‘All is secrecy. All is lies… Does anyone tell us the truth here?’
Scotland, 1691. Hooded figures have been seen in the woods and the dead have been wrenched from their resting place under the cover of darkness and their graves desecrated. A body is found floating in the River Clyde and a Duchess is determined to find answers.
John MacKenzie’s latest case takes him and his loyal assistant Davie Scougall to Hamilton Palace to discover the truth behind the curious drowning of local woman Bethia Porterfield. The kirk and sheriff have pronounced a verdict of self-murder, but the Duchess is unconvinced, and every soul connected to the case is guarding secrets of their own.
Despite mounting pressure to leave the West, MacKenzie and Scougall must navigate the murky waters of the Clyde, where nothing is as it seems, to uncover the truth – was Bethia’s death an accident, a suicide, or part of something much more sinister?
My Thoughts
Fans of historical mysteries will thoroughly enjoy this clever and sometimes heart-wrenching story set in late 17th century Scotland. I say heart-wrenching because the treatment of the woman whose death prompted the investigation is horrifying. This is not a “cozy” mystery but a hard-hitting and well-researched historical novel.
I had not read earlier entries in this series by Douglas Watt, but was easily able to read this as a stand-alone story. Watts is a very capable writer and the scenes and characters leapt off the pages for me. I will be looking up the earlier entries in the John MacKenzie series and adding them to my TBR pile.
To be sure, this is not a book for the faint of heart. There are some startling and graphic imagery and actions described here, historically accurate to the late 17th century. If you enjoy hard-boiled crime fiction with an historical setting, this is for you.
Publication Date: July 30, 2024 Published By: Luath Press Thanks to BookSirens for the review copy
Jasper Fitzalan Howard is found stabbed to death in his room at The Hotel Windsor. In a bizarre twist, he is clutching a tarot card, the Ten of Swords, in his right hand. Initially, the police identify him as a wealthy investor and a cousin of the Duke of Norfolk. However, while investigating the murder, Reggie da Costa, The Argus’s celebrated crime reporter, uncovers a web of lies and deception surrounding Howard’s carefully constructed façade. It seems that Howard has engaged in swindling wealthy businessmen whilst blackmailing their wives, giving Reggie a host of suspects for the murder. Enlivened by what he discovers, Reggie embarks on a crusade to rid the city of confidence men and ‘snake oil’ salesmen, while tracking down a killer.
My Thoughts
It’s sometimes difficult to read a story that is part of a series when you haven’t read the earlier entries. Fortunately that is not an issue with this 4th entry in the Reggie da Costa series. The author does a great job of filling in any gaps where there’s reference to the earlier books, which are mostly things related to Reggie and his personal life. The mystery here is completely independent and can be read as a stand-alone.
And what a mystery it is! The plot is clever enough to keep you guessing, and is helped along by very competent writing. I found myself utterly relaxed and enjoying the witty dialog and pace of the story. As an older reader, I found myself frustrated and sympathetic to Reggie’s mother and her relationship with Ruby, Reggie’s love interest, but thoroughly appreciated the outcome of their sparring. Both Ruby and Reggie show remarkable aptitude for reading people and deducting. In the end, the bad guys are caught and the heroes celebrated.
I enjoyed this enough that I will seek out the author’s earlier entries in this series. Recommended!
Publication Date: July 2, 2024 Published By: Level Best Books Thanks to Book Sirens for the review copy
I am a series reader. I find an author and set of characters that appeal to me and I keep going back for more. Turns out, many of my friends and family are also series readers and they had plenty of recommendations for your summer reading!
From Me…
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear – Follow the adventures of Maisie who grows from a teenage maid to an adult detective through this fabulous historical series set in the first half of the 20th century. Winspear has just published the final entry in the series, which you can read about here. Start with the very first book, Maisie Dobbs, and progress through the rest. Just as good in audio form as print.
James Rollins is the complete opposite of the previous author! He specializes in pulse-pounding adventure featuring the Sigma Force, a super-secret and multi-talented government agency whose job is to keep the world from imploding. Rollins has written multiple books in the series that all revolve around an intricate, well-researched piece of history. My favorite in the series is The Last Odyssey which features plenty of the monsters from the Greek myths I love. Start with the first in the series, Sandstorm, and go from there, although I started with #2 in the series, Map of Bones and was totally hooked. If you’re already a Rollins fan, there’s a new Sigma Force novel out this summer – Arkangel. You’re welcome!
Kate Mosse is the author of some very chunky books! However, those books will keep you up late turning page after page. My favorite is Sepulchre but her other work is just as fascinating. Meticulous historical fiction, mostly set in France. Reading her work is a commitment well worth your time.
Erin Hart is the author of what I call the “bog mysteries.” I found Hart’s work as I was randomly researching the topic after seeing a news story about an ancient body discovered in an Irish peat bog. Hart’s bog series features two recurring characters – pathologist Nora Gavin and Irish archaeologist Cormac McGuire. Start with the first in the series, Haunted Ground.
Katherine Arden is the author of one of my all-time favorite high fantasy trilogies – The Winternight Trilogy. Start with the first, The Bear and the Nightingale and immerse yourself in Slavic folklore and magic. This is an absolute stunner of a series!
From Cynthia Dana…
Record Shop Mysteries by Olivia Blacke is a fun series featuring three sisters who take over the operations of a family record shop and cafe in their small Texas hometown. They serve up delicious coffee, spin some hot tracks, and solve murders in their spare time. There are three entries in the series – easily readable during the summer months!
From Allison McDonald Fredericks
Scot Horvath series by Brad Thor is a thrilling, fast-paced action-adventure series in which the main character, Scot Horvath, protects the United States and its people at all costs. For fans of James Rollins, Steve Berry, and Clive Cussler.
Keeper of Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger is a captivating series for kids who are into fantasy. The main character is 12-year-old Sophie Foster who discovers she’s a telepath. The series follows Sophie’s adventures and includes plenty of action-packed mysteries and challenges.
Tristan Strong trilogy by Kwame Mbilia is part of the Rick Riordan presents series which features fascinating characters and world lore. In this case, Mbilia explores the world of African American folklore and West African gods with his engaging character, 7th grader Tristan Strong. Check out other entries in the Rick Riordan presents series.
From Beth Nash…
Ruth Ware is one of the best authors of psychological suspense fiction working today. She has a new one coming out this summer – One Perfect Couple – but there are plenty of others to dip into. Check out her catalog of work on her website.
Looking for a lighter mystery ion the cozy vein? Try Amy Van Sant’s books which include the Pineapple Port mysteries, the Shee McQueen series, and many others.
Louise Penney’s Inspector Gamache mystery series is a long-running, beloved set of suspenseful adventures set in Quebec. If you haven’t read these novels, start this summer and stay occupied for the rest of the year!
Here’s one more series for the mystery & suspense readers out there: The Cold Case series by Lissa Marie Redmond follows cold case detective Lauren Riley through many fascinating investigations.
As New York Times bestseller Ann Cleeves’s beloved Vera series explodes in popularity in print and on TV, this stunning eleventh book explores the web of secrets surrounding a young man’s death.
The man’s body is found in the early morning light by a local dog walker in the park outside Rosebank, a home for troubled teens in the coastal village of Longwater. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who was due to work the previous night but never showed up.
DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate the death, with her only clue being the disappearance of one of the home’s residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spence. Vera can’t bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can’t dismiss the possibility.
Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie Bell, are soon embroiled in the case, and when a second connected body is found near the Three Dark Wives monument in the wilds of the Northumberland countryside, superstition and folklore begin to collide with fact. Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, and the dark secrets in their community that may be far more dangerous than she could have ever believed possible.
My Thoughts
When an author gets to a certain number of titles in a series, the stories often get stale and the character development stalls. Not so with the latest entry in Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series. Here we find Vera and the team trying to recover from the horrific ending of the previous book, with Vera thinking more about her future and the people in it.
In past stories, Vera is often portrayed as a hard, unyielding, no-nonsense detective who can turn empathy and sympathy on and off when needed. In Dark Wives, we see a softer side of Vera as she encounters a murder outside a carehome for teens and gets an insight into that world.
As usual, the mystery is well paced and well-developed, with great characters, narrative, and dialog. Cleeves truly is one of the best writers of her generation. We see a softer, humbled Vera here who is grappling with grief she never expected, and that underlayment to the story drives everything forward to a very satisfying end.
Well done.
Publication Date: August 27, 2024 Published By: St. Martin’s Press Minotaur Books Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
Violence finds its way to old Hollywood in the eleventh Josephine Tey mystery, perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Jacqueline Winspear.
September 1939, and the worries of war follow Josephine Tey to Hollywood, where a different sort of battle is raging on the set of Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
Then a shocking act of violence reawakens the shadows of the past, with consequences on both sides of the Atlantic, and Josephine and DCI Archie Penrose find themselves on a trail leading back to the house that inspired a young Daphne du Maurier – a trail that echoes Rebecca‘s timeless themes of obsession, jealousy, and murder.
My Thoughts
Upson’s Josephine Tey series has been hit or miss for me over the years, but I picked this one up because it focuses on one of my favorites fictional tales, Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier.
I was not disappointed.
The action here follows two separate but connected storylines – one in England with detective Archie Penrose and one in America with Josephine. Both stories feature Upson’s trademark clever plotting and witty dialog, although I was more engaged by the story in America on the set of Alfred Hitchcock’s film.
Upson does a good job of keeping the action moving despite a very large cast of characters, and she neatly ties up loose ends with some eyebrow raising twists in the last couple of chapters.
Having read a few of this series already, I was familiar with some of the characters, and that definitely helped me follow the plot. If you haven’t read this series before, I suggest you not start here but go to the library and start at the beginning.
Publication Date: November 7, 2023 Published By: Penguin Random House Thanks to the Rochester Public Library for the book
“Sherlock Holmes has lost his dog? We have bigger crimes to solve. Go find him yourself!” That’s what the Los Angeles Police Department told Basil Rathbone. The City Pound ridiculed him as well.
Asta, the dog from the popular Thin Man series, has also vanished, and production for his next film is pending. MGM Studios offers a huge reward, and that’s exactly what young private detectives Babs Norman and Guy Brandt need for their struggling business to survive. Celebrity dognapping now a growing trend, Basil also hires them to find his missing Cocker Spaniel.
The three concoct a plan for Basil to assume his on-screen persona and round up possible suspects, including Myrna Loy and William Powell; Dashiell Hammett, creator of The Thin Man; Nigel Bruce, Basil’s on-screen Doctor Watson; Hollywood-newcomer, German philanthropist and film financier Countess Velma von Rache, and the top animal trainers in Tinseltown. Yet everyone will be in for a shock when the real reason behind the canine disappearances is even more sinister than imagined.
Jump into Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles, Book One of the Babs Norman Golden Age of Hollywood Mystery series, Finalist in the Killer Nashville Claymore Awards for Comedy and First Prize winner in the Chanticleer Review’s Mark Twain Awards for Comedy and Satire.
Get ready for its sequel, Bye, Bye, Blackbird, featuring Humphrey Bogart and the cast of The Maltese Falcon.
My Thoughts
If the madcap detective films of the 1930s had a bookish sister, it would be this book. Crowens dives deeply into the Hollywood that produced those iconic films starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Nigel Bruce, and Basil Rathbone and overlays them with a clever, sassy mystery featuring as snarky a detective as I’ve ever encountered.
Crowens writes with abandon, deliciously describing the naughty and often hilarious goings-on behind the scenes in Tinseltown. I was reminded of one of my all-time favorite series of books by George Baxt which feature mysteries surrounding Hollywood royalty. Those are mostly out of print and hard to come by, so I am happy to see a 21st century author plumbing the depths of Old Hollywood for some fun mysteries.
This is a quick read that will appeal to fans of cozy and historical mystery stories.
Book Details: Genre: Golden Age of Hollywood Humorous Mystery Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: March 2024 Number of Pages: 299 Series: A Babs Norman Hollywood Mystery, Book 1 Book Links:Amazon | Goodreads
Elizabeth Crowens has worn many hats in the entertainment industry and has a popular Caption Contest on Facebook. She has three award-winning alternate history novels. Awards include 2020 Leo B. Burstein Scholarship from the MWA-NY Chapter, New York Foundation of the Arts grant, an Eric Hoffer Award, Honorable Mention in the Glimmer Train Awards, and two grand prize and five first prize Chanticleer Awards, including Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles, the first in her Babs Norman Hollywood series, which is also a Killer Nashville Claymore Awards finalist and part of her three-book publishing deal with Level Best Books
The world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot—legendary star of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile—puts his little grey cells to work solving a baffling Christmas mystery.
It’s December 19, 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are looking forward to a much-needed, restful Christmas holiday, when they are called upon to investigate the murder of a man in a Norfolk hospital ward. Cynthia Catchpool, Edward’s mother, insists that Poirot stay with her in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while he solves the case.
As Poirot digs into the mystery, he discovers that the murdered man was a retired post office master, and by all accounts very well-liked. The local constabulary’s investigation failed to uncover how someone could have entered a hospital room and killed him under the noses of the staff. Cynthia’s friend Arnold is soon to be admitted to that same hospital, and his wife is convinced he will be the killer’s next victim, though she refuses to explain why.
With no obvious motive or suspect, Poirot has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders, if he is to escape from this nightmare scenario and get home in time for Christmas. Meanwhile, someone else—someone utterly ruthless—also has ideas about what ought to happen to Hercule Poirot…
My Thoughts
I’ve been hit or miss with the Sophie Hannah Poirot/Catchpool series. I enjoy Hannah’s writing but I have found past entries in the series to be a bit muddled with convoluted plots and way too many characters. They’ve all been salvaged by Hannah’s brilliant writing, though.
While I found a bit of both in this newest, there was something about this story that kept me reading. I have come to appreciate the relationship between Poirot and Catchpool, and in this instance, Catchpool’s overbearing mother adds an interesting and maddening wrinkle.
The end result is that this twisty mystery takes some careful reading to keep everything straight, but it’s worth it. Fans of the series will enjoy it and I will be recommending it to mystery fans.
Publication Date: October 24, 2023 Published By: William Morrow Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
The Lilac. The bard songs say that she’s the world’s most fearsome bounty hunter. That there’s no criminal she can’t catch, no mystery she can’t solve.
None of that is true. Yet.
In reality, the Lilac is just a kid, and the bard who wrote all that is her best friend, Dulcinetta. But the Lilac has set her goals on becoming the best bounty hunter in the Thirteen Kingdoms—and when a priceless artifact goes missing from the home of famed monster hunter Baron Angbar, the Lilac and Netta are eager to apprehend the thief and make a name for themselves.
But when their investigation brings them to a dinner party at Castle Angbar, and they meet the Angbar family and their servants and guests—an unsavory group of nobles, mages, and assorted creatures, each more shady than the last—the Lilac begins to wonder if the reward is worth the trouble.
And that’s before the dead body is discovered.
Now everyone is magically sealed inside the castle—and there is a murderer among them. If the Lilac wants to make it out with her reputation intact, it’s going to be up to her to figure out who the killer is. But everyone in the castle—even the Lilac herself—has secrets to hide, and as the walls literally start to close in around them, the Lilac worries that her first job as a bounty hunter may be her last. . . .
My Thoughts
A bounty hunter called The Lilac who also happens to be a witty, clever, capable detective? Yes please!
Lila and Dulcinetta are a set of tag team adventurers who find themselves smack in the middle of a locked-room murder mystery. They manage to outsmart the bad guys, solve the mystery, and save the day while barely breaking a sweat.
While the characters are familiar from earlier Healy books, this one can stand on its own. The writing is irreverent and somewhat silly at times and could certainly be a gateway to Terry Pratchett’s work for young readers.
Published By: Harper Collins Childrens Books; Golden Pond Books Publication Date: August 15, 2023 Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
Death strikes England’s foremost novelist Charles Dickens, his latest tale only half told. Was he murdered because someone feared a ruinous revelation? Or was it revenge for some past misdeed? Set in the Kent countryside and London slums of 1870, Lyn Squire’s “Immortalised to Death” (Level Best Books, September 26th, 2023) reveals the ending to Charles Dickens’s unfinished “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” while diving deep into Dickens’ evolving and ultimately tragic double life.
Debut author Lyn Squire kicks off his electrifying Dunston Burnett Trilogy with legendary Victorian novelist Charles Dickens dead at his desk, pen still in hand. The mystery unravels as Dickens’ nephew and unlikely detective Dunston Burnett, tries to find the solution of his uncles’ unfinished novel. Convinced that the identity of Dickens’ murderer lies in the book’s missing conclusion, Dunston becomes obsessed with investigating those closest to Dickens. A stunning revelation crowns this tale about the mysterious death of England’s foremost novelist, and the long-held secret hidden in his half-finished manuscript.
The deft plotting will remind readers of Agatha Christie and the evocative prose will have them questioning which parts of the book are fiction and nonfiction. Squire seamlessly reimagines Dickens’ untimely death and final unfinished story while tying it neatly into a thrilling whodunnit. Is Dunston Burnett, a diffident, middle-aged, retired bookkeeper, able to crack the case of his uncle’s murder, or does he only find buried secrets in his brilliant continuation to Dickens’ novel?
My Thoughts
One of my favorite forms of the mystery novel are those that feature familiar characters from history or from other novels. In this case, it is the murder of Charles Dickens that kicks off one of the most unexpected and inventive mysteries I’ve read recently.
Squire’s introduction of Dunston Burnett as the family member turned accidental detective sets off as twisty a mystery as a reader could wish for, peppered with witty dialog, just-right narrative description, and an eyebrow-raising ending.
Immortalised to Death is an auspicious debut and left me looking forward to the next entry in the Dunston Burnett series. I’ll be recommending this novel and author to fans of historical mysteries.
Publication Date: September 26, 2023 Published By: Level Best Books Thanks to the author for the review copy
About the Author
LYN SQUIRE was born in Cardiff, South Wales. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wales, his master’s at the London School of Economics and his doctorate at Cambridge University.
Lyn is now an American citizen living in Virginia. During a twenty-five year career at the World Bank, Lyn published over thirty articles and several books within his area of expertise. Lyn also served as editor of the Middle East Development Journal for over a decade, and was the founding president of the Global Development Network, an organization dedicated to supporting promising scholars from the developing world.
Lyn has always been an avid reader of whodunits and has reviewed scores of mysteries for the City Book Review (Sacramento, CA), but it was the thrill of solving Charles Dickens’ unfinished ‘Mystery of Edwin Drood’ that convinced him to put aside his development pen and turn to fiction. Finding a solution to the mystery has attracted massive interest since the author’s death in 1870. A 1998 bibliography lists over 2,000 entries, with continuations ranging from the obvious (a Sherlock Holmes pastiche) to the absurd (The Mysterious Mystery of Rude Dedwin). Lyn’s version of what happened to Edwin is revealed in his first novel, Immortalised to Death. The adventures of his protagonist, Dunston Burnett, a non-conventional amateur detective, continue in Fatally Inferior and The Séance of Murder, the second and third stories in The Dunston Burnett Trilogy.
Ann Cleeves—New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows—returns with The Raging Storm, the extraordinary third installment in the Matthew Venn series.
Fierce winds, dark secrets, deadly intentions.
When Jem Rosco—sailor, adventurer, and legend—blows into town in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone, Devon, are delighted to have a celebrity in their midst. But just as abruptly as he arrived, Rosco disappears again, and soon his lifeless body is discovered in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.
This is an uncomfortable case for Detective Inspector Matthew Venn. Greystone is a place he visited as a child, a community he parted ways with. Superstition and rumor mix with fact as another body is found, and Venn finds his judgment clouded.
As the winds howl, and Venn and his team investigate, he realizes that no one, including himself, is safe from Scully Cove’s storm of dark secrets.
My Thoughts
Cleeves just keeps getting better with every story she writes. This new entry in the Matthew Venn series reveals a bit more information about Matthew’s upbringing in The Brethren, but really focuses on long simmering feuds, wrongs done in the past and the long, long memories of people in a small, isolated town.
The atmosphere here is one of the darkest I recall from a Cleeves book (although there are a couple in the Shetland series that get pretty dark), with the setting in a small Devon coastal village everyone describes as “bleak.” Cleeves excels at writing descriptive narrative so lush you can feel the rain on your face and the wind in your hair, and she certainly delivers that kind of experience here.
True to form, the characters here are memorable, from the charismatic Jem to devoted mother Mary, her protective father Alan, and the ultra-manipulative woman who fools them all.
This can be read as a stand-alone, but it will make you want to go back and read the others in the Venn series. While a well-constructed mystery in Cleeves’ incomparable style, be prepared for feeling less than cheerful while reading.
“A friend of mine once joked that the work of Ann Cleeves is the closest the crime fiction genre comes to evoking ASMR—the euphoric, pleasant, spine-tingling sensation that’s all the rage on YouTube.” —The New York Times
Publication Date: September 5, 2023 Published By: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
It's All About the Book 