Hidden Heritage by Charlotte Hinger

First Line: The call came at two.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is calling for a regional crime center for the western part of the state. Although their resources are stretched to the breaking point, Sheriff Sam Abbott, Undersheriff Lottie Albright, and her ranching husband deputy want no part of it. Neither do any of the other small towns in the area. When there's a gruesome murder at a livestock feedyard in Carleton County, the KBI agents think it may not be just a local affair. Lottie disagrees and calls upon her own skills as an historian to prove them wrong. If Sheriff Sam Abbott and his team can solve this murder, they can tell the bureaucrats to build their regional crime center elsewhere.  But can Lottie deliver the goods?

Once again, Kansas history is what brings this book to life. Lottie learns that the murder victim is the great-grandson of Dona Francisca Diaz, the elderly head of one of the first groups to colonize the state. Dona Francisca insists that she knows why Victor was killed, and that the key to the murder can be found in ancient documents. A famed curandera with horribly crippled hands, Dona Francisca invites Lottie to their lush property and insists that she wants to train Lottie as the heir to her legendary cures. Although Lottie is extremely reluctant to do so, she sees this as a once-in-a-lifetime chance for incredible knowledge... and for the chance to solve a murder.

Solving crimes through old documents, ephemera, and stories has always fascinated me, and that's why Charlotte Hinger's Lottie Albright books have become one of my favorite series. Sure enough, the history and legends surrounding the Diaz family and their property grabbed hold of my interest and didn't turn it loose, but two other components were a bit lacking in this third book. The mystery was very slow-paced, almost plodding in places, and Lottie's family dynamics which have set off so many sparks in the first two books are a bit lackluster here.

Despite that, I still found the book to be very enjoyable. I have a button here at my desk that proclaims HISTORY MATTERS-- and it does. Seeds that were sown long ago can germinate and take hold down through generations. Families can have prejudices and yet have no clue that those prejudices had their beginnings eight generations in the past. Hinger understands this and shows us how to tease the answers out into the light of day. It's a process of which I never tire. I look forward to the next book in this series and hope that Lottie regains the spark she was lacking in this book.

Hidden Heritage by Charlotte Hinger

ISBN: 9781464200762

Poisoned Pen Press © 2013

Paperback, 250 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #3 Lottie Albright mystery

Rating: B

Source: NetGalley 

Fractured Families by Charlotte Hinger

First Line: I blinked my icy lashes but it didn't ease the brittleness of my contacts.

When her husband's Aunt Dorothy comes for a visit and wants to do some research, Lottie discovers that you just don't deny a bestselling author such a request. Freezing western Kansas weather isn't the worst that the two women will encounter on this particular trip. Neither is finding the dead body of a young man inside the mausoleum of a Civil War veteran. No, the worst thing they encounter is discovering the tiny frozen body of an infant in the arms of a statue in the park.

Lottie quickly has to transition from being a local historian to the lead investigator as head of the yet-to-be-built regional crime center. The team consists of so many members of Lottie's family that the man in charge at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation insists forensic psychologist Dr. Evan Ferguson join the group. Tension becomes almost unbearable as more bodies are found and as Ferguson seems to fight every decision the group makes. In order to take a tiny break from the mounting frustration, Lottie begins reading a commonplace book that was left with the historical society. Written by a desperate, shunned child, this handwritten book is going to have a profound bearing on Lottie's investigation.

It's been too long since Charlotte Hinger's last Lottie Albright mystery. She is so adept at combining fascinating Kansas history with her mysteries that I never want to miss reading a single one. Only one thing prevented Fractured Families from being one of my best reads of the year: the killer was so obvious and over-the-top to me. Fortunately, there is much more to the book than whodunit-- and I loved the rest.

Carleton County-- dubbed by one character as "the Bermuda Triangle for crime"-- can be counted as a character in Hinger's books. The weather usually makes its presence felt, this time as a ground blizzard that will have you reaching for extra blankets and thinking about the thermostat as you turn the pages. 

Two characters (besides Kansas) were stand-outs for me: Franklin Slocum, the young boy who wrote the commonplace book, and Aunt Dorothy "That's why I'm on the bestseller list" Mercer. The life that Franklin had to endure broke my heart, and Dorothy's skills and personality made me laugh while I admired her.

If you're like me and enjoy crime fiction with a strong dose of history, you simply cannot go wrong with Charlotte Hinger's Lottie Albright mysteries. I hope to be reading them for a good long time.
    

Fractured Families by Charlotte Hinger

ASIN: B01MY5158C

Poisoned Pen Press © 2017

eBook, 261 pages

Police Procedural, #4 Lottie Albright mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

 

Deadly Descent by Charlotte Hinger

Title: Deadly Descent
Author: Charlotte Hinger
ISBN: 9781590588406
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2011
Paperback, 290 pages
Genre: Cozy, Amateur Sleuth, #1 Lottie Albright mystery
Rating: A-
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen

First Line: She was coming for me.

Lottie Albright, director of the Carleton County Historical Society in western Kansas, is busy editing the family stories of the county residents. She's also the campaign manager for Brian Hadley, who is trying to win a seat in the senate.

Although some of the residents have beliefs that Lottie does not agree with, their stories are historical documents, and she treats them accordingly. When Brian Hadley's mother, Fiona, comes to Lottie and insists that she suppress Fiona's sister's racist slant of their family history, Lottie disagrees-- even though the story could damage her candidate's chances in the coming election.  Soon thereafter, Fiona's sister is murdered, valuable documents are stolen, and anonymous letters begin arriving.

Believing that her work in historical investigation will help in finding clues to the identity of the killer, Lottie talks the local sheriff into letting her become a part-time deputy. The sheriff thinks it's a joke and gives her an old cold case to look at, and Lottie's husband thinks she's lost her mind, but both men soon learn that Lottie can tease the truth out of dusty old documents-- and the murderer doesn't like it one bit.

I keep forgetting how historically rich the state of Kansas is, but I think Charlotte Hinger has given my memory the jolt it needed to remember this fact. She deftly weaves bits of history into her narrative in a way that adds detail and texture in addition to bringing her cast of characters into sharper focus.

I was immediately drawn to the character of Lottie and to her family dynamics: a strong, cultured older husband who's a farmer and a veterinarian; a sophisticated twin sister who believes Lottie is wasted out in the hinterland; a step-daughter who loathes her. Having swiftly learned to care for Lottie as much as she cares for those around her, I actually enjoyed following all the emotional undercurrents that this family had swirling around it.

Another element that I thoroughly enjoyed was how Lottie was capable of reading old historical documents-- bills of sale, inventories and the like-- and find solid leads into her investigations into both the cold case and the present-day murder. Having read many of those same types of documents in connection with my own family history, I can attest to the fact that there is a lot to be learned from reading them-- although they do bore most people to tears.

The old cold case involving Herman Swenson was heartbreaking but rather easy to solve; however, the present-day case was not. I think it was due to the intricacies of the family trees and the fact that the generations and ages of various characters kept getting blurred in my mind.

Hinger's skill in characterization and in bringing historical investigation to life have me excited to read the next book in this series. I spent a lot of time as a teenager reading old newspapers, going through endless reels of microfilm, and taking census in old, forgotten cemeteries. Charlotte Hinger has reminded me of how much fun-- and how fascinating-- history can be... and how much influence it has on the present. I want more!

Deadly Descent at Amazon.

Deadly Descent at The Book Depository.

Deadly Descent at Your Favorite Indie Bookseller.

Lethal Lineage by Charlotte Hinger

First Line: Happiness happens.

The Episcopalians in Lottie Albright's corner of western Kansas have worked hard to build a small church on a parcel of land that sits on the corners of four counties. The first day they gather together for a sermon, communion, and the confirmation of Lottie's niece.

The bishop gives an inappropriate sermon filled with hellfire and brimstone, and everyone is thunderstruck when beloved Reverend Mary Farnsworth drops the chalice during communion and locks herself in the anteroom. Lottie's sister Josie, a psychologist, stays after the service to comfort Mary, but Lottie orders her sister to leave when the locked door is opened and Mary's body is found on the floor. Frightened  by the bishop's strange rituals for disposing of the spilled wine, Lottie would like nothing better than to leave, but as undersheriff, she must stay to attend to the death.

An elderly lady who attended the service insists that a man kneeling next to her scared Reverend Mary into a heart attack which gives credence to Lottie's belief that this was not a natural death. Calling in other law enforcement agencies, Lottie discovers many more questions than answers as the investigation moves forward.

The first book in this series, Deadly Descent, relied a great deal on Lottie's skill as an historian digging through old records, documents, and genealogical charts. In Lethal Lineage, Lottie finds herself focusing more on the oral histories of several county residents. She also realizes that she's bitten off more than she can chew in her work for the county historical society and as undersheriff. It is something on which both she and her husband must come to some sort of agreement while Lottie tries to find a killer and deal with a sheriff whose family has ridden roughshod over a neighboring county for decades.

Hinger brings sparsely populated western Kansas to life by seamlessly including details of how poor counties constantly battle budget constraints as well as how feuds, secrets and lies never seem to die out no matter how many decades pass. (Have you ever stopped to wonder how many fewer books would be written if people everywhere would simply tell the truth?)

Her three main characters-- Lottie, her sister Josie, and her husband Keith-- are strong, vivid people who care for one another deeply although they don't always see eye-to-eye. I feel as if I've known them my whole life.

In just two books I've fallen in love with the setting, the characters, and the way Charlotte Hinger can tell a story. Lethal Lineage stands alone quite well, but I think it would be best to start at the beginning so you can fully appreciate the fascinating work Charlotte does at the historical society, as well as the dynamics between the characters. This is a highly recommended book in a highly recommended series. I can't wait for book number three!

Lethal Lineage by Charlotte Hinger

ISBN: 9781590588390

Poisoned Pen Press © 2011

Paperback, 310 pages

Cozy, #2 Lottie Albright mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased as a Nook Book from Barnes and Noble

March 2017 New Mystery Releases!

I thought last month was a gold mine for new crime fiction, but March is its equal, I am thrilled to say! I even think I have more than my normal "baker's dozen" picks, and they're a good blend of trusted and new authors.

I've grouped all my choices by their release dates, and I've included all the information you'll need to find them at your favorite libraries and bookstores. Book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

I'm so anxious to start sharing that I'm not going to wax poetic about the weather here in Phoenix or anything else. Let's get to these new books!

=== March 7 ===

Title: Fractured Families

Author: Charlotte Hinger

Series: #4  in the Lottie Albright series set in western Kansas.

ISBN: 9781464205613

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Hardcover, 294 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "The discovery of the body of a young man inside the mausoleum of the Civil War veteran who commissioned this bizarre sculpture park makes the blood of Undersheriff Lottie Albright and her husband’s Aunt Dorothy run cold. Dorothy Mercer, paying a visit to Western Kansas from Manhattan, may be a bestselling mystery novelist, but she is truly shocked confronting murder firsthand. But the real bone-chiller is yet to come.

With snow coming on, Lottie and Dorothy act quickly to preserve the crime scene while awaiting the arrival of Sheriff Sam Adams. Eyes, and boots, on the ground, they measure and photograph underneath the park’s bizarre parade of tree-high sculptures. Why would they look up?

Reaching Woman stands some forty feet in the air, trapped in stone. And in her arms―a ghastly bundle. It takes the sharp eyes of the old sheriff to spot her burden. It breaks all hearts when it’s brought to earth, a second body, so fresh, so frozen, so forlorn.

Lottie, transitioning from local historian to the politicking necessary to organize a regional crime center, is made the lead investigator. It’s a test of the concept and of her role as its director. She needs investigators, forensics, technology, manpower―and a psychologist to pit wits with a clearly deranged killer. Her twin, Kansas City’s Dr. Josie Albright, is the perfect choice.

Frank Dimon at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, a reluctant champion of the regional concept, believes too many members of Lottie's family―her veterinarian/deputy husband Keith, Josie, even Dorothy―are on Lottie’s team. But Frank’s insertion of a forensic psychologist of his own choosing sets off a ferocious conflict between Josie and his appointee, Dr. Evan Ferguson, as a hastily assembled crew from the region's counties pits rural wisdom against the KBI's sophisticated methods. Frustration mounts and urgency grows as more statues of women cradling victims are found, the vicious winter weather aiding the psychopath’s work.

No matter how cutting edge the technology, you can’t beat luck. In a break from the stress, Lottie begins to read a Commonplace Book deposited at the Historical Society. As she follows the heartbreaking words penned by a desperate, shunned child of stunning inner beauty and strength, his observations provide the key―at a terrible cost." 

Title: Burials

Author: Mary Anna Evans

Series: #10 in the Faye Longchamp series set in Oklahoma.

ISBN: 9781464207501

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Hardcover, 302 pages

Synopsis: "A woman waits under five feet of dirt--a woman who is now nothing but bones stained the deep red of Oklahoma clay. A delicate silver necklace, a handful of ancient pearls, and a priceless figurine rest with her. Twenty-nine years is a long time to wait for a proper burial.

Faye Longchamp-Mantooth, who runs a small and shakily financed archaeological consulting firm with her husband, Joe, has come to Sylacauga so she and Joe can join his father, Sly Mantooth, in dispersing his mother's ashes. Fifteen years is a long time to wait for a proper ceremony.

Faye has partially financed the trip by hiring on to consult on the reopening of a site closed down 29 years ago when archaeologist Dr. Sophia Townsend disappeared--for good. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation intends to create a park if nothing sacred lies in the soil. What no one expects is the lonely red bones that emerge as the backhoe completes its work. Inevitably they prove to be those of Sophia Townsend. And examination shows Sophia was first killed by a blow to the head.

Chief Roy Cloud of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's Lighthorse Tribal Police hires Faye, who clearly can't be a suspect, to consult. Which is fine with Faye, who won't rest easy until Sophia's murder is solved. But the investigation comes uncomfortably close to home when she learns that her father-in-law knows more about the dead woman than he is willing to admit. So, it appears, does everyone in tiny Sylacauga.

Dr. Sophia Townsend had possessed a sexual magnetism as forceful as an Oklahoma tornado, and she had never hesitated to use it to manipulate everyone around her, people whose hearts she broke and whose marriages she destroyed. Was she killed by one of her lovers, or by one of their wives? Or by the woman who became enthralled with her? Or maybe Sly Mantooth? Or was something else elemental--greed, buried treasure, fame--at work?

Faye's obsession with this case tests her professional ethics and it tests her marriage. Such was the power of Sophia Townsend that, twenty-nine years after her murder, she wreaks havoc (along with the weather) once again."

Title: A Climate of Fear

Author: Fred Vargas

Series: #8 in the Commissaire Adamsberg series set in France.

ISBN: 9780143109457

Publisher: Penguin Books

Paperback, 416 pages

Synopsis: "A woman is found murdered in her bathtub, and the murder has been made to look like a suicide. But a strange symbol found at the crime scene leads the local police to call Commissaire Adamsberg and his team.

When the symbol is found near the body of a second disguised suicide, a pattern begins to emerge: both victims were part of a disastrous expedition to Iceland over ten years ago where a group of tourists found themselves trapped on a deserted island for two weeks, surrounded by a thick, impenetrable fog rumored to be summoned by an ancient local demon. Two of them didn’t make it back alive. But how are the deaths linked to the secretive Association for the Study of the Writings of Maximilien Robespierre? And what does the mysterious symbol signify?" 

Title: The Silence of the Flans

Author: Laura Bradford

Series: #2 in the Emergency Dessert Squad cozy series set in Ohio.

ISBN: 9780425280904 

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Baker Winnie Johnson does her best work when the heat is on. As owner of the Emergency Dessert Squad, she has a deft touch in the kitchen and a soft spot for lost causes. So when her business professor beau, Jay Morgan, expresses misgivings over having to fail one of his fourth-year students, Winnie cooks up a sweet solution.

She’ll offer an extra credit opportunity in exchange for a little help with her growing business. But when her protégé’s first dessert delivery poisons a student journalist, the publicity threatens to burn Winnie’s business to a crisp. Now the entrepreneur-turned-detective must uncover the ingredients behind a recipe for murder before she crumbles under pressure..." 

=== March 8 ===

Title: Blood's Echo
Author: Isabella Maldonado
Series: #1 Veranda Cruz police procedural set in Phoenix, Arizona. 
ISBN: 9780738750804
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Paperback, 312 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Detective Veranda Cruz leads an elite task force on the Phoenix Police Drug Enforcement Bureau. Bartolo Villalobos is the heir apparent to the most powerful cartel in the world. No one in the department suspects the secret motive behind Veranda’s obsession with the cartel . . . until an operation goes horribly wrong.
Targeted by an increasingly unstable drug lord, Veranda must protect her family and stay clear of adversaries within the force while she sets a trap for Bartolo. As the desert action heats up, Veranda and her new Homicide team―along with an arson investigator who kindles a flame for her―are all drawn into a deadly gambit. Taking down Bartolo is the ultimate goal, but is Veranda ready to trade life for justice?"   

Title: Reservations
Author: Gwen Florio
Series: #4 in the journalist Lola Wicks series set on Arizona's Navajo Reservation.
ISBN: 9780738750422
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Paperback, 312 pages

Synopsis: "Journalist Lola Wicks would much rather pursue a story than spend time with people she barely knows. So when an eco-terrorist bombing escalates the controversy surrounding a new coal mine on Arizona’s Navajo Reservation, she’s almost relieved to have a distraction from meeting her in-laws.

But as the violence gets worse and Lola digs deeper, she can’t escape the feeling that her husband’s family is somehow involved―a suspicion that jeopardizes not only her marriage, but also her life." 

=== March 14 ===

Title: Elementary, She Read

Author: Vicki Delany

Series: #1 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop cozy series set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

ISBN: 9781683310969

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Gemma Doyle, a transplanted Englishwoman, has returned to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to manage her Great Uncle Arthur's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. The shop--located at 222 Baker Street--specializes in the Holmes canon and pastiche, and is also the home of Moriarty the cat. When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne (who runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room) set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body.
The highly perceptive Gemma is the police’s first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman's suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance. But when Gemma and Jayne accidentally place themselves at a second murder scene, it's a race to uncover the truth before the detectives lock them up for good."

Title: Murder at the Fortune Teller's Table

Author: Janet Finsilver

Series: #3 in the Kelly Jackson cozy series set in fictional Redwood Cove, California.

ISBN: 9781616509347 

Publisher: Lyrical Underground

Paperback, 190 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Poisons, prophecies-and a peculiar past . . . When a local woman begins searching for a couple she hasn't seen since the 1960s, Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast manager Kelly Jackson and the crime-solving group, the "Silver Sentinels," are quick to help out. They're also quick to guess that they're in over their heads after the woman is found dead beside the body of a Greek fortune teller-and a fellow Sentinel gets attacked. As Kelly juggles work and her responsibilities at a food and wine festival in town, she and her sleuthing posse must confront a killer obsessed with old secrets . . . and solve a murder mystery more than fifty years in the making . . ."  

Title: In This Grave Hour

Author: Jacqueline Winspear

Series: #13 in the Maisie Dobbs historical series set in England.

ISBN:  9780062436603

Publisher: Harper

Hardcover, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Sunday September 3rd 1939. At the moment Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain broadcasts to the nation Britain’s declaration of war with Germany, a senior Secret Service agent breaks into Maisie Dobbs' flat to await her return. Dr. Francesca Thomas has an urgent assignment for Maisie: to find the killer of a man who escaped occupied Belgium as a boy, some twenty-three years earlier during the Great War.

In a London shadowed by barrage balloons, bomb shelters and the threat of invasion, within days another former Belgian refugee is found murdered. And as Maisie delves deeper into the killings of the dispossessed from the “last war," a new kind of refugee — an evacuee from London — appears in Maisie's life. The little girl billeted at Maisie’s home in Kent does not, or cannot, speak, and the authorities do not know who the child belongs to or who might have put her on the “Operation Pied Piper” evacuee train. They know only that her name is Anna.

As Maisie’s search for the killer escalates, the country braces for what is to come. Britain is approaching its gravest hour — and Maisie could be nearing a crossroads of her own."  

Title: Skeleton God

Author: Eliot Pattison

Series: #9 in the Shan Tao Yun police procedural series set in Tibet.

ISBN: 9781250067623 

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "In Eliot Pattison's Skeleton God, Shan Tao Yun, now the reluctant constable of a remote Tibetan town, has learned to expect the impossible at the roof of the world, but nothing has prepared him for his discovery when he investigates a report that a nun has been savagely assaulted by ghosts. In an ancient tomb by the old nun lies a gilded saint buried centuries earlier, flanked by the remains of a Chinese soldier killed fifty years before and an American man murdered only hours earlier. Shan is thrust into a maelstrom of intrigue and contradiction.

The Tibetans are terrified, the notorious Public Security Bureau wants nothing to do with the murders, and the army seems determined to just bury the dead again and Shan with them. No one wants to pursue the truth–except Shan, who finds himself in a violent collision between a heartbreaking, clandestine effort to reunite refugees from Tibet separated for decades and a covert corruption investigation that reaches to the top levels of the government in Beijing, China. The terrible secret Shan uncovers changes his town and his life forever." 

=== March 21 ===

Title: A Twist of the Knife

Author: Becky Masterman

Series: #3 in the series featuring ex-FBI agent Brigid Quinn set in Florida.

ISBN: 9781250074515

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Ex-FBI agent Brigid Quinn, now happily settled in Tucson, doesn’t visit her family in Florida much. But her former partner on the force, Laura Coleman―a woman whose life she has saved and who has saved her life in turn―is living there now. So when Laura calls about a case that is not going well, Brigid doesn’t hesitate to get on a plane.

On leave from the Bureau, Laura has been volunteering for a legal group trying to prove the innocence of a man who is on death row for killing his family. Laura is firmly convinced that he didn’t do it, while Brigid isn’t so sure―but the date for his execution is coming up so quickly that they’ll have to act fast to find any evidence that may absolve him before it’s too late…"  

Title: Single Malt Murder

Author: Melinda Mullet

Series: #1 in the Whisky Business series set in Scotland.

ISBN: 9780399179051

Publisher: Random House Alibi

eBook, 300 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "When Abi inherits her uncle’s quaint and storied single malt distillery, she finds herself immersed in a competitive high-stakes business that elicits deep passions and prejudices. An award-winning photojournalist, Abi has no trouble capturing the perfect shot—but making the perfect shot is another matter. When she starts to receive disturbing, anonymous threats, it’s clear that someone wants her out of the picture. But Abi’s never been one to back down from a fight.

Arriving on the scene with her whisky-loving best friend, Patrick, and an oversized wheaten terrier named Liam, Abi seems to put everyone in the bucolic village on edge—especially her dour but disturbingly attractive head distiller. Acts of sabotage and increasingly personal threats against Abi make it clear that she is not welcome. When one of Abi’s new employees is found floating facedown in a vat of whisky, Abi is determined to use her skills as an investigative journalist to identify the cold-blooded killer and dispense a dram of justice before he strikes again. But distilling truth from lies is tricky, especially when everyone seems to have something to hide."   

=== March 28 ===

Title: The Devil's Feast

Author: M.J. Carter

Series: #3 in the Avery and Blake historical series set in England.

ISBN: 9780399171697

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Hardcover, 432 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "London, 1842. Captain William Avery is persuaded to investigate a mysterious and horrible death at the Reform, London’s newest and grandest gentleman’s club—a death the club is desperate to hush up. What he soon discovers is a web of rivalries and hatreds, both personal and political, simmering behind the club’s handsome façade. At the center is its resident genius, Alexis Soyer, “the Napoleon of food,” a chef whose culinary brilliance is matched only by his talent for self-publicity.

But Avery is distracted, for where is his mentor and partner in crime Jeremiah Blake? And what if this first death is only a dress rehearsal for something far more sinister?"  

Title: Tightening the Threads

Author: Lea Wait

Series: #5 in the Mainely Needlepoint cozy series set in coastal Maine.

ISBN: 9781496706287 

Publisher: Kensington

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Antique dealer Sarah Byrne has never unspooled the truth about her past to anyone not even friend and fellow Mainely Needlepointer Angie Curtis. But the enigmatic Aussie finally has the one thing she s searched for all her life family. And now she and long-lost half-brother, Ted Lawrence, a wealthy old artist and gallery owner in town, are ready to reveal their secret connection . . .

Ted s adult children are suspicious of their newfound aunt Sarah especially after Ted, in declining health, announces plans to leave her his museum-worthy heirloom paintings. So when Ted is poisoned to death during a lobster bake, everyone assumes she s guilty. If Sarah and Angie can t track down the real murderer in time, Sarah s bound to learn how delicate and deadly family dynamics can truly be . . ."  

What a fantastic group of books! Cover Love shout-outs to Blood's Echo, Reservations, In This Grave Hour, and that fabulous house on Murder at the Fortune Teller's Table.

Which titles made it to your own wish lists? Inquiring minds would love to know! (And while I'm wondering, I'll head over to my "upcoming review pile." I have some books to finish....)