Hi everyone, this month I’m going to change things up a bit from our usual format, and instead of recommending five new books, recommend the first books in seven different series, in five different genres: Romances, Mysteries, Historical Fiction, General Fiction & Science Fiction & Fantasy.
This week, our focus is on Mysteries! Enjoy!
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Here is the weekly genre schedule:
November 27: Romances
December 4: Mysteries
December 11: Historical Fiction
December 18: General Fiction
December 25: Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
Darren Matthews was born and raised in rural East Texas and is intimately acquainted with the racial tensions in its small towns. On suspension for an incident involving a friend who may have killed a man, the African American Texas Ranger is asked by an old FBI friend to look into the deaths of a black Chicago lawyer and a local white woman who were both found dead days apart in a bayou near Lark, TX. Once his boss learns of his new assignment, Mathews is reinstated and given authority to investigate. Locke, winner of the Harper Lee Prize for legal fiction (Pleasantville) and a writer and producer of the show Empire, has woven an atmospheric, convoluted mystery seasoned with racial tension and family loyalty. VERDICT Locke is a gifted author, and her intriguing and compelling crime novel will keep readers engrossed. – Library Journal Review
Series: Highway 59
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The Bookseller by Mark Pryor
Hugo Marston, a former FBI agent, works security at the U.S. embassy in Paris. He is enough of a maverick (he is from Texas, after all) to investigate when his friend Max, a bouquiniste (one of those famed booksellers along the Seine), is kidnapped. Dumbfounded by the police’s lackluster response, Hugo calls in Tom Green, his buddy from Quantico, now a retired CIA operative who’s bored out of his mind. Then there’s the lovely Claudia, a reporter who smells a good story and who just happens to be the daughter of a count. As the bodies of more missing booksellers are found floating in the Seine, Hugo finally gets a police detective on his side. The chase is on!
VERDICT Pryor’s steady and engrossing debut combines Sherlockian puzzle solving with Eric Ambler-like spy intrigue. With a cast of characters you want to know better and a storyline cloaked in World War II betrayals (think Nazi collaborators), the author winningly blends contemporary crime with historical topics. Pair with Cara Black’s Aimee Leduc series for both locale and tone. – Starred Library Journal Review
Series: Hugo Marston
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Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
The first installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno.
Meet Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, a policeman in a small village in the South of France. He’s a former soldier who has embraced the pleasures and slow rhythms of country life. He has a gun but never wears it; he has the power to arrest but never uses it. But then the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army changes all that. Now Bruno must balance his beloved routines—living in his restored shepherd’s cottage, shopping at the local market, drinking wine, strolling the countryside—with a politically delicate investigation. He’s paired with a young policewoman from Paris and the two suspect anti-immigrant militants. As they learn more about the dead man’s past, Bruno’s suspicions turn toward a more complex motive.
Series: Bruno, Chief of Police
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Deception on All Accounts by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe
It’s a pleasure to make the acquaintance of Sadie Walela, a banker in northeastern Oklahoma who is thrust into the role of amateur sleuth after a spate of branch robberies leaves several colleagues dead and her career in critical condition. Sadie, who was much closer to her Cherokee father, uncle, and grandmother than she was to her white mother, lives on her dad’s old spread with a gentle horse and a ferociously protective wolf-dog. No passive victim, Sadie displays admirable toughness as she copes with racist supervisors, rabid FBI agents, and an abusive ex-husband. The story’s most satisfying aspect is how Sadie’s essential decency keeps leading her toward the solution. Instead of developing a full set of investigative skills on the fly, she gets at the answers by helping a homeless man, befriending children, and leaving herself open to the possibility of love. Although the plot could use more thickening and the bad guy isn’t hard to spot, Hoklotubbe paints a believable picture of Indian-white relations in small-town America and crafts a series protagonist as savvy as she is sweet. – Booklist Review
Series: Sadie Walela Mysteries
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In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
In this debut novel, a riveting page-turner from start to finish, born-and-bred Virginian Clare Ferguson, newly ordained priest of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in the small upstate New York town of Millers Kill, is faced with not only an early December snowstorm and the bitter cold of her first Northern winter but also a conservative vestry, who apparently expended all their daring on hiring her, a female priest. When a baby is left on the church doorstep with a note designating that he be given to two of her parishioners, Clare calls in police chief Russ Van Alstyne. The foundling case quickly becomes an investigation into murder that will shatter the lives of members of her congregation, challenge her own feelings and faith and threaten her life. With her background as an army helicopter pilot, Clare is not a typical priest. Smart, courageous and tough, she is also caring, kindhearted and blessed with a refreshing personality. Likewise, the other characters are equally well developed and believable, except for the young pediatrician, who speaks more like a hip teenager than a professional. It is a cast readers will hope to meet again, while a fast-paced plot keeps the guess work going until the very end. Along the way, there is an exceptionally spine-chilling confrontation. The vivid setting descriptions will bring plenty of shivers, but the real strength of this stellar first is the focus on the mystery, which will delight traditional fans. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
Series: Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne
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Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Diaspora, myth and a fascinating language mashup propel the Rubik’s cube of plots in Ghosh’s picaresque epic of the voyage of the Ibis, a ship transporting Indian “girmitiyas” (coolies) to Mauritius in 1838. The first two-thirds of the book chronicles how the crew and the human cargo come to the vessel, now owned by rising opium merchant Benjamin Burnham. Mulatto second mate Zachary Reid, a 20-year-old of Lord Jim–like innocence, is passing for white and doesn’t realize his secret is known to the “gomusta” (overseer) of the coolies, Baboo Nob Kissin, an educated Falstaffian figure who believes Zachary is the key to realizing his lifelong mission. Among the human cargo, there are three fugitives in disguise, two on the run from a vengeful family and one hoping to escape from Benjamin. Also on board is a formerly high caste raj who was brought down by Benjamin and is now on his way to a penal colony. The cast is marvelous and the plot majestically serpentine, but the real hero is the English language, which has rarely felt so alive and vibrant. – Publishers Weekly Review
Series: Iblis Trilogy
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Vanishing Edge by Claire Kells
A new agent investigating an abandoned glampsite in Sequoia National Park confronts the elements and her own physical limitations as she searches for answers in Kells’ debut. Personal tragedy and a broken back have rerouted Felicity Harland from her FBI work to a career as a Special Agent with the Investigative Services Bureau, the government agency looking into crimes in national parks. Though Felicity had hoped to be assigned to Alaska, her first detail involves taking care of California’s nine parks. She feels let down when her first call seems barely worth following up on. Sequoia National Park Ranger Corrigan, annoyed at an abandoned campsite at Precipice Lake, suggests to Felicity that it might be something more. When she arrives, Felicity can’t tell whether the curmudgeonly Corrigan thinks there’s been an actual crime or just has it out for the camping–sorry, glamping–outfitter working to get Silicon Valley and Hollywood’s finest into the parks. A quick call to Glampist tells Felicity nothing–they’re more concerned about their prestige customers’ privacy than the law–but Felicity is certain she’ll be able to find the missing campers if only she can survey the site. But that’s a problem in itself, given that it’s 22 miles from the ranger station. Corrigan feels like he’s done his due diligence by alerting ISB and declines to make the trip with Felicity, but his best employee, Ferdinand “Hux” Huxley, is curious enough to get involved, and Felicity’s shepherd mix, Ollie, is excited for the adventure. Felicity relies on her ad hoc partner’s expertise, judgment, and shortcuts as the two navigate everywhere from mountain peaks to chilly April lakes in search of what they hope will be spoiled glampers rather than dead bodies. A determined professional duo investigates wilderness wannabes: What’s not to like? – Kirkus Review
Series: National Park Mysteries
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
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Information on the three library catalogs
The Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
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Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
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StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
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Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
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