Mystery

New mystery

EmmaLeave a comment

   

The Desert Flowers Detective Agency is at it again. This time Tanya Cook, pretending to be a home health care aide, is fleecing her clients. Detective Poppy Harmon poses as a weakened elderly widow needing assistance and hires Tanya as her aide. It is a trap. Tanya and her two partners are arrested. Someone does not want Poppy to testify in court and attempts to kill her. Sadly, her neighbor is killed when the woman borrows Poppy’s car, and it goes over a cliff. Poppy’s new air conditioner unit explodes after a phony technician supposedly repairs it. Most people assume Poppy died in that explosion

Poppy masquerades as Matt Flowers’ advisor, his elderly Aunt Bea, when he appears on a reality show titled “My Dream Man”. Matt and Poppy fear that Jesse, the bachelorette on the show, is the stalker’s next target.

These quick cozy mysteries are fun to read.

Desert Flowers Mystery series

Poppy Harmon Investigates – 2018

Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury – 2019

Poppy Harmon and the Pillow Talk Killer – 2021

Poppy Harmon and the Backstabbing Bachelor – 2022

~Emma



  
   

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here we have some new exciting releases for you to take a look at this week! 

Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer – In this highly anticipated follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Less: A Novel, Arthur Less, after the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis, sets out on a literary adventure across the U.S. during which he must finally face his personal demons.

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout – Former married couple now lifelong friends, New Yorkers Lucy Barton and William, as a panicked world goes into lockdown, hunker down in a little house in Maine on the edge of the sea where they are faced with fear, struggles and isolation as well as hope, peace and possibilities.

The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman – While Elizabeth is presented with a deadly mission—kill or be killed—the Thursday Murder Club and their unlikely new friends, including TV stars, money launderers and ex-KGB colonels, investigate two murders, 10 years apart, and must catch the culprit and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again.

A Truth to Lie For by Anne Perry – Britain’s MI6 sends Elena Standish on a dangerous mission to smuggle a breakthrough weapon in germ warfare out of Germany before the developers can tell Hitler it exists in the fourth novel of the series following A Darker Reality.

Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks – After his own musical career was tragically roadblocked, Colby Mills meets and falls for a graduate of a prestigious college music program looking to become a star in Nashville, in the new novel from the best-selling author of The Wish.

Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory – Accidentally and unknowingly having a one-night stand with her new employee the night before his first day, stressed out Napa Valley winery owner Margot Nobel tries to keep things purely professional, but fails miserably.

Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization by Neil deGrasse Tyson – Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, an astrophysicist discusses the scientific palette that sees and paints the world differently, sharing insights on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive in a universe stimulating a deeper sense of unity for us all.

Suspect by Scott Turow – Investigating the high-profile case of police chief Lucia Gomez, who is accused of soliciting sex for promotions to higher ranks, P.I. Clarice “Pinky” Granum must unravel the dark secrets of the people closest to Gomez, drawing her into the deepest recesses of the city’s criminal networks.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Take a look at some of the exciting new releases coming to our shelves in this week…

Clive Cussler’s Hellburner : When Juan Cabrillo fails to capture the leader of Mexico’s most dangerous drug cartel and loses an Oregon crew member in the process, he’s determined to get revenge. Little does he know that the explosion he just narrowly escaped was merely the latest flash of violence from a machine of war that has existed for decades, dating from the bloodiest episode in Armenia’s history.

All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns : Like Jenny Lawson and Caitlin Moran, Emmy-nominated actress and writer Betty Gilpin delivers a lightning-strike dispatch of hilarious, intimate, and luminous essays on how to navigate this weird and wondrous life.

The Wuhan Cover-Up: How US Health Officials Conspired with the Chinese Military to Hide the Origins of COVID-19

The Wuhan Cover-up : From the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly bestselling author of The Real Anthony Fauci comes an explosive exposé of the cover-up behind the true origins of COVID-19.The Wuhan Cover-up unveils a US/Chinese conspiracy of epic proportion and lethal consequence.

The Ways We Hide : A sweeping World War II tale of an illusionist whose recruitment by British intelligence sets her on a perilous, heartrending path. Inspired by stunning true accounts, The Ways We Hide is a gripping story of love and loss, the wars we fight—on the battlefields and within ourselves—and the courage found in unexpected places.

The American Roommate Experiment : From the author of the Goodreads Choice Award winner The Spanish Love Deception, the eagerly anticipated follow-up featuring Rosie Graham and Lucas Martín, who are forced to share a New York apartment. Rosie Graham has a problem. A few, actually. She just quit her well paid job to focus on her secret career as a romance writer. She hasn’t told her family and now has terrible writer’s block. Then, the ceiling of her New York apartment literally crumbles on her.

On the Rooftop : A stunning novel about a mother whose dream of musical stardom for her three daughters collides with the daughters’ ambitions for their own lives—set against the backdrop of gentrifying 1950s San Francisco.

The Rising Tide : For fifty years a group of friends have been meeting regularly for reunions on Holy Island, celebrating the school trip where they met, and the friend that they lost to the rising causeway tide five years later.

It’s Not Me, It’s You : Two therapists analyze their own relationship to help untangle the common and frustrating barriers many individuals face on the road to a happy, loving, rewarding partnership.

Court of the Vampire Queen : All Mina ever wanted was to escape her father’s control. Half human, half vampire, she lived eternally torn between two worlds, never fully experiencing the pleasures of either—until her father chose her as the pawn in his latest political move, gifting her to the darkly powerful and dangerously seductive Malachi Zion.

~Semanur

A Coastal Cozy Mystery

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Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride
by Lorenzo Carcaterra

A widow in her seventies, Nonna Maria has never strayed far from her home island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples, Italy. She has no phone or car or TV, is known by all for her kindness and generosity, and is an expert on local history. Nonna Maria’s real skill lies in her ability to solve problems, and when things go wrong, her fellow islanders look to her for guidance.

When a local young woman confesses that she is unsure how she wound up engaged to a stranger, Nonna Maria offers to hide the bride and look into her new fiancé’s dark and mysterious past to discover how he tricked her into the promise of marriage.

Meanwhile, Pasquale, an Ischia tour boat captain and friend to Nonna Maria has drowned while piloting his boat. The local police chief believes it was a drunken accident. Nonna Maria knows that Pasquale, a lifelong sailor, could swim regardless of being drunk on wine. She decides to look into who might benefit from the man’s early demise.

Nonna Maria’s relies on her friendships with locals, including a crime boss, a priest, and a local mechanic to help her to get to the bottom of most matters, but she also has a sixth sense that tells her when something or someone is just not quite on the level. As she investigates these dangerous characters who are willing to trick innocent women or commit murder in order to get what they want, she begins to wonder if she has taken on too much this time.

Nonna Maria is like a breath of fresh air, whose recipe for happiness includes her home brewed coffee, a glass of good wine, and sharing her delicious home-cooked meals with her neighbors and family. With Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride, Lorenzo Carcaterra has gifted readers with a delightfully cozy mystery that will leave you yearning to travel to Italy or, at the very least, eagerly awaiting the next installment in this new series.

-Carol

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Check out this selection of new releases for your enjoyment coming this week!

The Ink Black Heart (A Cormoran Strike Novel) by [Robert Galbraith]

The Ink Black Heart : The latest installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case. A gripping, fiendishly clever mystery, The Ink Black Heart is a true tour-de-force.

The House of Fortune : Alive with the magic of Amsterdam, the enchanting new historical novel from the author of the sensational New York Times bestseller The Miniaturist, which has sold more than two million copies. A feat of sweeping, magical storytelling, The House of Fortune is an unputdownable novel about love and obsession, family and loyalty, and the fantastic power of secrets.

The Thread Collectors : 1863: In a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he knew of her clandestine activities. Loosely inspired by the authors’ family histories, this stunning novel will stay with readers for a long time.

Lady Joker, Volume 2 by Kaoru Takamura

Lady Joker : This second half of Lady Joker, by Kaoru Takamura, the Grand Dame of Japanese crime fiction, concludes the breathtaking saga introduced in Volume I. Inspired by the real-life Glico-Morinaga kidnapping, an unsolved case that terrorized Japan for two years, Lady Joker reimagines the circumstances of this watershed episode in modern Japanese history and brings into riveting focus the lives and motivations of the victims, the perpetrators, the heroes and the villains.

Feeding Littles and Beyond : An inspirational, accessible family cookbook that offers everything a parent needs to bring joy and love back into the kitchen, by the baby and toddler feeding experts behind Feeding Littles and the New York Times bestselling cookbook author of Inspiralized.

Number One Fan : Terrifying and timely, set against the backdrop of convention culture and the MeToo reckoning, Number One Fan unflinchingly examines the tension between creator and work, fandom and source material, and the rage of fans who feel they own fiction.

~Semanur

A Cozy Mystery from 1993

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Lori Shephard is having a tough time. She is recently divorced and working a temporary job for minimum pay. Her mother has just passed away. Lori receives a letter from Willis & Willis, a prestigious Boston law firm, informing her that Dimity Westwood has left her a large inheritance. Lori thought that Dimity was a figment of her mother’s imagination when sharing bedtime stories making Aunt Dimity the hero.

The stories have been compiled into a book and Lori is given the assignment to write the introduction before being submitted for publishing. Lori must travel to Dimity’s Cotswold’s cottage in England and has a month to complete the introduction. Bill, the younger partner of the law firm, is her traveling companion. Upon arrival, the pair discover the ghost of Dimity haunts the cottage, and she is willing to communicate only with Lori.

Lori discovers 40 years’ worth of correspondence between her mother and Dimity. The women met by pure happenstance in London and became fast friends and confidants. There is a mystery to the story Lori attempts to uncover surrounding Dimity and a pilot during WWII.

The book is more than a mystery or a fun ghost story. It is the beginning of a tender romance. The first book in the Aunt Dimity mystery series was published in 1993. Since then, there have been twenty-five titles in the series.

~Emma

New Historical Fiction

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The Unkept Woman: a Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery

Both Iris and Gwen love working at the Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Gwen Bainbridge, a war widow, is seeking to regain custody of her young son and to regain control of her finances. In 1944 after Gwen’s husband was killed, she attempted suicide and was committed to an asylum. Her in-laws were given custody of Ronnie, Gwen’s son. Iris Sparks, a former spy, is happy to have left her old life behind but cannot totally escape it.

It is 1946 when pregnant Helena Jablonski, a Polish widow, shows up at the Right Sort Marriage Bureau to make a connection with Iris. Helena needs help and was told Iris could help her.

Sadly, Helena is killed in Iris’ apartment. Even though Gwen had been warned by her attorney and psychiatrist that being involved with another murder investigation could jeopardize her ability to regain custody of her son, both Gwen and Iris become involved in solving the murder.

The fourth entry in the Sparks & Bainbridge mystery series is a fun quick read. (Their matchmaking business is less important in this entry in the series.) I heartily recommend reading them in order.

The Right Sort of Man (2019)

A Royal Affair (2020)

A Rogue’s Company (2021)

The Unkept Woman (2022)

~Emma

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here some of the new exciting releases for you to take a look at this week!

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell – In this sequel to the best-selling The Family Upstairs, two women are faced with complicated mysteries that are linked to a cold case that left three people dead in a Chelsea mansion 30 years ago.

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin – Liv Reese, waking up holding a bloodstained knife and her hands covered in scribbled messages, remembers nothing from the past two years and goes on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing, followed by someone who will do anything to stop her from remembering—permanently.

Bark to the Future by Spencer Quinn – When dog Chet and his human, Bernie Little, run into a homeless panhandler who turns out to be an old classmate, they investigate his past in the thirteenth novel of the series following It’s a Wonderful Woof.

Sister Friends Forever by Kimberla Roby – This powerful story of friendship follows four best friends who, leading very different lives, come together each month to discuss their hopes and dreams.

A Dark and Stormy Tea by Laura Childs – After witnessing the murder of her friend Lois’ daughter, tea shop owner and amateur sleuth Theodosia Browning investigates and is surprised when so many suspects turn up in the latest addition to the long-running series, following Twisted Tea Christmas.

Heat 2 by Michael Mann & Meg Gardiner – Follows the formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna and an elite group of criminals and crime syndicates, in the new novel by the four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker and writer-director of Heat, Collateral and Miami Vice.

I Remember You by Brian Freeman – After dying at a rooftop party in Las Vegas on the Fourth of July, Hallie Evers wakes up in the hospital, disoriented, but alive, with memories that are not fully her own and embarks on a cross-country search for answers.

~Semanur

As Seen On TV

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If you’ve been lucky enough to have seen AMC’s new series Dark Winds, I’m guessing you are hooked like I am. Set in the 1970s Southwest, this riveting police procedural is produced by Robert Redford and George R. R. Martin and has a multifaceted plot which weaves Navajo tradition into its mysteries. The first season follows Navajo police officers Sherriff Joe Leaphorn, his new partner Jim Chee and deputy Bernadette Manuelito as they attempt to solve mysteries involving an armed bank heist, a missing helicopter and a murder of a young girl who appears frightened to death. With Indigenous talent, both in front of and behind the camera (the writers are all Native American), well-written characters, dark psychological themes, and a satisfying series finale, this show is destined to be a hit and has already been renewed for a second season.

If you can’t (or don’t) stream TV, you’re still in luck. Dark Winds is based on a fabulous series of books created by mystery writer Tony Hillerman. Hillerman wrote eighteen Leaphorn and Chee mysteries, from 1970 to 2006. When he passed away in 2008, his daughter Anne Hillerman took up the torch, writing an additional seven books starring Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito, with more to follow. Anne’s books reignite an already engrossing series by allowing Bernadette Manuelito to grow and develop as a main character. And, like her dad, Anne Hillerman paints a wonderful tapestry in each book, deftly juggling multiple plot lines as her characters are forced to solve complex local crimes, often putting them at odds with other members of their Navajo community.

Check out The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman, and be prepared to deep dive into a character-driven, riveting mystery with folklore and the supernatural at its core, set against a barren and beautiful landscape. And then rest easy, knowing you can spend time with your new friends for many books to come, simply by picking up the next 23 books in the series.

-Carol