Good Reads & Views

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
Fiction

What it’s about: Naomi and her two best friends are infamous for putting away a serial killer when they were kids, after an encounter in the woods. Only the girls were there that day, and the small community sees them as heroes, but they’re also liars. After learning the killer who attacked her has died in prison 22 years later, Naomi goes back to their small town of Chester, and she begins to question what she really saw that day in the woods.

Why you might like it: Marshall’s writing is powerfully descriptive in this novel, bringing even more darkness and magic to the woods. This dark thriller offers a look into a community full of secrets and webs of lies that cause many twists and reveals that leave readers feeling stranded in the woods just like Naomi.

Reviewers say: “Unexpected plot twists, deep psychological perspicacity, and an endlessly interesting dance between past and present...evokes the dread and intensity of Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects” (NYT Book Review).

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A Traitor in Whitehall by Julia Kelly
Fiction

What it’s about: Evelyne Redfern is glad to leave her WWII factory job to work in Churchill’s underground Cabinet War Rooms. She’s been recruited to work in the typing pool to uncover who is leaking information to the Germans. On her very first day she discovers the body of one of her fellow typists. An avid mystery-reader, Evelyn is less than impressed by the pair of military police assigned to the case and decides to investigate herself. But David Poole from the Ministry of Information is also investigating, and Evelyne is eager to join forces with him. This feisty heroine will keep you turning the pages of this one.

Reviewers say: “Romance, feminism, and historical detail combine in an exciting new series” (Kirkus);  “Kelly's story, a cross between a Nancy Drew mystery and an Agatha Christie tale, sometimes requires leaps of logic, but its gentle humor, unexpected twists, clever heroine, and wartime setting make it a pleasurable read” (Booklist).

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Exiles by Jane Harper
Fiction

What it’s about: In his third appearance in the series (after The Dry and Force of Nature), Agent Aaron Falk attends a christening that had to be cancelled the previous year. It coincided with a popular food & wine festival where a woman disappeared after leaving her baby unattended. Now, a year later, both the christening and the annual festival are once again back on the schedule and Aaron is having second thoughts about the assumed suicide of the woman a year earlier.

Scenery: Jane Harper’s books always have the various landscapes of the land down under as a backdrop. Here the setting is South Australia’s lush wine country.

Reviewers say: “Writing at the top of her game, Harper effectively uses whodunit tropes to explore her characters’ hidden lives. Readers interested in literate and nuanced mysteries will be eager to see more of Falk” (Publishers Weekly); “For those who enjoy a slow burn with a satisfying conclusion” (LibraryReads).

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Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn
Fiction

What it’s about: Newly widowed Loretta Plansky is beset by relatives’ demands for money, so when she receives a phone call in the middle of the night from someone claiming to be her grandson Will, she doesn’t blink. What she does do is give him the password to her checking account. Next morning she wakes up three million dollars poorer, the victim of a scam. The FBI can only tell her the money went to a little town in Romania, and there’s no way to recover it. Not what Mrs. Plansky wants to hear, so she hops a plane to Romania and sets about recovering her lost wealth. This rollicking story is a treat you won’t want to miss! 

Reviewers say: “Readers will root for 71-year-old Loretta as she stumbles onto clues and, despite a less-than-stellar memory, finds the gumption to follow them” (Booklist); “Fans of Richard Osman's "Thursday Murder Club" series will appreciate the latest addition to the ranks of older sleuths” (Library Journal). 

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A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny
Fiction

What it’s about: In the village of Three Pines a bricked up-room is discovered that contains a copy of a 17th century painting, The Paston Treasure, but with some modern additions. At the same time, Chief Inspector Gamache revisits his first case with this second-in-command and now son-in-law, Jean Guy Beauvoir, and travels even further back in time to a mass slaying at Montreal's École Polytechnique, when Gamache was just starting out in the police force.

Reviewers say: Kirkus calls this “one of Penny's best. Penny will have you turning the pages as fast as you can to see how she'll manage to tie everything together”; “blends nuanced characterization with nail-biting suspense” (Publishers Weekly).

Here's a taste: "Everyone, he knew, had one. A locked room. Either in their home, or their head, or their heart. Where things that should never see the light of day lived, and waited. For their chance to escape."

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Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings by Liz Ireland
Fiction

What it’s about: When widowed April met Nick Claus at her Oregon inn, she never dreamed he was part of the Claus family – in fact, holder of the title “Santa” himself. Now Mrs. Claus lives near the North Pole in a land inhabited by elves and snowmen. When one of the elves is murdered, suspicion falls on Nick. When Inspector Jake Frost (not Jack) starts finding clues pointing to Nick, April knows she has to find the truth to clear her husband. But she has only known him for a few months – what if she has married a murderer? 

Reviewers say: “This fun, well-plotted mystery is the perfect holiday entertainment” (Publisher’s Weekly). 

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Dying in the Wool by Frances Brody
Fiction

What it’s about: Kate Shackleton is a widow who lost her husband in World War I. Now, in 1922, she spends her time as an amateur sleuth helping find missing people. An old friend, Tabitha Braithwaite, is about to get married and she wants Kate to locate her father who has been missing since 1916. Kate agrees and starts sniffing around the mill town of Bridgestead where Joshua Braithwaite went missing. With her trusty camera in hand, Kate starts questioning the townspeople, and turning up things that someone wants to keep buried. Did Joshua start a new life he wants to keep secret, or did someone kill him all those years ago?

Reviewers say: Frances Brody “introduces a refreshingly complex heroine and adds a fine feeling for the postwar period" (Kirkus Reviews).

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The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray 
Fiction

What it’s about: Jane Austen fans rejoice! Claudia Gray has brought together beloved characters from across Austen’s novels in a historical mystery. Mr. and Mrs. Knightley are having a house party and have invited characters from other Austen books. From the title, readers already know who gets killed, but will be on pins and needles – is their favorite character the murderer? Readers don’t have to be an Austenite to enjoy this historical mystery. 

Reviewers say: “There's so much fun to be had in this reimagined Austen world--and the mystery is so strong--that one can only hope, dear reader, that more books will follow” (Booklist); “A captivating production that's perfect for readers who enjoy historical mysteries and for those Austen fans who'd love to see Mr. Wickham's ultimate comeuppance” (Library Journal).

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The Wolf and the Watchman by Natt Och Dag
Fiction

What it's about: When a mutilated corpse is discovered in a local swamp in 18th-century Stockholm, a disabled ex-soldier and a lawyer with tuberculosis work together to unmask the murderer and prevent another killing.

Reviewers say: "Natt och Dag writes sensory, horror-inducing descriptions of the lives and deaths of the poor inhabitants of Stockholm. At the same time, his characters almost spring off the page, they are so human and so fully realized. Natt och Dag doesn't apologize for human nature, nor does he excuse our crimes and basest cruelties, but his deep dive into the dark corners of our psyches, as well as this harsh time in history, is both chilling and thought-provoking. Relentless, well-written, and nearly impossible to put down” (Kirkus Reviews).

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Plantation Shudders by Ellen Byron
Fiction

What it’s about: Artist Maggie Crozat is back in her home town of Pelican, Louisiana, helping run her family’s B&B in their old plantation. The B&B is full of guests for the local end of summer food festival. When an elderly couple dies within minutes of each other, the good ol’ boy sheriff is only too willing to arrest one of Maggie’s family for murder. Even though the new deputy has a more open mind, Maggie decides to investigate herself. As she digs deeper, motives surface for every guest at the B&B. 

Reviewers say: “A twisty plot and engaging colorful characters complete this mystery's many pleasures” (Library Journal); “Byron's debut brings energy and verve to the cozy formula of a woman returning home after troubles in the big city” (Publishers Weekly).

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