Never Laugh As a Hearse Goes By
Library Journal ★ 11/01/2013 A small conference for a group of vicars at the notable Gladstone's Library in Wales goes decidedly grim when the bishop's administrative assistant dies of a food-allergic reaction. Turns out someone planned it that way. DCI Gareth Davies happens to be on the scene, and, conveniently, Penny Brannigan is there, too. […]
The First Phone Call From Heaven
★ 09/09/2013 Albom (The Five People You Meet in Heaven) has a nose for “thin placesâ€: places where the boundary between secular and sacred is porous, and ultimate meaning is easier to encounter. In his new novel, Coldwater, Mich., is this thin place, a town where people who have lost loved ones begin receiving phone […]
An Old Betrayal
“The upper-class amateur sleuth, an endangered species even in historical mysteries, is very much alive in Charles Finch’s charming Victorian whodunits.†—The New York Times Book Review
Dark Witch
Kirkus Reviews ★ 2013-10-21 Seven hundred fifty years after an evil sorcerer attacks the Dark Witch Sorcha and leaves her children orphans, he comes back, and her descendants must depend on magic, friendship and love to repel him. Iona Sheehan has sold most of what she owns and left everything she knows behind in America, […]
Three Can Keep a Secret
Publishers Weekly 08/19/2013 Hurricane Irene and its devastating aftermath provide the backdrop for Mayor’s enjoyable 24th Joe Gunther novel (after 2012’s Paradise City). During the chaos of the storm, mental patient Carolyn Barber (aka the Governor) goes missing from the Vermont State Hospital. Shortly thereafter, a once-prominent politician is found dead in his retirement home […]
Pagan Spring : a Max Tudor Novel
Publishers Weekly ★ 08/12/2013 Contemporary cozies don’t get much better than Agatha-winner Malliet’s third Max Tudor mystery (after 2012’s A Fatal Winter). A former MI5 agent turned Anglican vicar, Tudor has made a new beginning in the English village of Nether Monkslip, where he’s been fortunate enough to find the love of his life, Awena […]
The Boleyn Deceit : a Novel
Publishers Weekly 09/02/2013 The second part of a trilogy that began with The Boleyn King, this entertaining work of alternative history offers plenty to savor for both fans of historical romance and those whose passion is political intrigue. The premise: rather than leaving Henry VIII without a male heir, thereby permitting Elizabeth to ascend the […]
No Man's Nightingale : an Inspector Wexford Novel
Publishers Weekly 09/02/2013 In Rendell’s absorbing 24th Inspector Wexford novel (after 2011’s The Vault), the Kingsmarkham, England, sleuth tries to find out who strangled the Rev. Sarah Hussain in the vicarage of St. Peter’s Church, and why. The fact that Hussain was biracial and a single mother had galvanized bigots near and far, who resented […]
White Fire
Publishers Weekly ★ 09/02/2013 Sherlock Holmes fans will relish Preston and Child’s 13th novel featuring eccentric FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast (after 2012’s Two Graves), one of their best in this popular series. In the prologue, set in 1889 at a London restaurant, Oscar Wilde not only advises Conan Doyle on how to improve the character […]
Outlaw
Library Journal ★ 09/01/2013 Dekker, the prolific best-selling author of more than 20 books including the "Book of Mortals" series and "The Circle" trilogy, draws on his exotic Indonesian childhood for his new thrilling adventure saga. Following the birth of her son Stephen, Atlanta-born Julian Carter dreams about a mysterious jungle creature with a haunting […]