The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

By now, you most likely know that Robert Galbraith, author of the mystery The Cuckoo's Calling (FIC GALBRAIT, also on ebook), is actually J.K. Rowling, mega-selling author and creator of the Harry Potter world.

As an unabashed Hogwarts fan, I knew I immediately had to give The Cuckoo's Calling a try. Having read her first foray into adult fiction, The Casual Vacancy, I admire Rowling for tackling such vastly different types of stories from her Harry Potter saga. While I did not enjoy The Casual Vacancy — it was peopled by characters too petty and unpleasant to care about any of them — Rowling certainly fashioned a story that shared very little with her previous works except perhaps her language.

In The Cuckoo's Calling, even the language has changed; you'd never know it was written by Rowling if not for her having been outed as its author. What it does feature, however, is Rowling's flair for complex, meticulous plotting. In Harry Potter she had the luxury of drawing her grand plan out over the course of seven books, in The Cuckoo's Calling, she nimbly compresses that into a single, tautly-told tale.

Several months have passed since the paparazzi-plagued model Lula Landry turned up dead in the snow, having apparently fallen from the balcony of her third-story London flat. That's when the brilliantly named but imminently broke private investigator Cormoran Strike finds himself sitting across from Lula's brother, who wants him to look into her death. The brother believes that Lula's death, though ruled a suicide, was actually murder. He hires Strike to determine the truth.

Strike, a former military policeman, is aided in his inquiry by the stalwart Robin, a temp secretary assigned to his office for the time being. The two greatest pleasures of this story are watching Strike sussing out fact from fiction and the burgeoning friendship between the gumshoe and his secretary, who rapidly rises to the role of trusty sidekick.

Throughout the investigation, Strike grapples with a host of personal issues, including his dwindling bank account, a recent break-up with his long-time girlfriend and the difficulties of maneuvering London wearing a prosthetic leg. Even with all those distractions, he impresses with his determined focus and his clever way of reading between the lines of witness statements.

Admittedly, I found the revealed culprit to be somewhat predictable but it was nevertheless fascinating to watch Rowling's stellar plotting skills. She plants a subtle path of breadcrumbs that we can see in bits and pieces. But we truly need Strike's help to see them all and make sense of them. Understanding the many gears of the grand scheme keeps you reading to the end, but it's the characters of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott who will have you looking forward to Rowling's next installment.

Award-winning mysteries: The 2013 Edgar Awards

Image by olarte.ollie available through a Creative Commons license

The Edgar Awards are bestowed by the Mystery Writers of America, so you know the winners have some serious street cred. The Edgars honor the year's best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television. This year's batch includes the titles below. I've included their call numbers here at the library and whether they are also in our ebook library:

Best Novel
Live By Night
By Dennis Lehane
FIC LEHANE | AD FIC LEHANE | ebook

Best First Novel
The Expats
By Chris Pavone
FIC PAVONE | AD FIC PAVONE | ebook

Best Fact (Nonfction) Crime
Midnight in Peking: How the murder of a young Englishwoman haunted the last days of Old China
By Paul French
364.1523092 FRENCH

Best Juvenile
The Quick Fix (sequel to The Big Splash)
By Jack D. Ferraiolo
J MYS FERRAIOL

Best Young Adult
Code Name Verity
By Elizabeth Wein
YP FIC WEIN | AD YP FIC WEIN

Best Paperback Original
The Last Policeman
By Ben H. Winters
MYS WINTERS | ebook

Mary Higgins Clark Award
The Other Woman
By Hank Phillippi Ryan
FIC RYAN

Best Television Episode Teleplay
"A Scandal in Belgravia" from the BBC TV Show "Sherlock," Episode 1 Season 2
Teleplay by Steven Moffat
DVD SHERLOCK

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Fans of mystery, historical fiction and romance will all find something to like in Deanna Raybourn's highly enjoyable Silent in the Grave (FIC RAYBOURN), the first title in the Lady Julia Grey series.

Raybourn plunges readers into the action from Page 1, where we find Lady Julia's husband, Edward Grey, in his death throes at a dinner party. After her husband's abrupt death, Lady Julia is approached by the enigmatic Nicholas Brisbane, a private inquiry agent recently hired by Edwards to look into a series of written threats he'd received. Brisbane suspects foul play in Edward Grey's death.

Widowhood proves a turning point for Lady Julia, until now a proper Victorian wife who's felt increasingly stifled in a passionless marriage. Although there was affection between her and her husband, their relationship has never gone much further than their childhood fondness for each other. She blossoms into her own as she investigates her husband's murder.

This development is further enlivened by her repartee with the obstinate Brisbane, a loner if there ever was one, who's extremely reluctant to work with Lady Julia. His anti-social tendencies, crankiness and mysterious past (not to mysterious abilities), coupled with Julia's growing self-confidence and her determination to find the killer make for extremely entertaining scenes.

Set in 1886, the story also introduces us to Lady Julia's family, the Marches, for whom eccentricity is a birthright just as much as their aristocracy is. We also meet many of the servants in Julia's household. Many of these people will play important and surprising roles in the secrets that Julia and Brisbane unearth in this story.

Silent in the Grave is a historical mystery with romantic elements. Although the sensuality in this book is mild, when Julia and Brisbane are in the same room together, Raybourn's writing makes their attraction crackle. I quite like the pace of their relationship as well; the author has opted for a slow but steady trickle of development rather than a torrent. This means there's much to look forward to in the four novels that follow in the series.

Faithful Place by Tana French

Author Tana French just keeps getting better and better.

I first began reading her work last year when I picked up her much-lauded debut mystery novel In the Woods. With the caveat that I don't read mysteries often, In the Woods was like nothing I'd ever read before. Complex, atmospheric and creepy, it plunged me into the main character's traumatic past and present-day psychological unraveling with little mercy.

There were times I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing on end — not from overdone violence or hackneyed terror devices but French's amazing way of showing us glimpses of the unknown without ever giving us the luxury of a big reveal. In French's capable hands, I'm not quite sure I'd survive a big reveal.

French has since released three more books in what's known as the Dublin Murder Squad series: The Likeness, Faithful Place and, most recently, Broken Harbor. I just finished Faithful Place and am looking forward to delving into Broken Harbor. The more I read her, the more I like her work. Each story has featured compelling characters grappling with unique, gripping scenarios both internally and in real life.

In each of these installments, French takes a character introduced in the prior book in the series and gives them their own chance to shine. Nevertheless, newcomers to the Dublin Murder Squad should have no problems following Faithful Place because there aren't any allusions to earlier books.

Faithful Place follows hard-bitten Dublin undercover investigator Frank Mackey, who returns reluctantly to the serpent's den he once called home.

Twenty-two years ago Frank and his young love Rosie Daly had planned to run away together. But Rosie never showed that fateful night. Brokenhearted, Frank had always assumed she'd decided to go it alone. He left Faithful Place that night as well and has never looked back. But now Rosie's packed suitcase has surfaced, suggesting she never made it out and perhaps met a more sinister end than anyone ever expected.

In his burning quest to find out what happened, Frank reluctantly returns to the dysfunctional family fold, dredging up all kinds of unwelcome memories about his alcoholic father, abrasive mother and his siblings. French portrays their relationships with an artistry that will leave you breathless in the way the Mackeys spasm between nuclear-level toxicity to scenes of familiar domesticity. It is utterly exhausting and utterly believable. Resentments and secrets run deep in this family and this blue-collar street.

Skirting the official investigation surrounding Rosie's fate, Frank exerts his considerable skill, chutzpah and rage to draw out the real story. The mind games he plays reveal his impressive repertoire at reading people and getting them to talk.

Complicating matters further are Frank's rocky relationships with his ex-wife and daughter. He walks a precarious balancing act trying to spend time with them while ferreting out the facts at Faithful Place. It's no surprise he struggles to maintain some semblance of self-possession as past and present collide. And you're inside his head the entire time, struggling simultaneously to make sense of it all.

V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton

This is the twenty-second book in Grafton’s Alphabet series.  She writes them slowly, averaging a book every two years. She wanted to avoid falling into a “cookie-cutter” syndrome, and strives to make each book both distinct and memorable.  The problem is that if the reader reads one right after another, like I found myself doing, they can’t help but blend into each other, so that I found myself running into characters halfway through the book that I was supposed to be familiar with but I couldn’t keep it straight in my mind who they were and what their significance was for the plot. 

Each story is a procedural mystery, solved by Kinsey Millhone, the 30-something divorced female private eye from Santa Teresa, California.  At a certain point in the series, Grafton started to change her story structures.  Grafton began to give sub-characters chapters that traced their stories from their point of view.  For some books this device worked pretty well, giving us greater insight into the motives and struggles of both the victims and the perpetrators. 

 For V is for Vengeance, the undercover world of big-time shoplifting is slowly revealed to us, first through small players all the way up to the head, who has inherited this enterprise from his father.  Kinsey, who we like because of her quirks (like being crazy for Quarter Pounders with Cheese) and her human side (like falling for the wrong guy now and again), is hired to look into the so-called suicide of a shoplifter.  Her fiancé can’t believe she would have killed herself and also can’t believe the extent of her criminal involvement.  

We like Kinsey because she is committed, and having a client decide she is off the case is often not the final say for her.  It doesn’t mean that her principles are that ironclad, it’s just that she doesn’t like getting pushed aside.  Usually Grafton does a good job of creating secondary characters with certain habits or ways of looking at things that make them apt to slide over the line from legal to illegal.  The head boss of the shoplifting operation is presented as a good guy despite what he does – we learn about his mean dad and psychotic brother as though these family members somehow forced him into his lifestyle.  He looks terrific (compared to them) and it doesn’t hurt that he’s good-looking and incredibly rich to boot.  Although this side plot of the thief with the heart of gold isn’t quite believable, overall the book delivers, detailing the crime all around us and the nitty gritty that we all go through in order to get somewhere.  

Grafton makes the case with Kinsey that having a pretty little guesthouse, with a great friend as your landlord right on the premises, all in beautiful by the sea Santa Teresa, may not be a ticket to happiness but comes close to contentment.  So, write on Grafton! 

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The Neighbor / by Lisa Gardner

The last thing Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren needs is a media frenzy surrounding her current investigation. Jason Jones is husband to Sandra Jones, a woman who disappeared in the middle of the night, leaving her purse, car keys and 4-year-old daughter behind without a trace. Jason's also the kind of hunky face that TV cameras love. Ditto for his young, blond wife who's not only stunningly photogenic, but has the kind of shady reputation--possible infidelity--which D.D. can't seem to get a firm angle on and which will inevitably beget numerous conspiracies if information is leaked and things linger. Regardless of the evidence (or lack thereof), the case has all the makings of another Nancy Grace-led TV news cacophony. Throw in a paranoid, possibly culpable sex offender living right around the corner and a plethora of other questionable neighbors in this regentrified south Boston neighborhood and D.D. has to be extra sharp and ultra fast to get to the bottom of this caper. Initially, at least, there's no direct information that would indicate a homicide, that is until D.D. discovers the 4.5 million dollars sitting untouched in the couple's bank account, evidently an inheritance left them some time ago. Why would a young couple work two full-time jobs--he a reporter, she a middle school teacher--and live a comparatively modest lifestyle while leaving a hefty nest egg just sitting idle? And why is Jason so worried about this sex offender guy who, despite his obvious history, seems to have nothing to do with anything? It's not the only thing that doesn't add up, nor is it the last little surprise to sneak up on D.D. in her quest to find out what happened as the story unfolds.

Suspense author Lisa Gardner hits it big in this highly entertaining bestseller which does well to balance an enthralling story with the charming nuances of a sympathetic protagonist. There's kind of a lot going on so it might seem like a hefty amount for the reader to process, but Gardner lays it out nicely, narrating the plot through four feature characters and giving her heroine the proper scope and incentive to face the challenge. D.D.'s not going to apologize for her faults, and she's not without them--falling for Jason's good looks, snap judgments on certain "neighbor" suspects, flawed interrogation tactics--but she's equally ready to confront any conflict and backtrack through her mistakes to remedy any errors. The author definitely knows her high profile news cases, referencing several of the more recent, over-sensationalized kidnapping/murder stories (Scott Peterson, Elizabeth Smart, Natalee Holloway, etc.) which have gotten a lot of run in the last few years. (MYS GARDNER)

NPR interviews P.D. James about her Jane Austen Mystery

P.D. James is best known for her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, but her newest book is a far cry from Scotland Yard. In Death Comes to Pemberly James  looks at what happens after Pride and Prejudice and it turns out its murder!

Listen to the NPR interview here to find out what inspired James to pen an Austen sequel (and no, it's definitely not Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.).

The Five Red Herrings: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery / by Dorothy Sayers

All Lord Peter Wimsey wanted for his holiday in the highlands was to sleep late, reflect on his misspent youth, catch some trout and possibly fit in a round of golf. The quaint village that he and Bunter take up residence is actually a type of artist colony where an assortment of painters--all a bit odd but talented in their own way--have set down roots. One among them isn't really odd though, he's just mean. Campbell Quick is a barrel-chested, red-bearded Scotsman with a temper to match his drinking habits and a peevishness overshadowing any artistic skill he possesses. "He's a devil when he's drunk and a lout when he's sober", they all say. So when he turns up dead in the river the day following an evening in which he rowed with six of his fellow artists, the question for Lord Peter is to find out which one of them murdered Campbell, a man best characterized by Wimsey's eulogy, "Nothing in his life quite became him like the leaving of it." To do so the gentleman sleuth and his crafty manservant will need to eliminate the five artists,  the "five red herrings", who had the motive and possibly the means but not the opportunity to dispose of the undesirable Campbell.

If you didn't know him, it might be easy to overlook Lord Peter Wimsey as a minor fictional sleuth from the golden age of mystery fiction. The amateur "gentleman detective" is nothing like the big names of the period--Poirot, Maigret, Mason, etc.--who are all 'in the business' so to speak, all detectives by trade with solid credentials and proper training. And though he usually shirks the perception as quickly as it's made, Wimsey can come off as something of a nosy, entitled aristocrat. He doesn't work at job or need money, his butler does everything for him short of clip his toenails and though he's an amateur criminologist of the highest order, he has no real reason other than avid interest to associate himself with crime and murder. But while not featured in the sheer volume of fiction occupied by a Poirot or a Perry Mason, he's aged as well as any of them, his "mind like a razor", discernible eye for detail and inimitable charisma winning over hoards of readers. Always the bon viveur with an incurable optimism and contagious confidence, Wimsey can't help but, well, project 'whimsy' everywhere he goes, winning as much respect as admiration and garnering appeal with his sophisticated charm and personality. It's here where Sayers, with her manifestation of the 'gentleman detective,' really distinguished herself, managing to create an admirable, truly estimable character from someone with a manservant, lots of money and lots of free time--later works would see Wimsey take a seat in the House of Lords but for the most part he's just another member of the idle rich set bouncing around Europe's glamorous hotspots. It's harder than it looks because with a few discrepancies, the svelte, polished protagonist might have easily become a buffoon like Bertie Wooster or even a distancing snob, something like James Bond maybe. But it's nothing like that. When people are difficult, Wimsey is class and composure personified. Where they might feel inferior, he deftly erases social barriers. Where there's a case to be solved, he never oversteps his authority but never capitulates to official crime solvers who sometimes resent the butting-in of a posh member of the nobility. He may not be officially affiliated with law enforcement, but he's amply capable, has a free maneuverability, abundant resources and is never afraid to get his hands dirty--all things which make the books, every one of them, serious fun. (MYS SAYERS)

Why Didn't You Come For Me? / by Diane Janes

It's been twelve years since her infant daughter Lauren's abduction and Jo Ashton continues to receive photographs of her baby in the mail, the words "I still have her" scribbled across the back. Even though she's remarried and moved with her new husband and stepson to an isolated part of the country, she still gets them. The police insist it's just a cruel joke, a creepy but harmless taunt by someone just wanting to stir things up. But Jo knows it's not just a prank. She knows that whoever sent them has monitored her every move and is at least sincere about letting her know it. And though she can't be sure of who or where the kidnapper is or even if they're telling the truth about Lauren, Jo has a gut feeling that her daughter's out there somewhere, still alive. There's another side to the story though, an even more sinister element reaching further back into Jo's past even before the birth of her daughter to a scarred, repressed childhood marked by horror, abuse and murder. As things in her life start to unravel, Jo's deepest hopes and darkest fears begin converging in ways she could never have foreseen.

Janes was nominated for a CWA (Crime Writer's Association) and Dagger award for her novel Pull of the Moon, a story of long hidden secrets in which a deathbed confession leads the protagonist down a path of intrigue and betrayal. It was a book critically acclaimed by both readers and critics for its psychological suspense and marked Janes as a noteworthy new author in the genre. Why Didn't You Come For Me? is another solid story concept with Janes effortlessly erecting a lurid, creepy tale. The demented premise of a woman being taunted by her child's kidnapper, a sordid past of the protagonist and a wonderfully situated setting all contribute to the book's appeal. The story is so good that the character of Jo doesn't quite measure up to the gravity of her situation. There are times where she seems as much a fish out of water as a heady protagonist and in certain instances, she's largely outweighed by the magnitude of the conflict. (MYS JANES)

Awakening / by S.J. Bolton

It's not a stretch to say that Clara Benning feels more comfortable around animals than people. A veterinarian in a small English village of St. Francis on the Dorset coast, she's truly engrossed in her life of treating sheep, pigs, cattle and other area wildlife but remains rather reclusive otherwise. When her daily routine is disrupted by a few house calls in which some definitely non-indigenous animals are seen around town, Clara begins to think it's not a coincidence. Indeed when a distraught mother calls on Clara to remove a venomous snake from her baby's crib and another family's home is overrun with snakes which are most certainly not the garden variety, it becomes pretty self-evident that there's a human hand involved. When one snake attack and then another cause fatalities, the oddly curious outcropping of serpentine reptiles becomes a menacing epidemic. With the help of Assistant Chief Constable Matt Hoare and oddball eccentric herpetologist (snake expert) Sean North, Clara starts investigating the mystery soon finding that some things about her little village aren't so venerable. Not long after she uncovers a long kept secret about the history of the town, Clara's ultimately accused of being the perpetrator, a mess she'll only get out of if she can solve the mystery herself.

Bolton writes a good mystery, capturing a sympathetic and very well-fleshed out character in Clara. While she's no James Herriot, she knows her way around her small rural community where withering isolation and claustrophobia can drive certain people insane. Even though it's a scenic locale, one in which tourists stop by, St. Francis is one of those places where everyone's in everyone else's business and the only way to keep your private life private is by becoming a recluse à la Clara. Most readers will feel an instant connection with the dedicated vet, an individual who's had her share of past wounds and inner demons to deal with. Some more cozy mystery lovers may not take to the slithering snake element, the beasts more than a little too close for comfort on several occasions, namely when they inhabit the same beds as sleeping couples and children. Bolton was nominated for a Dagger Award for her debut novel Sacrifice, another great read. (MYS BOLTON)

Wicked Autumn: A Mystery / by G.M. Malliet

There's a reason retired MI5 agent Max Tudor is now a village vicar in the tiny hamlet of Nether Monkslip. There was a time and place for his former life of adventure and espionage, a period in his past when tracking down criminals and terrorist threats was his only calling. But then a horrific accident changed everything forever and now he's perfectly happy to mentor and minister provincial types on matters of faith. So it's something of a minor inconvenience when one of his congregation is found stabbed to death at the Harvest Fayre and Max finds himself in the middle of a murder case. Granted, the victim was one of his less popular parishioners. Wanda Batton-Smythe, the mean, bossy leader of the Women's Institute of Nether Monkslip was most certainly not very well-liked. With a penchant for inciting fear and exposing weakness in seemingly every acquaintance she ever made (even her husband, a former Army Major, seems thoroughly cowed under his wife's authoritarian demeanor), Wanda was a woman which more than a few townspeople might've enjoyed ridding themselves of. But when the two detectives from the county's police task force arrive on the scene, no one seems remotely interested in giving evidence. It's even difficult for Max, operating behind the scenes, to surmise on a possible suspect. Wanda's enemies, though plentiful, aren't so aggressive that they'd attempt any kind of physical assault. And then to kill her?

Agatha award winner Malliet brings the goods in this cozy mystery which even includes a fold-out map of the village in the binding. Quirky characters and sequences are given mileage by a hefty dose of metaphorical inserts ("her voice filling the room like a sonic gun", "her hair clipped short around protuberant ears, she resembled a Chihauhua puppy abandoned in a snowdrift" or "the woman stared at the cover like Queen Victoria being handed a pamphlet on early contraceptive techniques"). Not that it's unwelcome or even misplaced. Malliet knows how to write cozy. Which is to say she writes with a splendid sort of moderation, a perfect blend of comically cute descriptions and indelibly charming technique. Readers will enjoy the author's take on village life and its colorful individuals while at the same time won't be lulled into boredom by predictable circumstances. Max Tudor is the right kind of protagonist to confront such surroundings, an outsider who's understandably been converted to domestic small town life and yet remains an introspective, spiritual man keen on the deeper elements of human nature. That he's a handsome eligible bachelor amid the cooing eyes of all the available parish women makes things even more interesting. (MYS MALLIET)

Foyle’s War (British TV Series) Starring Michael Kitchen

This award-winning series by Greenlit Productions (now part of Target Entertainment) was first shown in England in 2002, and aired in the United States in 2003 via PBS Masterpiece Theater. Created and written by Anthony Horowitz, the series is recognized for its exceptional acting and adept screenplays of plots based on real events that took place during World War II in England.

The episodes are mystery stories, with at least 2 or 3 different plots intersecting each other through different relationships and through circumstances of time and place. The chief place in the series is Hastings, a seaside town that saw a lot of action in the war because of being located right across from the European continent.

The main character is Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle, played by Michael Kitchen. Honeysuckle Weeks is his driver, played by Samantha Stewart, who is eager and thoughtful at the same time, and is just as riveting a character as Foyle’s Detective Sergeant Paul Milner, played by Anthony Howell. Milner lost his foot early on in the war, and is out of the fighting. He becomes a very capable police detective, thanks to Foyle’s careful nurturing of Milner’s talents.

What you appreciate the most is how Kitchen plays Foyle’s quiet and determined character - showing hesitation when dealt an unexpected card, yet capable of cutting to the quick in almost any situation. While reticent, Foyle is at the same time keenly aware of what feelings are being expressed. It is gratifying, in these egocentric times, to note his humility and restraint - retiring silently while a drama is played out, as when a ruined man takes his own life rather than be hanged for his crime.

While the mysteries and whodunit aspect of the series make for entertaining speculation, what impresses the viewer is how grim wartime actually was – and how it took its toll on families and futures and shook up people's ideas of what was what. Women’s roles in society were broadened by doing the work of the absent men, but they had to live with a lower rate of pay and had to keep the home fires burning - waiting perhaps four years for their loved ones to return.

Whether you care about World War II or not, the series’ acting and smooth dialogue will rope you in and make you a fan. Anthony Horowitz, the show’s creator, regretted not including a narrative explanation about the history of each story, since he spent so much time digging them up. But I believe anyone who watches the series can’t help but appreciate the depth and wisdom that Horowitz has translated into these stories, even without any historical annotation.

(The only thing I do miss is subtitles, since as a Yank those clipped English syllables can fly right by me. Luckily, there’s always the reverse button.)

Serial Menace: Newer Mystery and Crime Fiction Novels on Serial Killers

Whisper in the Dark / by Robert Gregory Browne
When Detective Frank Blackburn discovers an unidentified young woman dead and with a pair of scissors in her left hand, he has a tentative hunch that the murder may be the work of Vincent Van Gogh, a notorious serial killer with an artistic bent. In need of a profiler who can provide some insight in the mind of the madman, Blackburn contacts psychiatrist Dr. Michael Tolan, a man with his own persona experience with Van Gogh—his wife was one of his victims. (FIC BROWNE)

Abomination / by Colleen Coble

Recently divorced detective Nick Andreakos is after a serial murderer whose been targeting young girls and women, When certain clues lead him to believe that his ex-wife Eve could be the killer’s next target, the case takes on another dimension. Eve has already had one close call with the murderer and seems to know that it won’t be the last time she sees the man known as Gideon. (FIC COBLE)

BoneMan’s Daughters / by Ted Dekker
In Texas, a malicious serial killer known as “Bone Man” has been stalking and murdering young girls. Meanwhile in Iraq, a high-ranking military officer has been captured and is being held captive by the enemy. In an effort to extort information, they’ve blackmailed their prisoner using the life and well-being of his wife and daughter back home in Texas—and there seems to be link between the captors and the Bone Man. (Also see The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker) (FIC DEKKER)

Born To Die / by Lisa Jackson
When two women who look remarkably similar to herself suddenly die of seemingly natural causes, Dr. Kacey Lambert chalks it up as a coincidence. But when it’s discovered that one of the dead bodies contained traces of poison, it becomes a murder case headed by Detectives Selena Alvarez and her partner Regan Pescoli. As more women, all resembling Dr. Lambert, are murdered under ever more brutal circumstances, both the detectives and the now targeted Lambert become more than a little anxious. (FIC JACKSON)

Still Missing / by Chevy Stevens

Real estate agent Annie Moresby never knew what she was getting into when she agreed to show a house to a mysterious stranger. The stranger turned out to be a psychopath who forcefully held Annie captive in a remote mountain cabin for over a year before she managed an escape. Only now her former captor, a serial killer, is still on the loose and he may be after Annie one last time. (FIC STEVENS)
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Bloodline / by Mark Billingham

A madman is on the loose in London. A very clever and very malevolent serial killer has been murdering the children of the victims of Raymond Garvey, a notorious serial murderer from the city’s past. Murder Squad Detective Tom Thorne is on the case and thinks he’s caught a lead when a pregnant woman is found murdered. But what he finds instead is an even more complicated puzzle than he’d previously been working on. (MYS BILLINGHAM)

Mister X / by John Lutz
Five years ago a madman brutally murdered six women, having mutilated their bodies and carving an X into their flesh. Then the murders suddenly stopped and ex-homicide detective Frank Quinn still can’t figure out why. That is, until a sister of one of the victims convinces Frank to reopen the now cold case. Now with the case renewed, the murders have started again. (MYS LUTZ)

The Snowman / by Jo Nesbo; trans. from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
With the first snowfall of the season in Oslo comes the disappearance of a local woman from her home. In her yard has been constructed the figure of a distorted, sinister looking snowman. It doesn’t take Detective Harry Hole long to realize that this is only one in a string of multiple disappearances—disappearances which are almost certainly the work of a serial killer. (MYS NESBO)

First Lines Quiz: Week 3: Mystery

FIRST LINES QUIZ -- Week #3 - MYSTERY » ProProfs Quizzes

Ties That Bind / by Phillip Margolin

After graduating from American University, Washington D.C. in 1965, Phillip Margolin joined the Peace Corps in Liberia where for two years he assisted with the ongoing humanitarian aid in West Africa. Following that, he attended law school at NYU, actually teaching junior high school in the South Bronx to support himself, and eventually earned his degree in 1970. He then moved to Oregon to work as aid to the Portland district attorney and subsequently, from 1972 to 1996, worked as a private practice lawyer specializing in criminal defense cases both at the trial and appellate level where he covered over 25 homicides, several of which involved the death penalty. A steady stream of legal thrillers, appearing since 1978, have made Margolin well-known in crime fiction circles where his Amanda Jaffe novels have been among his most popular.

Portland lawyer Amanda Jaffe's still recovering from her latest high-stakes trial, one which threatened not only her career but her life, when she's asked to defend Jon Dupre, a known drug dealer and pimp now accused of murdering a U.S. Senator. The case seems a slam dunk for the prosecution. Not only is Dupre accused of murdering a the Senator, but he was also witnessed stabbing and killing his former defense attorney right in the jailhouse! Dupre ardently claims his innocence. He says he's being framed for the murder of the senator and that jailhouse incident was self-defense, statements no one but Amanda can begin to believe and even she has her reservations. There is one thing which lines up with Dupre's story: scratch wounds and bruises on his arms and chest giving some credibility to the self-defense plea. But why would Dupre's own attorney, a man trying to defend him against charges of another murder, try to kill him?

Things aren't quite what they seem. In fact, they're more treacherous than Amanda could've ever imagined. As Amanda starts to dig further into the incident involving Dupre's former lawyer, a connection starts to unravel between her client's case, issues surrounding Dupre's escort service in particular, and some of the city's highest ranking officials. Some of these high-powered elite are ones Amanda has crossed paths with, and in some cases, are people she currently works with. The deeper in she wades, the more she comes to realize that these men in high places will do anything to protect themselves, their reputations and their way of life. Finding justice for Jon Dupre won't be easy, but Amanda's used to the odds being against her and steadily plows ahead, putting herself and her client in harm's way at every turn.

Margolin's is a decent writer and his story is enough to keep the reader interested, building the drama through enough twists, turns and scandals to push the protagonist and to the limit. But while the premise itself, a big city prostitution ring servicing the high-powered elite, is a good jumping off point but aspects of the story lack continuity. The characters, even Amanda, come off a bit awkward and it might take readers a little too long too become familiar with all of the story's various players, both the big shots and the small fries, none of whom are especially well-developed. Plus the book as a whole might even have been better without a few of the sidestories. Other than that Ties That Bind is an entertaining, fast read, and though nothing memorable, it's definitely enough of a thrill ride to satisfy fans of John Grisham, Steve Martini or Scott Turow. (FIC MARGOLIN)

Senior Sleuths

The Shooting in the Shop: A Fethering Mystery / by Simon Brett
Chummy widows in the small coastal village of Fethering, England, Carole Seddon and her friend Jude are two former knockouts aging gracefully as they like to call it. When trendy shop around the corner burns to the ground and the daughter of a local couple is found dead inside, Carole and Jude think arson may be afoot and get busy on the sleuthing. (MYS BRETT)

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She Shoots to Conquer / by Dorothy Cannell
Ellie Haskell may look and think like Miss Marple, but she’s her own person and can distinguish herself as well as anyone, especially when television cameras are around. When another mystery crops up involving some stolen diamonds, Ellie starts snooping around the Lord’s estate where the jewels were taken and where also, the production for a popular reality television is underway. (MYS CANNELL)

Wanting Sheila Dead: A Gregor Demarkian Novel / by Jane Haddam
Retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian may be getting on in years but he’s feeling younger these days after his marriage and recent honeymoon, at least until he and his new wife arrive back in Philadelphia to find their reclusive neighbor dead, possibly poisoned. Meanwhile, a rather scandalous game show host, Sheila Dunham, has been the target of an assassination attempt and Demarkian has been asked to brainstorm on just who the would-be killer is? (MYS HADDAM)
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What Are You Wearing to Die?: A Thoroughly Southern Mystery / by Patricia Houck Sprinkle

Home-grown Georgia gal MacLaren "Mac" Yarbrough may not look like your average detective, but the aging southern belle has always loved to play detective, so much so that her husband Joe has tried anything and everything to keep her from meddling in other people’s affairs. But when a local young mother is found dead, even Joe’s good-natured efforts at preventing her from getting involved can’t keep Mac from another mystery. (MYS SPRINKLE)

Portobello: A Novel / by Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell could be considered a modern day Agatha Christie. She's that good. Her numerous mystery and crime fiction books, published since the mid-sixties, tally over 60 total novels to go along with several short story collections and novellas. The staggering amount of praise she's received has as much to do with her standalones as with her Inspector Wexford series which has been a TV broadcast since the 1980's. One of her career highlights came in 1998 when she received a life peer award and CBE (Commander of the British Empire) following which she became assumed a seat in the House of Lords for Britain's Labour Party. Portobello, one of her most recent standalones, chronicles the intersecting lives of several city dwellers in the Notting Hill section of London.
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50-year-old bachelor Eugene Wren is the sort of person who's lucked into the good life. An art dealer and owner of a shop in the antiques market of London's Portobello Road, Wren's made a series of favorable deals in which some wealthy collectors overpaid for several obscure pieces. Now he lives semi-retired in a posh section of Kensington where he casually monitors his shop's business and spends most of his time with his girlfriend and fiance Ella Cotswold. A doctor of general medicine, Ella's not only well-off financially but ten years his junior and quite a catch. There's a slight problem though: Eugene's an addictive personality type. Never fully free of a dependency, he's gone through life fighting alcohol, cigarettes, prescription drugs and food, essentially trading one addiction for another periodically. Currently he's hooked on a particular brand of sugar-free sweets which he takes great pains to hoard, purchasing the candy at different stores and concealing all traces from his soon-to-be wife who can't stand hidden habits.
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One day Eugene stumbles across an envelope overflowing with cash just lying in the street. In an attempt to partly offset the guilt over his addiction and balance the scales of his conscience a bit, Eugene tries to personally locate envelope's rightful owner, publishing a notice in the paper in hopes of getting his man. Of course multiple persons try and claim the money. One of the phantom claimants, Lance Platt, is a burglar and petty thief who constantly prowls around the neighborhood, lurking amid the upper-class homes seeking to potentially rob any of the less secure ones. This time though, Lance meets with Eugene not to check out his house, but because he actually needs the money: his girlfriend's got a busted jaw after he'd smashed it with his fist and she needs a thousand pounds for surgery. The other notably odd respondent is a peculiar invalid named Joel Rosemund, who may or may not have a mental illness (he hears voices) and who latches on to Ella as his personal physician. It's not long before the situation initialized by Eugene's little discovery spins out of control as the secrets and lies get knotted up into a sinister web of betrayal and intrigue.
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Portobello is a great 'neighborhood' novel and the borough of Notting Hill is as good a place as any to set a story. For anyone who doesn't know about Notting Hill or the Portobello Road Market, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a good movie to rewatch. Thriving with culture, rich in tradition and full of colorful characers, it more than measures up as a backdrop for Rendell's exquisite prose. And the writing is just that. Smart, fluid, funny--it's everything even a non-mystery fan could want. The characterizations are especially charming. The author's portrayal of her characters is as comprehensive as it is fascinating, the narrative fleshing out each's finer points, their psychological makeup and chronic neurosis, personal convictions and internal inhibitions. The evocative depictions of Eugene, his psyche and motives; of Lance and his ever-deepening well of problems; and Joel, who may seem the most out of touch but has a knack for getting what he wants, are what combine to make Rendell one of the truly special contemporary mystery authors. (MYS RENDELL)

Breaker's Reef / by Terri Blackstock

When the body of well-liked teenager Emily Lawrence is murdered in the quaint coastal village of Cape Refuge, GA, it sets the whole town aghast. Virtually everyone was connected to the Lawrence family in one way or another and all feel the brunt of the shock. Police Chief Matthew Cade tries to handle things as best he can, going on the few leads he's got while trying to keep his overeager deputy Scott Crown from bumbling things up. But when another murdered body--a second girl--turns up, everyone in Cape Refuge including Cade and his amateurish squad comes to the solemn conclusion that it's the same perpetrator--a serial murderer who's likely to kill again. Several suspects emerge including a newly arrived novelist named Marcus Gibson whose eccentricities, including skulking around town in the middle of the night, odd former relationships and scatterbrained thoughts, lend many to pin him as the culprit.
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Another thing tying Gibson to the case is Sheila Caruso. An ex-con and single mother of two teenagers, Sheila has been working as a secretary for the Gibson when she suddenly makes a startling discovery about author and his selective subject matter which includes an scenario from one of his earlier novels which matches the circumstances of the second murder almost exactly. A close friend of Chief Cade, Sheila lets him in on the details only for new evidence to turn up targeting Cade himself as the murderer. Someone seems to have it in for both Cade and Sheila, a notion confirmed when Sheila's daughter Sadie goes missing. Soon things in Cape Refuge escalate to an almost unbearable pitch with the tension testing Sheila's faith in a way she never could have imagined.
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This is the fourth and final installment in Blackstock's Cape Refuge series and is a good testament as to why she's been such a unique success. Christian fiction isn't always this multi-dimensional; many associate the genre almost solely with sentimental love stories and prairie sagas. But Blackstock isn't afraid to explore darker material of vice and violence or depict life's less pleasant or downright awful situations while mixing in the themes of grace and redemption. And while the content surrounding the two grisly murders is nowhere near as explicit as other more mainstream thrillers are apt to describe it, the book is nonetheless an exciting tale of mystery and suspense, its fast-paced narrative as well as its emotional and spiritual conflicts making for a good read. Readers unfamiliar with the author or the series shouldn't worry about catching up on things as Blackstock does a good job to ease the backstory along as she's providing the details of the present situation. (FIC BLACKSTO)

Scared Stiff: A Mattie Winston Mystery / by Annelise Ryan

Most people expect a little faux horror during Halloween. But blending all the fake blood and skeletons with an actual corpse is a little too macabre for the folks of Sorensen, Wisconsin who are shocked after some trick-or-treaters happen upon the dead body of a young woman--murdered. Shannon Tolliver, a waitress and part-time model, is the unlucky victim having been shot in the chest with a .38 caliber handgun leading the county's homicide unit to tab her estranged husband Erik as suspect numero uno. But Sorensen's deputy coroner Mattie Winston isn't so sure. Having known the couple personally, Mattie knows that Erik loved his wife despite their recent marital problems--recent arguments (some of them public) leading to a separation and Shannon starting with a new boyfriend--and could never be driven to such a violent act even if he does, coincidentally, own a licensed .38 caliber handgun.
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The task of helping clear Erik won't be easy. For Mattie to help out with the case, she'll have to tax the utmost of her admirable forensic pathology skills and limited ballistics experience to even have a chance at getting Erik's name off the prime suspect list. And she'll have to do some snooping around on her own to come up with some clues on who the real culprit might be. Clearing one man and bringing another to justice seems a task, but it's a little less daunting knowing that she gets to work in close proximity with hunky homicide detective Steve Hurley, the very man she'll have to convince that he's wrong. Hurley, the man who originally took Erik into custody, is not only dashingly handsome, he's a good detective and Mattie now has it doubly hard as she finds herself falling for him at the same time she's trying to outwit him.
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Ryan has a knack for pairing humor and crime. An RN herself, she's familiar with more than just writing and goes toe-to-toe with more hardcore forensic/police procedural authors, not shy about getting her heroine Mattie Winston's hands dirty when it comes to uncovering evidence and catching the villain. Many hard-boiled crime novels and police procedurals tend to have an edge of menace about them: the world is a no-nonsense place where violent crime and frivolous elements (à la romantic comedy) just don't mix well. But the author doesn't seem to have a problem characterizing her funny, likeable protagonist who can have a laugh at herself (some have compared Mattie Winston to Stephanie Plum) and not hesitate to wade wrist-deep into the blood and guts--literally, she's a coroner--of the crime. This is Ryan's third book in the series. (MYS RYAN)