Mischief, Mayhem and Murder: Margaret N. Offer's Her Recommendations For Great Mysteries Out in October

In The Silent Sister, Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. Now, over twenty years later, her father has passed away and she's in New Bern, North Carolina cleaning out his house when she finds evidence to the contrary. Lisa is alive. Alive and living under a new identity. But why exactly was she on the run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now? As Riley works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question everything she thought she knew about her family. Riley must decide what the past means for her present, and what she will do with her newfound reality, in this engrossing mystery from international bestselling author Diane Chamberlain.

"With so many great authors contributing to this fiction collection . . . it doesn't take detecting skills to discover the gem. And every story dazzles . . . These stories, in prose both elegant and compelling, get to the heart of why people do what they do." ~USA Today

The Best American Mystery Stories 2014 will be selected by "writing powerhouse" (USA Today) Laura Lippman. With her popular Tess Monaghan series and her New York Times best-selling standalone novels, Lippman has greatly expanded the boundaries of modern mystery fiction and psychological suspense.

Amory Ames is a wealthy young woman who questions her marriage to her notoriously charming playboy husband, Milo. Looking for a change, she accepts a request for help from her former fiancé, Gil Trent, not knowing that she’ll soon become embroiled in a murder investigation that will test not only her friendship with Gil, but will upset the status quo with her husband.

Amory accompanies Gil to the luxurious Brightwell Hotel in an attempt to circumvent the marriage of his sister, Emmeline, to Rupert Howe, a disreputable ladies’ man. Amory sees in the situation a grim reflection of her own floundering marriage. There is more than her happiness at stake, however, when Rupert is murdered and Gil is arrested for the crime. Amory is determined to prove his innocence and find the real killer, despite attempted dissuasion from the disapproving police inspector on the case. Matters are further complicated by Milo’s unexpected arrival, and the two form an uneasy alliance as Amory enlists his reluctant aid in clearing Gil’s name. As the stakes grow higher and the line between friend and foe becomes less clear, Amory must decide where her heart lies and catch the killer before she, too, becomes a victim.

Murder at the Brightwell is a delicious novel in which murder invades polite society and romance springs in unexpected places. Ashley Weaver’s debut is a wonderful testament to the enduring delight of the traditional mystery.

comes out 10/28/14

The twelfth installment in Stephanie Barron's fan-favorite Being a Jane Austen Mystery series

Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington, DC; and on Christmas Eve, John Quincy Adams signs the Treaty of Ghent, which will end a war nobody in England really wanted.

Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide revelers dies in a tragic accident, which Jane immediately views with suspicion. If the accident was in fact murder, the killer is one of Jane’s fellow snow-bound guests. With clues scattered amidst cleverly crafted charades, dark secrets coming to light during parlor games, and old friendships returning to haunt the Christmas parties, whom can Jane trust to help her discover the truth and stop the killer from striking again?

 

 

The dazzling new novel from Ruth Rendell. When the bones of two severed hands are discovered in a box, an investigation into a long buried crime of passion begins. And a group of friends, who played together as children, begin to question their past.

‘For Woody, anger was cold. Cold and slow. But once it had started it mounted gradually and he could think of nothing else. He knew he couldn't stay alive while those two were alive. Instead of sleeping, he lay awake in the dark and saw those hands. Anita's narrow white hand with the long nails painted pastel pink, the man's brown hand equally shapely, the fingers slightly splayed.'

Before the advent of the Second World War, beneath the green meadows of Loughton, Essex, a dark network of tunnels has been dug. A group of children discover them. They play there. It becomes their secret place.

Seventy years on, the world has changed. Developers have altered the rural landscape. Friends from a half-remembered world have married, died, grown sick, moved on or disappeared.

Work on a new house called Warlock uncovers a grisly secret, buried a lifetime ago, and a weary detective, more preoccupied with current crimes, must investigate a possible case of murder.

In all her novels, Ruth Rendell digs deep beneath the surface to investigate the secrets of the human psyche. The interconnecting tunnels of Loughton in The Girl Next Door lead to no single destination. But the relationships formed there, and the incidents that occurred, exert a profound influence – not only on the survivors but in unearthing the true nature of the mysterious past. - See more at: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/ruth-rendell/the-girl-next-door-9780091958831.aspx#sthash.2XvCMqIn.dpuf

The dazzling new novel from Ruth Rendell. When the bones of two severed hands are discovered in a box, an investigation into a long buried crime of passion begins. And a group of friends, who played together as children, begin to question their past.

‘For Woody, anger was cold. Cold and slow. But once it had started it mounted gradually and he could think of nothing else. He knew he couldn't stay alive while those two were alive. Instead of sleeping, he lay awake in the dark and saw those hands. Anita's narrow white hand with the long nails painted pastel pink, the man's brown hand equally shapely, the fingers slightly splayed.'

Before the advent of the Second World War, beneath the green meadows of Loughton, Essex, a dark network of tunnels has been dug. A group of children discover them. They play there. It becomes their secret place.

Seventy years on, the world has changed. Developers have altered the rural landscape. Friends from a half-remembered world have married, died, grown sick, moved on or disappeared.

Work on a new house called Warlock uncovers a grisly secret, buried a lifetime ago, and a weary detective, more preoccupied with current crimes, must investigate a possible case of murder.

In all her novels, Ruth Rendell digs deep beneath the surface to investigate the secrets of the human psyche. The interconnecting tunnels of Loughton in The Girl Next Door lead to no single destination. But the relationships formed there, and the incidents that occurred, exert a profound influence – not only on the survivors but in unearthing the true nature of the mysterious past. - See more at: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/ruth-rendell/the-girl-next-door-9780091958831.aspx#sthash.2XvCMqIn.dpuf

In this psychologically explosive story from “one of the most remarkable novelists of her generation” (People), the discovery of bones in a tin box sends shockwaves across a group of long-time friends.

In the waning months of the second World War, a group of children discover an earthen tunnel in their neighborhood outside London. Throughout the summer of 1944—until one father forbids it—the subterranean space becomes their “secret garden,” where the friends play games and tell stories.

Six decades later, beneath a house on the same land, construction workers uncover a tin box containing two skeletal hands, one male and one female. As the discovery makes national news, the friends come together once again, to recall their days in the tunnel for the detective investigating the case. Is the truth buried among these aging friends and their memories?

This impromptu reunion causes long-simmering feelings to bubble to the surface. Alan, stuck in a passionless marriage, begins flirting with Daphne, a glamorous widow. Michael considers contacting his estranged father, who sent Michael to live with an aunt after his mother vanished in 1944. Lewis begins remembering details about his Uncle James, an army private who once accompanied the children into the tunnels, and who later disappeared.

In The Girl Next Door Rendell brilliantly shatters the assumptions about age, showing that the choices people make—and the emotions behind them—remain as potent in late life as they were in youth.

 

Margaret N. says:

"A new book from Ruth Rendell if always a treat and The Girl Next Door is no exception. Do you ever wonder what happened to those neighborhood kids that you played with years ago? After a shortbread tin containing a the skeletal hands of a man and a woman is found in the foundation of a house, a group of childhood friends, now in their seventies, are brought together by the police to provide information what their memories of playing in nearby tunnels. We know early on exactly how the hands ended up in the tin. As the book unfolds, we watch the friends reconnect, in sometimes surprising ways, as they navigate retirement, illness and desire for change. Along the way they help solve the crime." 

 

 

Murder, Mischief and Mayhem: Recommendations From Margaret N.

The extraordinary new novel in New York Times-bestselling author Ace Atkins' acclaimed series about the real Deep South—“a joy ride into the heart of darkness” (The Washington Post).

Thirty-six years ago, a nameless black man wandered into Jericho, Mississippi, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a pair of paratrooper boots. Less than two days later, he was accused of rape and murder, hunted down by a self-appointed posse, and lynched.

Now evidence has surfaced of his innocence, and county sheriff Quinn Colson sets out not only to identify the stranger’s remains, but to charge those responsible for the lynching. As he starts to uncover old lies and dirty secrets, though, he runs up against fierce opposition from those with the most to lose—and they can play dirty themselves.

Soon Colson will find himself accused of terrible crimes, and the worst part is, the accusations just might stick. As the two investigations come to a head, it is anybody’s guess who will prevail—or even come out of it alive.

 

 

Sheriff Joanna Brady must solve two perplexing cases that hit close to home in New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance's thrilling tale of suspense that brings to life Arizona's Cochise County and the desert Southwest in all its beauty, mystery, and danger

An old woman, both a hermit and a hoarder, is dying in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. While cleaning out her dilapidated house, her estranged daughter, Liza Machett, discovers a fortune in hundred-dollar bills hidden in the tall stacks of books and magazines that crowd every corner. After their father ran off with another woman, Liza and her older stepbrother grew up in this house, surviving poverty, squalor, and a mentally unstable mother. So where did all the cash come from?

For Liza, a waitress at a small local diner, the money seems like a blessing—until an elderly man she's never met appears at her mother's funeral, warning that she's in danger. Suddenly, Liza's quiet life is turned upside down. The house is torched, her apartment is broken into, and her elderly landlady is murdered. Someone very dangerous is looking for her and won't stop until she's found. Terrified, Liza sets off on a perilous cross-country journey that will lead her to Cochise County, Arizona, where Sheriff Joanna Brady is embroiled in a personal mystery of her own.

Junior Dowdle, a developmentally disabled man in his sixties, is found dead at the bottom of a hole in a limestone cavern near Bisbee. Inside the cave, the police also discover a badly injured kitten that is barely alive, as well as the remains of other mutilated pets. Joanna knows Junior's foster parents well, and she considered him a family friend. Though he'd always been kind and sweet, with the onset of dementia, he had begun having violent episodes. Could he have hurt those animals? Was his death an accident? Or is he a victim as well?

Joanna and her modest staff have their hands full investigating Junior's death and the animal abuse they uncovered. Then another case rocks the department—a shocking murder involving Liza and the money. Her department stretched to the limit, the undaunted sheriff must solve these two disturbing cases fast, before more innocent blood can be shed. 

 

 

 

What if a teacher’s most promising pupil is also her most dangerous? A tautly plotted psychological thriller, as intelligent as it is mesmerizing

What Has Become of You follows Vera Lundy, an aspiring crime writer and master of self-deprecation who, like many adults, has survived adolescence but hasn’t entirely overcome it. When she agrees to fill in for a private school English teacher on maternity leave, teaching The Catcher in the Rye to privileged girls, Vera feels in over her head. The students are on edge, too, due to the recent murder of a local girl close to their age.

Enter Jensen Willard. At fifteen she’s already a gifted writer but also self-destructive and eerily reminiscent of Vera’s younger self. As the two outcasts forge a tentative bond, a sense of menace enfolds their small New England town. When another student, new to the country, is imperiled by her beliefs, Vera finds herself in the vortex of danger—and suspicion.

With the threat of a killer at large, the disappearance of her increasingly worri-some pupil, and her own professional reputation at stake, Vera must thread her way among what is right by the law, by her students, and by herself. In this poignant page-turner, populated with beguiling characters and sharp social insights, coming-of-age can happen no matter how old you are.

 

 

Margaret N. says:

"Oh my.  I keep thinking this over and over while reading What Became of You.  Vera has returned home from New York and takes a temporary position at a girls school teaching English and working on a book about a serial killer that operated in the area when she was in high school.  She sees herself in a troubled and talented young girl and finds herself crossing boundaries of appropriate behavior.  History seems to repeat itself as girls begin to die.

This psychological thriller is a perfect read for anyone looking for more that a pat plot."

Margaret Found This Book To Have "just the right amount of creepiness..."

"Looking for the perfect book for a gloomy winter day? Sophie Hannah's psychological mystery The Orphan Choir may be the answer, with just the right amount of creepiness to keep you turning the pages without having to check the windows.

Louise Beeston is grief stricken, frustrated and exhausted. Her young son sings in a prestigious boys choir and the director refuses to allow home visits during term. In essence, her son as been abducted, though no one else understands how she feels. Her neighbor is blasting music late into the night, but her husband still manages to sleep. When she begins to hear hymns sung by a boys choir that no one else hear, she takes steps to regain her son and her sanity. Unfortunately, the results are terrifying.  Still, I wouldn't call it horror.

The Orphan Choir is a stand alone novel, not part of Hannah's detective series, and a excellent place to begin if you have not yet read her work."

--Margaret N.

Editor's Note:  Daisy and Samantha (Bichon and Tuxedo cat respectively) also loved this book because they got to curl up with Margaret for a wonderfully long cuddle on a freezing cold windy day. 

Pete Is A Hard Case Fan

I recently read an article in the November 2013 issue of Juxtapoz magazine that focused on  cover art for Hard Case Crime, a publishing house devoted to pulp fiction from past to present. I'd already read and enjoyed one of their titles, Joyland by Stephen King, and was happy to see that particular cover included in the feature.

Another cover that caught my eye was The Secret Lives of Married Women by Elissa Wald. This novel concerns the lives of two sisters, one sister with a libertine past that included an acting job in a soft-core porn film, and the other sister a repressed attorney mortified by her sister's behavior but perhaps secretly craving it as well. I like pulp fiction because the cover art promises some sort of danger and excitement, and the stories inside usually deliver and then some. This one was no exception.

Another Hard Case Crime novel I recently finished was The Cocktail Waitress by James Cain. This one is a long lost but recently found work by the author who wrote such notable books as The Postman Always Rings Twice, Mildred Pierce, and Double Indemnity. All of these titles were made into memorable feature films starring such luminaries as Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Jack Nicholson, and more recently Kate Winslet.

The cocktail waitress is Joan Medford, a penniless young widow who takes a job at a local watering hole out of desperation. Joan relies on considerable street smarts, pluck, and even her body in order to carve out a life for herself, and also in hopes of regaining custody of her toddler son. She makes some good decisions, some bad decisions, but always keeps her eyes on the prize. She'll either become a very rich young lady, or find herself facing execution having left a few bodies in her wake. One thing's for sure, there's never a dull moment in the life of The Cocktail Waitress.

--Pete

Ky, Master of the Very Short Recommendation

"

WARNING:  This dark mystery may cause feelings of claustrophobia, disorientation or anxiety, loss of sleep, or suspicions that your reality just isn't so. In the morning, however, you will probably be okay. Probably." ~Ky

"Michael Gruber delivers once again." ~Judy S.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Air and Shadows, the story of one man’s fearless quest for revenge among some of the world’s most dangerous criminals

Lauded as his #1 favorite book of the year, Stephen King advised President Obama, in the pages of Entertainment Weekly, to pick up Michael Gruber’s previous book, The Good Son. With an unforgettable hero, The Return is as exciting and provocative as Gruber’s best work.

The real Richard Marder would shock his acquaintances, if they ever met him. Even his wife, long dead, didn’t know the real man behind the calm, cultured mask he presents to the world. Only an old army buddy from Vietnam, Patrick Skelly, knows what Marder is capable of. Then a shattering piece of news awakens Marder’s buried desire for vengeance, and with nothing left to lose, he sets off to punish the people whose actions, years earlier, changed his life. Uninvited, Skelly shows up and together the two of them raise the stakes far beyond anything Marder could have envisioned.

As Marder and Skelly head toward an apocalypse of their own making, Marder learns that good motives and sense of justice can’t always protect the people a man loves. A range of fearsomely real characters, from a brutally violent crime lord to a daringly courageous young woman, a roller-coaster of twists and turns, and a shattering exploration of what constitutes morality in the face of evil, Michael Gruber has once more proven that he is “a gifted and natural storyteller” (Chicago Tribune) and shows why he has been called “the Stephen King of crime writing” (The Denver Post).

Judy S. says:
"Michael Gruber delivers once again. His novels are always compelling and wonderfully unpredictable. It’s as though you discover where the book is going next only as the characters themselves figure out where their lives are taking them.

This one involves a dad seeking resolution of grief in Mexico, the birthplace of his recently deceased wife. Their daughter ends up there also, and together with dad’s old Vietnam war Special Forces buddy, they all work out old issues, unearth the past, and look for the elusive wizard behind the curtain who will help them separate tale from truth, myth from fact. Even if doing so means finding out that which they are not so keen on knowing.

All the while – and the best part of the book – Gruber is exploring their relationships with each other. Who is tough, who is resilient, who is truly wounded, and who is stronger than anyone imagined.

Bonus: The Day of the Dead symbolism and rituals, in a lush Mexico setting, make for a good read this time of year."

"Sophie Hannah has been messing with my mind for years now.. That's why I'm so excited to meet her in person tomorrow night!" ~Jackie

 

“Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” Amber thinks it’s just nonsense, a side effect of being hypnotized for the first time. But when she’s arrested for a brutal murder two hours later, those four words are the key to clearing her name… if only she could remember where she’d seen them.

 

Amber Hewerdine suffers from chronic insomnia. As a last resort, she visits a hypnotherapist, doubtful that anything will really change. Under hypnosis, Amber hears herself saying, “Kind, cruel, kind of cruel.” The words awaken a vague memory, but she dismisses the whole episode as nonsense. Two hours later, however, Amber is arrested for the brutal murder of a woman she’s never heard of, and the only way she can clear her name is by remembering exactly where she’s seen those words.
 
Kind of Cruel is the latest page-turner in Hannah's Zailer and Waterhouse mystery series, and will enthrall Hannah’s ever-growing readership.

 

Check out more of Sophie Hannah's books HERE.

Tomorrow Night!!!

Sophie Hannah will be reading from and signing her new book at our Colfax Avenue store beginning at 7:30 pm.  Don't miss your chance to meet her!

Jackie says:

"Kind of Cruel is a fitting title to my way of looking at things.  Sophie Hannah has been messing with my mind for years now.  That's why I'm so excited to meet her in person tomorrow night.  She's a sneaky one--sometimes leaving clues out to help you or distract you, sometimes she pops in with a game changing new twist, and she always keeps you guessing until the very last sentence in the book.  Kind of cruel, right?   While this book is #7 in a series, all the books stand pretty well on their own.  If you haven't read her before, get started.  If you are already a fan, you'll be very happy with this new book.  See you there!"

Hank's Giving New Zealand Noir A Chance Here

Cemetery Lake begins in a cold and rainy graveyard, where Private Detective Theodore Tate is overseeing an exhumation—a routine job for the weathered former cop. But when doubts are raised about the identity of the body found in the coffin, the case takes a sinister turn. Tate knows he should walk away and let his former colleagues on the police force deal with it, but his strong sense of justice intervenes.

 Complicating matters are a few loose ends from Tate’s past. Even good guys have secrets, and Tate thought his were dead and buried for good. With time running out and a violent killer lurking, will he manage to stay one step ahead of the police, or will his truth be unearthed?

 Originally published in Paul Cleave’s native New Zealand in 2008, Cemetery Lake is the first novel to feature Theodore Tate, the “quintessential flawed hero” (Kirkus Reviews) from Collecting Cooper and The Laughterhouse. Full of the clever plot twists and sardonic humor for which Cleave has become known, it is at once a totally entertaining crime novel and an unforgettable drama about the universal battle against the darkness within.

Hank says:
"I've never been much of a fan of hardboiled mysteries, with the exception of Dan Simmons' Joe Kurtz books, but I decided to pick up this example of New Zealand noir and give it a try. In spite of another book I'm very excited to read coming my way in the middle of it, Cemetery Lake was compelling enough that I wanted to keep reading and find out how the story would end.

Theo Tate, an ex-cop in Christchurch, now struggling along as a private investigator has a wretched life to begin with, and it goes from bad to worse, and then to worse and worse and even worse than that, over the course of his investigation. I never let myself think "worst," because, well, who knows? After awhile, the situation started to strike me as weirdly comical, whether or not that was Cleave's intention. The plot involves various makeshift exhumations and burials, and Tate keeps being blamed for things he did not do, and not blamed for things he did do. Somehow, he manages to keep a step ahead of everybody else and unravel the whole mess, with one of his subsidiary antagonists receiving a satisfying, if offstage, comeuppance."

Lisa C.'s Now A Fan of Attica Locke

In Black Water Rising, Attica Locke delivered one of the most stunning and sure-handed fiction debuts in recent memory, garnering effusive critical praise, several award nominations, and passionate reader response. Now Locke returns with The Cutting Season, a riveting thriller that intertwines two murders separated across more than a century.

Caren Gray manages Belle Vie, a sprawling antebellum plantation that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where the past and the present coexist uneasily. The estate's owners have turned the place into an eerie tourist attraction, complete with full-dress re-enactments and carefully restored slave quarters. Outside the gates, a corporation with ambitious plans has been busy snapping up land from struggling families who have been growing sugar cane for generations, and now replacing local employees with illegal laborers. Tensions mount when the body of a female migrant worker is found in a shallow grave on the edge of the property, her throat cut clean.

As the investigation gets under way, the list of suspects grows. But when fresh evidence comes to light and the sheriff's department zeros in on a person of interest, Caren has a bad feeling that the police are chasing the wrong leads. Putting herself at risk, she ventures into dangerous territory as she unearths startling new facts about a very old mystery--the long-ago disappearance of a former slave--that has unsettling ties to the current murder. In pursuit of the truth about Belle Vie's history and her own, Caren discovers secrets about both cases--ones that an increasingly desperate killer will stop at nothing to keep buried.

Taut, hauntingly resonant, and beautifully written, The Cutting Season is at once a thoughtful meditation on how America reckons its past with its future, and a high-octane page-turner that unfolds with tremendous skill and vision. With her rare gift for depicting human nature in all its complexities, Attica Locke demonstrates once again that she is "destined for literary stardom" (Dallas Morning News).

Read the essay "The Cutting Season--Behind The Book" HERE.

Lisa C. says:

"This was my first time reading Attica Locke's work and I thoroughly enjoyed The Cutting Season. Her first novel was Blackwater Rising which was shortlisted for the Orange and Edgar in 2010. Locke is a gifted writer - just ask Dennis Lehane. The Cutting Season is the first book under the HarperCollins Dennis Lehane Books imprint. Lehane is right.

Locke's sense of history, place, murder and mystery work together in this novel. It is set in present time Louisiana at the plantation Belle Vie - now a tourist attraction managed by Caren Gray. The owners have kept all the buildings as they once were, including the slave quarters, and they employ local people to dress up and play parts of those who once lived on the plantation.

Caren Gray's personal history is connected to the place and it is this thread that connects the two time periods beautifully. When a body of a murdered migrant worker is found on the plantation - readers see that perhaps the past isn't that long gone.

Gray finds she must come to terms with the situation, her personal relationships, including one with her precocious daughter. Locke's characters are flawed and believable. It is easy to see why her work gained praise and Lehane's attention. I found myself liking Caren but also shaking my head at her reticence when it fails to serve her. She's real. There are no easy answers or fixes in life or in this novel. It is a page-turner, and easy to see that Attica Locke has a bright future. Now I can't wait for her next one!"

Jackie says "that calling what Hannah does 'plot twists' is like calling a tornado a summer rain."

 

The latest gripping psychological thriller from the internationally bestselling author of The Wrong Mother and The Cradle in the Grave

It's past midnight, but Connie Bowskill can't sleep. To pass the time, she logs on to a real estate website in search of a particular house, one she is obsessed with for reasons she's too scared to even admit to herself. As she clicks through the virtual tour, she comes across a scene from a nightmare: a woman lying facedown on the living room floor in a pool of blood. But when she returns to show her husband, there is no body, no blood—just a perfectly ordinary room. With plot twists that will keep readers up all night, The Other Woman's House is another unforgettable story by a new master of the crime novel.

Read a Q&A with Hannah HERE.

Read an excerpt HERE ("Lasting Damage" is the UK title of the book) 

Jackie says:
"I'm not much for UK based mysteries--I just don't understand how it all works over there. But I do make an exception for Sophie Hannah--she keeps me too busy trying to figure out her very complicated characters and the even more complicated situations they find themselves in. Connie and her husband Kit, the main characters in The Other Woman's House are not exceptions. It starts out simple enough--Connie can't sleep so she's up looking at a house tour online when she sees a woman laying in a pool of blood. She races to the bedroom to get her husband, who dutifully goes to see things for himself--finding no sign of blood or any woman, let alone a dead one. But Connie knows what she's seen, and, it turns out, knows a bit about that house and the people who live there. This opens the door to the labyrinth of lies, tricks, cheats, doubts and long held psychosis--and a very complex puzzle for the reader to figure out. This book features some characters from previous books, but this one stands alone just fine. The important part is to remember that calling what Hannah does "plot twists" is like calling a tornado a summer rain, so be prepared."

Though No Mystery Fan, Gerald Says This Book Is "compelling and wonderfully written."

THE grisly suspense and heart-stopping drama of Camilla Läckberg’s acclaimed debut, The Ice Princess, catapulted her to the #1 spot on bestseller lists in Europe and around the world. Now, in her second installment in the series that has sold nearly ten million copies worldwide, the Swedish crime-writing phenomenon returns to the tiny fishing village of Fjällbacka, where a series of unsolved murders have lain nearly forgotten for a generation—until the sadistic killer suddenly begins claiming fresh victims. As the town erupts in panic, detective Patrik Hedström and his pregnant girlfriend, Erica Falck, find themselves launching a desperate manhunt to track down the true murderer before another life is lost.

In the harrowing, spellbinding tradition of the best Scandinavian thrillers, The Preacher ruthlessly cuts to the bleak heart of human evil, revealing that narrowest of lines between fear and forgiveness.

Gerald says:
"I am not a very frequent reader of mysteries; it surprises me that such a squeamish and 'sensitive' reader as myself would be recommending one that centered around a sadistic group of murders.  However, I found The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg compelling and wonderfully written.

The slow method of death here brilliantly functions to create a sense of urgency for a recent murder where a young murdered girl was found with the bones of two victims murdered in 1979, when shortly after the discovery of the latest victim a girl vacationing in the Swedish town goes missing.  Now every clue from past and present must be explored with the clock ticking.  Against this urgency to find the connections between past and present there are delays and frustrations that are in part due to the wonderful characters, both those on the police force working to solve a crime they may not be experienced enough to handle and the almost impenetrable family tinged forever by the original unsolved murders who are now the key to finding the murderer.  The delays are also in part also due to a masterful sense of the mundane clock of modern police procedure.

A miasma seems to have struck the sons of a famous free church preacher and healer that must be understood to solve the crime.  In the 1979 murders, one brother seemingly gave testimony against his brother who is found hanged.  This pollution creates a strange and wonderful mix of characters who now must be under suspicion.  My personal favorite is the wife of the man found hanged who has ballooned into a greasy caricature of her beauty queen days, passing her time rearranging the photos of her youth and providing alibis for her hoodlum sons. The rich cast of suspects varies from the seemingly out of control to the tightly wound and emotionally cold, all who may provide the solution to the murders and location of the missing girl."

Linda says, "For a great armchair adventure, you can't beat Nevada Barr."

Anna Pigeon's first case—this is the story her fans have been clamoring for...this is where it all starts. In The Rope, the latest in Nevada Barr’s bestselling novels featuring Anna Pigeon, Nevada Barr gathers together the many strings of Anna’s past and finally reveals the story that her many fans have been long asking for. In 1995 and 35 years old, fresh off the bus from New York City and nursing a broken heart, Anna Pigeon takes a decidedly unglamorous job as a seasonal employee of the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area. On her day off, Anna goes hiking into the park never to return. Her co-workers think she’s simply moved on—her cabin is cleaned out and her things gone. But Anna herself wakes up, trapped at the bottom of a dry natural well, naked, without supplies and no clear memory of how she found herself in this situation.

As she slowly pieces together her memory, it soon becomes clear that someone has trapped her there, in an inescapable prison, and no one knows that she is even missing. Plunged into a landscape and a plot she is unfit and untrained to handle, Anna Pigeon must muster the courage, determination and will to live that she didn’t even know she still possessed to survive, outwit and triumph.

For those legions of readers who have been entranced over the years by Park Ranger Anna Pigeon’s strength and determination and those who are new to Nevada Barr’s captivating, compelling novels, this is where it all starts.

Linda says:
"This is vintage Nevada Barr! She knows how to tell a story, and for those of us who love the outdoors, and maybe especially the National Parks, she is a great and enjoyable find. Her heroine, park ranger Anna Pigeon, is always getting into and out of impossible scrapes, but along the way the reader gets to 'visit' one gorgeous park after another, and always the park plays as big a role in the unveiling of the story as do the characters telling the tale.

This story goes back to the beginning of Anna's career in the park service and is set in the Glen Canyon Recreational Area. Being a desert rat myself, I loved getting to climb around the rocks and pools with Anna, and learn, as she learns, how to navigate the challenges of both the terrain and the evil forces at play.

For a great armchair adventure, you can't beat Nevada Barr, and while this one starts you off at the beginning of Anna's career, you can pick up any of her Anna Pigeon mysteries and jump right in. It's always a great ride!"

A New Mystery Series Set in a Bookstore? How Could Jackie Resist?

As the new owners of Pettistone's Fine Books, Darla Pettistone is determined to prove herself a worthy successor to her late great-aunt Dee...and equally determined to outwit Hamlet, the smarter-than-thou cat she inherited along with the shop. Darla's first store event is a real coup: the hottest bestselling author of the moment is holding a signing there. But when the author meets an untimely end during the event, it's ruled an accident-until Hamlet digs up a clue that seems to indicate otherwise...

Jackie says:
"I saw a review online about this book, and it reminded me of my longtime affair with 'cozy' mysteries, especially those in a series.  This one has all the things that were guaranteed to get my attention--it takes place in a bookstore, with booksellers as main characters, there's a moody resident cat who seems a very astute sleuth in his own right, there's a touch of romance, and there's a lot of very familiar frustrations about being an indie bookseller that made me laugh out loud more than once.  And it's the first in a series to be called 'Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries', after Hamlet, the proprietary cat. This book involves an author dying during an in-store signing, and the mystery is pleasantly complex with plenty of twists and turns (and, actually, laughs).  I very much look forward to the next book in the series."

Lisa C.'s Advice To Handling Holiday Stress

I don’t know about you, but after rushing around, cooking for family, decorating – or in my case watching neighbors light up the block, there’s nothing better than settling down to a good book. The holidays can be stressful so here are a few authors you might enjoy.

Alan Bradley – writes the Flavia de Luce mysteries. If you haven’t read Sweetnessat the Bottom of the Pie – it was Flavia’s debut on the sleuth scene. In it, Flavia is 11, precocious and a passion for chemistry (i.e. poison). She lives with her three sisters and father at the Buckshaw Estate in England. In Sweetness, Flavia happens upon a dead bird with a stamp on his beak and soon after an almost dead man in the vegetable garden. From that point on, Flavia becomes Nancy Drew mixed with Ramona the Pest. Solving crimes becomes her business, much to the chagrin of local law enforcement.

After Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie come The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag and A Red Herring without Mustard – further developing both Flavia’s crime-solving skills and propensity to torture her sisters. In the newest one, I amHalf-Sick of Shadows, we join Flavia in her laboratory at Buckshaw where she’s cooking up something to catch St. Nicholas. This is soon put aside as a film crew comes to the estate to do a film and with them a star, followed by a murder. Nothing better on a cold night than having a cup of tea and a enjoying the escapades of Flavia de Luce.

Deborah Lawrenson has written several books and her newest, The Lantern is a wonderful tale set in France, between two different time periods in a rambling old estate called Les GenÉvriers. It’s a love story, a mystery, and a ghost story. Eve falls in love with Dom and they eventually move to the South of France. But Dom has secrets and is resistant to telling Eve about his mysterious first wife. Meanwhile, all the creaking and odd nooks and crannies of Les GenÉvriers cause Eve to think the house is haunted. The second part of the story is told by one of the house’s earlier inhabitants, BÉnÉdicte Lincel who had more than her share of tragedies. Soon the stories are drawn together through Eve’s attempts to find out about Dom’s past. What the reader is left with is a haunting story of long buried family secrets and love.

  

Another fun mystery series is by Deborah Coonts. Wanna Get Lucky, Lucky Stiff and in 2012 So Damned Lucky – all feature the unforgetable, Lucky O’Toole, a 6 ft., statuesque brunette who is the problem solver of the mega Babylon Casino in Las Vegas. Lucky’s father (unbeknownst to her until recently) is the big boss of the casino. Her mother, (quite a handful) owns a brothel outside of town. No wonder Lucky wears the glitz, glamour and ruthlessness of Las Vegas as a second skin. Trouble in the way of murder seems to find Lucky who has to save the name of the Casino, and usually a friend or family member who is up to their ears in trouble. With her razor wit and sharp tongue, it is easy for readers to wait impatiently for the next installment.

--Lisa C.

Margaret's Mysteries for 2011: The Noteman Files

Margaret is a buyer for Tattered Cover and a HUGE mystery fan.  She's been working on this list for BTC over a month to make sure she put in the best of the best of the genre published in 2011.  Click on any book cover to learn more about the book, the comments here are from Margaret.

Started Early, Took My Dog
This one is for the person who enjoys well written mysteries with unique, unforgettable characters.  I knew while reading this it would be one of my favorite books of the year.  It will also be appreciated by anyone who enjoyed the "Case Histories" on Masterpiece Mysteries on PBS in October featuring the first 3 books Jackson Brodie books.  However, this book can be read as a stand alone.

The Troubled Man
The latest Kurt Wallander literary thriller involves the disappearance of his daughter Linda's future father-in-law and former high ranking navel officer during the Cold War.  This is my other favorite book of the year.

Crunch Time
This is the fourteenth book that features Colorado caterer and sleuth extraordinaire Goldy Schulz.  Not quite a "cozy", but generally not very graphic, this book and all of her others are perfect those who love some recipes with their mysteries.

 The Snowman
Nesbo became my book obsession this year.  I read Snowman first, but I quickly read the three previous titles (The Redbreast, Nemesis and Devil's Star) featuring noir Oslo detective Harry Hole.  His specialty is tracking serial killers.  Harry is a complicated man,
struggling with addiction and relationships.  This book is not for the faint at heart.

 The Keeper of Lost Causes
When Carl Morck returns to the Copenhagen Homicide department shaken after an incident that results in the death of one officer and leaves another paralyzed, he is put in charge of nearly created "Department Q"- a cold case unit.  I loved this blend of police procedural and suspense and look forward to the next Department Q mystery.

The Most Dangerous Thing
Childhood secrets can be powerful things, and when old friends are brought together by the death of one, how will things play out?  I've always enjoyed Lippman's stand alone novels, and this one is no an exception.  Tess Monaghan makes a brief appearance, but this is
essentially a stand alone.

 The Dog Who Knew Too Much
Chet, the lovable canine hero of Dog On It, is on the case again.  Chet and Bernie are tracking a lost camper, and run into trouble on the way.  Chet's narration always makes me laugh.  Make no mistake, this is a real mystery and Chet is a real dog, and serious about his job, though he is easy distracted.  This one is for anyone who enjoys humorous mysteries.

 The Perfect Suspect
In the second book of Coel's new series featuring reporter Charlotte MacLeod (the first book is Blood Memory).  In this one, she searches for an anonymous witness to the murder of a candidate for Governor.  Will Charlotte locate the missing women before the witness, or Charlotte is murdered?  I enjoyed reading a mystery set in Denver. The Lodo Tattered Cover Coffee Shop even makes and appearance. This would be an excellent gift for a former Denver resident as well as any mystery lover.

The Vault
Inspector Wexford has retired, and is living in London with his wife Dora.  When he runs into a former colleague he is offered the chance to consult on a case involving four bodies found in a sewer drain.  The action follows A Sight for Sore Eyes, a stand alone published in 1999.  The detectives are unaware of events of that novel, so one can either read Sight for Sore Eyes, or follow along with the detectives.  Both novels would make an excellent package gift.

 As The Pig Turns
Only Agatha Raisin could find a dead body at a Winter Festival.  This one is great for the cozy reader, a wonderful break from a cold weekend.

The Boy in the Suitcase 
Nurse Nina Borg finds a drugged boy in a suitcase in a train station locker.  Is he a victim of child trafficking?  If she takes him to the police will he end up with the same person who sold him?  In a parallel story a women tracks her missing son.  Why was he stolen?  I found this book impossible to put down.

 The Leopard
This is the final Harry Hole mystery available in English (more translations are coming, too slowly for his American fans).  This mystery definitely surpassed the level of horror I can tolerate, yet I had to read to the end.  Nesbo is a master thriller writer.

Chet and Bernie Are On The Case Once Again!

The fourth entry in the irresistible New York Times bestselling mystery series featuring canine narrator Chet and his human companion Bernie—“the coolest human/pooch duo this side of Wallace and Gromit” (Kirkus Reviews).

Combining suspense and intrigue with a wonderfully humorous take on the link between man and beast, Spencer Quinn’s exceptional mystery series has captured widespread praise since its New York Times bestselling debut, Dog on It. The Dog Who Knew Too Much marks the duo’s triumphant return in a tale that’s full of surprises.

Bernie is invited to give the keynote speech at the Great Western Private Eye Convention, but it’s Chet that the bigshot P.I. in charge has secret plans for. Meanwhile Chet and Bernie are hired to find a kid who has gone missing from a wilderness camp in the high country. The boy’s mother thinks the boy’s father—her ex—has snatched the boy, but Chet makes a find that sends the case in a new and dangerous direction. As if that weren’t enough, matters get complicated at home when a stray puppy that looks suspiciously like Chet shows up. Affairs of the heart collide with a job that’s never been tougher, requiring our two intrepid sleuths to depend on each other as never before. The Dog Who Knew Too Much is classic Spencer Quinn, offering page-turning entertainment that’s not just for dog-lovers.

Jackie says:
"Chet and Bernie are back in action in the series' fourth book, this time they've accepted a lucrative bodyguarding gig that turns into the hunt for a missing little boy.  Add in a shady fellow trying to steal Chet and a much enhanced roll by the erstwhile reporter and girlfriend Suzy and you have yet another rollicking ride with The Little Detective Agency.  Then there's the question of a puppy from across the valley that looks like a perfect miniature version of Chet....  Another fun adventure from Quinn, and really, what's not to like about Chet and Bernie, right? "

Jackie Wants To Make Sure You All Know About John Verdon

When he was the NYPD’s top homicide investigator, Dave Gurney was never comfortable with the label the press gave him: super detective. He was simply a man who, when faced with a puzzle, wanted to know. He was called to the investigative hunt by the presumptuous arrogance of murderers – by their smug belief that they could kill without leaving a trace. There was always a trace, Gurney believed.

Except what if one day there wasn’t?

Dave Gurney, a few months past the Mellery case that pulled him out of retirement and then nearly killed him, is trying once again to adjust to his country house’s bucolic rhythms when he receives a call about a case so seductively bewildering that the thought of not looking into it seems unimaginable—even if his beloved wife, Madeleine, would rather he do anything but.

The facts of what has occurred are horrible: a blushing bride, newly wed to an eminent psychiatrist and just minutes from hearing her congratulatory toast, is found decapitated, her head apparently severed by a machete. Though police investigators believe that a Mexican gardener killed the young woman in a fit of jealous fury, the victim’s mother—a chilly high-society beauty—is having none of it. Reluctantly drawn in, Dave is quickly buffeted by a series of revelations that transform the bizarrely monstrous into the monstrously bizarre.

Underneath it all may exist one of the darkest criminal schemes imaginable. And as Gurney begins deciphering its grotesque outlines, some of his most cherished assumptions about himself are challenged, causing him to stare into an abyss so deep that it threatens to swallow not just him but Madeleine, too.

Desperate to protect Madeleine and bring an end to the madness, Gurney ultimately discovers that the killer has left a trace after all. Unfortunately, the revelation may come too late to save his own life.

With Shut Your Eyes Tight, John Verdon delivers on the promise of his internationally bestselling debut, Think of a Number, creating a portrait of evil let loose across generations that is as rife with moments of touching humanity as it is with spellbinding images of perversity.

Jackie says:
"This is Verdon's second book featuring retired detective Dave Gurney and another powerful and fast paced murder mystery.  He gets the call 4 months into a stalled investigation over a bride murdered at her own wedding reception--not from the police but from her mother.  Gurney agrees to work on the case for two weeks (much to the dismay of his frustrated wife). and quickly discovers that the picture is far bigger than anyone had yet imagined.  It seems there is a serial killer with a bit of a literary bent who has been quietly doing his thing for a least 3 years.  And now he's gone public--and has Gurney directly in his sights.  Verdon writes smart, smart mysteries with intricate puzzles that continue to surprise to the very last pages.  I highly recommend this book, as well at the first one in the series, Think of a Number."

Mercy is Back!!!

Former Black Ops army sniper Mercy Gunderson isn’t adjusting well to the laid-back rhythm of civilian life on her family’s ranch in South Dakota. To fill her time, Mercy accepts a temporary bartending gig at a local watering hole. Yet her attempts to settle in back home are tested when Titan Oil, a Canadian company proposing to run an underground pipeline through Eagle River County, sends Jason Hawley, Mercy’s former army buddy, to the area to convince ranchers to get behind the project.

While local business owners support the pipeline, Hawley’s presence riles the landowners, and Mercy is torn. After ugly threats and multiple altercations escalate tensions in the county, Mercy discovers Hawley’s brutally mutilated body in the bar parking lot. When it appears Sheriff Dawson cares more about campaigning for reelection than investigating the case, Mercy vows to find Jason Hawley’s killer—even if she has to run against Dawson for sheriff to ensure justice is served.

But Mercy soon learns her former military pal had plenty of secrets. Her search for the truth brings unwanted exposure to the county’s dark side and risks deadly repercussions for the entire community.

Jackie says:

"This is the second book in Armstrong's new series centered on former Army sniper Mercy Gunderson's life back on the South Dakota family ranch. In this one, Mercy has stopped drinking by becoming the bartender, which also helps keep her out of the way of her grieving sister and her frustrated brother-in-law. But it doesn't keep her from finding a dead body in the bar parking lot. Nor does it keep her from running against her secret lover Sheriff Dawson, even though she's about as unlikely a politician as you could possibly imagine. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep any mystery lover happy, and plenty of laughs to go with the rough stuff. Mercy Gunderson get's my vote when it comes to entertaining mysteries!"