My "Book Bite" column for September was Mysteries. Here it is:
MYSTERIES
It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that mysteries are popular! Simply put, a mystery is a puzzle. The reader is drawn into the story and competes with the fictional detective to unravel the mystery. Also appealing to readers is the strong plotline – a crime is committed, an investigation pursued and a guilty party denounced.
Because of the large numbers of mysteries published, they are usually defined by genre (category). For example, there are police procedurals, female sleuths, historical mysteries and mysteries known for use of locales or incorporating knowledge of a specific subject. There are “cosies” (genteel, no blood & gore), “hard boiled” (tough & gritty) and suspense/thrillers (will the killer be found before s/he strikes again?)
With so many choices, there’s bound to be a mystery for you out there! Come to NVDPL to find the following mystery titles and many, many more.
The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan
Charlie Howard is a writer and a thief, supplementing his literary income with a small heist now and then. He's living in Amsterdam working on his latest book, when an American approaches him with a request for what seems like a simple theft. While Charlie is off breaking and entering, the American gets killed, and Charlie is arrested for murder.
The Grenadillo Box by Janet Gleeson
Nathaniel Hopson, an 18th century journeyman cabinetmaker to London’s Thomas Chippendale, is ordered to the bleak fens of Cambridgeshire to oversee the installation of Lord Montfort's new library. Nathaniel discovers Montfort's body in the library and, the next day, his friend and fellow journeyman John Partridge's corpse frozen in the garden's ornamental pond. Plunged unwillingly into the ensuing investigation, Nathaniel follows confusing clues and conflicting stories from Cambridgeshire to the bedrooms and ballrooms of London.
Kill All the Judges by William Deverell
(Sequel to April Fool) Is someone systematically killing all the judges in B.C., or is this just coincidence at work? Several have disappeared, some under suspicious circumstances, and at least two have been murdered. Retired Arthur Beauchamp, legend of the B.C. bar, once again has to leave his beloved Garibaldi Island to take the case.
All the Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson
Robinson has been crafting these award-winning Inspector Alan Banks mysteries for more than two decades now. (First in the series: Gallows View) Former London policeman Banks relocated to Yorkshire seeking some small measure of peace. But depravity and violence are unfortunately not unique to large cities. His new venue, the quaint village of Eastvale, has more than its fair share of malefactors.
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Set in London in 1930, the heroine, Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, is thirty-fourth in line for the English throne. Georgie has been educated to curtsey, host lavish fetes and marry well. When her brother cuts off her pitiful allowance, Georgie leaves the family home in Scotland for London, determined to become a liberated woman. Georgie starts a maid service, but turns detective after finding a drowned man in her bathtub.
