Robin Agnew

Catherine Mack: Every Time I Go on Vacation, Some One Dies

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Vacation Mysteries #1

This book takes the form of a very traditional mystery, and turns it on it’s head, standing back a bit to look with fondness at the genre.  There are other writers looking at mysteries in the same way – Elle Cosimano, Anthony Horowitz, Kat Ailes, Benjamin Stevenson and to and extent, Kemper Donovan – but like Cosimano, Ailes and Stevenson, Mack’s take is humorous.  These are not stories written by dumb people.  The stories are smart and the mysteries are clever and tricky, with fairly laid out turns of the plot.  Mack invites the reader to join her somewhat hapless main character in detection, and honestly, as a reader, you might do a better job than Eleanor Dash. read more

Andromeda Romano-Lax: The Deepest Lake

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Standalone

This was an unexpected read.  Set in Guatemala on the shores of Lake Atitlán, the story follows the drowning death of young Jules.  The way into the story is through her mother, Rose’s, unfathomable grief at the loss of her daughter.  The lake is deeper than Lake Michigan (to put it in context) and Jules’ body has not been found.  Her father went first to search, and with his military training and willingness to work with local law enforcement he gets a certain number of facts, but Rose wants to somehow live into the place where her daughter was last seen and feel her way into a solution.  It’s almost a perfect split of the stereotypical male and female ways of approaching a problem. read more

Cara Hunter: The Whole Truth

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DI Adam Fawley #5

This popular UK series is being released in chunks stateside.  With the release of The Whole Truth, books 3 through 5 are now available.  If the rest of them are anything like this one, sign me up – if Harlan Coben wrote a police series it might be something like this insanely readable and provoking book.  Hunter, in golden age style, provides a precis of the characters at the beginning to aid the reader coming late to the series in getting up to speed. It remained a helpful reference as I sorted characters mentally. read more

Anthony Horowitz: Close to Death

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Hawthorne & Horowitz #5

Anthony Horowitz is simply a plotting genius, with a brain that must that must be constantly constructing puzzles, and fortunately for us, he’s nice enough to share a few.  His latest gem is an instalment in his very meta Hawthorne and Horowitz series, where Horowitz himself takes the almost Hastings-esque form of a writer who follows genius detective Hawthorne around, writing down his actions, thus creating the novel we hold in our hands.  As this outing begins Horowitz is working on a new book under a deadline, but unfortunately Hawthorne hasn’t caught anything interesting for a while.  Horowitz decides to revisit an old case, and as Hawthorne doles the story out to him in portions he writes, using case notes as his guide, creating personas for the people involved in the story. read more

Katie Tietjen: Death in the Details

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Debut

This ingenious historical novel begins in post WWII Vermont, where Maple Bishop is enduring a tidal wave of loss –  she’s lost her brother, her mother and her husband, and, as the insurance company informs her in the opening chapter, most of her money.  She has $12 to her name, no way to pay her mortgage and, since she and her husband donated its tires to the war effort, a car she can neither drive nor sell.

What keeps her (and the book) going is her obsession with building dollhouses.  She can’t stop herself, and her garage workshop is full of the things, complete with idealized dolls living idealized doll lives.  When she goes into the hardware store to purchase supplies, the owner, sensing a promotional opportunity, offers her a corner to set up shop, in order to bring in customers and spice up his window display. read more

Nicholas George: A Deadly Walk in Devon

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Debut

This charming cozy is set in Devon, but features a group of Americans who have gathered there for a walking tour of England.  Our hero, Rick Chasen, or “Chase”, is a recently retired, recently widowed police detective.  The loss of his husband, Doug, has caused him to rethink his life and search for things that will keep him active and engaged.  He’s meeting up with his friend Billie for the trip, who is an optimistic soul and knits with enthusiasm.

The rest of their tour group – or shall we call them the suspect pool? – is nicely varied and interesting.  There’s a wealthy man and his trophy wife; there’s a couple who create environments for the elderly (who are dissatisfied with their room décor); there’s a sister and brother who are fulfilling the sister’s life long dream of a trip to England; and there’s the required curmudgeon, rounded off by the tour guide and driver.  While I really enjoyed this novel my enjoyment would have been heightened by the traditional cast of characters at the beginning of the book.  This book seemed well suited for that kind of thing. read more

Gigi Pandian: A Midnight Puzzle

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Secret Staircase #3

In the third book in Gigi Pandian’s locked room series her heroine, magician Tempest Raj, seeks the answer to a devastating question: who killed her mother?  A supposed “curse” decrees that the eldest born child in the family will die while performing magic. It may sound ridiculous but Tempest’s aunt and mother both passed that way, and Tempest herself has already suffered a narrow escape.  The killing that opens the book is that of the wealthy bully who has been suing Tempest’s family construction company, insisting that the staircase that collapsed and put his wife in a coma was the result of shoddy construction. read more

Jennifer Ashley: Speculations in Sin

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Below Stairs #7

Why haven’t I heard of this series before? Though it’s the seventh book, I was completely taken in by it almost immediately, wanting to read the other six as soon as possible. Because it’s the seventh book there was a slight amount of catching up, but very slight. The main character, Mrs. Kat Holloway (the “Mrs” is an honorary title) is a cook for a wealthy London household in 1883. She has a 12 year old daughter her employers aren’t aware of, placed in a friend’s household. read more

Deanna Raybourn: A Grave Robbery

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Veronica Speedwell #9

Whether she’s writing suspense or historical fiction, Deanna Raybourn is never anything less than completely entertaining. There’s a magic to the storytelling in her long-running Veronica Speedwell series that suspends time for the reader.  In case you don’t know, Veronica is a lepidopterist (studies butterflies), and her partner, Stoker, is a gifted naturalist and expert taxidermist.  There are mysteries involved, of course, but these are more adventure stories in the vein of Mrs. Pollifax  or Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody books, and you, dear reader, can’t help but enjoy the ride. read more

Jenny Adams: A Deadly Endeavor

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Debut

Set in 1921 Philly, this lively series debut finds its characters affected by both the war and the influenza pandemic.  Heroine Edie Shippen returns home after suffering through the flu and nursing her San Francisco aunt just in time for her twin sister Frances’ engagement party to Edie’s former beau, Theo.  She isn’t even planning to attend until her maid Jenny convinces, telling her she looks too good to miss it.  Edie, who seems remarkably unaware of her own charms, does agree, but for her the occasion is only saved by an encounter with her rebellious cousin, Rebecca. read more