Berkley

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

Sarah Lotz: How to Kill a Crime Writer

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I was of two minds on this novel.  I enjoyed the main character, Niamh, who has just lost her mother and who has moved into her mother’s remote cottage in the English countryside.  She has a cat, Brian, but mostly she is (not) dealing with her grief by sofa surfing and playing video games. She is startled out of her “grief journey” (as her stepmother refers to it) by the appearance of the main character in her author mother’s books.  Her mother had written thrillers featuring someone I can only describe as a female Jack Reacher, differing in gender and in that she has a fixed place of abode. read more

Anna Lee Huber: A Bitter Cut

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Lady Darby #14

Set in 1830s Warwickshire, this installment finds series heroine Keira, Lady Darby, settling into a new home on the grounds of her father in law’s estate, while getting ready to host a long run of large house parties which will culminate in a ball.  While she’s repaired her breach with stern father-in-law, Lord Gage (much thanks to her small daughter Emma), there’s new family trouble brewing in the form of her brother Trevor’s planned engagement to a wealthy young woman, Matilda, who has, it turns out, extremely abrasive parents. read more

Liza Tully: The Forty-Year Grudge

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Merritt & Blunt #2

Two books in, this has already become a favorite series. Everything about this series sparkles – the characters, the storytelling, and the setting.  The two central characters are 60 something Aubrey Merritt, a world-renowned private investigator, and her young, green, recently married assistant, Olivia Blunt (who, it must be said, does the lion’s share of the work).  Blunt is in training to become a detective but so far Merritt is a bit scornful of her talents.  She is eager, thorough, and good at research, however, and she arrives at the solution at *almost* the same time Aubrey does. read more

J.D. Brinkworth: The Pie and Mash Detective Agency

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Debut

This charming, funny book, set in present day London, follows the adventures of Jane Pye and Simon Mash, a dating couple who decide to take a detective class at their local learning center.  (To a US reader, this will translate as a community college course.) Jane is between jobs, aka unemployed, and while Simon is working, he’s still willing to go along with Jane on her lark, which started with a book on detection that proved only too inspiring.

As a final assignment, the teacher (and working private eye) Gavin, assigns each team in the class a case to be solved.  He gives the only unsolved case to Jane and Simon, and, as it later becomes clear, it’s one he himself has been frustrated by for decades. Jane and Simon plunge right in, going to interview the witness, Dev, whose girlfriend has vanished.  The only problem is that the police don’t believe she ever existed as Dev doesn’t have a photo of her, she doesn’t seem to be a voter, be on National Health, or have a passport or driver’s license. read more

Deanna Raybourn: A Ghastly Catastrophe

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Veronica Speedwell #10

Although she certainly owes a debt to Elizabeth Peters and her character Amelia Peabody, Deanna Raybourn has managed her own memorable creations in the amusing Veronica Speedwell and her intriguing partner, Stoker.  Veronica is an intrepid explorer and sleuth in London in the late 1880s who specializes in the study of butterflies. Her unmarried partnership with taxidermist and fellow explorer Stoker is beyond unconventional, but their shared aristocratic lineage lets them get away with a lot. They live on the estate of Lord Rosmorran as they catalogue his extensive collection of objects, but this idyllic existence seems fated to be interrupted by the murders and mysteries that inevitably come their way. read more

Fergus Craig: I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home

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Serial killer Carol, just released from prison, has found a cozy apartment at a fancy retirement home, and is looking forward to enjoying freedom and perhaps making new friends.  She takes a baking class and is beginning to feel comfortable, when someone discovers her past and the other residents begin to avoid her.  It’s heartbreaking.  As she’s sitting alone on her balcony with her morning coffee one day, a body falls past her to his death, and she hears a scuffling sound on the roof.  She’s sure it’s murder, the police are sure it’s suicide.  When she puts herself forward, the police arrest her, simply because of her past. read more

Yosha Gunasekera: The Midnight Taxi

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Debut

This is a sparkling debut.  The main character, Siriwathi Perera, is a New York City cab driver in the age of Uber and Lyft.  It’s a tough job but she works the late shift to keep her family afloat. As she’s cruising by night court late one night, she spots two possible fares: a white, male lawyer and a woman who looks more like herself, obviously on her way home. She picks up the woman and the two of them bond as they discover they are both Sri Lankan. The woman, Amaya, is a public defender, and the quick bond the two women form is enough that Amaya presses her business card in Siri’s hand before she gets out of the cab.  Little does Siri know how much she will need it. read more

Rhys Bowen: From Cradle to Grave

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Royal Spyness #19

February 1937.  King Edward VIII has abdicated the British throne to be with his beloved Mrs. Simpson in Paris, his brother George VI awaits his coronation, and Lady Georgie is busy enjoying being a new mother and running the country house of her godfather, Sir Hubert. Alas, her peaceful home life is soon destroyed by the arrival of the horrible Nanny Hardbottle, sent by her dreadful sister-in-law Fig to bring Georgie’s life up to Fig’s cold worst-of-British childrearing standards. As if the anti-Mary Poppins isn’t bad enough, Fig herself soon arrives and settles into Georgie’s comfortable house to avoid the worst of the Scottish winter and shows no sign of leaving. read more

Peggy Townsend: The Botanist’s Assistant

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I could not have loved this utterly charming mystery more.  It’s original, it’s well written, it’s well plotted, and it has a wonderful main character in botanist Margaret Finch.  Much like her name, Margaret resembles a large bird (and she is in fact referred to as Big Bird behind her back), and she values order, cleanliness and science above all else.  In her work as a research assistant in a lab, these qualities serve her well.  It’s people she has trouble with, not plants.

The only person she has true respect for is her boss, Dr. Deaver.  When she discovers his body in his office, details seem off to her, details the busy police officer (who is busy ignoring Margaret’s suggestions of poison) seems not to notice.  When Dr. Deaver’s death is declared a heart attack, Margaret knows, in the interest of truth and science, that she must discover what really happened.  In this way, Margaret is similar to all amateur sleuths of every description.  She fits into a narrower category – the neuro divergent detective, someone familiar to fans of detective fiction and TV for many years, from Columbo to Monk to E.J. Copperman’s classic Asperger detective to Nita Prose’s “maid.” All share a quirkiness and while there are many differences, their similarity is the observation of all details. read more