A master of Icelandic noir, with several popular series and many awards to his credit, Indridason bring a new Detective Konrad mystery to readers. And if you have read some of his others, there are a few brief references that canny readers will catch.
Now retired, the detective continues to pursue his father’s killer. This cold case of the murdered man, not a pleasant person, has occupied Konrad over several years but readers will be quick to understand his background if this is their first read in the series.
It’s not just this case that takes up his time. When a Reykjavik woman is found murdered in her home, Konrad’s phone number is on her desk and he’s notified by the current detective on the case. Valborg had approached him recently, asking for his help in finding the child she gave up for adoption many years ago, over fifty in fact, and faced with that kind of time lag, Konrad hadn’t acquiesced.
But now that she’s dead he feels compelled to figure out what happened to her child, despite having very little knowledge, not even the sex of the child.
This is where Indridason shines, in following Konrad’s private investigation as he ferrets out leads and information from almost thin air as he digs into the woman’s past. It’s a complicated route but one that leads to an unexpected resolution, with surprising stops and starts along the way.
As the tension rises, crimes from the past are unearthed. This is an absorbing story of the echoes of old crimes that last through the years.
The 22nd Doyle & Action mystery is just as fresh and compelling as the first in this long-running series, which continues to delight readers. With Sir Michael Acton and Lady Acton married police officers, Acton’s way of handling justice often has the Irish Kathleen exasperated as she tries to rein him in.
Her fey nature is helpful to him, though, and Acton enlists the very pregnant Kath to ascertain when witnesses are lying. Aided at times by ghosts only she sees in dreams, she juggles two young boys at home with minimal help. This third child is a girl, and Kath’s imminent delivery has sidelined her to easier tasks.
So when Acton tells his beloved wife he is arranging a charity gala at his ancestral home, Trestles, where a play will entertain the guests, she is immediately suspicious that more is at work, as Acton is known for his devious ways of handling things. A cold murder case mixed with an art-rig gang are at the forefront, as is a fortune to be inherited. Kathleen knows this play is a ruse for more serious business.
The chosen play is a fictional court case revolving around the characters of Sherlock Holmes’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, and soon Kathleen can see parallels to their cases. There are romantic entanglements to sort, murderers to catch, blackmailers to halt–it’s all in a day’s work for this duo who remain devious and charming together. There’s even an evil man confined to a wheelchair whose silver-headed cane may or may not contain a gun.
Cleeland’s plot evolves as Kathleen tries to find out what her exasperating husband is really up to, and this time even she is surprised. A delightful addition to an entertaining series.
Peter James’s long-running DCI Grace series, now on BritBox in a grand adaptation as Grace, has just published his 22nd in this series, The Hawk is Dead.
The backstory to this novel is fascinating: Her Majesty Queen Camilla, a huge Grace fan, asked him when she was Duchess of Cornwall in 2019 if he couldn’t see a way to bring Sussex-based Grace to London. After kicking the idea around for four years as he worked on other projects already under construction, James figured out a plot what would allow him to bring Grace and a few members of his team to the Palace.
And that kernel of an idea started when James read that the 775 rooms in Buckingham Palace were to undergo a major renovation, which would take place over the course of several years, not just for updating and modernization but for safety reasons. The Royal Collection consists of over a million very valuable art and objects held by The Crown, many in Buckingham Palace.
From that grew the idea for the entire novel, and the beginning of exhaustive research, which included James being given inside tours of the palace, and even learning how to drive a train! Always giving his realistic police procedurals a grand plot, James knocks it out of the park with this one, literally, by taking Grace from his Brighton territory to Buckingham Palace.
His team becomes involved when the Queen is traveling by train to visit hospices along the south coast. Her train must be evacuated after being derailed inside a tunnel. A harrowing scene from the train driver’s point of view brings the accident to life, and as the Queen and a trusted advisor exit the tunnel, shots ring out. While the Queen narrowly misses being assassinated, Sir Peregrine Greaves, Private Secretary to Their Majesties and one of the most senior members of their household, is killed.
Grace has a nagging feeling the Queen might not have been the intended target, and readers are treated to insights into the workings of the Royal Household, and its pecking order, as well as an extensive treatment of the glories contained within the huge building as the investigation ensues.
With attention turned to the household, when a diary Sir Peregrine kept in code, more matters come to light and soon Grace and his team, especially his long-term bagman DI Branson, must sift through Not-My-King protestors; territorial tiffs with the Met, who want to take over his investigation; and missing artifacts. Then a second body is found…
This was one of the most enjoyable Grace novels to date, and as usual, gives us a window into his home life, too. But James’s intricate plotting with its exploration of life within the royal household make this a gripping story.
From time to time, Auntie M likes to let you in what she’s been reading, not for review, but for her own personal choice. These are some of my favorites, the ones I reach for again and again for a satisfying read:
Steve Cavanagh knocks it out of the park with his new Eddie Flynn legal thriller, Two Kinds of Stranger, which may be his most perfectly twisted plot yet, and he’s a master at it. Eddie is a conman turned lawyer who won’t hesitate to step outside the law to bring justice.
This case comes too close to home when a stalker client threatens his daughter, ex-wife and her new lawyer husband. At the same time, he and his team have taken on the case of a young woman whose life had been about espousing random acts of kindness. In an ironic twist, that same instinct has led to her being poisoned, while her cheating husband and his lover are also poisoned. While the duo die, Ellie Parker manages to survive but is soon charged with their murders, as no one can find the stranger she says she helped who poisoned her, a sociopath working behind the scenes to manipulate her life.
No one except Eddie Flynn. And then his ex-wife’s stalker is killed, and his daughter’s mother and her husband are on trial for that murder. His team is managing two serious trials at the same time, and lines will be crossed with life-changing outcomes. At times you can’t see how he can pull this one off, and Eddie isn’t certain he can, either.
There’s a final extra ending twist that makes it all come full circle—you won’t be able to put this one down. Cavanagh gets NYC and its environs perfectly, which is all the more surprising when you learn he and his family live in Belfast, Ireland. Don’t miss this brilliantly layered novel.
The Marlow Murder Club is currently showing on my Masterpiece Mystery, and Auntie M snapped up the newest installment, a locked room (boat) mystery that weaves a killing around the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society in Murder on the Marlow Belle.
Verity Beresford enlists Judith Potts and her friends to track down her missing husband after the drama society had hired The Marlow Belle for an evening on the river. But no one remembers seeing Oliver Beresford leave the boat.
Then Oliver’s body, complete with bullet holes, washes up downriver, and the three women amateur sleuths are on the hunt. Soon they are knee-deep in the personal lives of the main players, whose secrets they must unearth, as it seems Oliver had a host of enemies.
Cosy mystery crime at its finest with a returning ensemble we’ve grown to love.
Queen Camilla let it be known that Peter James is her favorite author, and so his October book, The Hawk is Dead, has scenes at Buckingham Palace. But One of Us is Dead is out now, so readers who follow Brighton Superintendent Roy Grace can gratefully indulge.
Grace and his familiar team are investigating a series of murders that appear unrelated, but Grace has a that twitch of instinct that tells him they are, despite mushroom poisoning and accidents that may not be what they seem.
At a local funeral, a man enters the church late to see a fellow a few rows ahead of him he knows to be dead–because he gave that man’s eulogy. What these disparate incidents have in common becomes the latest chase to find a canny killer.
Grace’s respect and detail of police procedures is at full mast here, as is his frustration at being behind the desk too much. Another great installment in a long-running series that never disappoints.
I had fears that SJ Bennett’s series featuring Queen Elizabeth would come to an end with the passing of the monarch, but Bennett’s Her Majesty the Queen Investigates series continues with A Death in Diamonds by heading back in time to 1957 with a young Queen finding her voice. And now she’s opened up a host of years to pull from as the series continues.
When two people are murdered and the Queen finds herself used as the alibi for one of the murders, all the while trying to learn her job and her nation’s place in a modern world, it seems that the very advisors she must trust may not always have her best interests at heart.
Her ally becomes Joan McGraw, an ex-Bletchley Park code breaker, discreet and loyal to the Queen, and soon this dynamic duo are running their own investigation. A clever and intriguing way to continue this series, Bennett gets the personalities of the royals involved down pat with nice asides we can well imagine might really have been said. A jewel~
Skelton’s well-plotted series featuring investigative reporter Rebecca Connolly continues with The Hollow Mountain.
Filled with the kind of ironic humor Auntie M enjoys, Rebecca is challenged by Alice Larkin, a dying millionaire and former reporter, to unearth what really happened when her lover died while working as a tunnel tiger on the Hollow Mountain project years ago.
With Alice parsing out her story, Rebecca must use her talents and those of her colleagues to unearth the truth of the hazardous construction as the workers blasted through mountains, under rivers, to create a pass, but she soon finds herself in jeopardy when the secrets she is finding threaten the reputations of those left behind.
Skelton’s series at highly atmospheric in their Scottish settings and the entire series comprise great reads.
Nita Prose’s maid Molly Gray is a wonderful character with a unique take on life whom Prose first debuted in The Maid. Now planing her wedding to chef Juan Manual, she’s been promoted to Head Maid and Special Events Manager at the Regency Grand Hotel, a delightful setting for much of the action of the series.
In The Maid’s Secret, the antiquities show Hidden Treasures is filming an episode at the Regency Grand when a decorated egg Molly brings in to be valued is found to be an antique treasure. At the same time as the television world and Molly’s life is turned upside down, excerpts from her grandmother’s diary explain how the egg came to be in her possession. And then the egg goes missing . . .
It’s a nice device that alternates with the madcap part of the auction process and gives a glimpse–and surprising information–to Molly. As usual, there is a sense of a heartfelt lesson being told.
Please welcome Melissa Westemeier, whose second mystery in her Nun the Wiser Mysteries, DROPPED LIKE A BAD HABIT, debuts today!
Millennial women have crept into the cozy crime scene (we see you, Mabel Mora and Lila Macapagal), but what of their male counterparts? MIA for the most part, but you CAN find one in the Nun the Wiser Mysteries! Detective AJ Lewis gives Sister Bernadette Ohlson the assist—and occasional redirection—as they work together to solve murders in Old Habits Die Hard and Dropped Like a Bad Habit. When I started writing the series, I decided to base AJ’s character on my oldest son, which meant creating a man considerably younger than the male characters populating most modern mysteries.
Bernie’s former student, Andrew John Lewis, is 28 and he bears the characteristics of his generation’s counterparts. Tech-savvy? Check. Like everyone else his age, he’s got a smart phone and knows his way around the office computer system. AJ’s also an avid gamer and technology dominates his lifestyle. A typical weeknight involves ordering dinner delivered through the app on his phone before settling on his couch to play Red Dead Redemption II or Cyberpunk 2077 on his Xbox. He uses technology at work, for commerce, to stay connected with people, and to get his information.
Sensitive to female (and other) counterparts? Indeed! AJ’s partner, Taylor Jones, is a woman, as are many of his colleagues. Women in AJ’s world aren’t relegated to secretary-getting-coffee or femme fatales. Older generations engaged in intersex battles, but millennials view each other through a lens of greater cooperation. AJ’s not quite as prone to making snap judgements about people’s character based on gender stereotypes…or other stereotypes for that matter. His partnership with Bernie develops with huge respect for each other’s skill sets and appreciation for what it takes to work intergenerationally, which involves enormous amounts of patience and a sense of humor on AJ’s end!
Socially engaged and health-conscious? You betcha! By the end of Old Habits Die Hard, AJ’s ready to lace up a pair of running shoes and get himself in better physical shape. In Dropped Like a Bad Habit, he’s gained speed, endurance, and an improved resting heart rate through his dedication to eating healthier and getting regular cardio workouts. AJ’s social life is a mashup of family time with his parents and sisters, gaming online with his college roommates, and listening to local bands and catching a couple beers after work with colleagues. He’s single (typical), but not quite ready to rely on dating apps to find love (atypical).
Our star detective is a budget-savvy single man living in a one-bedroom apartment. He prefers investing in a little fun over home ownership. He’s also nostalgic. His soft spot for the past is common among millennials, and AJ steeps himself in fantasy worlds like Star Wars and Marvel comics to escape the turbulence of everyday life. Since childhood he’s enjoyed the heroic tales of superheroes and fantasy worlds and continues to as an adult. There’s always a new Marvel or DC movie coming out, endless spin-offs to stream, and new twists on beloved universes to keep him entertained.
A few faces come to mind as I generate a dream cast for the Nun the Wiser Mysteries. Ironically, my first picks to play AJ Lewis both played Spider-Man on the big screen, which is pretty cool since AJ LOVES Spider-Man. I can picture Tom Holland or Andrew Garfield taking the role, both have a lean, lanky build and gorgeous thick brown hair. Joseph Gordon Levitt would also fit the bill nicely. I can picture him sitting at a desk in the Eugene Police Station and giving the Boba Fett bobblehead a tap before logging into their laptop. To a man, Tom, Andrew, and Joseph are as wholesome and good-hearted as AJ, our millennial detective thoughtfully considering the evidence to solve murder cases with Bernie in the Nun the Wiser Mysteries.
Millennial women have crept into the cozy crime scene (we see you, Mabel Mora and Lila Macapagal), but what of their male counterparts? MIA for the most part, but you CAN find one in the Nun the Wiser Mysteries! Detective AJ Lewis gives Sister Bernadette Ohlson the assist—and occasional redirection—as they work together to solve murders in Old Habits Die Hard and Dropped Like a Bad Habit. When I started writing the series, I decided to base AJ’s character on my oldest son, which meant creating a man considerably younger than the male characters populating most modern mysteries.
Bernie’s former student, Andrew John Lewis, is 28 and he bears the characteristics of his generation’s counterparts. Tech-savvy? Check. Like everyone else his age, he’s got a smart phone and knows his way around the office computer system. AJ’s also an avid gamer and technology dominates his lifestyle. A typical weeknight involves ordering dinner delivered through the app on his phone before settling on his couch to play Red Dead Redemption II or Cyberpunk 2077 on his Xbox. He uses technology at work, for commerce, to stay connected with people, and to get his information.
Sensitive to female (and other) counterparts? Indeed! AJ’s partner, Taylor Jones, is a woman, as are many of his colleagues. Women in AJ’s world aren’t relegated to secretary-getting-coffee or femme fatales. Older generations engaged in intersex battles, but millennials view each other through a lens of greater cooperation. AJ’s not quite as prone to making snap judgements about people’s character based on gender stereotypes…or other stereotypes for that matter. His partnership with Bernie develops with huge respect for each other’s skill sets and appreciation for what it takes to work intergenerationally, which involves enormous amounts of patience and a sense of humor on AJ’s end!
Socially engaged and health-conscious? You betcha! By the end of Old Habits Die Hard, AJ’s ready to lace up a pair of running shoes and get himself in better physical shape. In Dropped Like a Bad Habit, he’s gained speed, endurance, and an improved resting heart rate through his dedication to eating healthier and getting regular cardio workouts. AJ’s social life is a mashup of family time with his parents and sisters, gaming online with his college roommates, and listening to local bands and catching a couple beers after work with colleagues. He’s single (typical), but not quite ready to rely on dating apps to find love (atypical).
Our star detective is a budget-savvy single man living in a one-bedroom apartment. He prefers investing in a little fun over home ownership. He’s also nostalgic. His soft spot for the past is common among millennials, and AJ steeps himself in fantasy worlds like Star Wars and Marvel comics to escape the turbulence of everyday life. Since childhood he’s enjoyed the heroic tales of superheroes and fantasy worlds and continues to as an adult. There’s always a new Marvel or DC movie coming out, endless spin-offs to stream, and new twists on beloved universes to keep him entertained.
A few faces come to mind as I generate a dream cast for the Nun the Wiser Mysteries. Ironically, my first picks to play AJ Lewis both played Spider-Man on the big screen, which is pretty cool since AJ LOVES Spider-Man. I can picture Tom Holland or Andrew Garfield taking the role, both have a lean, lanky build and gorgeous thick brown hair.
Joseph Gordon Levitt would also fit the bill nicely. I can picture him sitting at a desk in the Eugene Police Station and giving the Boba Fett bobblehead a tap before logging into their laptop. To a man, Tom, Andrew, and Josepsh are as wholesome and good-hearted as AJ, our millennial detective thoughtfully considering the evidence to solve murder cases with Bernie in the Nun the Wiser Mysteries.
Melissa Westemeier is a Sister in Crime and teacher from Wisconsin. She uses humor to explore serious subjects, and her published books include murder mysteries, rom-cons, and a trilogy loosely based on her years tending bar on the Wolf River. She likes her coffee and protagonists strong and prefers to work barefoot with natural lighting.
Sally Smith calls on her barrister background and intimate knowledge of the Inner Temple to debut a mystery series set in 1901 that introduces reluctant sleuth Sir Gabriel Ward KC. Rich in historical details of the insulated Inner Temple and its workings, Smith also gives readers a cogent look at Edwardian London with its class and societal workings and restrictions of the era.
Gabriel is so preoccupied with his case, a dispute over the authorship of a children’s book with a mouse as protagonist and set in Temple Church that has taken readers by storm, that he almost doesn’t notice the body on his doorstep. This turns out to be the Lord Chief Justice of England, who currently has a silver carving knife stuck in his chest. And several candidates longing to replace him . . .
Soon Gabriel finds himself pushed into investigating the murder while still researching his case. His OCD tendencies make this even more difficult, as does the fact he wants nothing to do with the investigation, but has been threatened with losing his lovely set of rooms where he’s lived for entire career—and thus, a reluctant but completely charming amateur sleuth is born.
It’s an absorbing story with both plots cleverly wound together. Told in prose that sounds lifted off pages from the time period, with the setting lovingly described, I highly recommend this to readers for the complex character of Gabriel alone, but also for the nicely twisted plot Smith created.
I was at Temple Church years ago for the memorial service held there for my mentor, PD James, and delighted in walking the lovely area, so I really enjoyed taking a trip back to the cloistered legal world it services. And to my delight, Sally Smith agreed to be interviewed for Auntie M!
Auntie M: Knowing the Inner Temple setting as well as you do really helped the setting come alive as I read. Did you find using an area you loved made it easier for you to describe to readers? Were there any parts you deliberately left out? (Auntie M notes that for those who’ve never visited, there is a very helpful plan of the area in the front of the book.)
Sally Smith: I love the Temple and so of course I enjoy describing it. My book is set in 1901 and the Temple sustained severe bombing during the Second World War. So now some of it is as it has been for centuries and some of it has been rebuilt post war.
It was fun to knit together what I see with my own eyes every day with what I know (from maps and pictures) it looked like in Edwardian times. I did not leave anything out but I did add in a few fictional doors and windows!
AM: I once attended a memorial service in the chapel, an important place in your book, and you brought me right back to that day. Did you have to obtain any permissions to use the site?
SS: You are right, there are some detailed and loving descriptions of the church in the book. It has an amazing history, built by the Knights Templar in 1185. I happen to have a flat in the Temple and I am a member of the Inner Temple, but anyone can visit the church during visitor hours and write about it. Many tourists do so, particularly from the USA, and they are more than welcome.
AM: Your prose is lovely and fits the era well. Did you read books set in your time period to acclimate that voice as if you were there?
SS: I am delighted you think the prose fits the era. It may be that I chose the Edwardian era because I know I write in a fairly formal way but I do not really do it on purpose; a lifetime as a lawyer meant it just developed naturally. The only thing I did consciously was not to use actual words and phrases that were not used in 1901. Other than that it just comes naturally to me.
AM: How difficult was it for you to design such interesting yet realistic characters? Are any based on people you know?
SS: Everyone wants to know that! There is no one in the book completely modelled on anyone I know but the characters are all amalgams of many personalities I have met.
AM: Now that’s a barrister’s careful answer if I ever heard one! Please tell readers Sir Gabriel Ward will return soon with another mystery to solve.
SS: Sir Gabriel Ward is returning with another mystery to solve in A Case of Life and Limb, published in the UK in July and a bit later in the USA.
AM: When you’re not plotting or promoting, who do you like to read for relaxation?
SS: I am a real Golden Age detective reader; my favourite of that period is any of Dorothy L. Sayers; I also like PD James. One of my desert island books is Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, which I think is wonderful, and I find something new in it every time I read it. Coming forward, I loved Janice Hallett’s The Appeal.
I read huge amounts of nonfiction; I love biographies, and don’t care who they are about. Real lives are more fascinating than anything made up!
Sally, thank you for a very interesting interview. Sally’s book is available from Bloomsbury Publishing or Amazon, in ebook, hardcover, and on Audible as of today! Don’t miss it~
Edgar Award Finalist Nev March brings readers her fourth mystery revolving around Captain Jim Agnihotri and Lady Diana Framjii as the married couple travel back to India for the first time since their marriage.
All is not well in the Framjii family with financial difficulties and Diana’s brother Adi accused of murdering his business partner. Found over the dead man shortly after his murder, Adi is the likely suspect, as their business making surgical instruments was floundering. Upon their return, Jim, who is mixed race, is not well received by the strict Parsi community, and as Diana grapples with being shunned, Jim investigates the murder.
The police seem content with arresting Adi, who protests his innocence. As Jim tries to unravel the silversmith’s life, he is hit with a perplexing trail that doesn’t make sense, from owed bills, to downright lies. Who and what was Satya Rastogi protecting?
He must go undercover at some point, and visit brothels before the truth emerges. And he soon finds Diana by his side helping him. This unlikely duo give this the air of a late Victorian Nick and Nora Charles.
1894 Colonial India springs to life under March’s talented pen. Rich in period details, coupled with the sights and sounds of Bombay, March bring the traditions of caste to the forefront as the mystery unfolds in this multilayered tale. Recommended read, especially for those who enjoy history.
Please welcome Melissa Westemeier, whose new Nun the Wiser series debuts TODAY with Old Habits Die Hard. She’ll describe how she came to create her protagonist, Sister Bernadette, and why she loves nuns!
Sister B: An Un Conventional Heroine
My fascination with nuns started with The Sound of Music. While other girls played “house,” I played “convent.” Living in a sisterhood, always in a gorgeous pastoral setting, with a communal approach to sharing chores and responsibilities, appealed to me.
Plus, nuns were bad asses. They fought against Nazis but accepted everyone else. If you didn’t want to marry and have kids or were just too unconventional, you could knock on the heavy wooden door, and a nice nun would escort you over to plead your case to the Mother Superior. As long as you were willing to work hard and prove your mettle, the nuns had to take you in. What girl doesn’t dream of acceptance like that? In my imagination, being a nun also meant wearing a super cool outfit and having sleepovers with your besties every night. I can’t remember how old I was when I learned becoming a nun wasn’t in the cards for me because I was a Protestant and that nuns weren’t exactly as portrayed in The Sound of Music.
My romanticized view of nuns remained intact for a very long time. Lucky for me, before I tackled writing Old Habits Die Hard, I’d sent my sons to Catholic school and exponentially increased my understanding of Catholicism. When Mariana, part of my writing group, suggested the protagonist in Old Habits Die Hard should be a retired nun who wears a cross necklace, black pants, and sensible shoes—“still in uniform,” I was charmed. Even better that she was a retired middle school English teacher with a bossy attitude. Sister Bernadette entered the story fully formed in my imagination.
There aren’t many retired nuns solving crimes. Sister Boniface comes to mind, but she’s of a different era and British. Sister Bernadette Ohlson, AKA “Sister B” to her students and “Bernie” to her neighbors and friends, hasn’t worn her full habit in ages, but she’s not above grabbing her veil and rosary if it gets her special treatment. Her faith gives her serene confidence in the face of danger, and she’ll argue her case for disobedience because in her mind not all sins are created (or punished) equally. Yet as a woman of an order, she likes to keep things in order.
We first meet Bernie leading the residents of The Abbey: Senior Living off their bus after a night at the theater. She waits in the lobby to make sure everyone gets safely to their first-floor apartments before leading the rest upstairs. Bernie’s the first to notice the body in the hallway, and when former student Detective AJ Lewis arrives, Bernie acts as spokesperson for the group.
Bernie leads, but she also meddles to make sure things work out the way she wants. She’s insatiably curious, poking into everyone’s business because how can you be in charge if you don’t know what’s going on? Her neighbors come to her for advice, too, which puts her in the center of their drama, and her impulse to solve a murder that happened under their collective roof comes from her concern for their safety.
Older, wiser, and experienced, Sister B lends insight to her former student as he investigates the murder at The Abbey. She’s not above snooping or eavesdropping, nor is she opposed to using some healthy Catholic guilt to manipulate people. What’s fun in the Nun the Wiser Mysteries is the dynamic between her and AJ, her former student who is 50 years her junior. As a millennial, AJ has a different sensibility where authority is concerned, and he stands up to her. They frustrate each other and don’t always see eye to eye, but deep down they respect one another. Where other cozies involve romance between sleuths, Bernie and AJ cultivate an affectionate friendship and each book ends with a sweet scene featuring them together.
It’s funny to think I’m all grown up and my obsession with nuns never fully faded. I haven’t run away to join a convent, but I’ve invented a nun of my own to solve murders with her former student, so in a way I’m still pretending to be a nun. I guess maybe old habits DO die hard!
Melissa Westemeier is a Sister in Crime and teacher from Wisconsin. She uses humor to explore serious subjects, and her published books include murder mysteries, rom-coms, and a trilogy loosely based on her years tending bar on the Wolf River. She likes her coffee and protagonists strong and prefers to work barefoot with natural lighting.
The 9th DI Clare Mackay is a tightly-plotted winner, chockfull of Todd’s twists and page-turning events.
Intelligence indicates a serial killer known as the Choker, who targets gay men, is heading for Clare’s corner of Scotland, St. Andrews. Clare’s team swings into action, with covert actions, undercover work, and long surveillances.
Then a young man is murdered near a nightclub with all the hallmarks of this serial killer. Could Theo Glancy’s murder be connected to the nightclub as his family run it, or is this the newest case of the Choker?
Even worse than catching a new murder case, Clare finds the nightclub is attached to her nemesis, Val Docherty, who has shrugged off previous charges like a duck sheds water. Will this be the time Clare finally gets to see Val behind bars, and if so, at what cost?
This is a tight police procedural, with Clare’s team functioning well under her lead. Her personal life is on smooth sailing, too, until her sister brings her attention to her aging father’s issues. It’s time for Clare to have a few moments of personal reflection, all while searching to stop a serial killer before he strikes again.
Auntie M is a huge fan of Todd’s atmospheric series, gobbling up each installment. If you haven’t found this series yet, reach for it now. Better yet, start with the first, See Them Run, to follow Clare’s personal life. And now I have to wait for the next one…
Auntie M’s 2025 gift to you readers. Happy New Year! And three greats to read:
Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce Mysteries, set in the 1950s, are currently in production in the UK, based on the first in this wonderful series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. The books are a revelation, and when Bradley created his young genius sleuth, 11 in the first book, he hit on a magnificent creature, at turns smart and wily.
So Auntie M was delighted to find a new adventure for Flavia, now 15, and her prodigious brain growing in leaps and bounds, in What Time the Sextion’s Spade doth Rust. Mentoring her live-in cousin, Undine, described as “odious” and “moonfaced,” Flavia attempts to channel Undine’s potential for trickery to her own uses in her investigations.
This time a former hangman dies after eating poisonous mushrooms, and the de Luce’s own cook is suspected. With her chemistry expertise (something Auntie M admires add wonders how Bradley gets his information), Flavia sets out to clear dear Mrs. Mullet and uncovers some surprising and disturbing truths about her own family along the way. Clever humor balances the darker bits. Terrific.
I recommend Doug Johnstone’s Skelf series all the time and often give one for gifts. This family of three generations of strong Edinburgh women have been through the wringer and keep chugging along, and that is at the forefront of Living is a Problem.
Running a funeral home and private investigation agency from their home, their personal lives become entwined in the stories. Matriarch Dorothy, a skilled drummer, too, tries to help her boyfriend who is suffering from PTSD, when a Ukrainian member of the refugee choir that Dorothy’s band plays with goes missing.
Her daughter, Jenny, is conducting a funeral when it’s attacked by a drone, and Jenny sees gangland interference. She and Archie, their funeral home helper, are becoming closer, despite their differences. And her daughter, Hannah, a scientist, finds her interests changing, while supported by her wife.
This series is consistent, with an uplifting story that doesn’t shrug away from life–and death–yet leaves the reader uplifted and wanting more Skelfs.
Peter Lovesey closes his long-running Peter Diamond series with Against the Grain. The stubborn Diamond has solved more than his share of cases using his wiles and wit, with some surprises along the way.
In Against the Grain, Diamond travels to the country for a holiday with his partner, Paloma, at the invitation of his former colleague Julie Hargreaves. It’s no secret that Diamond is contemplating life after detecting, and he must decide to retire or solider on.
But he’s no sooner in the lovely village of Baskerville when Julie’s ulterior motive is revealed: a horrific accident at a grain silo has resulted in a manslaughter conviction for the dairy farm’s owner, and Julie is convinced that not only was there a miscarriage of justice, but that the real killer is still at large. He soon finds unfamiliar village customs come to the forefront of his days.
Diamond finds himself up to his elbows, literally, in things he couldn’t begin to imagine, that delight readers and perhaps Diamond himself. And uses his experience and his knowledge of human nature to a stunning climax.
It’s always sad to say goodbye to beloved characters, and readers can only hope Lovesey will keep Diamond going in a story or two. A wonderful series amongst Lovesey’s other fiction, Diamond is but one of Lovesey’s creations who linger with readers and deserve to be investigated.
Auntiemwrites Crime-Mystery Author M K Graff 