealed, the pace picks up and the inspector shows a fine eye for detail and for putting clues together.

The author has created a strong, atmospheric setting as well as an intriguing mystery peopled with a varied and interesting cast. From the hidden life of the dead woman to servants who have been loyal to their employers for generations, de Hahn drew me right into the lives of the old nobility who are accustomed to their treasure-filled ancient castles and mansions.

I enjoyed my visit to Lausanne and look forward to Inspector Agnes Lüthi's next case.
    

Swiss Vendetta by Tracee de Hahn

eISBN: 9781250110008

Minotaur Books © 2017

eBook, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Inspector Agnes Lüthi mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

February 2017 New Mystery Releases!

There is an absolute feast of new crime fiction being released during the month of February-- both established and debut authors-- and I have to admit that I didn't stick to my usual limit of a baker's dozen for the month.

Since I threw restraint out the window, I'm not going to spend a lot of time blathering on about the weather or anything else. It's damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead! 

I've grouped the books according to their release dates, and I've included all the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book spots. Covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Wait till you get a load of these books!

=== February 1 ===

Title: The Shivering Turn

Author: Sally Spencer 

Series: #1 in the P.I. Jennie Redhead series set in Oxford, England.

ISBN: 9780727886675

Publisher: Severn House

Hardcover, 224 pages

Synopsis: "'My daughter's not just run away - she's dead!' When Mary Corbet walks into private investigator Jennie Redhead's rundown Oxford office one pleasant spring day in 1974, she is a desperate woman. Although she's convinced her daughter has been murdered, she can get neither the police nor her husband to agree with her.

Jennie is not convinced either, but more out of compassion than conviction agrees to take the case. The only clue she has to go on is a fragment of an obscure 17th-century poem she finds in Linda’s bedroom: Or will you, like a cold and errant coward/Abandon all and make a shivering turn. But from that one clue Jennie’s investigations will lead her beyond the city's dreaming spires to Oxford's darker underbelly, in which lurks a hidden world of privilege, violence, and excess." 

=== February 7 ===

Title: Swiss Vendetta
Author: Tracee de Hahn
Series: #1 in the Inspector Agnes Lüthi police procedural series set outside Lausanne, Switzerland.
ISBN: 9781250109996
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 368 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Inspector Agnes Lüthi, a Swiss-American police officer in Lausanne, Switzerland, has just transferred to the Violent Crimes unit from Financial Crimes to try to shed all reminders of her old life following her husband's death. Now, on the eve of the worst blizzard Lausanne has seen in centuries, Agnes has been called to investigate her very first homicide case. On the lawn of the grand Château Vallotton, at the edge of Lac Léman, a young woman has been found stabbed to death. The woman, an appraiser for a London auction house, had been taking inventory at the château, a medieval fortress dripping in priceless works of art and historical treasures.

Agnes finds it difficult to draw answers out of anyone―the tight-lipped Swiss family living in the château, the servants who have been loyal to the family for generations, the aging WWII survivor who lives in the neighboring mansion, even the American history student studying at the Vallotton château's library. As the storm rages on, roads become impassible, the power goes out around Lausanne, and Agnes finds herself trapped in the candlelit halls of the château with all the players of the mystery, out of her depth in her first murder case and still struggling to stay afloat after the death of her husband." 

Title: Desert Vengeance
Author: Betty Webb
Series:#9 in the Lena Jones private investigator series set in Scottsdale, Arizona.
ISBN: 9781464205934 
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 284 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "When the man who raped Scottsdale PI Lena Jones when she was a nine-year-old foster child is released from prison, Lena is waiting for him in the parking lot-with a big knife. "Papa" Brian Wycoff survives their meeting, but the next day, his wife, who knew about his crimes but did nothing to stop him-in fact enabled him-is found dead in their Apache Junction home, shot through both eyes. Terrified he will be next, Wycoff, violating his parole, flees north to the small town of Black Canyon City, taking shelter in an RV on his brother-in-law's small ranch. A couple of days later, he is found tortured to death, eight horizontal marks burned into his flesh. One for each of his victims?

Suspicion first falls upon Lena, who has trailed Wycoff to Black Canyon City to make sure he doesn't come near any other children. When the local authorities arrive to question her, she admits to having been tempted to kill her former foster father, but someone beat her to the punch. Suspicion then falls on Wycoff's other victims, the now-grown men and women he abused when they were still in his care, and on the mothers of the children who went missing before his arrest.

When Lena takes up the case, more to protect one of the mothers who has been arrested than to find the real killer, her conscience is torn. Does a serial child rapist, a pedophile also implicated in the disappearance of several children, really deserve justice? That choice might not be left up to Lena when members of a local group, Parents of Missing Children, start working to prevent her investigation from succeeding. How far will they go to make sure she fails?" 

Title: Death in Advertising
Author: Laura Bradford
Series: #1 in the Tobi Tobias cozy series set in St. Louis, Missouri.
ISBN: 9781516102075
Publisher: Lyrical Underground
Paperback, 212 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Sometimes when opportunity knocks, the door you open leads to a closet. That’s certainly the case for Tobi, whose weekends spent cleaning cages in her best friend’s pet shop may soon be over. She’s just landed her first big break—Zander Closet Company needs a catchy campaign slogan ASAP, and Tobi thinks she’s got the right hook to knock ’em dead: 'When we’re done, even your skeletons will have a place.'

But when a real dead body topples out of a showcase closet, she’s about to discover there is such a thing as bad publicity. To save her fledgling business and not get killed by the competition, Tobi takes on a new pet project: solving the murder. But with a stressed-out parrot as the only witness to the crime, Tobi will really have to wing it to put the cagey killer behind bars." 

Title: Shadows on the Lake
Authors: Giovanni Cocco and Amneris Magella
Translator: Stephen Sartarelli
Series: #1 in the Inspector Stefania Valenti police procedural set in Lake Como, Italy.
ISBN: 9780143127253 
Publisher: Penguin Books
Paperback, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "During the construction of a new road to the Swiss border in the mountains above Lake Como, the remains of a young man are unearthed on the powerful Cappelletti family’s property. On the case is Stefania Valenti, forty-five, divorced with a young daughter, and a brilliant, determined police inspector.

Her investigation takes her back to World War II and deep into the history of the region, a place that during the war attracted smugglers, deserters, secret agents, and fleeing Jews. Steeped in the beautiful atmosphere of Northern Italy, Valenti’s investigation brings to light a family’s secret, a tragic romance, and reveals a fascinating piece of Italian history."     

Title: Bookman Dead Style
Author: Paige Shelton
Series: #2 in the Dangerous Type cozy series set in the mountains of Utah.
ISBN: 9780425277263
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "It’s January, and the Star City Film Festival has taken the Utah ski resort town by storm. Movie stars are everywhere, carving fresh powder on the slopes and crossing the thresholds of Bygone Alley’s charming boutique shops—including The Rescued Word, where Clare Henry and her grandfather restore old typewriters and beloved books. When cinema’s hottest superhero, Matt Bane, enters their store to buy some personalized notecards, it’s hard not to be starstruck.

But when Clare sees the police leading Matt out of The Fountain hotel in handcuffs only a few hours later, she can’t believe her eyes. The affable actor is accused of killing his sister, but Clare’s convinced he’s wrong for that role. Now it’s open call for suspects as Clare tries to reel in the killer before another victim fades to black..."  

Title: Garden of Lamentations
Author: Deborah Crombie
Series: #17 in the Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James police procedural series set in London, England.
ISBN: 9780062271631
Publisher: William Morrow
Hardcover, 432 pages

Synopsis: "Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are drawn into separate investigations that hold disturbing—and deadly—complications for their own lives in this powerful mystery in the bestselling series.

On a beautiful morning in mid-May, the body of a young woman is found in one of Notting Hill’s private gardens. To passersby, the pretty girl in the white dress looks as if she’s sleeping. But Reagan Keating has been murdered, and the lead detective, DI Kerry Boatman, turns to Gemma James for help. She and Gemma worked together on a previous investigation, and Gemma has a personal connection to the case: Reagan was the nanny of a child who attends the same dance studio as Toby, Gemma and Kincaid’s son.

Gemma soon discovers that Reagan’s death is the second tragedy in this exclusive London park; a few months before, a young boy died in a tragic accident. But when still another of the garden residents meets a violent end, it becomes clear that there are more sinister forces at play. Boatman and Gemma must stop the killer before another innocent life is taken.

While his wife is consumed with her new case, Kincaid finds himself plagued by disturbing questions about several previous—and seemingly unrelated—cases involving members of the force. If his suspicions are correct and the crimes are linked, are his family and friends in mortal danger as well? Kincaid’s hunch turns to certainty when a Metropolitan Police officer close to him is brutally attacked. There’s a traitor in the ranks, and now Kincaid wonders if he can trust anyone.

As Gemma begins to see a solution to her case, she realizes she holds a child’s fate in her hands. Can she do the right thing? And can Kincaid rely on his friends, both inside and outside the Scotland Yard force, to stand beside him as he faces the deadliest challenge of his career?"  

=== February 8 ===

Title: Death & the Gravedigger's Angel

Author: Loretta Ross   

Series: #3 in the Auction Block cozy series set in Missouri.
ISBN: 9780738750415
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Paperback, 264 pages

Synopsis: "When former army medic Tony Dozier is accused of killing a member of the hate group that disrupted his wife’s funeral, the prosecution charges premeditated murder and the defense claims temporary insanity. Former marine Death Bogart and auctioneer Wren Morgan think there’s more to the story.

They’re both led to the long-abandoned Hadleigh House, where Wren begins preparing the contents for auction but ends up appraising the story behind an antique sketchbook. As Wren uncovers the century-old tale of a World War I soldier and his angel, Death finds a set of truths that will change...or end...their lives." 

=== February 9 ===

Title: The Women of Baker Street

Author: Michelle Birkby

Series: #2 in the Mrs. Hudson and Mary Watson historical series set in London, England. 

ISBN: 9781509809738

Publisher: Pan

Paperback, 352 pages

UK Release

Synopsis: "As Sherlock and Watson return from the famous Hound of the Baskervilles case, Mrs Hudson and Mary must face their own Hound, in the swirling fog of Victorian London . . .

When Mrs Hudson falls ill, she is taken into a private ward at St Barts hospital. Perhaps it is her over-active imagination, or her penchant for sniffing out secrets, but as she lies in her bed, slowly recovering, she finds herself surrounded by patients who all have some skeletons in their closets. A higher number of deaths than usual seem to occur on this ward. On her very first night, Mrs Hudson believes she witnesses a murder. But was it real, or just smoke and mirrors?

Mary Watson meanwhile has heard about young boys disappearing across London, and is determined to find them and reunite them with their families. As the women's investigations collide in unexpected ways, a gruesome discovery in Regent's Park leads them on to a new, terrifying case."  

=== February 14 ===

Title: August Snow

Author: Stephen Mack Jones

Standalone hardboiled mystery set in Detroit, Michigan. 

ISBN: 9781616957186

Publisher: Soho Crime

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Tough, smart, and struggling to stay alive, August Snow is the embodiment of Detroit. The son of an African-American father and a Mexican-American mother, August grew up in the city’s Mexicantown and joined the police force only to be drummed out by a conspiracy of corrupt cops and politicians. But August fought back; he took on the city and got himself a $12 million wrongful dismissal settlement that left him low on friends. He has just returned to the house he grew up in after a year away, and quickly learns he has many scores to settle.

It’s not long before he’s summoned to the palatial Grosse Pointe Estates home of business magnate Eleanore Paget. Powerful and manipulative, Paget wants August to investigate the increasingly unusual happenings at her private wealth management bank. But detective work is no longer August’s beat, and he declines. A day later, Paget is dead of an apparent suicide—which August isn’t buying for a minute.

What begins as an inquiry into Eleanore Paget’s death soon drags August into a rat’s nest of Detroit’s most dangerous criminals, from corporate embezzlers to tattooed mercenaries."

Title: Among the Ruins

Author: Ausma Zehanat Khan

Series: #3 in the Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty police procedural series, this time set in Iran.

ISBN: 9781250096739

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 368 pages

Synopsis: "On leave from Canada’s Community Policing department, Esa Khattak is traveling in Iran, reconnecting with his cultural heritage and seeking peace in the country’s beautiful mosques and gardens. But Khattak’s supposed break from work is cut short when he’s approached by a Canadian government agent in Iran, asking him to look into the death of renowned Canadian-Iranian filmmaker Zahra Sobhani. Zahra was murdered at Iran’s notorious Evin prison, where she’d been seeking the release of a well-known political prisoner. Khattak quickly finds himself embroiled in Iran’s tumultuous politics and under surveillance by the regime, but when the trail leads back to Zahra’s family in Canada, Khattak calls on his partner, Detective Rachel Getty, for help.

Rachel uncovers a conspiracy linked to the Shah of Iran and the decades-old murders of a group of Iran’s most famous dissidents. Historic letters, a connection to the Royal Ontario Museum, and a smuggling operation on the Caspian Sea are just some of the threads Rachel and Khattak begin unraveling, while the list of suspects stretches from Tehran to Toronto. But as Khattak gets caught up in the fate of Iran’s political prisoners, Rachel sees through to the heart of the matter: Zahra’s murder may not have been a political crime at all." 

=== February 21 ===

Title: A Cast of Vultures

Author: Judith Flanders

Series: #3 in the Samantha Clair amateur sleuth series set in London, England.

ISBN: 9781250087829

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Usually clear-headed editor Samantha Clair stumbles through her post-book-party morning with the hangover to end all hangovers. But before the ibuprofen has even kicked in, she finds herself entangled in an elaborate saga of missing neighbors, suspected arson, and strange men offering free tattoos.

By the time the grisly news breaks that the fire has claimed a victim, Sam is already in pursuit. Never has comedy been so deadly as she faces down a pair from Thugs ’R’ Us, aided by nothing more than a Scotland Yard boyfriend, a stalwart Goth assistant, and an unnerving knowledge of London’s best farmer’s markets.

From the acclaimed bestselling author Judith Flanders, A Cast of Vultures continues the sharp-witted series starring book editor and amateur sleuth Samantha Clair." 

=== February 23 ===

Title: The Chalk Pit

Author: Elly Griffiths

Series: #9 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson series set in Norfolk, England. 

ISBN: 9781784296599

Publisher: Quercus Books

Hardcover, 384 pages

UK Release

Synopsis: "WINNER OF THE 2016 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY. Boiled human bones have been found in Norwich's web of underground tunnels. When Dr Ruth Galloway discovers they were recently buried, DCI Nelson has a murder enquiry on his hands. The boiling might have been just a medieval curiosity - now it suggests a much more sinister purpose.

Meanwhile, DS Judy Johnson is investigating the disappearance of a local rough sleeper. The only trace of her is the rumour that she's gone 'underground'. This might be a figure of speech, but with the discovery of the bones and the rumours both Ruth and the police have heard that the network of old chalk-mining tunnels under Norwich is home to a vast community of rough sleepers, the clues point in only one direction. Local academic Martin Kellerman knows all about the tunnels and their history - but can his assertions of cannibalism and ritual killing possibly be true?

As the weather gets hotter, tensions rise. A local woman goes missing and the police are under attack. Ruth and Nelson must unravel the dark secrets of The Underground and discover just what gruesome secrets lurk at its heart - before it claims another victim." 

=== February 28 ===

Title: The Lost Book of the Grail

Author: Charlie Lovett

Standalone literary mystery set in England.

ISBN:  9780399562518

Publisher: Viking

Hardcover, 336 pages

Synopsis: "Arthur Prescott is happiest when surrounded by the ancient books and manuscripts of the Barchester Cathedral library. Increasingly, he feels like a fish out of water among the concrete buildings of the University of Barchester, where he works as an English professor. His one respite is his time spent nestled in the library, nurturing his secret obsession with the Holy Grail and researching his perennially unfinished guidebook to the medieval cathedral.

But when a beautiful young American named Bethany Davis arrives in Barchester charged with the task of digitizing the library’s manuscripts, Arthur’s tranquility is broken. Appalled by the threat modern technology poses to the library he loves, he sets out to thwart Bethany, only to find in her a kindred spirit with a similar love for knowledge and books—and a fellow Grail fanatic.

Bethany soon joins Arthur in a quest to find the lost Book of Ewolda, the ancient manuscript telling the story of the cathedral’s founder. And when the future of the cathedral itself is threatened, Arthur and Bethany’s search takes on grave importance, leading the pair to discover secrets about the cathedral, about the Grail, and about themselves." 

Title: The Fifth Element

Author: Jørgen Brekke

Series: #3 in the Odd Singsaker police procedural series set in Trondheim, Norway. 

ISBN: 9781250073914

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "Police Inspector Odd Singsaker has been captured, imprisoned on an island off the Northern coast of Norway. He wakes to find himself holding a shotgun. Next to him is a corpse. But what events led him to this point? And how did he get here?

A few weeks earlier, Felicia, his wife, disappeared. Though he didn’t know it, she was trying to find her way back to Odd to reconcile, but then she vanished into a snowstorm. Possibly involved is a corrupt, coldblooded cop from Oslo, a devious college student who’s stolen a great deal of cocaine from drug dealers, and a hit man hired by the drug dealers who have been robbed. All of these lives intersect with Odd’s as he searches for Felicia.

The Fifth Element is ultimately the story of what happened to Felicia Stone. Within that journey, brutal crimes are uncovered, tenacious love shines through, and chilling characters with nothing to lose will stop at nothing to get what they want. Jorgen Brekke once again delivers a chilling thriller that readers will tear through to unravel what happened-and why."  

Wow! See what I mean by a feast of new crime fiction? All I can say is that I'm glad I haven't spent all my Poisoned Pen gift cards yet. If I were forced to choose the one book that I'm most anxious to get my hands on, it would be Deborah Crombie's Garden of Lamentations. It's much too long since there's been a new Duncan and Gemma book. 

How about you? Which books caught your eye? Is February going to explode your book budget? Inquiring minds would love to know!