Tag: Mystery

Action Adventure, British, Historical, Mystery

The Grand Illusion by Syd Moore

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Publisher Description

Historical fiction inspired by the War Office response to the Nazi obsession with the occult

Step forward Daphne Devine – you are about to change the course of the war 

June 1940. As World War Two rages, Daphne Devine remains in London, performing each night as assistant to stage magician Jonty Trevelyan, aka the Grand Mystique.

Then the secret service call.

For, aware of Hitler’s belief in the occult, the war office has set up a hidden cohort to exploit this quirk in the enemy’s chain of command.

Daphne and Jonty find themselves far from the glitz and glamour of the theatre, deep inside the lower levels of Wormwood Scrubs prison. Here, they join secret ranks of occultists, surrealists, and other eccentrics co-opted to the war effort. There is one goal: to avert invasion on British shores.

Soon Daphne realises she must risk everything if there is any chance of saving her country.

My Thoughts

I first read Syd Moore’s Essex Witch Museum series a few years ago, then she dropped off my reading radar…until I came across this beauty buried in my Goodreads Want to Read list. I am very happy I found her again!

Grand Illusion is a whopper of an adventure, complete with likable (and unlikable) characters, suspense, action, a nail-biting climax, and promise of more to come.

This explores the little-known use of illusion in WWII – where the Allies used illusory effects to fool the Axis into thinking they had bigger, better & more people and equipment. Here, Moore uses Daphne and her mentor/employer Jonty to develop all sorts of illusions to trick the enemy. There’s a wonderful scene where a senior official believes he is under attack by the enemy, only to discover it’s all smoke and mirrors.

Moore also touches on the incarceration and deportation of thousands of Germans and Italians in Britain during the war. This is the first I’ve read about that and will be seeking out more information (always the sign of a good book!)

Moore is a clever, engaging writer who consistently produces quirky and imaginative mysteries that depart from the well-worn tropes used by many authors. Check out all her work, including Grand Illusion.

Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Published By: Magpie Books, Simon & Schuster
Thanks to the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County for the book

Arts & Crafts, Cozy, Family, Mystery

One Sharp Stitch by Allie Pleiter

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Publisher Description

When thirty-something Shelby Phillips returns to her quiet hometown just outside of Asheville, North Carolina, she reluctantly takes over her mother’s Nimble Needle needlepoint shop—and gets entangled in a murder investigation . . .

It’s only temporary. That’s what Shelby Phillips tells herself when she returns to excruciatingly harmless Gwen Lake after her graphic arts career—and the office romance blooming with it—get tossed like rejected design mockups. Her plan is as simple and fool-proof as a tent stitch: manage the family needlepoint shop during her parents’ RV vacation. It’s just a month. It’s not as if they’re retiring . . . right?

When Shelby becomes responsible for hosting a trunk show with local vendors, she’s determined to pull it off. Even if that means dealing with former classmate Kat Katsaros, a rising entrepreneur specializing in needlework scissors. Kat has changed since high school—and she’s angling to take over the Nimble Needle herself. The tension unspools when Shelby makes a terrible discovery on the morning of the event: Kat’s dead body.

Shelby can’t believe the death was an accident. That’s why she’s set on exposing who committed the murder with Kat’s own equipment. She finds help in a new friend, a potential crush, and the surprising support of her sister and the Nimble Needle stitchers. Still, Shelby must move quickly to stop the crafty culprit before her maybe not-so-temporary new life in Gwen Lake comes apart at the seams . . .

My Thoughts

Cozy mysteries are evolving! Typically, a cozy mystery features a quirky yet intelligent young woman located in an idyllic small town living their dream of running a book shop, a candy shop, a bakery, etc. The writing swings wildly between really bad and really good and the mysteries are not especially complicated. Think Nancy Drew all grown up.

Here, though, we have an example of a new trend I’m seeing in cozy mysteries – characters and settings that are a little more believable and relatable. Even though the reader must admit that the premise of a cozy mystery is always going to be, at its heart, unrealistic (dead bodies don’t just turn up in small towns), this one features characters that are a bit more real.

The mystery is also well-crafted and developed, although the identity of the killer is cleverly suggested at different times. The needlework aspect will appeal to crafters and does lend a nice subplot to the overall story. The author is skilled at their craft, for sure. I look forward to more from Allie Pleiter.

This was a pleasant afternoon read and will be popular for summer reading.

Publication Date: March 25, 2025
Published by Penguin Random House
Thanks to the Greece Public Library for the book

Action Adventure, Book Tour, Detective, Mystery, Partners In Crime

After Pearl by Stephen G. Eoannou

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

April 14 – May 9 Virtual Book Tour
A Nicholas Bishop Mystery

Description

1942. War rages in Europe. Pearl Harbor still smolders. And alcoholic private eye Nicholas Bishop wakes up on a hotel room floor with two slugs missing from his .38 revolver. The cops think he’s murdered lounge singer Pearl DuGaye, mobsters think he saw something he shouldn’t have, and Bishop remembers nothing…

Together with his indomitable assistant Gia Alessi, who he may or may not have fired, a WWI vet who often flashes back to 1918, and a one-eyed female dog named Jake, Bishop tries to piece together the events that took place during his disastrous five-day bender. Along the way, he stumbles across a dirty politician, a socialite and her unfaithful husband, and a cabal of American Nazis who are undoubtedly up to no good.

Written in the spirit of classic noir, Eoannou adds his own unique voice and flair to the genre in this, the first action-packed outing of the Nicholas Bishop Mysteries.

My Thoughts

Fans of traditional noir crime fiction will thoroughly enjoy this first in a series featuring PI Nick Bishop. Eoannou delivers a clever mystery filled with witty and gritty dialog, colorful characters, and an on-the-money plot that will have you guessing right up to the end.

I especially enjoyed the Buffalo setting, although I am not a Buffalo native. I live about 60 miles to the east of B’lo but spend enough time there to recognize many of the descriptive details Eoannou includes in the narrative.

There seems to be a resurgence of crime fiction set in between the wars or just after WWII. Much of what I’ve read has had a bit of a madcap theme with very quirky characters, both human and animal. Eoannou, however, fully embraces the Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross McDonald school of detective fiction and I LIKE IT!

Grab this one from your library or buy a copy and settle in for some entertaining reading.

Book Details

Genre: Historical Noir
Published by: Santa Fe Writers Project
Publication Date: May 1, 2025
Number of Pages: 260
ISBN: 9781951631475 (ISBN10: 1951631471)
Series: A Nicholas Bishop Mystery, Book 1

Shortlinks

Author’s Links:
Website – https://pictbooks.tours/FSfgN
Goodreads – https://pictbooks.tours/vuHGE
BookBub – https://pictbooks.tours/DOYFg    @seoannou
Twitter – https://pictbooks.tours/0ZUxp    @StephenGEoannou
Facebook – https://pictbooks.tours/VRrsD    @steve.eoannou
Amazon Author – https://pictbooks.tours/dH0fI
YouTube – https://pictbooks.tours/5jXv1    @stepheneoannou341

Retail Links:
Amazon – https://pictbooks.tours/GnUqG
BN – https://pictbooks.tours/SKzFi
Goodreads – https://pictbooks.tours/g8j2t
BookShop.org – https://pictbooks.tours/4HrBP
Talking Leaves – https://pictbooks.tours/PsJ9n

PICT Tour Page – https://pictbooks.tours/M6bi1

Author Bio:

Stephen G. Eoannou is the author of the award-winning short story collection Muscle Cars and the novels Rook, Yesteryear, and After Pearl. He holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and an MA from Miami University. He has been awarded an Honor Certificate from The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Best Short Screenplay Award at the 36th Denver Film Festival. His latest novel, Yesteryear, was awarded the 2021 International Eyelands Award for Best Historical Novel, The Firebird Book Award for Biographical Fiction, and Shelf Unbound’s Notable Indy Books of 2023. He lives and writes in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, the setting and inspiration for much of his work.

Action Adventure, British, Fantasy, Magical, Mystery, paranormal

Piety’s Fury by Sam Ragnarsson

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

A missing girl. A town full of secrets. A past that won’t stay buried.

Some families keep dark secrets. Some families *are* dark secrets.

When a young girl vanishes in rural Northern Ireland, Piety, a newly appointed Queen’s agent, must return to the same orphanage she grew up in to investigate.

Lissy isn’t just any child. She has magic in her blood, a power she doesn’t understand and can’t control. It’s been driving her father to madness. It may even have killed her mother.

As Piety digs deeper, she finds more than a missing girl. A dangerous artefact, steeped in ancient power, was left in Lissy’s bedroom. A warning, a weapon, or perhaps something worse. And Lissy isn’t the first girl to disappear.

The trail leads to a quiet family farm where generations of women protect a dark secret. They all share the same magical gift, and the same tragic history; taken in by their new mother, after their real parents mysteriously died. And now that mother has her eyes set on Lissy.

To uncover the final, terrifying truth hidden in Templepatrick, Piety must untangle decades of disappearances—and confront a past that wants to stay buried.

A chilling and atmospheric urban fantasy set in 1960s Northern Ireland, Piety’s Fury is a tale of magic, mystery, and the cost of uncovering the truth.

My Thoughts

What a wild story! I haven’t read such an un-put-downable adventure in ages, and am now mourning the end because I WANT MORE!

The second in the Agents by Royal Appointment series, Ragnarsson has written one of the best fantasy/adventure stories of the year. The characters leap off the pages with smart-ass dialog and heart-stopping action centered on Lissy, a young girl who is just learning about her gift of magic. The concept here is one I’ve not read often – a family of magical beings keeping their line going by “adopting” children gifted with magic. I suppose it’s a bit similar to Mother Malkin’s “family” in Joseph Delaney’s Last Apprentice series, but this story is just so well-developed it seems wholly original.

The action never stops, and Piety and Fitz are two of the most engaging lead characters out there. As I read, I kept imagining this as a movie or TV series. It would be fantastic!

Fans of witty, fast-paced, action-packed fantasy will slurp this one up.

Highly recommended.

Publication Date: April 20, 2025
Thanks to Book Sirens for the review copy

Author Spotlight, British, Detective, Mystery

Author Spotlight – Peter Lovesey

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

I’ve never read any of Peter Lovesey’s books, but I was nonetheless saddened to read of his death on April 10. Shelf Awareness ran a short piece on his career and I learned a whole lot of things about this prolific writer whose books I clearly remember shelving way back when I was a library page.

Did you know that Lovesey is credited as the first to successfully set a detective series in the past? His series featuring the Victorian detective Sergeant Cribb explored gritty crime in settings such as music halls and underground boxing rings. Cribb’s adventures were made into a popular television series in the late 1970s, which I now must try and track down (hoping I might find an old DVD in a library somewhere!)

Lovesey went on to write a popular contemporary series featuring hard-as-nails detective Peter Diamond. This is the series I am now reading! There are dozens of Diamond stories out there, and I am determined to read each one.

Lovesey concluded the Diamond series with his last publication, Against the Grain, in 2024.

Lovesey concludes his long-running series featuring Bath detective Peter Damond with a bang, delivering an ingenious fair-play whodunit set in the small English village of Baskerville as the annual harvest festival approaches . . . Lovesey derives genuine emotion from Diamond’s potential retirement, and his golden age-style plotting is as tight as ever. This sends the series out on a high note. Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Lovesey was also apparently a stand-up human being, acknowledged by friends and colleagues as someone who led a really good life. He won multiple awards for his work, and I suspect inspired many crime fiction writers of the last few decades.

Now that I’m retired from work as a library director, I am making much more time to read and catching up with a lot of authors I’ve neglected over the years. Lovesey is one of them.

If you want to know more about Peter Lovesey, read the Shelf Awareness article and check out his website.

Cozy, Mystery

Written in Stone by Paige Shelton

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Netgalley Description

When Delaney Nichols wins a special Hidden Door Festival invitation to artist Ryory Bennigan’s studio, she isn’t sure quite what to expect. What she finds is an elusive fellow obsessed with the Picts—complete with his own versions of their blue tattoos and vibrant red hair—recreating the stones they left behind. She also meets a visiting paleontologist, Dr. Adam Pace, from the University of Kansas attempting to sell an artifact that might just explain what the Picts’ language really sounded like.

Or at least that’s what he claimed the artifact was for. Before the deal can close and Ryory can get a closer look at it, Dr. Pace is found dead.

With the police dragging their feet in the investigation, Delaney takes it upon herself to dig into Dr. Pace’s past. Her research goes murky as she quickly discovers Pace’s shady background—selling fake dinosaur bones and running into some 3D-printing trouble back in Kansas. Could his past have come back to bite him in Edinburgh? And what does his questionable background mean for the mysterious Pictish artifact he was trying to sell to Ryory? Delaney will have to dust off her magnifying glass to uncover the truth behind this case… or risk becoming a pile of bones herself.

My Thoughts

Paige Shelton is one of my go-to cozy mystery authors, and her Scottish Bookshop series is a favorite. This latest entry in that series is another winner.

One of the things I love about this series is that Shelton makes every story a mini-lesson in history. For instance, past books have included plots involving Mary, Queen of Scots and famous swords. Here, we learn about the Picts, perhaps the most mysterious of the Celtic peoples. It’s not a deep dive into history, but enough to make me want to know more. Add that to inventive plots and colorful characters and you have a very successful story.

While this can be read out of order, if you’re new to the series I recommend you start at the beginning and savor each one.

Publication Date: April 1, 2025
Published By: St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

British, Detective, Mystery, Suspense

Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

From the internationally award-winning creator of Broadchurch comes a brilliant new detective story following one man’s death and the secrets that unravel in a coastal English village

Nothing keeps a village together like secrets.

The villagers of Fleetcombe like to think of it as one of the most picturesque spots on England’s coast.

But now, it’s a disturbingly macabre crime scene.

A man is found dead, tied to a chair in the middle of the road, a stag’s antlers on his head. The gruesome scene stuns the town, especially when the victim is identified: Jim Tiernan, who ran the White Hart pub.  Tierney’s pub is at the center of village life and he knew everyone’s secrets.

Detective Nicola Bridge grew up in Fleetcombe and has now returned, for the good of her family, from a life away in Liverpool. DC Harry Ward is ten years younger and, despite his newcomer status, determined to earn Nicola’s trust.  Because they don’t have long to crack the storybook façade and find out just what the people of Fleetcombe have to hide.

And now, in the place she thought she knew so well, Detective Nicola Bridge is asking questions. Is she ready for what she’s about to find?

My Thoughts

After the phenomenal Broadchurch, this author had some high expectations to meet with new work. Those expectations were exceeded for this reader!

You’re gripped from the first chapter, as an utterly gruesome and very weird murder unfolds in an idyllic English village. The detective in charge of the investigation is flawed but brilliant, her protegee by turns charming and reluctant, and the village full of quirky folks, including a tough but vulnerable child who is key to the whole mystery. I was reminded of Martha Grimes’ Emily Louise Perk, one of my all-time favorite child characters.

The action moves at a fast pace, with chapters and sections just the right length to keep the reader engaged. Chibnall has mastered the craft of suspense, building tension with every sentence, leading up to the startling conclusion.

Fans of Anne Cleeves and Val McDermid will thoroughly enjoy this one.

“Fans of Broadchurch are going to LOVE Death at the White Hart! With its compelling pair of detectives and tense, creepy atmosphere, once you start reading, I defy you to stop.” —Shari Lapena

Publication Date: June 10, 2025
Published By: Penguin Group VIKING PENGUIN, Pamela Dorman Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

British, Cozy, Family, Ghosties, Mystery

Bodies & Battlements by Elizabeth Penney

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Publisher Description

The first in a new cozy mystery series by Elizabeth Penney investigates a suspicious murder in a haunted British castle-turned-bed and breakfast.

Herbalist Nora Asquith is delighted to welcome Ravensea Castle’s first guests to the picturesque village of Monkwell, Yorkshire. After a thousand years of ownership, her family has decided to convert the castle into a bed and breakfast. But when Hilda Dibble, a self-appointed local luminary, is found dead in the knot garden the next morning, Nora’s business is not only at risk—she’s a prime suspect.

Hilda had opposed the hotel plan every step of the way, and although she didn’t succeed in stopping the venture, her disagreements with Nora seem to only further her motive. One of Ravensea’s guests happens to be Detective Inspector Finlay Cole, who is new to the area and now finds himself with a murder case in his lap.

Nora and her actress sister Tamsyn decide to investigate for themselves. They look into the entangled dealings of their newly arrived guests, while also getting hints from Sir Percival, one of the castle ghosts. As they learn, Sir Percival’s tragic death centuries ago sheds light on present-day crimes. Surely they can get to the bottom of this mystery while keeping their new business afloat . . .

My Thoughts

Elizabeth Penney is hands-down one of my favorite cozy mystery authors. She has a couple series out there and starts a new one with this delightful mystery set in an ancient castle on the English Yorkshire coast. Our protagonist is the usual plucky heroine/business owner intent on running a successful venture – here it’s a family castle turned B&B. We have the faithful family retainers, the somewhat eccentric parent, the requisite adorable pets and family ghosts, the hunky policeman, and a smattering of family & friends to round out an appealing cast of characters.

The mystery blends a new murder with a fatal accident from the past, and the author deftly introduces all sorts of red herrings and complications until she winds everything up with a confrontation in an old smuggler’s cave. The setting in the old castle, complete with extensive gardens and grounds, is captivating and lends interest to the murder mysteries. The author does a great job of setting up events for future entries in the series, which I will eagerly await.

Recommended for cozy mystery fans.

Publication Date: May 27, 2025
Published By: St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Historical, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Short Stories

Deeds of Darkness by William Burton McCormick

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

DEEDS OF DARKNESS is the best short fiction produced by award-winning author William Burton McCormick. A collection of twenty-four globetrotting stories of suspense, mystery, crime, espionage, horror, and historical genres from the pages of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Mystery Magazine, and elsewhere.

This collection includes short stories nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Shamus Award, Thriller Award, five Derringer Award-nominated stories, and two unabridged novellas, “Demon in the Depths,” which finished second in the Ellery Queen’s Readers’ Poll for 2021, and “House of Tigers,” named to the Honor Roll for both the Black Orchid Novel Award and the Mysterious Bookshop’s Best Mystery Stories of 2023.

DEEDS OF DARKNESS takes readers from war-torn Eastern Europe to gangster America and deep below the frozen seas of the Arctic Ocean. From modern tales of crime to World War II espionage to ghost stories in shadowy Odessa and murder in Ancient Rome, every flavor of suspense and adventure awaits within. With a foreword by Linda Landrigan, Editor-In-Chief of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.

My Thoughts

It’s been awhile since I so throughly enjoyed a collection of short stories as I did this one. Each story is a polished jewel of suspense or horror that explores the darkest areas of the human psyche. Some I’d read before but stories like Locked In and Kutsenko’s Cage impart the same sense of dread and horror every single time you read them.

Many stories take place in Latvia or other parts of eastern Europe, some in ancient Rome, and still others in various colorful locations. The stories also have an incredible range and varying lengths, both of which add considerable interest and readability to this collection. The author provides some sly commentary on things as wide-ranging as plagiarism in The House in Glamaig’s Shadow to beauty practices in Cleopatran Cocktails.

Every story brings something new, which is not often something you see in anthologies like this where many stories are pretty much the same. Not here. You’ll find a delightful if sometimes dark reading experience enhanced by the author’s beautiful command of his craft.

Highly recommended.

Publication Date: November 5, 2024
Published By: Level Short
Thanks to Book Sirens for the review copy

Book Tour, Detective, Historical, Mystery

Twist of Time by Gy Waldron

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Book Siren Description

A Templar secret, a brutal murder—can Detective Flynn unravel a deadly mystery before time runs out?

Detective Sgt. Kate Flynn of the Santa Barbara Police Department is called in to investigate a gruesome decapitation and homicide. Her first clue comes from a most unlikely source: an Anglican monk and Celtic studies expert.

Brother Thomas has been expecting the hand-delivery of a priceless diary of a fourteenth-century Templar Knight, but instead he finds the messenger has been murdered.

Kate and Thomas are pulled deep into a centuries-old mystery with roots in medieval Europe and branches that lead to government intelligence, the Vatican, and a top-secret private lab where untold powers were being alchemized that could alter the face of humanity forever.

It’s a race against evil to uncover a plot that could lead them to centuries-old treasure — or to their own demise at the hands of a deranged tech billionaire who has nothing to lose.

A fast-paced thriller by Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter, producer, and director Gy Waldron.

With parallel quests for the truth taking place centuries apart, and a touch of mysticism, readers will be taken on a suspenseful journey with one twist after another in Twist of Time, an electrifying novel of intrigue and history.

Readers of thrillers and novels of suspense by Dan Brown, Ken Follett, David Baldacci will savor every surprise in screenwriter Gy Waldron’s fiction debut.

My Thoughts

I went through a period a few years ago where I binge-read every bit of fiction I could find on the Templars. Some of it was really, really good and some not so great. Twist of Time is a really, really, really great addition to the subject.

I was captivated from the first page, even though the very first sentence was a bit startling! We begin with a present day murder that is immediately connected to the chaotic days in France when the Templars were hunted and executed by the French king. At the center of the chaos is a diary that holds many Templar secrets, including, possibly, the key to finding the fabled Templar treasure.

The author immediately begins building a web of complicated relationships between and among the characters – a tough homicide detective, a mysterious modern-day monk, and a number of other shady characters. I was particularly taken with the author’s cleverness in keeping me guessing about who was shady/bad and who was shady/good.

I also enjoyed the way Waldron wove together the mysterious Templar past with modern day science. I hope to read more stories like this from this author.

I will recommend this for fans of historical mysteries.

Publication Date: August 20, 2024
Published By: First Fruits Publishing
Thanks to Book Sirens for the review copy