Holiday post #4, whereby Auntie M tells of great mysteries this time for holiday gift giving. These are a varied lot!


For those who like their mysteries quirky, look for Meghan Scott Molin’s The Frame-Up. This debut in an inventive new series features comic book writer MG Martin, a geek who also designs costumes for drag queen pal.

The action starts with MG noticing a crime scene photo straight out of her favorite comic series, The Hooded Falcon, except for the Falcon’s signature, a golden arrow. The man in line at the coffee shop perusing the photo is the LAPD detective on the case, Matteo Kildaire, and it turns out there was a golden arrow found at the scene. And that this comic was put out by MG’s employer, Genius Comics.

With explanations out of the way, Kildaire allows MG to assist him as long as her invovlement is kept quiet. Gathering intel requires Matteo to assume the role of MG’s boyfriend so he can investigate her fellow employees. The negataive is that as MG’s theories prove right over and over again, she put herself in the crosshairs as the Golden Arrow.

A nicely twisted plot, creatively written with an eye into the world of comics and a hint of romance. Lots of humor here, too.


More or a romance, and an Amish one at that, Shelley Sheparad Gray’s His Promise is a Christmas story in the country, one having a rash of suspicious fire.

Grace King is a pet sitter missing her family. Then firefighter John Michael Miller crosses her path, the same man who broke her sister’s heart years before, bringing both Grace’s anger and her feelings for the man to the forefront. But the reason behind that heartbreak just might herald a huge surprise for Grace.

With the fires escalating and the couple’s complicated feelings for each other surfacing, this is a charming holiday tale with a hint of mystery for readers enjoying Christian fiction.

We head across the pond to France for Cay Rademacher’s second Provence Mystery, Deadly Camargue. Detectives Roger Blanc (Capitaine) and Marius Tonon are called in the middle of a heat wave to the Camargue to investigate the suspicious death of reporter and television personality Albert Cohen.

Gored by a bull when out cycling, it was originally believed to be an accident, until it seems the gate was left open intentionally. Who would have wanted to kill him? Cohen’s been working on an article on van Gogh, but could that have a tie to a long ago burglary?

With a grand look at the history and area’s landscape, long-held secrets will be uncovered as the duo look deeper and deeper.There’s a nice touch of humor, too, as Blanc settles in with his new home and new colleagues at work. A deft sequel.

Keeping across the pond, we travel to the Italian Alps and Aosta for a return visit to chief Rocco Schiavone in Antonio Manzini’s Out of Season.

A real stand-out in fictional sleuths, Rocco is something of a rebel as well as non-traditional character, who’s drawn readers to him like flies.

A deadly crash after a young girl’s kidnapping raises more questions than answers. Who were the dead kidnappers and why this girl? And just how did the girl survive the crash?

As Rocco investigates, a Roman fish out of urban wate, sent to the icy area of the small northwestern town, the detective will use his wiles and canny means to investigate. He’s not afraid to step outside the box or step on a few toes to get to the bottom of this compelling mystery.

Along the way there will be a snow storm, a prison break, and even a chance for romance for Rocco, all contained within a witty and complex mystery that packs a visual wallop one can imagine on the big screen.

Carol Potenza won the 2017 Tony Hillerman prize with good reason readers will appreciate once they read Hearts of the Missing. Set in New Mexico, we are introduced to Pueblo Police Sergeant Nicky Matthews, who covers a nearby reservation.

She’s investigating the the suicide of a young woman linked to missing Fire-Sky tribe members. With the murders tied to a genetic link, Nicky must tred carefully among the indigenous people and their beliefs, as well as her own bosses and the reservation’s tribal elders. The mysticism mixes with science in this researched tale.

Native American culture, at the forefront, is handled in such a way that readers will learn about it even as Nicky finds herself in jeopardy. There’s a bundle of forensic evidence, too, as author Potenza is an Assistnat Professor of Chemistry and Biochem at New Mexico State University.