Jonasson is one of Iceland’s most popular authors, with good reason. The Body in the Bath reads like an homage to golden-age mysteries, and brings several characters he’s previously written about to the forefront.
It’s a snowy December and detective Helgi is depressed after the death of his girlfriend, Anita, who has been run down by his ex-girlfriend, Bergpora and so far, gotten away with it.
Back at work now, but with his mind distracted, he is haunted by the disappearance of his detective whose desk he now inhabits. Hulda Hermannsdottir had retired and suddenly disappeared, and he starts to investigate that in earnest when the unthinkable happens: Bergpora is found dead in her bathtub, and the key suspect is Helgi.
Now the young detective must not only clear his own name, but find a reasonable alternative to Bergpora’s killer, all the while he mourns Anita. The climax is one readers will not see coming and may be my favorite of Jonasson’s books to date.
This is chock full of clever, meticulous plotting, with an excellent translation that retains the hallmarks of Jonasson’s Icelandic noir, as well as his reverence for the golden age of detective fiction.
Cheers to Sara Paretsky for bringing readers a new book AND a remarkable new protagonist in the form of Lily Sedako.
In her 70s, Lily’s retired from her life as a CIA field agent focused on Central Asia countries. Lily is making the most of her retirement in Chicago, volunteering for a local student drama group, where her expertise and contacts in makeup and creating a new identity are soon put to the test.
Lily’s most remembered posting was to the tiny country of Hayalistan, out from under the thumb of the USSR, but still controlled to a large extent by nefarious people. An excellent linguist, Lily learned the difficult local language, and had integrated into the culture of the mountain tribes, until she’d been moved to India when a coup removed the democratically elected president Lily had grown close to, and this tribal leader she loved was presumed killed.
She still thinks fondly of their time together, and of her time in Hayalistan. Then her world is turned upside down when she receives a magazine with an article that shows a photo of Lily in the midst of a hidden women’s rite. The implication is that Lily, besides now being exposed as helping the people, leaked their secrets to aid the coup.
This starts an international ride for Lily, who becomes determined to set the record straight while finding evidence of what really happened back then and who was responsible, because Lily knows it wasn’t her.
But who within the company can she trust? The misogyny of the CIA, the scapegoating, and the destruction of lives from within all come into play. Lily will need to call on all of her rusty skills and connections from that life, not just to unveil the real culprits, but to save her own life, endangered now that it’s clear she’s on the hunt for the lengthy coverup in Hayalistan.
Readers will be quickly drawn to Lily with her stamina and determination. She is a wily character, and being in her age range, Auntie M is envious of how quickly she can devise a plan and carry it out. The characters around her are finely drawn as well, but it’s Lily who steals the show effortlessly. And here it’s Paretsky who gets the gold medal, with a plot as finely drawn as her characters.
With a fast-moving plot, dialogue that often stings, and a touch of wry humor, this is a powerful and often disturbing story that will grab readers by the throat as they barrel through the pages.
It’s no wonder Paretsky is one of only four living writers to have received both the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America as well as the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. Solid gold.
Armstrong brings readers to 1923 in the fourth Ruby Vaughn Mystery with The Lost Souls of Saint Oda’s.
The American heiress runs a rare book shop in Exeter, England with her octogenarian employer, Mr. Owen, and has high hopes this year will allow her to not only leave investigating behind, but to spend more time with the Cornwall-based healing pillar, Ruan Kivell, whose romance has been conducted around their previous cases.
But when her solicitor brings her concrete news that her mother may have survived the sinking of the Lusitania that took her father and sister in 1915, she must travel to the Belgian hospital to see if there is the slimmest possibility this could be true.
With Ruan accompanying her, the two travel to the hospital at Saint Oda’s priory, a combination of asylum, orphanage and long-term hospital. But it seems the woman believed to be her mother has died only a few days before their arrival.
Refusing to believe this has happened, Ruby and Ruan continue to look into Saint Oda’s and find more suspicious deaths, and several missing patients, including a young girl.
Not knowing who to trust, especially after an attempt on her life, Ruby digs in and finds the occult may be mixed with murder.
The historical mystery adds more than a touch of gothic to the story, along with romance between Ruby and Ruan, making for an atmospheric read. Add in a touch of humor and the pellar’s ability to read Ruby’s thoughts, and you have an interesting mix as the two persist without knowing who they can trust.
Character-driven and bewitching, with a surprise ending.
The 21st Inspector Gamache novel bring readers back to the familiar and loved cast of Three Pines, with the well-loved detective being woken by a panicked call, telling him of a body to be found in a remote area of wooded Quebec known as the Lost Nation.
When the site is finally found, it’s a bizarre sight: a dead man wearing clothing from the last century, lying on top of a grave with seedlings growing out of his clothes.
Even more startling, the genesis of the call appears to have originated from Gamache’s close friend and neighbor, artist Clara Morrow.
These early leads take the team on a wild search for not only those who are buried in the Lost Nation, but a maritime disaster that has bearing on the case, ancestors of Clara’s dead husband Peter Morrow, and at the heart of the matter, a Victorian botanist who curated a plant, now extinct.
The ghost of Miss Wolcott is indeed of great importance on several levels, as Gamache and his team investigate the man’s death, which will take them to France and England in addition to their Quebec universities. Miss Wolcott infuses their search at every step.
This is vintage Penny, a Gamache classic, and a real winner in both its complex plot and the humanistic themes it touches on. Wait until you’ve read the novel to read the Acknowledgments that give real insight how these plot lines came together for Penny.
The third Ruby and Cordelia Mystery lives up to the promise of the first two. The Key to the Killer finds Ruby Young determined to find out who murdered the ghost who haunts her small Boston apartment.
Cordelia Graves’s death was thought to be a suicide by most, but Ruby’s not convinced, and as Cordelia’s memories surrounding the fateful day start to return, she too becomes convinced her extreme alcohol intake that day did not include the pills found in her system.
There are enough suspects for them to investigate, starting with the owner of the tech company Cordy worked for, whose position Ruby now holds. Cordy had a years-long affair with him, but don’t forget his wife, and even several employees. Then there’s the reporter who found Cordy’s body. Along the way, there will be a resolution of sorts for Ruby’s relationship with the young man across the hall.
Helping Ruby is Ian Graves, Cordelia’s brother who made his first appearance at the end of book two, but rest assured if you haven’t read the first two you will be able to catch up here. However, Ruby and Cordy are a sprightly duo are worth reading if you haven’t. Throw Ian into the mix, just out of prison on parole, and you have all the ingredients for a quirky story with a dose of the supernatural.
Auntie M especially enjoys the things Cordelia uses to communicate with Ruby, who is learning to discern her presence. Several sets of magnetic fridge words are a big aide in that, as is Cordy’s ability to fry new tech near her, pass through walls, and generally disrupt any area when the need arises.
There will be real jeopardy for Ruby as her investigation continues to a surprising conclusion. A solid mix of suspense with a twist and two main characters who are both likable.
It must be difficult after 33 books with sort-of retired lawyer Andy Carpenter to come up with a new premise, yet Rosenfelt has done just that with Bark Humbug, #34, a fresh kind of case that will keeps readers flipping pages.
After agreeing to help the sister of a murder suspect, accused of gunning down a candidate for governor along with another member of his team walking beside him, Andy reluctantly is pulled into defending Jon Lowery after finding a temporary home for his dog.
The ex-Marine sharpshooter has plenty of circumstantial evidence against him, and Andy and his team hit overdrive to find the real culprit. It doesn’t help that the shots that killed the two men could only have been accomplished by a very skilled marksmen, and his client is just that.
Andy can find plenty of ways to explain away most of this evidence as planted to make Lowery the scapegoat after his comments against the candidate are captured during a live town hall.
In the course of their investigation, and despite threats against him and his family, Andy uncovers a widespread network of corruption that might explain several ensuing murders, but he can’t nail down a motive for the would-be governor to be shot.
Two hallmarks of the series are Andy’s witty thoughts, and the dialogue he has with his team, which includes his ex-police wife, another lawyer, and several specialists and ex-law enforcement helpers who, well, enforce.
Combine that with a complex plot that has a very surprising and suspenseful ending, and you have all the ingredients needed for a great read.
You’d think by the 40th Meg Langslow Mystery that Donna Andrews would have run put of pithy bird-related titles, but have no fear. While in the past there have been ducks, crows, magpies, falcons, larks, toucans, finches, gulls, eagles, even hens and hawks, to name just a few, this time we have Jay to the World.
Specifically, bluejays, who come to earn a pivotal role in the mystery set at Christmas time. It’s a busy time for Meg as she juggles incoming relatives with holiday preparations, along with her mother’s special projects, which this year includes her role in decorating the great room of a mansion for the Garden Club Holiday show house, plus a playhouse she’s having built for her two- year-old granddaughter, Brynn, whose favorite bird is “boojays.”
When the playhouse is vandalized and her mother hurt in the process, Meg’s mother admits she’s been receiving threatening emails. Meg juggles her other holiday responsibilities to investigate those she’s determined are her mother’s potential enemies, all the while arranging nursing care for a wounded boojay.
All of the usual cast of eccentric and lovable characters are on hand to assist Meg, including her twin sons, many other extended family members, and other Caerphilly residents and law enforcement she’s helped in the past. Now it’s their turn to help Meg.
One of my personal favorite characters is Miss Ethelinda Pruitt, an assisted living resident who earns a tidy side sum selling her untraditional yet intricate needlework samplers and pillows with off-color sayings delicately worked into the canvases. I hope Andrews will keep her in future mysteries. The only person missing is Meg’s drama teacher husband, Michael, who is in New York City with the classes yearly theatre crawl, which this year comes too close to the run-up to Christmas.
Andrews gives readers a nicely twisted plot and believable scoundrels, who do more than their share of creating messes that need to be cleaned up. There’s also plenty of the author’s brand of wry humor to round out a more than satisfying mystery that has a surprising ending twist readers won’t see coming.
This is another winner in a long running series that will delight fans and newcomers to Meg and her crew alike.
It’s no secret I’m a fan of Frederick’s historical novels (The Lindbergh Nanny; The Wharton Plot) but her newest, Murder on 34th Street, might just be my favorite.
Readers will immediately be drawn in by the voice she has created for protagonist Grace Verlander, with its mix of wryness and keen observation. As the assistant HR person at Macy’s huge Herald Square site, Grace has a knack for keeping things running smoothly when a less accomplished person would flounder. She’s smart and while she has her own baggage, she doesn’t let anything interfere with the position she’s worked hard to achieve.
It’s the run-up to the huge Thanksgiving Day parade in 1932, and New Yorkers need something to look forward to in the Depression, which has affected everyone, especially job seekers. When the store Santa receives a death threat, Grace takes this seriously, and speaks to the store detective, a former policeman, about increasing security around the man chosen to represent Kris Kringle that season.
Yet despite all of their efforts, there is a murder, and Grace is determined to not only find the killer, but to save Macy’s reputation. She will have the help of a window decorator she encounters, but is mostly on her own, using her knowledge of the employees and of the store’s inner workings to investigate as more deaths occur.
And just when she thinks she has it figured out, an ending twist turns things upside down to a surprising climax.
There is plenty here that makes this a great read, from the snappy dialogue, to Grace’s inner thoughts, to the significant research Frederick’s has done about how the Macy’s parade functioned in this era behind the scenes.
New York City springs to life under her talented pen, and gives readers an engrossing read they will devour. Highly recommended.
One of Japan’s most read novelists, Jiro Akagawa’s A Game of Cat and Killer is the first in his long-running series first published in Japan in 1978, and now translated into English for the first time.
The cat in question is named Holmes, and while he’s not a talking cat, the feline does have an unusual way of bringing clues to his owners’ attention. After reluctantly adopting Holmes, Detective Yoshitaro Katayama takes a while to realize how Holmes can help him, but once he figures it out, he accepts the cat will be a welcome helper.
Katayama is a shy man with many fears, and it’s only his good instincts and dogged attention to detail that allows him to solve crimes. In this first in the series, he’s called to a woman’s college to investigate when a young female student is found murdered.
Soon he’s mired in more than one investigation, and while his aunt distracts him with matchaking, he’s drawn to a comely student instead.
The writig is sharp, with sprightly dialogue, while the plot is nicely twisted. It’s a heartwarming read from a multiple literary award winner, with sales of his books making him the highest of any Japanese author.
Cleeves’s 4th Detective Matthew Venn novel opens during a heat wave in North Devon, an area Cleeves know well, having grown puu there, and she puts this sense of local knowledge to great use in her setting.
Venn’s new case starts off with the body of young woman found floating in the pool of MP Paul Armstrong’s vacation home. The dead girl, Lottie Caldwell, is friends with Hannah Armstrong, who appears to be missing. With the girls arriving before the family at the end of their exams, they’ve had a few days alone to celebrate, and also it will be revealed to create a particular brand of disquiet in the small town of Millscombe.
The Armstrong parents and two young brothers arrived to find Lottie’s body and Hannah missing. Could this be a kidnap gone wrong? Until tragedy strikes again, and suddenly Venn and his closeknit team have a double murder to solve. With a local folk festival in the area over the past weekend, a nearby farmer’s family who Hannah’s grown close to, and the local pub owners involved with the girls first days home, the suspect pool quickly widens.
There is a sense of claustrophobia in the setup of the local area, with everyone knowing everyone else’s business, and their gossip pervades every aspect of Venn’s investigation. It doesn’t help matters that he’s struggling with his husband Jonathan’s decision to find his birth mother.
The book has a terrific atmospheric sense of setting that buttresses the vivid characters, all finely drawn, distinctive and individual. Introspective and at times unsure of himself, Venn is Vera Stanhope’s direct opposite, yet just as worthy a detective with his own way of pursuing an investigation, and his belief that his leads will come from learning about the victim’s lives and of those around them. How we are perceived can vary greatly, as can what will be said about people when they are alive versus when they are dead. The secrets these characters keep must also be prised open to get to the heart of the matter.
Intriguingly plotted, at times the reader feels as Matthew Venn must, that the elusive truth is just hidden around the next corner, a wisp of reality waiting to be seen. And when the shocking ending occurs, it must be said that it was there all the time in our view and yet remained unseen.
The author of the popular Vera and and Shetland series does not disappoint. This is terrific writing and stands up with the best Cleeves has written. Highly recommended.
