December Titles

This post is early and it will be a quick one I am afraid. I am on my way out of town but wanted to get started on December's entries that perhaps don't have the name value yet.

First, is Ann Cleeves and Harbour Street: A Vera Stanhope Mystery which comes out on Dec 1. Cleeves writes British police procedural and this series is set in northeast England. Her story lines are intricately plotted and her writing is compelling. This series has been made into a very popular Netflix television series. Vera Stanhope is a Detective Inspector who by her own account is fat, ugly, and drinks too much. She has a sharp tongue and an abrasive manner. This title is the sixth title in the series. In this work, an older woman is stabbed and killed on a crowded train just before the holiday season. No one has seen it happen. Vera and her partner Detective Joe Ashworth start the investigation when another woman dies. The trail leads to Harbour Street where no one wants to talk. Cleeves is an award winning author who deserves a bigger following in the states.

Christopher Fowler is another British author who deserves a greater following in the US. He has Bryant & May and the Burning Man coming out on December 15. The Bryant and May mysteries are historical (beginning during the Blitz and ending in 21st century London) with a Gothic feel and really seemingly impossible crimes. Both Bryant and May are older members of Scotland Yard's Peculiar Crimes Unit and in this work, they are following leads to determine who is setting men on fire. This work is the 12th in the series. It is darkly funny (do those two words really belong together?) and suspenseful.

Now we have Jenn McKinlay who has moved into hardback from paperback for A Likely Story, the sixth in the Library Lover's Mystery series. McKinlay writes mysteries with a strong sense of place - usually cozy mysteries. This series features Lindsey Norris, the director of the Briar Creek Public Library. Norris is an amateur sleuth and the town has lots of murders to investigate. In this work, Lindsey must solve a murder and a missing person's case involving two reclusive brothers.How could I not love a series called 'Library Lover's' and McKinlay was a librarian too so she knows what she is talking about from a library point of view.

One more to keep you busy while I am gone, Douglas Schofield's debut mystery, Time of Departure which comes out on December 1. Even critics who did not enjoy the work say that Schofield can write but the fans definitely outweigh the one or two who did not care for it. This mystery is intricately plotted and suspenseful. The lead is a strong female character. Claire Talbot, a Florida state prosecutor, is promoted to Felony Division chief. Many do not trust her because of her youth and gender. When a highway construction crew unearths two skeletons, she must reopen the investigation into abductions that took place before she was born. This work had at least 6 five star reviews to every 2 or 3 star review. Reviewers stayed up late to finish it and many said it is impossible to put down.

OK - only 4 to choose from this week. I'll do better when I am back - I promise. See if one of these will tide you over.