mystery Archives - Page 11 of 16 -

“Simon Said” by Sarah R. Shaber

“Simon Said,” the first in Sarah Shaber’s Professor Simon Shaw Mystery series, is set in 1996 Raleigh, North Carolina. Simon Shaw is a history professor at an area college, and needing a distraction from his personal life, takes on a cold case investigation. The body of a woman, possibly someone who has been missing for 70 years, is discovered during an archeological dig on the campus. And, it is a body with a bullet hole in her skull.

Shaw is called in to help the police with possible clues as to her identity, but because of his previous study of the famous local family, he knows immediately who she is. Heiress Anne Bloodworth was thought to have run away in 1926, but Shaw isn’t so sure that the old rumors fit the facts. His determined search for the truth behind the Bloodworth girl’s death uncovers details about the disappearance that were kept hidden at the time by those who knew her. Those revelations have far-reaching consequences affecting the present in startling ways.

Shaber has written Shaw as a flawed, but tenderhearted and gifted man, stunned by his wife’s departure from his life, and unconcerned about rivalry within his own department. Shaw’s position at the college, his continuous presence in the limelight, his academic success (a Pulitzer Prize) have all combined to make him a target of gossip and threats. He dismisses the internal college politics with alarming results and we wonder if he will stay alive long enough to solve the absorbing Bloodworth mystery.

There are fascinating characters in “Simon Said,” engaging dialogue, a possible new love interest, a good friend who has Simon’s back, and outstanding research into the 1926 era in Raleigh and the historic neighborhood surrounding Cameron Village. Against this wonderful backdrop, the beautifully developed, multi-layered plot is a treat.

In 1996, Sarah Shaber won a Malice Domestic/St. Martin’s Press Award for “Simon Said” (in manuscript form) as the Best First Traditional Mystery. It’s been in print ever since and this year is its 20^th anniversary. There are five titles in the series.

For more information about Sarah Shaber and her other series, please visit her Amazon author page.

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“Cold Feet” by Karen Pullen

2 Comments / Debut Author, Mystery

“Cold Feet,” Karen Pullen’s debut novel, introduces us to ambitious Stella Lavender, a North Carolina SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) agent. Lavender is working as an undercover drug agent, wearing skimpy outfits and making drug buys in questionable neighborhoods. She’d rather switch to homicide investigations.

Lavender and her free-thinking grandmother attend an almost wedding that never takes place because the bride is found dead before she can walk down the aisle. Stella is pumped. A homicide dumped into her lap and she’s the first one on the scene? She’ll have the chance to prove that she’s ready to transfer out of the unpredictable narcotics scene.

But wait…why would anyone want to kill the bride? And poison her with such a grotesque result? The secret that Stella uncovers about the bride will pull the family apart and challenge the belief system of all those who knew her. But, was the secret worth killing for? As a bonus, the investigation reveals more than one secret during the search for the murderer.

Lavender teams up with a local detective and the autopsy discloses a fact about Justine (the victim) that creates a list of likely suspects longer than they thought possible. Nobody is beyond suspicion – even the groom is on the list. Jealousy, rage, old boyfriends, and cover-ups all play a part in the expertly crafted, multi-layered, adult plot threads. Not the least of which is that Stella’s day job is still ongoing, so she must balance the druggies with the murder, while saving herself and protecting her grandmother from the crazies in both arenas.

Pullen has written some great dialogue, in addition to interesting characters in “Cold Feet” that balance each other nicely. Stella herself is a well-drawn young woman with her own set of issues, and has the appropriate training, attitude, and skill set to carry off the lead role in an investigative series.

Interwoven with the action, “Cold Feet” presents an interesting look at a modern Southern value system – part religious, part political, part historical – that outsiders encounter whenever they enter the world graced with languid days, unspoken corruption, and slowly changing standards. Pullen describes the beauty of the countryside and the cherished traditions, while at the same time gently exposing the pull/push between the realities of the Old and New South.

Big takeaway from “Cold Feet”: The past will out and come back to trip you up. It may even get you killed.

Whatever you do, get Pullen’s next book, “Cold Heart,” out in 2017. For more information about Karen Pullen and her work, please visit www.karenpullen.com

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“Drizzled with Death” by Jessie Crockett

“The Longest Yard Sale” by Sherry Harris

“Musseled Out” by Barbara Ross

Cozy, Mystery

Julia Snowden is back in “Musseled Out,” the third installment of Barbara Ross’ great Maine Clambake Mystery series.

The Maine summer tourist season is winding down and it’s time for Julia to make a decision. Should she stay around until the next season to help the family with the Snowden Clambake business or go back to her venture capital job in New York City? Her boss will only hold her spot open for so long – just until the end of the week. She’s got five days to choose between two jobs and lifestyles that could not be more different.

Now that the family livelihood has been saved, about the only thing that really holds Julia to Busman’s Harbor is her boyfriend, Chris. But, is that relationship really just a summer fling? Can she count on him to hang around? Is his constant disappearing act over? In a half-hearted attempt to force herself into making a decision, she looks at places to live in town. She doesn’t like the apartments she’s seen, and her boyfriend’s cabin is a little rough (translation – gutted while being rehabbed) for her taste. Plus, she has to find work in the off-season. Is that a sign?

The thing is, as in any good series, there has to be motivation for the out-of-town main character to hang around. We don’t want Julia to go anywhere, so Ross has to give this smart, savvy gal in “Musseled Out” an authentic reason. How about the body of a potential competitor, David Thwing, tangled up in the lines of a lobster boat she sees drifting off her beach? Julia has helped the local police successfully before, so they trust her not to be involved in Thwing’s death, but there are plenty of people (including her brother-in-law) in her circle that could have done the deed.

What follows is a beautifully crafted plot, with surprising twists and turns, and impeccably placed events that foil the bad guys’ plans. There is even a page-turning rescue scene that left me stunned, with the life and death struggles reading like an actual Coast Guard response.

Ross has developed the core characters of the series even further in “Musseled Out,” giving Gus and Mrs. Gus a storyline of their own that affects Julia and Chris in a profound way. The book not only explores what happens when key personnel in a family business are sidelined, and the serious decisions that must be made, but also how bad decisions can wreck havoc on the lives of everyone involved.

The motivations for everything that happens are as current as the latest news cycle, but if that’s not enough, there are some serious cooks in this series. Techniques are shared as part of the storyline, and I plan to try the one for fried eggs. Recipes for main dishes and desserts are included at the end of the book. I made lobster mac & cheese from “Clammed Up,” (delicious) and I can’t wait to try the pumpkin whoopee pies from “Musseled Out.”

Well done!

Read the review of “Clammed Up,” the first in the series, here.

For more information about Barbara Ross and her next book, “Fogged Inn,” please visit www.maineclambakemysteries.com

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“Suspendered Sentence” by Laura Bradford

Amish, Bestselling Author, Cozy, Mystery

Laura Bradford’s “Suspendered Sentence” continues the story of Claire and Jakob in the fourth book of her bestselling Amish Mystery series. Claire Weatherly, big city escapee and now shopkeeper in the Amish community of Heavenly, Pennsylvania, lives in her aunt’s bed & breakfast, helps with the Inn’s upkeep and enjoys her simpler country life.

Claire’s heart is mending after a bad marriage, and she has come to value her time with Jakob Fisher, a shunned former member of the Amish, a Detective on the police force that oversees law enforcement for the entire town, including the Amish.

In “Suspendered Sentence,” an Amish barn burns to the ground and when the barn raising begins, a skeleton is found on the property. If that isn’t enough, the skeleton is found with a bracelet that had been given to a missing girl some 15 years before. Jakob must investigate, but being shunned, is not allowed to speak with the Amish directly about what has occurred. Claire continues her intermediary role in order to get to the truth. Their relationship has developed quietly through the series, as their attraction to each other warms, moving beyond their investigative bond.

Bradford skillfully weaves in details of Amish culture, with more about the Rumspringa tradition in “Suspendered Sentence.” During Rumspringa season, the sixteen year olds experience the world beyond the isolated community and afterwards are able make an informed choice about becoming baptized and living out their lives as Amish. Occasionally, teens do leave permanently after Rumspringa, but the ones that stay supposedly have no regrets or worries about what they might be missing by staying. So, when the murdered girl had originally disappeared during Rumspringa, nobody went looking for her. It was unexpected to have no goodbyes, but not unheard of.

In the course of the investigation, terrible and unexpected secrets are revealed, jealousy is uncovered, and bitterness erupts in destructive ways. The characters’ relationships are touching and difficult and quite real in this outwardly gentle community. We feel the pain, the anguish and finally horror as long hidden truths are laid bare and discussed.

Bradford’s effective use of Amish cultural values as a plot device, some of which might make little sense to an outsider, keeps us turning the pages in this well written mystery. The barn raising after the fire in “Suspendered Sentence,” is a fascinating look at how the community bands together when disaster strikes. We learn why Jakob is not allowed to speak with his own family members and along the way, Aunt Diane provides comforting advice and insight to Claire about the Amish.

Layers of complex stories involve both communities, with elections, family squabbles, new employees, the lives of the English and the Amish both clashing and blending, all leading to a surprising outcome.

“Suspendered Sentence” is a wonderful addition to the series. 🙂

Please visit www.laurabradford.com for more information about Bradford and the Amish Mystery series, as well as other books she writes under a pseudonym.

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“Trapline” by Mark Stevens

Award Winner, Mystery, Suspense, Western

“Trapline” is the third book in Mark Stevens’ series featuring Allison Coil, a hunting guide with a talent for looking beyond the obvious in order to solve crimes in her beloved Colorado mountains. With a past that still haunts her, she is happiest away from crowds of people, following the trails into the hills on her horse, or guiding hunting parties to bag big game. Her boyfriend, Colin, a hunk that also works for her, is making serious inroads into her heart. Who can resist a guy that knows how to use an atlatl and understands without asking, what she needs?

A mangled body is found near a campsite, and Allison’s investigation leads to a horrifying discovery. A Senatorial candidate is shot during an outdoor speech in a nearby town, but why? And does the shooting have anything to do with the body in the mountains? As the parallel storylines sizzle and explode in “Trapline,” Stevens reveals a lot about the depths to which humans will go when greed is involved. We learn more about one of this country’s hot button topics: undocumented workers. Problems with the border, people who seek to exploit the undocumented and/or transient workers, the impact on the economy, and the scandal of private prisons, are all explored from several sides of the complex issues.

Allison’s best friend, Trudy, the pesto queen and kitchen cook delivering to local stores in book #2, has grown into a full fledged regional farmer and business woman who supplies assorted organic, locally sourced goodies throughout the region. This character is so well-developed that I felt compelled to search for pesto recipes while reading “Buried by the Roan.” A vegan pal shared a great one. 🙂

The survival of Trudy’s business may be at stake in “Trapline,” because Trudy hired workers that she thought were legal, but may not all be. She has a few that she knows very well, but as in any growing organization that hires temporary farm workers, it’s practically impossible to know everyone’s story and how they came to work there. Her boyfriend has been in charge of managing the company and she has happily given him more and more control. Can a couple survive when linked together in both business and love?

The unspoiled mountains of Colorado take center stage again, with discussions about the tugs of war between commercial development and a wish to keep the wild safe and protected from greedy businessmen – businessmen who seem ignorant of the fact that destroying the very wilderness that provides their livelihood gets them to sum zero. Nobody wins.

Readers of “Buried by the Roan” will recognize the central characters in “Trapline,” with Duncan Bloom taking a greater role this time, and others changing/growing as the books continue. Allison is tenacious about her love of the high country and fights to keep its reputation and glory intact, despite several threats to her own safety. She is tenacious about maintaining her privacy as well, but a few edges have softened since her arrival in the first book, and Stevens lets us see more of the vulnerabilities and strengths of this very human lead character.

Stevens is adept at weaving the majesty of the Colorado terrain with the serious societal and political topics he brings to each book. With layers of compelling story and a solid group of friends in Allison, Trudy, and the rest of the tight-knit crew, he creates page-turners that linger with us long after the books have ended.

“Trapline” won the 2015 Colorado Book Award for Mystery, and the 2015 Colorado Authors League Award for Genre Fiction. Deservedly so.

Read the review of “Buried by the Roan,” here.

“Lake of Fire,” the fourth in the series, will be available on September 8, 2015.

For more about Mark Stevens and his work, please visit www.writermarkstevens.com

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