“Quiet, please, for more murder and mayhem at the Briar Creek Library.” killer research
KILLER RESEARCH
are far from convinced that he’s the guilty party. Luckily, Eva’s boyfriend, constable Miles Brannock, is on their side when the murder of another historical society member confirms their suspicion that some sleuthing is in order. After a picture is stolen from the house and Phoebe’s Grams is attacked, Phoebe wonders how much she should credit rumors that a treasure’s been hidden in Foxwood Hall. Questioning members of the historical society reveals that all is not well among the group, and many secrets emerge—but which of them is worth killing for? Beneath all the red herrings is an appealingly perceptive look at England between the wars.
McKinlay, Jenn Berkley (304 pp.) $26.00 | Nov. 2, 2021 978-0-593101-77-3
FROM A DARK HORIZON
McCallin, Luke Berkley (528 pp.) $28.00 | Dec. 7, 2021 978-0-425282-92-2
All is not quiet on the Western Front. Lt. Gregor Reinhardt, of the 17th Prussian Fusiliers, is roused in the middle of a July night in 1918 with news of a bizarre bombing and the condemnation of one of his men, Willy Sattler, for the deed. The left-wing Sattler, who’s recently been demoted to private, has reportedly taken his own life after blowing up a house full of officers. Flashbacks reveal Reinhardt’s testy exchanges with the anti-war Sattler, but he can’t find any hard data about Sattler’s role in the bombings or his movements shortly before. The insolent push back he gets from Voigt, one of Sattler’s closest friends, gives Reinhardt pause. When he learns that Sattler is not dead but lying in a coma, Reinhardt, who can’t help being disturbed by the rush to judgment on the man’s alleged demise without sufficient evidence, begins to investigate. He finds an unlikely ally in Sgt. Rudolf Brauer, who becomes his sidekick after having similar misgivings. Since McCallin, whose three previous Gregor Reinhardt mysteries are set during or after World War II, is as concerned with history as mystery, the two are closely intertwined here. The author lays out the tension between the pro-war mainstream German government and the rising Social Democrats as well as the murkier role of the Russians in the war. Series fans should enjoy his portrait of the younger, more impulsive Reinhardt, and a cast of characters proves helpful in keeping the players straight. A weighty war novel whose mystery reflects the synergy between the political and personal.
y o u n g a d u lt
Quiet, please, for more murder and mayhem at the Briar Creek Library. Library director Lindsey Norris has taken care to separate her job from her enthusiastic backing of Ms. Cole, head of circulation, who’s running for mayor. Unfortunately, the present mayor, furious about facing competition for a position he’s long held, makes a scene at the library denouncing Ms. Cole as too old for the job. Mayor Hensen is delighted when a body is found in Ms. Cole’s car, which is parked in the library lot, and eager to see her arrested. Since Lindsey has plenty of past experience with murder, she begins her own investigation with the help of her husband, Sully, and plenty of her friends. At first there seems to be no connection between the dead man and Ms. Cole, but his eventual identification by his business partner as Henry Lewis, to whom Ms. Cole was briefly engaged almost 40 years ago, sends her right to the head of the suspect line. The mayor and his cronies show no shame in exploiting the situation; Ms. Cole, for her part, wavers between continuing her campaign in high style and considering dropping out for the good of the town. Lindsay revisits both Ms. Cole’s activist past and Lewis’ recent problems to winkle out a killer with an unusually well-hidden motive. Plenty of well-defined characters add charm and bite to a thorny mystery.
FROM LADLE TO GRAVE
Meade, Amy Patricia Severn House (224 pp.) $28.99 | Dec. 7, 2021 978-0-7278-9056-6
The death of a retired law officer reunites a sleuthing couple. Tish Tarragon, who owns a literarythemed cafe in Hobson Glen, Virginia, has been quite a successful amateur sleuth. After a hiatus, Sheriff Clemson Reade is back in town, and their attraction to each other heats up when he hires Tish as a consultant in the murder of retired Sheriff Gadsden Carney, whom Tish found dead on the grave of Daisy Honeycutt. Twenty-five years ago, Carney had investigated 6-year-old Daisy’s murder, a sensational case that was eventually closed when her mother confessed to killing her. Now Clemson and Tish realize they must revisit the case because it may provide the motive for Carney’s murder. Carney always thought the mystery hadn’t been correctly solved, and since Daisy’s father was a wealthy and powerful senator who whisked his wife and son away before even talking to the police, a coverup seems likely. The senator and his wife, Delilah, were |
kirkus.com
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mystery
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1 october 2021
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33
