Hank Phillippi Ryan: Mother Daughter Sister Stranger

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Nearly twenty books in, accomplished pro Hank Phillippi Ryan can keep you entertained, squeeze your heart, make you cry, give you a bit of a scare and make the whole darn thing look easy.  But this one achieves just a little bit more, with the characters so beautifully delineated, and the family tensions and problems that gives the plot its legs so poignant, that the book had me aching to actually reach into the pages and help the compelling characters in some way.

Ryan always has a great set up – here Eliza is caring for niece Piper for a week while her sister Bea takes some time away from it all after a divorce. The problems start when the day comes for Bea to collect Piper and she doesn’t show up. At first the family rationalizes that Bea must have gotten the wrong day. The following day is the annual family “remembrance day,” when Eliza, Bea and Piper go to the cemetery to visit the grave of Eliza and Bea’s parents, who died in a plane crash many years back. Since they know Bea packed an appropriate remembrance day dress, they conclude Bea must mean to meet them there, so they head over the next morning, but, again she’s a no show. read more

Kate Westbury: The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies

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Debut

Set in Oxford in 1951, this delightful first novel features an opposites attract type couple, Ginevra Bishop and Simon Braithwaite.  Bishop, Gin to her friends, is a well connected redhead familiar with the upper crust boys who have joined her at Oxford.  Simon Braithwaite, on the other hand, is a clever working-class veteran damaged by the war who has come to the campus in order to escape his ghosts (what we would now recognize as PTSD).

At that time, the after effects of the war remained inescapable, with both the student body and the faculty staffed with war veterans, all of them struggling with their own nightmare memories. As the book opens, Gin, searching for a study spot in the crowded Bodleian library, asks her favorite librarian, Tolliver, for a tip, and ends up next to a hostile and inhospitable Simon. Meeting cute, the two glare at one another over the top of their research tomes, and so far, so cozy.  It’s only when Simon and Gin discover the body of sweet old Tolliver at the moment he’s drawing his final breath that things take a slightly darker turn.  It’s murder, and the pair are soon recruited by British intelligence. read more

Alyssa Maxwell: Murder at Rosecliff

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Gilded Newport #14

It’s August 1903 and Tessie Oelrichs is hosting a White Ball at Rosecliff, her Newport, RI mansion. A stunning all-white theme, excellent music and food, and the cream of New York society give reporter Ethan Merriman plenty to write about. Things take a turn for the worse when a stranger named Solomon Wheeler appears, defying the all-white dress code and making a scene by claiming to be Tessie’s first husband – with alleged proof. Tessie insists that he’s lying and it’s not too surprising that his dead body is discovered in the garden fountain before the night is over. What is surprising is that reporter Ethan Merriman is found apparently holding Wheeler under the water. read more

William Kent Krueger: God’s Country

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Cork O’Connor #22

There are many different kinds of mysteries, and the really good writers know how to write a few of them – why, even Dame Agatha cranked out a series of spy thrillers doing her bit for the war effort. When William Kent Kruger uncorked (so to speak) his fantastic first novel Iron Lake, a modern whodunit, he achieved instant acclaim, and he impressively followed it up with Boundary Waters, which was much more of an adventure tale. Twenty-seven years later, God’s Country returns to that territory, literally and figuratively, with series hero Cork O’Connor once again setting out into the wilderness to confront the monsters who haunt the shadows, while also forced to deal with the darkness within that he summons to defeat them. read more

Lucy Connelly: Death at a Scottish Halloween

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Scottish Isle Mysteries #5

All Hallow’s Eve celebrations are underway in tiny Sea Isle, Scotland. American Dr. Emilia McRoy, a new resident who is the town’s only doctor and coroner, is busy working at the local haunted house. It’s good, safe fun until she and her assistant, Abigail, realize that one of the fake bodies in the haunted house is an actual dead body – and a murder victim.

Dr. Em’s boyfriend, Constable Ewan Campbell, is investigating the murder and tries to keep her out of it, but Em’s compassion for the victim’s family compels her to assist in the case. And it’s a complicated case involving multiple victims, mistaken identities, and possible theft. The killer seems to be looking for something, but what? Is there a connection between the two victims or just a mistaken identity, and is there a connection to a mysterious puzzle box from a local estate sale? read more

Anastasia Hastings: Of Devotion and Death

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Dear Miss Hermoine #3

Of Devotion and Death, the third in Anatasia Hasting’s Dear Miss Hermione series set in 1880s London, finds main character Violet on the precipice of a big decision. She has been invited by her almost beau, Eli, for a scandalous Christmas in Venice. Violet is normally very levelheaded but Eli sends her into an emotional tailspin every time she sees him – and rarely do they get along when they are in the same room. Still, there is something irresistible enough about him to Violet that she hasn’t told her beloved sister, Sephora, or loyal retainer, Bunty, about the real reason she’s going to Venice. They all assume it’s about solving a mystery. read more

Donna Andrews: Probable Caws

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Meg Lanslow #39

After 27 years, 40 books, and unprecedented number of punny bird titles, the Meg Langslow series remains fresh and entertaining as ever. #40 (Jay to the World) will be released in time for Christmas and #39 (Probable Caws) is available now. In Probable Caws Meg and her family are helping retired heavy metal drummer Ragnar Ragnarsen cope with temporarily housing fifty horses from Hoof and Hearth rescue on his estate.

Why move the horses? Able Abernathy, who owns the farm where Hoof and Hearth is based, has just lost his father who apparently died intestate. That means Able does not technically own the farm and his co-inheritor brother George’s only interest in the farm is selling it for a profit. Did George to try harm the horses so his brother would move them off the farm, making it easier to sell? Is there a missing will that might prevent the sale of the farm? And when there’s a murder at Ragnar’s farm, is it related to the horses, the dispute over the farm, or something else? read more

Jennifer Ashley: Murder in Blackfriars

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Below Stairs #9

There are quite a few historical mysteries set in Victorian London, but what makes this series so memorable is that the main character, Kat Holloway, is not of the nobility, connected to nobility or even someone who aspires to nobility, but simply a humble cook. For a mystery reader, encountering the working-class side of the city makes the series more relatable and the stakes the characters deal with a bit more resonant. The other reason I loved this one is simply that Jennifer Ashley, with over 60 novels to her credit, is a truly polished storyteller with an unerring instinct for what makes a narrative move and connect with the reader. read more

Kathleen Marple Kalb: A Fatal Flourish

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Ella Shane #6

A Fatal Flourish is the sixth book in Kathleen Marple Kalb’s wonderful series about Ella Shane, a star of the Metropolitan Opera in Gilded Age New York.  Ella is a mezzo-soprano who is known for playing male roles, and she is an expert swordswoman, a skill which has proven useful while chasing criminals.  She grew up in a tenement on the Lower East Side, as the orphaned daughter of a Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic father.  A famous singer discovered what a great voice Ella had and mentored her.  Ella has since become a star and married Gil, a British duke, but she has never forgotten her past and is always generous to those less fortunate than she is. read more

Rhys Bowen: The Castle in the Glen

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Rhys Bowen knocks it out of the park again with this year’s standalone novel The Castle in the Glen. Set in 1960s London and early-1900s Isle of Skye, the parallel plot follows the adventure of young Australian author Emma Callander. Having published her first book, she is undecided about her future. Should she stay in rainy London to write her next book or give in to homesickness and return to sunny Australia? Her publisher solves her dilemma by introducing her to well-known mystery writer Iris Blackburn. Blackburn, dealing with age-related memory issues, wants to write one last book in her popular series but needs help finishing it and decides Emma should be her co-author/ghostwriter. read more