News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

This selection of new Murder Mysteries includes updates for Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta, Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. Plus, three new Scandinavian mysteries, and a new instalment in Martin Walker’s Captain Bruno Courrèges mysteries (set in South-West France). Enjoy!

Red mist / Patricia Cornwell.
“Kay Scarpetta has arranged to meet an inmate at the high-security Georgia Prison for Women. The prisoner is a convicted sex offender and the mother of a vicious and diabolically brilliant killer. Against advice, Scarpetta is determined to hear this woman out – she believes she may hold some answers to the murder of her former deputy. But soon she finds connections to a string of grisly killings, including the slaughter of a Savannah family years earlier. She can see a pattern to these killings, but who is behind them and why?” (adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

Slash and burn / Colin Cotterill.
“Dr Siri, off on what he calls a ‘therapeutic holiday’ in the mountains with his wife and friends and with the help of a little blackmail they are accompanying an American MIA team. Their mission is to discover what happened to a stoned airman downed ten years earlier. Could he have survived? Who is eliminating the last people to have seen him alive? And who, we ask, is lighting the fires that are shrouding the Friendship Hotel in smog? In the remote Plain of Jars, surrounded by a thousand tons of unexploded bombs, Siri and the morgue team have to discover who is the killer in their midst before they too become victims.” (adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

Burned / Thomas Enger ; translated from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund.
“A solitary tent is found to contain the body of a half-buried woman. She’s been stoned to death. There are lash marks across her back. One of her hands has been cut off. Two years earlier internet reporter Henning Juul lost his son, Jonas, in a domestic fire. As he returns to work, physically and emotionally scarred, Henning struggles to escape this past and to be taken seriously again as a reporter, by his colleagues, his ex-wife and the police. Told to cover the story of the woman in the tent, he finds an increasingly dangerous trail and, despite an early arrest, he is convinced that the story is more complex than the police think. “(adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

Explosive eighteen / Janet Evanovich (Book on CD).
“Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 from Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, she’s flying back to New Jersey solo, and someone who sounds like Sasquatch is snoring in row 22. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. The FBI, the fake FBI, and guns-for-hire are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying. Only one other person has seen the missing photograph, Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can” (adapted from Syndetics summary).

The territory / Tricia Fields.
“At the end of State Road 170 and just past a ghost town lies Artemis, population 2500. The townspeople had sought out this remote corner of western Texas in hopes of living lives of solitude and independence. None of them realized that their small town would become a hot spot for Mexican drug runners, whose turf battles have turned both sides of the Rio Grande into a war zone. Still, many of the locals would rather take the law into their hands than get help from police chief Josie Gray, even when they’re up against a cartel’s private army. After arresting one of the cartel’s hit men and killing another, Josie finds her own life at risk for doing a job which many people would rather see her quit.” (adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

“V” is for vengeance / Sue Grafton.
“Las Vegas, 1986. A young college graduate is murdered when he is unable to pay back a loan funded by notorious criminal Lorenzo Dante. Two years later private investigator Kinsey Millhone finds her-self assisting to apprehend a shoplifter, Audrey Vance, in a shopping centre. Events take a much darker turn when Audrey’s body is discovered beneath the Cold Spring Bridge, a local suicide spot. Unable to believe she took her own life, Audrey’s fiancé Marvin Striker hires Kinsey to investigate. It soon emerges that the shoplifter had become caught up in a much larger operation. Meanwhile Lorenzo Dante has begun to grow weary of his life in organised crime and frustrated with his violent and impulsive younger brother Cappi. As Kinsey’s enquiries reach a dramatic head, it becomes clear that she and Dante have one thing in common, they must be careful who they trust.” (adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

Vacuum / Bill James.
“After his son and wife were shot, Mansel Shale turned to God, leaving DCS Colin Harpur with a potential problem. Instead of keeping a grip on his profitable drugs empire, Shale, ravaged by sorrow and regret, has abandoned that business, leaving it in the hands of an assistant who is reputed to hallucinate about the Spanish Civil War.” (adapted from Syndetics summary)

The hidden child / Camilla Läckberg ; translated by Tiina Nunnally.
“Crime writer Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her late mother’s possessions. Haunted by a childhood of neglect, she resolves to dig deep into her family’s past and finally uncover the reasons why. Her enquiries lead her to the home of a retired history teacher. He was among her mother’s circle of friends during the Second World War but her questions are met with bizarre and evasive answers. Two days later he meets a violent death. Detective Patrik Hedström, Erica’s husband, is on paternity leave but soon becomes embroiled in the murder investigation. Who would kill so ruthlessly to bury secrets so old? Reluctantly Erica must read her mother’s wartime diaries. But within the pages is a painful revelation about Erica’s past. Could what little knowledge she has be enough to endanger her husband and newborn baby?” (adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

Until thy wrath be past / Asa Larsson ; translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson.
“It is the first thaw of spring and the body of a young woman surfaces in the River Thorne in the far north of Sweden. Rebecka Martinsson is working as a prosecutor in nearby Karuna. Her sleep has been disturbed by haunting visions of a shadowy, accusing figure. Could the body belong to the ghost in her dreams? And where is the dead girl’s boyfriend, also reported as missing the previous winter? Joining forces once again with Police Inspectors Anna-Maria Mella and Sven-Erik Stalnacke, Rebecka is drawn into an investigation that centers on old rumors about a plane carrying supplies for German troops in 1943 that never arrived.” (adapted from Syndetics summary)

The crowded grave : an investigation by Bruno, Chief of Police / Martin Walker.
“Life in south-west rural France is not the sleepy idyll you might suppose. Local duck and goose farms are being attacked by animal rights protestors attempting to halt the production of foie gras. A senior policeman has been shot by terrorists believed to be the Basque Separatists of ETA. And if that weren’t enough, a group of students have just unearthed a ‘modern’ skeleton during a dig at one of the ancient sites of this famous region and home to pre-historic man, a dig that has brought an influx of foreigners to the Dordogne. It is up to Chief of Police Bruno Courrèges to get to the bottom of these seemingly unrelated events.” (adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

David Fincher’s remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has spawned a second wave of enthusiasts seeking out Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy in print. Starting with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the Millenium Trilogy follows journalist Mikael Blomkvist and hacker Lisbeth Salander through a series of conspiracies, murders and dark familial secrets. If you’ve seen the films but have yet to read the books, it’s well worth diving in. Though you’ll anticipate some twists and turns, you’ll also be rewarded with greater plot detail and a more thorough joining of the dots than is possible within the space of a film.

If you’ve already read the series, you might be wondering where to go next. Featured below is a list of titles that in some way echo the themes, characters and feel of the Millenium Trilogy. Cosy mystery fans and other delicate souls avert your eyes! Several of the authors are quite prolific, so if you find one you like there’ll be more to explore.

Nemesis / Jo Nesbø ; translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.
“In Nemesis, a Norwegian bestseller translated to English, Harry Hole is an alcoholic detective heading straight for trouble. While his girlfriend is away, he reunites with a former lover, Anna, in a one-night stand. The next day, he wakes up alone, and Anna is found dead. The case is ruled a suicide, but Hole doesn’t believe it. While he quietly investigates her death, another case is building that must be solved. A string of bank robberies have left the city ravaged and several people dead, ruthlessly gunned down. The bank robbers are professional, leaving no trace of evidence behind. Hole begins to receive cryptic anonymous e-mails from someone who knows everything, including where he was last night.” (Gale Books & Authors)
Jo Nesbo will be visiting Wellington for the Writers and Readers Week in March 2011.

Miss Smilla’s feeling for snow / Peter Hoeg ; translated from the Danish by F. David.
“Smilla Jasperson is an outsider, an exile from the vast white wastes of her birth, an icy, bitter, and intellectual woman. She loves or needs no one, but is touched when a small Greenlander boy in her building, Isaiah, needs her help. When Isaiah dies mysteriously, Smilla is determined to understand why. Despite the official attitude that Isaiah’s death was accidental, she digs for answers–and runs headlong into a vast and frightening conspiracy of which Isaiah was only one casualty.” (Gale Books and Authors)

Box 21 / Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström.
“Another best-selling Swedish crime thriller translated for American audiences, this book is the work of TV personality Roslund and former criminal and current youth worker Hellstrom. Their dark and gritty tale revolves around Lithuanian sex slaves Lydia and Alena, vicious and rarely convicted mob enforcer Jochum Lang, and Hilding Oldeus, a desperate heroin junkie. Their stories converge when cranky, old-fashioned police inspector Ewert Grens is assigned to the investigation of Lydia’s horrific murder by her pimp, Lang and Oldeus get out of jail, and Grens resumes his crusade to put Lang away permanently.” (Library Journal)

Hypothermia / Arnaldur Indridason ; translated by Victoria Cribb.
“Against the backdrop of Reykjavik, Iceland, police detective Erlendur is investigating the apparent suicide of a troubled young woman named Maria. The more Erlendur learns about Maria, however, the more he suspects that she did not take her own life. Rather, Erlendur believes Maria was murdered as the result of an unusually evil scheme. As more details about Maria’s case are revealed, Erlendur examines his own life, the choices he has made, and the misdeeds of his past that remain unresolved. Hypothermia is the sixth book in Arnaldur Indridason’s Reykjavik Thriller series, which also includes Arctic Chill and The Draining Lake.” (Gale Books & Authors)

The man from Beijing / Henning Mankell ; translated by Laurie Thompson.
“When 19 people are brutally murdered in Hesjovallen, Sweden, a judge named Birgitta Roslin becomes interested in the case. Birgitta realizes that she is distantly related to a number of the victims, so she travels to the small town to look for answers. Although the local police are unhappy about her investigations, Birgitta finds a diary that gives clues about possible motives for the crime. It seems that the murder victims were descendants of a man who oversaw Chinese workers who helped build the first American transcontinental railroad. The overseer was a cruel man who mistreated the Chinese workers. After Birgitta learns that other people related to the overseer were murdered in the United States, she suspects that the murders were motivated by violence that occurred more than a century earlier.” (Gale Books & Authors)

The black path / Åsa Larsson ; translated by Marlaine Delargy.
“On an early spring night in northern Sweden, the body of a woman is discovered by a fisherman. Police inspector Anna-Maria Mella and her colleague Sven-Erik Stalnacke are called to Tornetrask to investigate. Identifying the body as Inna Wattrang, the head of information for Kallis Mining, Mella soon learns that Wattrang was severely tortured before she was murdered. Wanting to learn more about Kallis Mining before she meets with its owner Mauri Kallis, Mella turns to attorney Rebecka Martinsson for help in sifting through information about the company. Although Martinsson is happy to help Mella with the investigation, she is still recovering herself from a previous case. Investigating both Kallis and Wattrang’s brother, Diddi, Mella soon learns that Kallis Mining’s business dealings may be the cause of Wattrang’s death.” (Gale Books & Authors)
Also available as an eBook

The informationist / Taylor Stevens.
“In The Informationist by Taylor Stevens, a missing-persons case draws Vanessa Michael Munroe back to the treacherous region of Africa she escaped as a teenager. While living with her missionary parents in Cameroon, Vanessa ran off with a shady gun-runner before giving up her risky lifestyle for a job in the States. Working as an informationist in Texas, Vanessa gathers intelligence for prominent clients. When a wealthy businessman, Richard Burbank, needs help locating his missing daughter in Africa, Vanessa agrees to return. Back in Africa, Vanessa meets up with her ex, Francisco Beyard, and confronts the dangers she left behind.” (Gale Books & Authors)

The reversal / by Michael Connelly.
“The Reversal is a mystery novel by Michael Connelly, author of the Harry Bosch series. When convicted child killer Jason Jessup is set free after new DNA evidence clears his name, lawyer Mickey Haller is determined to prove that Jessup is indeed guilty. He enlists the help of LAPD Detective Harry Bosch to prove once and for all that Jessup is a cold-blooded killer. Unfortunately, time and evidence are stacked against Bosch and Haller–if they aren’t quick enough, Jessup may claim another victim. Connelly is the bestselling author of The Scarecrow and The Lincoln Lawyer.” (Gale Books and Authors)
Also available as an eBook or downloadable audiobook

For more read-alike suggestions, try Books & Authors, a book recommendation tool the library subscribes to. Just type in the name of a book you’ve enjoyed and it will (in many cases) provide you with a list of similar or related reads. They also have recommended title lists for a variety of genres; award winners; book reviews and a search tool where you can choose plot elements and other features you might enjoy in a novel.

See also our previous post on Stieg Larsson read-alikes

Some new mysteries for December include David Baldacci’s new series character; the second instalment of Ian Rankin’s new series featuring Internal Affairs investigator Malcolm Fox; the latest in Jeff Lindsay’s ‘Dexter’ series; Andrea Camilleri’s new Inspector Montalbano case; and the return of ‘author’ Richard Castle with the latest Nikki Heat novel…

Zero day : a novel / David Baldacci.
“Decorated army veteran John Puller is a special agent in the military’s Criminal Investigative Division. When a colonel and his family are brutally murdered in West Virginia, Puller partners with the local homicide detective, Sgt. Samantha Cole, to solve the crime. As their investigation deepens, the number of fatalities increases. How are these victims connected? Puller and Cole must discover the truth behind the conspiracy that sent these individuals to their deaths. The clock is winding down. Three. Two. One. Zero. Game over? Verdict: Baldacci fans will embrace this new series hero as Puller doggedly pursues justice in spite of his personal problems: Puller’s retired military hero father suffers from dementia, and his brother is serving a life sentence for treason. High-octane suspense and conspiracy thriller buffs who enjoy John Grisham, Michael Connelly, and W.E.B. Griffin will also snatch up this title. (Library Journal)

Double Dexter : a novel / Jeff Lindsay.
“Dexter Morgan, the Miami PD blood-spatter expert who kills evil people in his spare time, the monster posing as a man, has a bit of a problem. While serving up brutal justice to his latest victim (a serial child abuser), Dexter was seen. He barely caught a glimpse of the car as it sped away, but he knows that somewhere out there is a witness. At first he panics, but then his cold, clinical side takes over, and he thinks: I work for the police department, and in my hidden life, I’m an expert at tracking down people who don’t want to be found. So he decides: he’ll find the witness and dispense with him. Fans of the Dexter novels or their spin-off television series will enjoy the opportunity to see their favorite murderous antihero dealing with an unfamiliar situation, feeling the fear and other emotions he usually inspires in his victims. Dexter is continuing along the rocky road to genuine humanity; presumably, if he ever becomes a normal person, that will spell the end of this series, so let’s hope he never quite gets there.(Booklist)

The impossible dead / Ian Rankin.
“Insp. Malcolm Fox proves a worthy successor to John Rebus in Rankin’s satisfyingly layered second novel featuring the Edinburgh Internal Affairs cop (after The Complaints). Fox and his two colleagues receive a frosty reception in Kirkcaldy, where they must decide whether a disgraced officer’s three fellow cops helped cover up his misdeeds. Det. Constable Paul Carter, found guilty of sexual misconduct, intrigues Fox because it was Carter’s ex-copper uncle, Alan, who turned him in. Since interviewing the belligerent Carter and his mates leads nowhere, Fox turns to Alan for insight. He discovers the elder Carter was hired by a prestigious lawyer to look into the 1985 “suicide”-or possible murder-of Francis Vernal, a fellow attorney, well-known orator, and vocal supporter of the fringe Scottish separatist movement. Soon Fox’s attention is divided between following up scant leads in the Carter investigation and unearthing decades-old secrets about Vernal’s life and associates. Rankin elegantly weaves together the two story lines without forcing a connection. (Publisher Weekly)

Heat rises / Richard Castle.
“Fast-paced and full of intrigue, Heat Rises pairs the tough and sexy NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat with hotshot reporter Jameson Rook in New York Times bestselling author Richard Castle’s most thrilling mystery yet.
The bizarre murder of a parish priest at a New York bondage club opens Nikki Heat’s most thrilling and dangerous case so far, pitting her against New York’s most vicious drug lord, an arrogant CIA contractor, and a shadowy death squad out to gun her down. And that is just the tip of an iceberg that leads to a dark conspiracy reaching all the way to the highest level of the NYPD. But when she gets too close to the truth, Nikki finds herself disgraced, stripped of her badge, and out on her own as a target for killers, with nobody she can trust. Except maybe the one man in her life who’s not a cop: reporter Jameson Rook. In the midst of New York’s coldest winter in a hundred years, there’s one thing Nikki is determined to prove: Heat Rises. (Description from Amazon.com)

The potter’s field / Andrea Camilleri ; translated by Stephen Sartarelli.
“Camilleri’s clever 13th Inspector Montalbano mystery (after 2010’s The Track of Sand) opens with the discovery of an unidentified body, cut into 30 pieces, in a remote field near the Sicilian town of Vigata, known for soil rich with potter’s clay. Montalbano, who has a knack for finding gallows humor in even the most grotesque situations, believes the hacked-up body signifies the 30 pieces of silver Judas was paid for his betrayal. Later, Dolores Alfano, a stunning woman whose skin has “the faint scent of cinnamon,” reports that her husband, a sailor with ties to a local mobster, is missing. That Mimi Augello, one of Mantalbano’s most trusted inspectors, is in a permanent rage complicates matters. As usual, Montalbano wants to wrap up both cases quickly so he can get back to his real work-sleeping, eating, drinking, and dealing with his long-distance girlfriend, Livia. (Publisher Weekly)

Death comes to Pemberley / P.D. James.
“It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball. Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery. Inspired by a lifelong passion for Austen, P. D. James masterfully re-creates the world of Pride and Prejudice, electrifying it with the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly crafted crime story, as only she can write it.” (Description from Amazon.com)

The hand that trembles / Kjell Eriksson ; translated from the Swedish by Ebba Segerberg.
“A Swedish county commissioner walks out of a high-level meeting and disappears. Many years later, one of the town’s natives is convinced that he’s caught a glimpse of the missing man while traveling in Bangalore, India.” (Syndetics summary)

The reborn / Lin Anderson.
“When the body of a pregnant teenager is found in a Hall of Mirrors with the full-term fetus surgically removed, forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod is called in to assist the police. Suspicion falls on Jeff Coulter, a psychotic inmate at a nearby hospital whose hobby is making Reborns—chillingly realistic baby dolls intended for bereaved parents or those unable to conceive. But how could he have orchestrated the murder from a secure mental facility? The investigation leads to a group of teenage girls who seem to have all got pregnant at the same time, and then a Reborn doll is discovered near the crime scene, and a second girl from the group is found dead. Creepy, compelling, and heart-stoppingly tense, this is Lin Anderson’s most powerful novel yet.” (Description from Amazon.com)

City of whispers / Marcia Muller.
“Private eye Sharon McCone receives an e-mail asking for help from her emotionally disturbed half-brother, Darcy Blackhawk, but he fails to reply to her response. As her search widens, Sharon uncovers a connection to an unsolved murder of a young woman who was heiress to a multi-million dollar fortune.” (Syndetics summary)

Skeleton letters / Laura Childs.
“The scrapbookers are on a tear in the French Quarter of New Orleans when one of their own is killed with a stolen crucifix. Childs’s ninth outing (after Fiber & Brimstone) has the winning formula, plus tips and recipes. (Library Journal)

Welcome to the Fiction newsletter. Another selection of great reading from across all fiction genres.

No matter what your taste, there is bound to be something in this selection that will keep you entertained.

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Some new mysteries for November include the new Lawrence Block, ‘A drop of the hard stuff’, his first Matthew Scudder novel in 6 years; the next in John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series; a literary debut by Alice LaPlante about an orthopedic surgeon suffering from dementia, who is uncertain if she has committed a crime; and the latest in the popular Eve Dallas series by Nora Roberts (writing as J. D. Robb)….

A drop of the hard stuff / Lawrence Block.
“MWA Grand Master Block’s powerful 17th novel featuring PI Matthew Scudder (after 2005’s All the Flowers Were Dying) explores the challenges of an alcoholic attempting to atone for his past misdeeds. In 1970 or ‘71, Scudder, then a Manhattan NYPD detective, recognizes a guy he knew in grade school in the Bronx, Jack Ellery, in a police lineup to identify a robber. The victim picks someone else as the man who held her up at gunpoint, though Ellery’s the guilty party. Years later, after Scudder has left the force, he meets Ellery, now an ex-con, at an AA meeting, where Ellery is trying to take the ninth step-making amends to all the people he’d harmed. Scudder’s efforts to solve the murder that results from Ellery’s quest for absolution place his own sobriety-and life-at risk.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)
 
The Burning Soul / John Connolly.
“Randall Haight has a secret: when he was a teenager, he and his friend killed a 14-year-old girl. Randall did his time and built a new life in the small Maine town of Pastor’s Bay, but somebody has discovered the truth about Randall. He is being tormented by anonymous messages, haunting reminders of his past crime, and he wants private detective Charlie Parker to make it stop. But another 14-year-old girl has gone missing, this time from Pastor’s Bay, and the missing girl’s family has its own secrets to protect. Now Parker must unravel a web of deceit involving the police, the FBI, a doomed mobster named Tommy Morris, and Randall Haight himself. Because Randall Haight is telling lies.” – (adapted from Amazon.co.uk description)

 
Liquid smoke / Jeff Shelby.
“Private eye Noah Braddock has finally found peace in his once tumultuous relationship with Detective Liz Santangelo and has called a tentative truce with his alcoholic mother, Carolina. So when lawyer Darcy Gill demands that he look into a hopeless death row case, he’s more interested in catching some waves before San Diego’s rare winter weather takes hold. Then Darcy plays her trump card: the man scheduled to die—convicted of killing two men in cold blood—is the father Noah never knew.” – (adapted from Amazon.com description)

 
Turn of mind / by Alice LaPlante.
“A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia…As the book opens, Dr. Jennifer White’s best friend, Amanda, who lived down the block, has been killed, and four fingers surgically removed from her hand. Dr. White is the prime suspect and she herself doesn’t know whether she did it. Told in White’s own voice, fractured and eloquent, a picture emerges of the surprisingly intimate, complex alliance between these life-long friends—two proud, forceful women who were at times each other’s most formidable adversaries. As the investigation into the murder deepens…a chilling question lingers: is White’s shattered memory preventing her from revealing the truth or helping her to hide it?” – (adapted from Amazon.com description)

A mortal terror / James R. Benn.
“Historical background almost overpowers the personal foreground in Benn’s ambitious sixth Billy Boyle WWII mystery (after 2010’s Rag and Bone). As the U.S. Army fights its way up the Italian boot, Billy, a former Boston cop who’s now a military investigator for his Uncle Ike (i.e., General Eisenhower), pursues a serial killer who’s targeting Allied officers. Combat and the psycho steadily reduce the list of GI suspects. Billy realizes that the murderer is playing games with him after he discovers that his kid brother, Danny, is a new replacement somehow assigned to the platoon he’s investigating.” (adapted from Syndetics summary)

In sickness and in death : a broken vows mystery / Lisa Bork.
“Jolene Parker is depressed after having to return a foster baby. She is just barely showering again and returning to work at her sports-car dealership when her police-deputy husband brings home 12-year-old Danny, whose father is jailed for car theft. Danny is a bit of a wild child with a fondness for hot-wiring cars. After Danny takes a joyride in a vehicle he claims belongs to his father, Danny and Jolene find a severed arm in the car’s trunk. Naturally, Danny’s dad is the top suspect in what appears to be a murder case, but Danny insists his father is no killer, and Jolene believes him, launching her own investigation into what happened to the woman without an arm…Bork effectively mixes edgy situations with a humorous narrative voice, giving the novel appeal for both cozy and lighter police-procedural fans.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

Deadly cove : a Lewis Cole mystery / Brendan DuBois.
“Protests at the Falconer nuclear power station on New Hampshire’s coast form the backdrop for DuBois’s suspenseful, satisfying seventh mystery featuring magazine reporter Lewis Cole, who once “worked as a research analyst for an obscure section of the Department of Defense” (after 2006’s Primary Storm). When someone shoots local peace activist Bronson Toles dead at one of the demonstrations Cole is covering, Cole looks into the backgrounds of Curt Chesuk, leader of the violent Nuclear Freedom Front, as well as the head of the pro-nuclear New England Trade Union Council and Toles’s family. As the demonstrations continue in the emotional aftermath of Toles’s murder, Cole arranges to interview the elusive Chesuk at his secret compound, a meeting that puts both Cole and his best friend, Det. Sgt. Diane Woods, in peril.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

 The end of the wasp season / by Denise Mina.
”When notorious millionaire banker Lars Anderson hangs himself from the old oak tree in front of his Kent mansion his death attracts no sympathy. One less shark is little loss to a world nursing a financial hangover. But the legacy of a life time of self-serving is widespread, the carnage most acute among those he ought to be protecting: his family. He leaves behind two deeply damaged children and a broken wife. Meanwhile, in a wealthy suburb of Glasgow, a young woman is found savagely murdered in her home. The genteel community is stunned by what appears a vicious, random attack. When DS Alex Morrow, heavily pregnant with twins, is called in to investigate, she soon discovers that behind the murder lurks a tangled web of lies…which traces the damaging consequences of one man’s selfish actions in a world ravaged by recession and questioning everything it previously held sacred.” – (adapted from Amazon.co.uk review)

 The Charlestown connection : a novel / Tom MacDonald.
“It’s to his credit that MacDonald has set his debut novel in territory that is very familiar to mystery readers: the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston (an area associated with Chuck Hogan and Dennis Lehane). That took guts. It also took some real skill to make the novel stand out among such stiff competition. Dermot Sparhawk, a former college football star, is stunned when his ex-con godfather, Jeepster Hennessey, is murdered (Jeepster dies right in front of Dermot, from a stab wound to the back). Before he dies, Jeepster gives Dermot a brass key and a cryptic clue. Figuring this could be something important, Dermot withholds the information from the police (and from the FBI, who seem unusually interested in the murder of this small-time crook). As he follows his only clue, Dermot puts together a theory about his godfather’s murder, but if he’s right, it means his own life is on the line, too.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

New York to Dallas / J.D. Robb.
“Bestseller Robb breaks with one tradition in her 34th Eve Dallas novel (after Treachery in Death); “Death” is not part of the title, but otherwise she delivers precisely the kind of rapid-fire thrust and parry action fans expect from the near-future New York Police and Security Dept. homicide lieutenant. Serial rapist/murderer Isaac McQueen (aka “the Collector”), the first major bust of Dallas’s when she was a rookie, escapes from New York City’s Rikers Island prison complex 12 years into his life sentence and immediately resumes his depredations on young girls. McQueen uses a hostage to force Dallas to travel to Dallas, Tex., the site of her own horrific childhood, where he has prepared surprises for her. Working with the FBI, the Dallas PSD, and husband Roarke, Dallas leads the effort to recapture the wily McQueen.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

Welcome to the Fiction newsletter. We have selected some terrific fiction, brilliant reading from all genres for your enjoyment. With the Rugby World Cup nearing the final few games, hopefully some relaxed reading time will soon be avaliable. Remember you can reserve these titles and even suggest titles you would like us to buy.

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The latest from Ruth Rendell, Val McDermid, Arnaldur Indridason, Kathy Reichs, and more. Have a browse:

Gamble : a Dick Francis novel / by Felix Francis.
“Nicholas “Foxy” Foxton, a former jockey who suffered a career- ending injury, is out for a day at the Grand National races when his friend and coworker Herb Kovak is murdered, execution style, right in front of him-and 60,000 other potential witnesses. Foxton and Kovak were both independent financial advisers at Lyall & Black, a firm specializing in extreme-risk investments. As he struggles to come to terms with Kovak’s seemingly inexplicable death, Foxton begins to question everything, from how well he knew his friend to how much he understands about his employer. Was Kovak’s murder a case of mistaken identity…or something more sinister? (Description from Amazon.com)

The retribution / Val McDermid.
”There is one serial killer who has shaped and defined police profiler Tony Hill’s life. One serial killer whose evil surpasses all others. One serial killer who has the power to chill him to the bone: Jacko Vance. And now Jacko is back in Tony’s life. Even more twisted and cunning than ever before, he is focused on wreaking revenge on Tony – and DCI Carol Jordan – for the years he has spent in prison. Tony doesn’t know when Jacko will strike, or where. All he knows is that Jacko will cause him to feel fear like he has never known before ? and devastate his life in ways he cannot imagine…” (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

 
Flash and bones / Kathy Reichs.
“Just as 200,000 fans are pouring into town for Race Week, a body is found in a barrel of asphalt next to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The next day, a NASCAR crew member comes to Temperance Brennan’s office at the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner to share a devastating story. Twelve years earlier, Wayne Gamble’s sister, Cindi, then a high school senior and aspiring racer, disappeared along with her boyfriend, Cale Lovette. Lovette kept company with a group of right-wing extremists known as the Patriot Posse. Could the body be Cindi’s? Or Cale’s? At the time of their disappearance, the FBI joined the investigation, only to terminate it weeks later. Was there a cover-up? As Tempe juggles multiple theories, the discovery of a strange, deadly substance in the barrel alongside the body throws everything into question…” (Adapted from Amazon.com description)

Outrage / Arnaldur Indridason ; translated from the Icelandic by Anna Yates.
”In a flat near Reykjavík city centre, a young man lies dead in a pool of blood. There is no sign of a break-in: the only clues are a woman’s purple shawl, found under the bed in the next room, and a vial of prescription drugs in the victim´s pocket. With Detective Erlendur away in a remote part of Iceland, Detective Elínborg, who is already struggling to juggle family life and the relentless demands of her job, is assigned the case. Her investigation into the murdered man’s past soon uncovers a squalid tale of double lives, drug dealers and the unsolved disappearance of a young girl many years before. From its explosive opening, Outrage leads down a trail of hidden violence, psychological brutality and of wrongs that will never be fully righted…” (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

The vault / Ruth Rendell.
“‘Don’t forget,’ Wexford said, ‘I’ve lived in a world where the improbable happens all the time.’ However, the impossible has happened. Chief Inspector Reg Wexford has retired. He and his wife, Dora, now divide their time between Kingsmarkham and a coachhouse in Hampstead, belonging to their actress daughter, Sheila. Wexford takes great pleasure in his books, but, for all the benefits of a more relaxed lifestyle, he misses being the law. But a chance meeting in a London street, with someone he had known briefly as a very young police constable, changes everything. Tom Ede is now a Detective Superintendent, and is very keen to recruit Wexford as an adviser on a difficult case. The bodies of two women and a man have been discovered in the old coal hole of an attractive house in St John’s Wood. None carries identification. But the man’s jacket pockets contain a string of pearls, a diamond and a sapphire necklace as well as other jewellery valued in the region of £40,000…’’ (Adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

Northwest angle : a novel / William Kent Krueger.
“With his family caught in the crosshairs of a group of brutal killers, detective Cork O’Connor must solve the murder of a young girl in the latest installment of William Kent Krueger’s unforgettable New York Times bestselling series. During a houseboat vacation on the remote Lake of the Woods, a violent gale sweeps through unexpectedly, stranding Cork and his daughter, Jenny, on a devastated island where the wind has ushered in a force far darker and more deadly than any storm. Amid the wreckage, Cork and Jenny discover an old trapper’s cabin where they find the body of a teenage girl. She wasn’t killed by the storm, however; she’d been bound and tortured before she died. Whimpering sounds coming from outside the cabin lead them to a tangle of branches toppled by the vicious winds. Underneath the debris, they find a baby boy, hungry and dehydrated, but still very much alive. Powerful forces intent on securing the child pursue them to the isolated Northwest Angle…” (Adapted from Amazon.com description)

A trick of the light : a Chief Inspector Gamache novel / Louise Penny.
““Hearts are broken,” Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. “Sweet relationships are dead.” But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow’s garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara’s solo show at the famed Musée in Montreal. Chief Inspector Gamache, the head of homicide at the Sûreté du Québec, is called to the tiny Quebec village and there he finds the art world gathered, and with it a world of shading and nuance, a world of shadow and light. Where nothing is as it seems. Behind every smile there lurks a sneer. Inside every sweet relationship there hides a broken heart. And even when facts are slowly exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if what they’ve found is the truth, or simply a trick of the light…” (Description from Amazon.com)

Love you more : a novel / Lisa Gardner.
“One question, a split-second decision, and Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. For veteran detective D. D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. But where is their six-year-old daughter? As the homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic statewide search for a missing child, D. D. Warren must partner with former lover Bobby Dodge to break through the blue wall of police brotherhood, seeking to understand the inner workings of a trooper’s mind while also unearthing family secrets. Would a trained police officer truly shoot her own husband? And would a mother harm her own child?..” (Adapted from Amazon.com description)

Unraveled / Maggie Sefton.
“The newest yarn from the national bestselling author of “Skein of the Crime.” Spring is in the air of Fort Connor, Colorado-a time of new beginnings for the House of Lambspun knitters. But for fellow knitter Jennifer’s new real estate client, it is his end. He’s been murdered and Kelly Flynn is left unraveling a tangle of clues. This may prove to be her most challenging project yet.” (Syndetics summary)

One dog night / David Rosenfelt.
“For six years Noah Galloway has lived with a horrible secret and the fear that his rebuilt life could be shattered at any moment. Now his dread has become a certainty, and he has been arrested for the arson murder of twenty-six people. What he needs now is defense lawyer Andy Carpenter, who most definitely is not in the market for a new client. So Noah plays his hole card: a shared love for Andy’s golden retriever…Noah rescued Tara first, and when he wasn’t able to care for her any longer, he did everything in his power to make sure that she was placed in the right home: Andy’s. With that knowledge, Andy has little choice but to take Noah on, and he soon learns that the long-ago event that may destroy Noah’s life is only the beginning of an ongoing conspiracy that grows more deadly by the day…” (Adapted from Amazon.com description)

Here are some new mysteries for September, including the new ‘Prey’ novel from John Sandford; Walter Mosley’s latest entry in his Leonid McGill series; the new Joe Pickett novel from C.J Box; and the latest in Tess Gerritsen’s popular Rizzoli & Isles series…

Buried prey / John Sandford.
“When he was a young patrolman, Lucas Davenport insinuated himself into the case of two missing girls. He worked hard, and the result was the death of a troubled street person, which provided the case’s official closure, despite the girls’ bodies never being found. Davenport’s contributions accelerated his career, but he was never quite satisfied that the street person was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the bodies are discovered, and Davenport, now heading Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, gets a second chance. He reviews the original case, reinterviews some original witnesses, and confirms his nagging suspicion that the real killer was never caught…” (Adapted from Syndetics summary)

Watch me die / Erica Spindler.
“At the start of this gripping romantic suspense thriller from bestseller Spindler (Blood Vines), someone bashes in the head of elderly Father Girod at New Orleans’ Sisters of Mercy Catholic School and Church. The unknown killer also spray-paints the church’s stained-glass windows with the words: “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” When Det. Spencer Malone questions Mira Gallier, who restored the church’s stained-glass windows after Hurricane Katrina six years earlier and still mourns her husband, Jeff, who perished in that catastrophe, the police detective has to wonder why she appears more distraught by the vandalized windows than by Father Girod’s death…” (Adapted from syndetics summary)

Fallen / Karin Slaughter.
“Fallen, begins shockingly, with Special Agent Faith Mitchell of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation finding her life abruptly plunged into chaos. Her mother has been charged with looking after Faith’s child, Emma, but Faith comes home to discover her baby locked in a shed. In the house, a safe is open, a gun missing, and Faith encounters a grim blood-covered scene, with a man lying dead…Questions are plentiful: what were the killers seeking? What does the carnage have to do with the investigation of Ex-Atlanta Police chief Evelyn Mitchell, being undertaken by Faith’s partner Will Trent? And where is her missing mother?…” (Adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

When the thrill is gone / Walter Mosley.
“Starred Review. Mosley fills his third thriller featuring New York City PI Leonid McGill (after Known to Evil) with insights even deeper than the mysteries McGill is trying to solve. Chrystal Tyler, a potential new client, tells McGill that she’s afraid her billionaire husband is having an affair and may kill her. While McGill realizes the woman is lying, he needs the case and agrees to see what he can do to make her husband back off. Meanwhile, McGill’s wife of 24 years, Katrina, is having an affair; his favorite son, Twill, has a new scam working; and longtime boxing mentor Gordo Tallman is living in his apartment, fighting cancer… Readers will encounter the full panoply of complex Mosley characters, from deceitful women to ruthless killers, but it’s the often surprising bonds of love and family that lift this raw, unsentimental novel…” (Description from Publishers Weekly)

The silent girl / Tess Gerritsen.
“Homicide investigator Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles…have a tough case on their hands. It begins with a woman’s severed hand, which is soon accompanied by the rest of the corpse, which itself may be connected to a two-decades-old mystery involving a perpetrator for whom the word inhuman may be a more appropriate description than Rizzoli and Isles care to contemplate… Rizzoli and Isles are likable and industrious, as always, and Gerritsen seems more engaged this time out, her prose livelier, and her dialogue more memorable. Recent series entries have been solid, workmanlike thrillers, but this one has some real spark to it…(Adapted from syndetics sumamry)

Love you more / Lisa Gardner.
“*Starred Review* Detective D. D. Warren of the Boston police and Massachusetts state trooper Bobby Dodge are together again, this time not as lovers but as partners in the investigation of a state trooper who shot and killed her husband. Tessa Leoni’s bruised face leads to speculation that she retaliated when her husband hit her. But there’s a lot that doesn’t fit the model, not the least of which is the disappearance of the couple’s six-year-old daughter, Sophie. Could Tessa, by all accounts an exemplary officer and an exceptionally devoted mother, have shot her husband three times in the chest and then killed her own child? If so, where is Sophie’s body?…Gardner proves herself not only a very clever storyteller here, capable of pulling together a complicated series of events, but also a writer able to invest her characters…with emotional substance…” (Adapted from syndetics summary)

Nowhere to run / C.J. Box.
” Starred Review. Inspired by a real-life Wyoming game warden’s encounter with sinister mountain-man twin brothers, Edgar-winner Box’s outstanding 10th Joe Pickett novel (after Below Zero) takes Pickett into darker territory than ever before. Pickett’s eerie last patrol as a temporary game warden in a remote mountainous area turns into a savage brush with death, followed by a crisis of conscience that drives the decent Pickett back into the same mountains to rescue Diane Shober, an Olympic runner who vanished there—and to bring Caleb and Camish Grim, twin brothers suspected of poaching (and maybe worse) to justice. Box inexorably builds Joe’s harrowing personal quest into a complex meditation on human greed and government corruption…’’ (Description from Publishers Weekly)

No mark upon her / Deborah Crombie.”Olympic rowing hopeful and senior Metropolitan Police officer DCI Rebecca Meredith goes out alone to train on the river in Henley on a dark afternoon in late October – and doesn’t return. When a desperate search by the police and a K9 team reveals the possibility of foul play, Scotland Yard wants one of their own on the case. Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, returning from celebrating his marriage to long-time partner Detective Inspector Gemma James, is called to Henley to investigate. He soon finds that the world of elite rowing can be brutal, and that Rebecca Meredith’s ex-husband was not the only person with good reason for wanting her dead. Then, when a search-and-rescue team member is threatened, Kincaid realizes the case may be even more complex and more dangerous than he believed…” (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

Dangerous to know / Tasha Alexander.
“Alexander’s new historical mystery takes place in the late-nineteenth century and takes up at the point Tears of Pearl (2009) left off. In Tears, Lady Emily’s honeymoon with second husband Colin ended with her being shot and losing her unborn baby. Now she and Colin are staying in Normandy with his autocratic mother, Mrs. Hargreaves, who takes it amiss when Emily comes upon the body of a murdered young woman while horseback riding. Lady Emily can’t help but investigate the murder, especially when she learns the dead girl came from an aristocratic family in Rouens and was confined to an insane asylum… Readers who enjoy historical mysteries with strong female characters will find much to enjoy here and will want to seek out Lady Emily’s earlier adventures…” (Description from Booklist)

More new mysteries for August, including a new breakout Swedish star Lars Kepler, with the European bestseller ‘The Hypnotist’, the new mystery from John Banville (writing as Benjamin Black), and Janet Evanovich’s latest madcap Stephanie Plum crime caper…

The hypnotist / Lars Kepler ; translated from the Swedish by Ann Long.
“The Swedish invasion continues with the first novel translated into English from the author Swedes are calling the next Stieg Larsson. Unlike the more police-oriented work of Jo Nesbø and Henning Mankell, The Hypnotist, a best-seller throughout Europe, is a psychological thriller likely to appeal to fans of Larsson and the duo of Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom.When a critically injured boy is found at the scene of a horrific murder, former hypnotist and physician Erik Maria Bark is called in to help the cops talk to him. The theory is that only hypnotism will penetrate the distorting maze of drugs and pain to reach the boy’s memories of what happened. What Erik learns sets off a terrifying chain of events that endangers his family, his marriage, and his job. Enigmatic genius investigator Joona Linna, who refuses to accept convenient scenarios for the crimes, leads the investigation…” (Adapted from syndetics summary)

A death in summer / Benjamin Black.
“In the latest release (after Elegy for April) from Black (a pen name for John Banville), Detective Inspector Hackett calls his longtime adviser, Quirke, to investigate the shotgun suicide of “Diamond Dick” Jewell, a much-despised newspaper publisher. Quirke, a pathologist with family ties to Dublin’s upper class, does not need long to determine that murder is the likely cause of death, although the exact motive remains elusive. With questionable ethics, Quirke rapidly becomes infatuated with Francoise d’Aubigny, Jewell’s captivating estranged widow, and falls off the wagon. VERDICT Black’s mysteries are not black and white with cut-and-dried villains behind bars at the conclusion. However, readers looking for more character development and ambiguity than Stieg Larsson’s popular Scandinavian thrillers offer will enjoy getting to know Quirke and Hackett by picking up this book and Black’s previous works…” (Adapted from Syndetics summary)

Smokin’ seventeen / Janet Evanovich.
“Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list. Short on time to find evidence proving the killer’s identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it’s time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger…With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke…” (Adapted from Amazon.com)

 
The dead of summer / Mari Jungstedt ; translated from the Swedish by Tiina Nunnally. “Mari Jungstedt’s compelling series of novels featuring Inspector Anders Knutas continues to go from strength to strength with, The Dead of Summer, the fifth crime adventure set on the island of Gotland. Her trademark combination of rich characterisation, taut crime plots and the continuing unfolding drama of her series characters’ lives add up to a mix that rivals Henning Mankell’s Wallander series. The murder of a jogger on the beach at Faro is an opportunity for Anders Knutas’s newly-appointed deputy, Karin Jacobsson, to prove her worth while her boss is on holiday. But when a second body is discovered, murdered in the same style, Jacobsson’s investigations point to a horrifying conclusion…” (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

 
Bel-Air dead : a Stone Barrington novel / Stuart Woods.
“In the newest addition to the “New York Times”-bestselling series, Stone Barrington comes face-to-face with a beautiful woman from his past. . . . Stone Barrington receives a rather unexpected phone call from Arrington Calder, the ex-girlfriend with whom he has a son. Arrington’s much older husband, the actor Vance Calder, has just died, leaving her a fortune in Centurion Studios stock. Arrington has plans for the money and asks Stone to represent her in the sale of the company. But when he arrives at her home in Bel-Air to finalize the deal, things take a nasty turn. It seems many of Hollywood’s rich and beautiful have Arrington and Centurion in their sights, and Stone finds himself dragged into a surprisingly deadly web of intrigue.” (Syndetics summary)

Deadly threads / Jane K Cleland.
“Near the start of Cleland’s well-crafted sixth Josie Prescott Antiques mystery (after 2010’s Silent Auction), Josie is preparing for a workshop on vintage shoes and handbags at her antiques shop in Rocky Point, N.H. When her guest speaker, Riley Jordan, fails to show, Josie decides to begin the class without her. A minute later, Josie discovers why Riley is late after looking under a display table, where she’s horrified to see Riley’s strangled body. Josie teams with Ellis Hunter, Rocky Point’s police chief, and Wes Smith, an investigative reporter for the local newspaper, the Seacoast Star, to find the killer, who soon targets one of Josie’s employees. Authentic details of vintage clothing and jewelry, vivid descriptions of coastal New Hampshire in the early spring, credible characters, and a dramatic conclusion make this cozy a winner…” (Publishers Weekly)