Mysteries Recent Picks

July 2010

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The whisperers, John Connolly. (2010)
"Starred Review. Ancient artifacts and the second Iraqi War provide the backdrop for Connolly's outstanding ninth novel featuring PI Charlie Parker (after The Lovers). When the former NYPD homicide detective looks into the suicide of an Iraq war veteran, he discovers that several members of the soldier's unit have also killed themselves and that they may have been involved in smuggling looted treasures into the U.S. Parker begins to fear that the returning soldiers have brought back more than their own personal demons. As he races to find an antique golden box before it falls into the wrong hands, Parker discovers that he's being shadowed by the enigmatic Collector, a repulsive killer whose nature is as problematic as that of Parker himself. Connolly displays a real knack for fusing the detective and horror genres, providing a rational chain of evidence and deduction for the plot while simultaneously creating a real atmosphere of numinous dread that reminds us that mystery can refer to more than a mundane tale of crime and human justice." (Publishers Weekly)

The city of lost girls, Declan Hughes. (2010)
"Larger-than-life Irish movie director Jack Donovan has returned to Dublin to make a film, but he’s emotionally rattled by cryptic, threatening messages. He seeks out his one-time friend, Dublin PI Ed Loy, for help. Loy signs on, but the disappearances of three beautiful young women from the set—something that also happened when Donovan made films in LA—tell Loy he’s looking for a serial killer, and the killer is almost certainly Donovan or one of his faithful retinue, known to Tinseltown buffs as the Gang of Four. This is playwright Hughes’ fourth Ed Loy novel, and his brilliant creation of the charismatic Donovan propels the story and also inhibits it. Donovan is “a carouser extraordinaire,” “a mad wayward bastard” who sings Puccini arias in pubs and mesmerizes nearly every character in the book. Not even the smart, formidable Loy is immune, and neither is the reader. Hughes also has great fun with famous Irish actors and the Hollywood movie industry, but here’s hoping the next Loy story returns to its Irish roots." (Booklist)

Cut adrift, by Chris Simms. (2010)
"DI Jon Spicer's investigation into the vicious slaying of a Russian asylum-seeker grinds to a halt when the man's identity turns out to be false. It seems the only truth to his story was the fact he was found drifting off the British coast in a small boat. Before the man's true identity can be discovered, more asylum-seekers start to die - each murdered in the same horrific way. By the time Spicer realises what links the men, he knows there's a trained assassin at large who's desperate to guard a secret of enormous magnitude. And when he ignores MI5's warnings to back-off, Jon also realises, too late, he's now the target of a man whose sole purpose is to kill. And all the while, a series of heartbreaking and enigmatic messages are being found after drifting in from the sea - slowly revealing the horrific plight of a group of refugees trapped on a raft. Powerful, compelling and poignant, this is the most unmissable outing to date for DI Jon Spicer." (Amazon.co.uk)

American devil, Oliver Stark. (2010)
"A brilliant debut thriller from new talent Oliver Stark. The American Devil is stalking New York’s streets. Will a cop and a psychiatrist be able to stop him? Detective Tom Harper, one of the New York Police Department’s star homicide detectives, is on administrative leave for striking a superior officer when the city is left reeling by a series of brutal murders. Young socialites are being targeted by one of the most gruesome killers New York has ever seen and the top brass know that Harper is the only detective who has a chance of stopping the newly dubbed ‘American Devil’ before he strikes again. With Harper already living on the edge, they have no choice but to appoint psychiatrist, and new profiler, Denise Levene, to oversee his return. But as the murders escalate Harper and Levene find that they must work together if they are to find the killer. The American Devil is in their city and he wants to play... the only question is do Harper and Levene have what it takes to bring him down?" (Amazon.co.uk)

Skein of the crime, Maggie Sefton. (2010)
"Sefton's somber eighth knitting mystery to feature Fort Connor, Colo., financial consultant Kelly Flynn (after 2009's Dropped Dead Stitch) gets off to a slow start, but gradually picks up steam. While Kelly's romance with her longtime architect boyfriend, Steve Townsend, suffers, she helps her IT consultant friend, Megan Smith, plan Megan's upcoming wedding and teach a House of Lambspun knitting class. When Holly Kaiser, a college student who had been dating the son of a Lambspun knitting teacher, dies of a drug overdose, Kelly once again turns amateur sleuth. The more Kelly learns about Holly, who was far too fond of Ecstasy, the more she suspects the fatal overdose was no accident. The action builds to an intriguing cliffhanger. Directions for a braided knit scarf and a carrot cake recipe are a bonus." (Publishers Weekly)

A rush of blood, by Quintin Jardine. (2010)
"A complex tale of deception and revenge leads Skinner and his people to a bloody encounter and a dramatic confrontation...The horrific suicide of a successful Lithuanian entrepreneur rouses suspicion amongst the newly appointed Chief Constable Bob Skinner and his colleagues. They’ve crossed swords with the businessman before; why would a man with everything to live for take his own life? As enquiries begin, a mystery girl, drugged and incoherent, is dumped in a health centre by a mysterious Galahad, who promptly disappears. Who is she, who is he, and where has he gone? Is it coincidence that most of the massage parlours in the city have suddenly closed overnight?" (Amazon.co.uk)

State fair, Earlene Fowler. (2010)
"Set in 1997, Fowler's folksy 14th Benni Harper mystery (after 2007's Tumbling Blocks) finds the avid quilter, museum curator, and reluctant sleuth readying herself for the annual San Celina (Calif.) County Mid-State Fair. Racial tensions revolving around the fair's first black general manager, Levi Clark; Levi's half-white daughter, Jazz; and Jazz's various suitors stir the plot. So, too, does the visit from Arkansas of Benni's great-aunt, Garnet Wilcox. Garnet and her sister, Dove, Benni's grandmother, get along like two bobcats trapped in a burning outhouse. A valued African-American quilt stolen from a fair exhibit and a corpse in another exhibit add fuel to the fire. Fowler's congenial mix of humor (prickly, surprising Garnet applies lessons learned from mystery books and cop shows), folklore (the history of black cloth dolls), and murder makes this Agatha Award–winning series as much fun to visit as a county fair and a likely ribbon winner." (Publishers Weekly)

Blind fury, Lynda La Plante. (2010)
"Close to a motorway service station, the body of a young woman is discovered. She appears to have no family, no friends, no one to identify her. DI Anna Travis is brought onto the team of investigators by DCS James Langton, who already suspects that this recent case could be linked to two unsolved murders. As more evidence is discovered the team realise that they are contending with a triple murder investigation -- and no suspect. Anna's blood runs cold when she receives a letter from a murderer she helped to arrest. He makes contact from prison insisting that he can track down their killer, but will only talk to Anna herself. Does he really have an insight into another killer's mind, or is he merely intent on getting into hers?" (Amazon.co.uk)

Sleeping with anemone : a flower shop mystery, Kate Collins. (2010)
"Maybe Abby Knight shouldn't have chosen a home and garden show sponsored by Uniworld Food as the venue for her protest against the corporation's harmful farming practices. But being bodily removed from the event won't stop her campaign. Nor will a burning brick thrown through her flower shop's window. After she narrowly escapes being kidnapped three times, Abby calls in the big guns-her ex-Ranger boyfriend Marco and her friends and family. And then the stakes are raised by murder..."(Amazon.com)

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