First in Series

Darci Hannah: A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor

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Food & Spirits #1

Paranormal cozies are tricky things because the author has to balance a mystery that is solvable by the very corporeal detectives, while working in elements of myth and legend that often provide incorporeal clues. Darci Hannah starts off a new series with A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor. At first, I wasn’t sure when the paranormal was going to play in, as the main character Bridget “Bunny” MacBride is a chef on a cooking show under the main host. She is then offered a new contract where she will be the primary chef on a series that will be called Food & Spirits. Now, Bunny made one rather large mistake when accepting this particular job – she didn’t explore the contract thoroughly before signing. If she had, she might have seen that the ‘Spirit’ part of the show was not referring to beverages but to the dearly departed. Her main role is to be preparing meals to attract sprits to the table. Needless to say, she was far from pleased with that turn of events, but decides to stick with her contract and make the best of it. She keeps her fingers crossed that nothing spooky happens to her. read more

David Lewis: A Jewel in the Crown

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The Secret Churchill Files #1

Because I’d thought I’d seen it all before, I had low expectations when I picked this book up. WWII, the Blitz, Churchill, feisty undercover heroine, check, check and check, we’ve all been there and read that, right?  But as it turns out in the right hands WWII can still be fascinating, and with a vibrant truly larger than life character like Winston Churchill, Lewis creates a fresh, vivid read that will have you flipping pages quickly.  A policewoman when the book opens, heroine Catrine Colline, a working-class Welsh girl with a socialist bent, is soon recruited by “512,” an undercover outfit composed only of women dedicated to furthering Britain’s war efforts. read more

Start at the very beginning

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An overview of First in Series books: find them for sale in our online store.

We’re offering these first in series titles for a couple reasons – one, some are hard to find and mystery readers like to read a series in order!  And secondly, while many of you may be familiar with these series, you may have only read the later books.  These are all incredible starts to great characters and stories.  Reading through all of them will give you a great overview of contemporary mystery fiction, in all its many threads – private eye, police, cozy, British procedural, historical.  Setting has proven to be key for the modern mystery as has a broader array of character types, ranging from Tony Hillerman’s iconic Joe Leaphorn to James Lee Burke’s P.I. Dave Robichaux to Laura Lippman’s kick-ass Tess Monaghan to Dorthy Gilman’s sweet old lady CIA agent Mrs. Pollifax.  If you had walked in to our store, we would have recommended these titles to you depending on your interest.  One of our all time bestsellers was Deborah Crombie’s spectacular debut, A Share in Death.  We hope you’ll dig in!  Here’s a list, and you can find them for sale on the online store page. read more