News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

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)

Welcome to our first Fiction eNewsletter. Here you’ll find the latest fiction books we have available for borrowing. Our selection includes contemporary and general fiction, graphic novels, mysteries, sci-fi/fantasy, and other genres. Remember you can reserve these items and even suggest we buy something that’s not on the shelf!

Library News

• Ancestry in August – free genealogy talks at Central Library
• Great new graphic novels
• Our eAudio collection just got a lot bigger!

Murders, legal thrillers, mysteries, vendettas, setups, and crimes: everything you could wish for in this month’s Mysteries Picks.

Sixkill / Robert B. Parker.
“A girl has been found dead, seemingly strangled, in the hotel room of movie star Jumbo Nelson. Jumbo’s lawyers want Spenser to find out whether Jumbo did it – not because they care either way, but because the knowledge will help them work out how to block his conviction. Jumbo is a sufficiently repulsive individual that Spenser finds it hard to contain his distaste. And then there is his bodyguard, Zebulon Sixkill, a Cree Indian who squandered his pro-football career thanks to an inability to control his temper, and turned his attentions to alcohol instead. Also involved in Jumbo’s case for reasons that remain unclear is a cold-blooded assassin who just might be the most dangerous enemy Spenser has faced yet. But if he can persuade Sixkill to turn his life around, Spenser might just have the ally he needs…” (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

The fifth witness / Michael Connelly.
“*Starred Review. Connelly’s compelling fourth legal thriller featuring Mickey Haller (after Reversal) finds the maverick L.A. lawyer who uses his Lincoln town car as an office specializing in “foreclosure defense.” Haller’s first foreclosure client, Lisa Trammel, is fighting hard to keep her home, maybe too hard. The bank has gotten a restraining order to stop Trammel’s protests, and she becomes the prime suspect when Mitchell Bondurant, a mortgage banker, is killed with a hammer in his office parking lot. A ton of evidence points to Trammel, but Haller crafts an impressive defense that includes “the fifth witness” of the title. Connelly has a sure command of the legal and procedural details of criminal court, and even manages to make the arcane, shady world of foreclosure interesting. While the prose may lack some of the poetic nuance of his early novels, the plot is worthy of a master storyteller. The film of The Lincoln Lawyer, the first Mickey Haller novel, releases in March…” (Description from Publishers Weekly)

Mystery : an Alex Delaware novel / Jonathan Kellerman.
“Alex Delaware, the L.A. psychologist and crime-solver, returns to tackle another tricky case. A woman has been murdered, her body mutilated. Homicide detective Milo Sturgis, Delaware’s frequent partner, brings Alex into the case, hoping for some insight into the psychology of the killer. Alex is surprised to discover that the victim is familiar to him; Alex and his girlfriend saw her at a restaurant only hours before her death. But how can Alex and Milo expect to find any usable clues when the restaurant is now out of business? The Delaware series has been going since 1985, and it’s long since settled into a comfortable formula, which is just fine as far as fans are concerned. The books star a pair of engaging protagonists and, for the most part, are well plotted. In addition, Kellerman usually tosses in a couple of twists to keep readers on their toes…” (Adapted from Booklist)

Burn / Nevada Barr.
“Starred Review. Barr’s outstanding 16th Anna Pigeon novel (after Borderline) takes the National Park Service ranger to the urban wilderness of post-Katrina New Orleans, where the Jazz National Heritage Park preserves the Big Easy’s music. Anna comes to believe that a creepy neighbor, Jordan, one of the “gutter punks” who roam the city, is a pedophile. But Jordan turns out to have another side, and his link with Clare Sullivan, a Seattle actress whose family was murdered in a fire Clare is suspected of setting, is a linchpin of Barr’s skillful plot. Anna vividly maneuvers the lurid city jungle, from a Bourbon Street strip joint, where the women have formed a family, to a brothel specializing in children. Anna also learns that appearances can deceive even the most insightful of rangers. Anna’s complex personality continues to elevate the series, and the ranger’s sojourn to New Orleans further energizes this always reliable series…” (Description from Publishers Weekly)

A lesson in secrets : a Maisie Dobbs novel / Jacqueline Winspear.
“The eighth Maisie Dobbs mystery begins as Maisie, a PI in London between the wars, takes on her first assignment for the British intelligence service. She will be working as a junior lecturer at a small college dedicated to peace and understanding among nations, but her real assignment is to look for dissidents and Communists. Soon after she arrives, the famous headmaster of the college is found dead in his office, and Maisie calls in Scotland Yard. With both the police and the intelligence service in town, Maisie is kept extremely busy but not so much that she fails to return to London most weekends to check on her assistant Billy, who has been trusted to work on solo investigations. The numerous activities Maisie manages to fit in and around her duties as a lecturer may push credulity for some readers, but Winspear somehow makes it work, pulling together a solid, three-stranded plot…” (Adapted from Booklist)

Spider web / Earlene Fowler.
“Benni Harper is back in an unforgettable new mystery from national bestselling author Earlene Fowler. The Memory Festival is a celebration of recollections and loved ones through crafts. But when a local cop is wounded by a mysterious sharpshooter who seems to have a vendetta against the police, Benni fears for “her” loved ones, especially her police chief husband. Benni is determined to make her hometown safe-before their peaceful street fair becomes a day to remember in the worst way.” (Syndetics summary)

 
City of dreadful night : a Brighton mystery / Peter Guttridge.
“An armed house arrest in Brighton goes horribly wrong, and Chief Constable Robert Watts’ career is on the line. Four people were killed in the operation (including a pregnant woman), and the operational commander committed suicide soon after. Watts is told to resign by his old friend, government fixer William Simpson. And when word leaks about Watts’ previous one-night stand with DC Sarah Gilchrist, who was in on the bungled arrest, both his job and his marriage are in tatters. As he enlists the help of security advisor James Tingley to get revenge for what he thinks was a setup, Watts also looks into a bizarre, unsolved murder case from 1934, investigated at the time by both his father and Simpson’s. This first of the projected Brighton trilogy leaves most of the answers about murders past and present decidedly up in the air. However, Guttridge has created a fine cast of fallible characters, and readers who can handle ambiguity—and are willing to wait for resolution through two more books—are likely to be amply rewarded…” (Descriprtion from Booklist)

Prime cut / Alan Carter.
“The world is in economic meltdown but the mining sector in Western Australia is booming. With the population of a mining town exploding, it’s easy enough to hide a crime – and a dirty past. Disgraced police-service golden boy DSC Cato Kwong is doing time investigating roadkill with the Stock Squad. But when the ocean throws up a human torso onto the beach, Cato is called in from the cold. Cato faces powerful opposition in the town when his investigation lifts the lid on the exploitation of migrant workers. The stakes are raised higher when the Chinese whispers started by Cato disturb an even darker criminal mind…” (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

The calling of the grave / Simon Beckett.
When DI Terry Connor turns up on David Hunter’s doorstep one morning, it’s an unwelcome reminder of the past in more ways than one. The two used to be friends before Connor’s behaviour caused a bitter rift. And the news the policeman brings is even less welcome: the psychotic rapist and murderer Jerome Monk has escaped from high security prison. And he’s a name all too familiar to Hunter. Ten years before he’d part of an ill-fated Body Recovery team assembled to try and locate the graves of Monk’s teenage victims on the bleak expanse of Dartmoor. Only one of the missing girls’ bodies was ever found, and Monk’s own controversial involvement in the search led only to more failure…as well as a violent denouement. And now Monk is loose again – and inexplicably intent on targeting anyone involved with the original search. (Syndetics Summary)

Here are some new Mysteries to hit the shelves at Wellington City Libraries…

Drawing conclusions / Donna Leon.
“When a young woman returns from holiday to find her elderly neighbour dead, she immediately alerts the police. Commissario Brunetti is called to the scene but, though there are signs of a struggle, it seems the woman has simply suffered a fatal heart attack. Vice-Questore Patta is eager to dismiss the case as a death from natural causes, but Brunetti believes there is more to it than that. His suspicions are further aroused when the medical examiner finds faint bruising around the victim’s neck and shoulders, indicating that someone might have grabbed and shaken her. Could this have caused her heart attack? Was someone threatening her? With the help of Inspector Vianello and the ever-resourceful Signorina Elettra, Brunetti is determined to get to the truth and find some measure of justice…” (Adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

The red coffin / by Sam Eastland.
“It is 1939. The world stands on the brink of Armageddon. In the Soviet Union, years of revolution, fear and persecution have left the country unprepared to face the onslaught of Nazi Germany. For the coming battles, Stalin has placed his hopes on a 30-ton steel monster, known to its inventors as the T-34 tank, and, the ‘Red Coffin’ to those men who will soon be using it. But the design is not yet complete. And when Colonel Nagorski, the weapon’s secretive and eccentric architect, is found murdered, Stalin sends for Pekkala, his most trusted investigator…” (Adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

The king of diamonds / Simon Tolkien.
“J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandson continues to burnish his credentials as a solid writer in his own right with his second suspense novel featuring Oxford Det. Insp. William Trave (after The Inheritance). In 1958 at London’s Old Bailey, David Swain is on trial for the murder of Ethan Mendel, the man who he believed horned in on his relationship with Katya Osman. Thanks to Trave’s testimony, Swain is convicted and sentenced to a life term, but Trave is unable to rid himself of nagging doubts about the case. Two years later, Trave’s marriage has fallen apart. His wife, Vanessa, finds support in the unlikely person of Titus Osman, Katya’s uncle, unaware that Titus is keeping Katya a virtual prisoner in her own home. Meanwhile, an embittered Swain plots an escape from prison to get his revenge on his former girlfriend…” (Adapted from Publishers Weekly)

Shatter the bones / Stuart MacBride.
‘You will raise money for the safe return of Alison and Jenny McGregor. If you raise enough money within fourteen days they will be released. If not, Jenny will be killed.’ Alison and Jenny McGregor – Aberdeen’s own mother-daughter singing sensation – are through to the semi-finals of TV smash-hit Britain’s Next Big Star. They’re in all the gossip magazines, they’ve got millions of YouTube hits, everyone loves them. But their reality-TV dream has turned into a real-life nightmare. The ransom demand appears in all the papers, on the TV, and the internet, telling the nation to dig deep if they want to keep Alison and Jenny alive. The media want action; the public displays of grief and anger are reaching fever-pitch. Time is running out, but DS Logan McRae and his colleagues have nothing to go on…’’ (Adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

Shaken : a Jack Daniels thriller / J.A. Konrath.
“Chicago cop Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels has chased, and caught, dozens of dangerous criminals over the course of her career. But she’s about to meet her match. When Jack wakes up in a storage locker, bound and gagged, she knows with chilling certainty who her abductor is. He’s called “Mr. K.” More than two hundred homicides have been attributed to him. His victims have died in the most horrible ways imaginable. He’s the essence of evil. Some think he’s just an urban legend. But he’s real. Jack has tangled with him twice in the past, and both times he managed to slip away. Now Jack will finally have a chance to confront the maniac she’s been hunting for over twenty-five years. Unfortunately, it won’t be on her terms. In less than two hours, Mr. K is going to do to Jack what he’s done to countless others. And Jack is going to learn that sometimes the good guys don’t win…” (Syndetics summary)

The redeemed : a Jenny Cooper mystery / M. R. Hall.
“The body of a dead man is discovered in an overgrown cemetery in Bristol, the sign of the cross gouged into his flesh. At first it seems to coroner Jenny Cooper that all the evidence points to a horrific, if routine, suicide. Then an enigmatic young priest, Father Lucas Starr, arrives on Jenny’s doorstep, entreating her to hold an inquest into the death of Eva Donaldson, a high profile political campaigner whose past life continued to haunt her. A young man, Paul Craven, has recently been sentenced for Eva’s brutal murder. But despite Craven’s conviction and the evidence against him, Father Lucas is convinced of the man’s innocence…” (Adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

Scones & bones / Laura Childs.
“Charleston tourist notes enhance Childs’s charming 12th tea-themed cozy featuring Theodosia Browning, proprietor of the city’s Indigo Tea Shop (after 2010’s The Teaberry Strangler). During the Heritage Society’s Pirates and Plunder show, someone steals a diamond-embedded skull cup possibly fashioned from the skull of pirate Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard) right beneath the noses of Theo and Drayton Conneley, Theo’s master tea blender. Even worse, the robber fatally stabs college kid Rob Commers, the society’s history intern, and assaults Camilla Hodges, the society’s office manager. While plucky Theo, her faithful shop employees, and CPD’s Det. Burt Tidwell chase a nasty killer, Theo feels romantically torn between her boyfriend, chef Parker Scully, and an attractive newcomer, Max Scofield, a local museum’s PR director. As usual, everyone finds time for abundant tea breaks…” (Adapted from Publishers Weekly)

Here are some new mysteries to land on the shelves at Wellington City Libraries. Getting great reviews is the debut novel ‘So Much Pretty’ by Cara Hoffman. Also just in is the latest, and final novel, of Henning Mankell’s great Kurt Wallander series, ‘The Troubled Man’. Also newcomer Brad Parks continues his series with reporter Carter Ross in the engaging ‘Eyes Of The Innocent’.

So much pretty : a novel / Cara Hoffman.
“In this remarkable debut, Hoffman addresses serious injustices in present-day America. In 1992, Claire and Gene Piper, both idealistic New York City physicians, eschew joining Doctors Without Borders and decide instead to move with their gifted two-year-old daughter, Alice, to upstate Haeden, N.Y., to pursue the simple life in the spirit of the ’60s back-to-nature movement. After nearly two fruitless decades, Gene’s hope of destroying corporate agribusiness in the name of “land and air and autonomy” has left Claire exhausted, in body and soul, and Alice determined to avenge a ghastly crime against all women that she realizes is implicit in Haeden’s smalltown-ghost town mentality. Meanwhile, journalist Stacy Flynn indicts Big Pharm for forcing scientists to manipulate people into doing things the scientists believe are wrong, and factory food production for repurposing the countryside into a toxic-waste site. Hoffman’s doomed characters burn their way off her angry pages. This searing novel will linger long in the reader’s memory. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved” (Publisher Weekly)

Pray for silence / Linda Castillo.
“Painters Mill is an idyllic small town in Ohio’s Amish country. But even the most peaceful of landscapes is not immune to violent crime. The second installment in Castillo’s strong series (after Sworn to Silence, 2009) finds Police Chief Kate Burkholder once again face-to-face with pure evil. This time around it’s the murder of the Planks, an Amish family who invited trouble when pretty 15-year-old daughter Mary became enamored with a non-Amish man, who seduced her and documented their sexual episodes on tape. The case rattles Burkholder, who left the Amish faith as a teenager after she was raped by an Amish man. Helping her through the stressful investigation is John Tomasetti, a big-city cop battling his own demons (his wife and young daughters were murdered a few years before). The two had a brief affair, but time has passed and both have hesitations about rekindling the romance. They have plenty to distract them as they search for a killer who may have more sinister acts in store. Though the plot fizzles a bit at the end, a unique setting and a very human heroine make this a good recommendation for readers seeking an alternative to the urban whodunit. (Booklist)

The illuminated vineyard / Jean Moynahan.
When middle-aged, recently widowed Rachel Jarvis hires young transient Michael Broom and his girlfriend, Cara Littleton, to make some repairs to her house in Birchwood, Ore., Rachel’s daughter, Clarissa, doesn’t approve. Her son, Brett, on the other hand, immediately forms an attachment to the attractive Cara. When somebody fatally stabs petty crook Brady Devon at neighboring Fargeau Vineyards, the police take an interest in Michael, who may have a link to the vineyard’s owner, Rob Fargeau, with whom Rachel had a fling 30 years earlier. The attempted poisoning of Brady’s longtime girlfriend, Vonda Gallard, who later goes missing, raises the stakes. As Rachel digs for answers, another brutal murder underlines what deadly effect long-hidden secrets can have when they come unraveled. (Syndetics summary)

Fade away girl : a novel / Martha Grimes.
“In this suspenseful sequel to “Belle Ruin,” Emma Graham continues her investigation into the disappearance of the Slade baby from the Belle Ruin Hotel more than 20 years before. The sudden appearance in town of the baby’s father makes her even more determined to learn the truth.” (Syndetics summary)

The troubled man / Henning Mankell ; transl. from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson.Starred Review. In Mankell’s masterful 11th novel featuring Kurt Wallander (and likely the last in this internationally bestselling series, according to Sonny Mehta’s note to the reader), the 60-year-old Swedish detective unofficially pursues a baffling case that’s part mystery, part spy thriller. At the 75th birthday party for Håkan von Enke (the “troubled man” of the title), von Enke, a retired Swedish naval commander, tells Wallander about a 1980 incident involving an unidentified submarine that “invaded Swedish territorial waters.” Von Enke was about to fire depth charges to bring the sub to the surface when higher-ups ordered him to abort. A few days after von Enke confides in the detective, he disappears; shortly after, his wife goes missing as well. As Wallander’s quest for the truth leads him back to the era of cold war espionage, Mankell (Firewall) deftly interweaves the problems of Swedish society with the personal challenges of one man trying to understand what happened and why. (Publishers Weekly)

10th anniversary / James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.
“Gone, baby, gone. Patterson’s tenth novel in the Women’s Murder Club (WMC) series (after The 9th Judgment) opens with a missing baby. Sgt. Lindsay Boxer is assigned a case that leaves her little time to enjoy her new marriage. A nearly naked teenage girl, bleeding and incoherent, is found stumbling out of the woods by passing motorists. Hospital tests reveal that she had recently given birth. So where is the baby? Meanwhile, Boxer’s friend, attorney Yuki Castellano, is prosecuting the case of a doctor accused of murdering her husband. But did she really do it? Castellano is unhappy when Boxer starts questioning the foundations of her case. Another friend, crime reporter Cindy Thomas, might have gotten herself in too deep when she starts investigating a local rapist. VERDICT Patterson and coauthor Paetro spin a fast-paced triple mystery that expertly weaves the stories together. It is the distinct yet complementary personalities of the WMC members that make the story’s heart beat. Highly recommended for series fans as well as readers who enjoy David Baldacci, Patricia Cornwell, and John Grisham.-Susan O. Moritz, Montgomery Cty. P.L.s., MD (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.” (Library Journal)

Saints of New York / R.J. Ellory.The death of a young heroin dealer causes no great concern for NYPD Detective Frank Parrish – Danny Lange is just another casualty of the drug war. But when Danny’s teenage sister winds up dead, questions are raised that have no clear answers. Parrish, already under investigation by Internal Affairs for repeatedly challenging his superiors, is committed to daily interviews with a Police Department counsellor. As the homicides continue – and a disturbing pattern emerges – Frank tries desperately to make some sense of the deaths, while battling with his own demons. Trying to live up to the reputation of his father, John – not only a legendary NYPD detective, but also one of the original ‘Saints of New York’ – the men charged with the responsibility of ridding New York of the final vestiges of Mafia control in the 1980s – Parrish struggles to come to terms with the broken pieces of his own life. But, as the murders escalate, he must discover the truth behind them before there are further innocent victims. Dark and intense, Saints of New York is a novel of corruption and redemption, of the relentless persistence required to find the truth, and of one man’s search for meaning amidst the ghosts of his own conscience.(Amazon.UK summary)

Mercy kill : a mystery / Lori Armstrong.
In Armstrong’s sharp second mystery to feature former army sniper Mercy Gunderson (after 2010’s No Mercy), Mercy stumbles late one night on the shot and slashed body of Maj. Jason “J-Hawk” Hawley, who once saved her life in Indonesia, outside Clementine’s, the bar where she’s been stuck for months in a dead-end temporary job. When her boyfriend, Eagle River County (S.Dak.) sheriff Mason Dawson, doesn’t do enough to investigate, Mercy goes into action. Concerned that J-Hawk’s murder may have been related to his job as a front man for Titan Oil’s controversial project to run a pipeline through the county, Mercy uncovers some disturbing information about her old army buddy. While the flashbacks to Mercy’s military career slow the action in places, an intriguing new character, FBI agent Shay Turnbull of the Indian County Special Crimes Unit, will leave readers eager to see how their relationship plays out in the next installment. (Publishers Weekly)

Eyes of the innocent / Brad Parks.
“After a house fire kills two young brothers in a rundown Newark, N.J., neighborhood, Carter Ross of the Newark Eagle-Examiner gets the word to write yet another story about the dangers of space heaters in Parks’s enjoyable second mystery featuring the street-smart investigative reporter (after 2009’s Faces of the Gone). To complicate a routine assignment, Carter must take beautiful, spacey intern Lauren McMillan (aka “Sweet Thang”) to the scene of the tragedy. In a tense confrontation with Akilah Harris, the mother of the two boys, Lauren displays an unexpected talent for getting her to talk. Akilah’s hard-luck story could be front-page news if true, but when it begins to fall apart and then dovetails with the disappearance of veteran council member Wendell “Windy” A. Byers Jr., things get hot quickly. Once again, Parks, a former Washington Post reporter, deftly brings the personalities and dynamics of a modern-day city newsroom to life. (Publishers Weekly)

Murder in the dead of winter in Norway; a serial killer stalks the streets in Sweden; New York Police Detective Lt. Eve Dallas fights corrupt cops; and a bombing targets an L.A. talk show. This month’s mystery recent picks visit murder and intrigue on cities around the world. Have a browse.

Silent mercy / Linda Fairstein.
“In Fairstein’s exciting 13th novel to feature New York ADA Alexandra Cooper (after Hell Gate), a middle of the night call brings Alex and NYPD detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace to Harlem, where the decapitated body of a young woman has been burning on the steps of the Mount Neboh Baptist Church, originally a synagogue until the neighborhood changed. Initially, the authorities suspect a hate crime until another dead woman turns up at a cathedral in Little Italy a few days later. A religious motive emerges, especially since both victims were considered “outcasts” because of their uncompromising demands about the role of women in organized religion. Meanwhile, Alex is prosecuting a defrocked Catholic priest accused of molesting boys, a high-profile trial that a politically connected bishop wants stopped. Fairstein excels at describing New York’s complicated religious history as well as the vagaries of the city’s legal and religious politics. 12-city author tour.” (Publishers Weekly)

The leopard / Jo Nesbø ; translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.
In the depths of winter, a killer stalks the city streets. His victims are two young women, both found with twenty-four inexplicable puncture wounds, both drowned in their own blood. The crime scenes offer no clues, the media is reaching fever pitch, and the police are running out of options. There is only one man who can help them, and he doesn’t want to be found. Deeply traumatised by an investigation that threatened the lives of those he holds most dear, Inspector Harry Hole has lost himself in the squalor of Hong Kong’s opium dens. But with his father seriously ill in hospital, Harry reluctantly agrees to return to Oslo. He has no intention of working on the case, but his instinct takes over when an MP is found brutally murdered in a city park. The victims appear completely unconnected to one another, but it’s not long before Harry makes a discovery: the women all spent the night in an isolated mountain hostel. And someone is picking off the guests one by one.

Treachery in death / J.D. Robb.
“Starred Review. Lt. Eve Dallas and her squad take on corrupt cops in Robb’s 33rd full-length novel featuring the New York Police and Security Dept. homicide detective (after Indulgence in Death), a fast-paced, intricate, and deadly dance of well-matched opponents. When Dallas’s partner, Det. Delia Peabody, overhears an angry exchange between Lt. Rene Oberman and Det. William Garnet that reveals an unlawful killing and ongoing skimming, Dallas’s reaction to this news is decisive: “the blue line breaks for wrong cops.” The setting may be slightly futuristic, but the procedures are familiar: Dallas puts together a solid team that meets in her home to avoid leaks as they compile evidence. At the same time, she initiates confrontations with the dangerous Oberman, whom she begins pushing toward a trap. From this pure good guys versus bad guys scenario, Robb (aka Nora Roberts) wrings plenty of exciting strokes and counterstrokes before reaching the satisfying climax.” (Publishers Weekly)

Red wolf : a novel / Liza Marklund.
“Starred Review. Marklund’s superb fifth novel featuring Stockholm journalist Annika Bengtzon (after Prime Time) finds Annika, who’s no longer officially on the crime beat at the Evening Post, working as an independent reporter, mostly pursuing terrorism stories, particularly relating to Communist protests in the 1960s and ’70s. While she’s investigating in the northern town of Luleå, a fellow journalist and source dies in a hit-and-run accident, which turns out to be the first in a series of murders. Annika traces these murders to a deadly act of sabotage on a Swedish military base in 1969, and begins to suspect that the man behind the present-day slayings and the army attack—known only by his code name of “Ragnwald”—has returned to kill again. Meanwhile, Annika’s marriage falters as she and her husband juggle two careers and two children. Marklund (The Postcard Killers with James Patterson) imbues Annika with a fierce intensity without sacrificing her vulnerability.” (Publishers Weekly)

Nights of the red moon / Milton T. Burton.
“Starred Review. Set in East Texas, Burton’s rip-snorting third mystery will appeal to fans of Bill Crider, Ben Rehder, and Kinky Friedman. When the bullet-ridden body of Amanda Twiller turns up in front of her pastor husband’s Methodist church, Beauregard “Bo” Handel, the Caddo County sheriff, investigates. While Rev. Bobby Joe Twiller isn’t a suspect, Amanda, who was addicted to prescription painkillers, left him three months earlier for Emmet Zorn, the flamboyant co-owner of the Pak-a-Sak liquor store. Emmet’s link to a reputed Houston mobster takes Bo and his team, including Carla Wallace, Bo’s female deputy and love interest, on a thrill ride of surprises that becomes more intense after the shooting death of doper Doyle Raines, the prime suspect in Amanda’s murder. Bo’s rowdy “good ole boy” zeal may verge on the outrageous at times, but Burton (The Sweet and the Dead) has a created a cowboy hero that readers will want to see more of.” (Publishers Weekly)

Third degree / Maggie Barbieri.
“Barbieri’s fizzy fifth mystery featuring English professor Alison Bergeron (after 2009’s Final Exam) rates well more than a passing grade. At a Westchester County coffee shop near the college where she teaches, Alison bumps into a fistfight between troublemaking blogger Carter Wilmott and his arch enemy, George Miller. The police burst onto the scene just as George hits Carter in the head, knocking him to the floor. A cop administers CPR to no avail. Alison and her NYPD detective boyfriend, Bobby Crawford, believe it’s a slam-dunk case of manslaughter, until disturbing events persuade them otherwise. If George’s blow didn’t kill Carter, some arsenic in his body might have. Meanwhile, Alison has to worry about the threatening notes she starts to receive and the disappearance of her school chaplain friend, Fr. Kevin McManus. Some punchy plot twists catapult the action to a satisfying reveal.” (Publishers Weekly)

Every bitter thing / Leighton Gage.
“It’s the victim, not the crime, that concerns the authorities in Gage’s gripping fourth mystery to feature quick-witted Chief Insp. Mario Silva of Brazil’s Federal Police (after January 2010’s Dying Gasp). When Juan Rivas is found shot and beaten to death in his apartment in Brasília, it’s “a major political incident” because Juan was the 32-year-old son of the Venezuelan foreign minister. Silva, who’s struck by the crime’s violence, checks the countrywide database and finds four similar unsolved murders and only a tenuous connection among the victims, who include a petroleum engineer and a social psychologist known for his best-selling books on sex. Aided by his longtime sidekick, Arnaldo Nunes, and the other members of his diverse team, Silva winnows a list of suspects who may also be potential victims. In the end, Gage’s policemen are willing to go to extremes, even illegal ones, to achieve justice.” (Publishers Weekly)

The midnight show murders : a Billy Blessing novel / Al Roker and Dick Lochte.
“TV weatherman Roker and crime veteran Lochte’s fast-paced, exciting sequel to The Morning Show Murders takes Roker’s alter ego, Billy Blessing, a TV personality on a Today-like show in Manhattan, to Los Angeles. Billy’s network bosses have tapped him to be the first weekly guest announcer of a new show, O’Day at Night, hosted by Irish comedian Des O’Day. When a bomb explosion blows an important cast member to bits on the set of O’Day at Night, Billy once again turns sleuth. The case awakens unpleasant memories of the beginning of Billy’s career as a cook in L.A. when he unsuccessfully tried to undermine the alibi of Roger Charbonnet, an arrogant but well-connected young chef suspected of killing Tiffany Arden, a failed starlet turned restaurant bookkeeper. A cop who remembers the Arden murder thinks Roger may have been responsible for the bombing. Wry humor lifts this above most celebrity-written fiction.” (Publishers Weekly)

South Phoenix rules : a David Mapstone mystery / Jon Talton.
“A handsome young New York professor comes to Phoenix to research his new book. But when he’s brutally murdered, police connect him to one of the world’s most deadly drug cartels. This shouldn’t be a case for historian-turned-deputy David Mapstone – except the victim has been dating David’s sister-in-law Robin and now she’s a target, too. To save Robin, David must leave his stack of historic crimes for the savage today of smuggling – people, drugs, and guns – in Phoenix. The city yields the answer to the professor’s killing and the only hope that Robin and David can avoid his fate.” (Syndetics summary)

We’ve been fascinated with Scandinavian crime novels, particularly Henning Mankel’s Inspector Wallander and Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. But mayhem and murder occurs everywhere, even in the utopia of a Peoples’ Republic. So if you’ve done the Scandinavians and you’re looking for a new police procedural series set in a completely different cultural and political environment, try these authors.

Colin Cotterill – Dr Siri Paiboun
“The Coroner’s Lunch” is the first in a series set in the newly communist Laos. It is 1976, and with Pathet Lao government in control of things in Laos, life ought to be getting much better for everyone.  Except that most of the people you need have fled across the Mekong to Thailand, including the country’s only coroner. When the wife of a high-ranking official suddenly dies, the authorities have only one person they can turn to: Dr Siri Paiboun, a recently retired 72-year-old surgeon and Pathet Lao veteran.

Thus begins Dr Siri’s late career as the coroner of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Armed only with an old French-language textbook on pathology, and assisted by the efficient and able Nurse Dtui, and Gueng, a willing but mildly Down’s syndrome assistant, Dr Siri begins his first autopsy. Of course, Dr Siri’s boss, Judge Huang, with his band-new Soviet diploma, is not really interested in the inconvenient truths Dr Siri and his team uncover – and things get even trickier as new bodies turn up. Still, Dr Siri doesn’t give up, and with his new colleague in the local police, the loyal and incorruptable Lieutenant Phosy, and the occasional help of his best friend Civilai, a member of the ruling Politburo, he carries on

Dr Siri is an adorable character– cynical, wise, humorous and humane and we all cheer for him and his eclectic team as they battle against limited resources, party bureaucracy, and Siri’s disturbing spiritual encounters to solve their cases. As you read your way through the series, there will be plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, but as the novels progress, we increasingly see this socialist paradise for what it really is – ruthless, corrupt, and inept. In the latest title, “”Love songs from a shallow grave”, Dr Siri is imprisoned during an official visit to Kampuchea (Cambodia) by the murderous Kmer Rouge regime. I could hardly bear to read it to the end. But have no fear! – Dr Siri apparently survives this experience, as Colin Cotterill’s next installment in the Dr Siri series is on its way to publication.

James Church – Inspector O
“A corpse in the Koryo” introduces Inspector O, a police officer in based in Pyongyang, the capital city of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. His sparse little modern flat is an oasis of calm, even if he knows that it is regularly searched. But the workplace he describes is an altogether more dangerous place, with constant feuding between the various groupings of security agencies, the shifting centres of power and the frequent betrayals by colleagues, with dreadful consequences for the betrayed.

He copes in this volatile environment by keeping a low profile and doing his work as efficiency and with as much humanity as he can. He has a very small measure of protection through his grandfather having been a revolutionary hero. But even for the watchful O there is no avoiding of trouble when he obeys a simple order and heads out at dawn with instructions to photograph a specific car passing at a particular point on the empty highway leading into Pyongyang. It seemed a straightforward task, but like so much in North Korea, nothing is what it seems, and he finds himself dangerously caught up in a tussle between two state intelligence units, who will go to any lengths to conceal past crimes of state-sponsored kidnapping and murder.

Inspector O is an enigmatic fellow and we only get to know him better by reading subsequent titles in the series. What makes him an attractive protagonist is that in the midst of this brutal environment, he retains his humanity and a measure of assertiveness, along with a wry appreciation of absurdities of what passes for normality in North Korea. But this is grimmer stuff than the Dr Siri series – there is little to laugh about in North Korea, and the sense of ever-present threat of imminent arrest, labour camps and death affects everyone, even in their most ordinary day-to-day living. There are 4 books in the series so far, and the latest, ““The man with the Baltic stare”, published last year, anticipates the possibility of fundamental change in the Korean Peninsula.

Qui Xiaolong – Detective Inspector Chen
In “The death of a Red Heroine” we meet Detective Inspector Chen Cao, newly promoted to head the Special Case Squad of Shanghai Police Bureau. He’s a faithful Party cadre and a conscientious police officer as well and a poet and a lover of fine food. But while he is a loyal Party man, he is troubled by the rapid changes in societal values and the relentless, heartless commercialism taking hold in the People’s Republic of China.

This first title in what has become a very strong series is set in the Shanghai of 1990, not long after Tiananmen Square. The body of a young woman is found in a city canal. She’s not just any young woman, though. She is National Model Worker Guan Hongying, and she’s been murdered. Inspector Chen and his faithful comrade, Detective Yu, begin their investigation, overseen by Commissar Zhang, an old-guard Party bureaucrat. There’s more to this case than meets the eye, of course, and Chen and yYu soon begin to feel pressure from Commissar Zhang not be too thorough in solving the case.

I’ve only just started on Inspector Chen myself, and I’m hooked already. He’s an intelligent, honest, hard-working policemen, who in the end realises that in order to reach the truth he must put aside his concerns for his career and standing in the Party. Despite these amirable qualities, I’m not warming to him in the way I did with Dr Siri and Inspector O. Still, it’s early days, and there’s so much more to this series than just solving crime. We have here a wonderful portrait of China: its landscape, its history, its politics, its literature, its beliefs and cultural practices, and the changes which will make China the powerhouse it has, in the 20 years since, become. The latest title in the series, “The Mao Case”, explores the Cultural Revolution and the legacies of that terrible time which still resonate in modern Shanghai. I’m looking forward to reading this.

Just as a footnote: Chinese surnames always precede firstnames, so you should find the Inspector Chen books under “Q” in the library. Just check, however, that there aren’t some under ”X”, just in case they’ve been shelved in the wrong place.

If you’ve read the Millennium trilogy (whilst consuming large quantities of coffee and cheese and pickle sandwiches) and want to read something similar next, here are some authors to try:

Karin Alvtegen
Ake Edwardson
Kjell Eriksson
Karin Fossum
Matti Joensuu
Mari Jungstedt
Camilla Lackberg
Asa Larsson
Jo Nesbo
Hakan Nesser
Anders Roslund
Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Johan Theorin

Read all these and you’ll be an expert on Scandinavian murder mysteries (for example, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are all represented here).

More “who writes like” suggestions can be found on the library’s fiction page here.