"Spanish Dagger" by Susan Wittig Albert

Spanish Dagger is the 16th book in the durable China Bayles Mystery series by Susan Wittig Albert. .  I have been a fan from the beginning and when ever possible I like to get these on CD for the car.  This book was no disappointment.  As many of my friends know I appreciate when the author spends a little time catching you up on what is going in the series, JUST in case you have been busy reading other things.  Set in Pecan Springs, Texas about half-way from Austin to San Antonio this book fit nicely with my trek around the country reading mysteries by state.  Consistent with the herbal themes in the series Spanish dagger or also known as yucca plays a big part in the story.  China as usual is a busy bee between her catering business, the herb shop, and a weekend paper making class.But while gathering supplies for her paper making class, she finds a dead body in a patch of yucca plants.  In a side story, China's half-brother Miles has decided to investigate their father's death which was a old and cold case.  Miles asks McQuaid, China's husband and former cop and current PI to help with the case.  The book moves fast and the tidbits about the landscape and the yucca plants was very interesting.  I think Albert was on her game with this book and shows why she has such a devoted following.  In my quest to have books have place be a significant part of the story, this did not disappoint.  I found myself loving the heat, the descriptions and, the flavor of this part of Texas.  Albert keeps a web site and blog about her books which is a great resource.  She provides reading resources too.  If you have not read her books,  I would suggest reading one or two of the beginning in the series where the author establishes the characters and the type of books they will be.  Then, if you read out of order, you can follow along.  I got my book from my public library but check out now your local system for e-books and audios as well as print and as always support your favorite independent book store that I am sure has a few of these great mysteries on the shelf.

Chat by Archer Mayor

Chat by Archer Mayor

Archer Mayor’s best selling series about Lt. Joe Gunther is set in a very different Vermont then is usually conjured up by tourist advertisements. This is the Vermont where houses are set far apart along such winding roads as Route 7; the Vermont where the local car repair shop and its reliability is more critical than the local government. People are few; families are valued and much depends on the weather.

One of Gunther’s biggest woes is the unreliability of cellphones in Vermont, something I experienced myself. He often comments on the effects of snow in softening the rocky landscape and then the less beautiful scenery in Bellows Falls and Brattleboro.

In “Chat” protagonist Gunther is faced with a possible tragedy in his own family with mysterious cause. At the same time, as the lead officer in the fictional Vermont Bureau of Investigation he is striving to solve the mystery of apparently unmarked and unidentified bodies turning up.

Mayor is known for the authenticity of details involving crime investigation and well drawn characters in his 22 book series and this the 18^th is no exception.  Details such as the fact that taser cartridges have ID numbers abound, not to mention details about tie-rods. Some of those details are a result of his varied career covering everything from writer to tour director to part-time EMT and police officer.

More than that, the details about the characters and their motivations are equally intriguing.  Archer’s mother, confined to a wheelchair, is dealing with her own mortality as well as the possible loss of an adult son.  Both sons are dealing with her end of life concerns. Gunther is in transit between relationships in this book making his personal life an additional issue.

A search for Archer Mayor’s website can produce a Joe Gunther bio on a drop down menu which I highly recommend for anyone jumping into the series midway. Equally interesting is Mayor’s autobiography found in the same website. 

This was a perfect read with not one but three surprise endings. More of Joe Gunther is definitely on my reading list.

Next in my Mystery travels, I chose "Dolled Up for Murder" by
Jane Cleland which is set in fictitious coastal New Hampshire town called Rocky Point.  For those of you who know the region it seems very similar to Portsmouth.  For my new readers, my friend Wendy and I are taking a geographical approach to our passion for mystery books and reading novels set in a state in which 'place' is essential to the plot, character, or story.  This book fit the bill for me.  This is book seven in the cozy series that Cleland writes about her main character Josie Prescott who is an antiques dealer.  In this book, Josie acquires a valuable doll collection, and while showing it to one of the town's leading investment gurus Alice Michaels, the woman is shot and killed in front of Josie.  The plot thickens as it were as one of Josie's employees Eric is kidnapped with one simple demand, turn over the doll collection.  The coastal community of New Hampshire is the perfect backdrop to this interesting mystery.   Cleland is descriptive and you can almost smell the sea air as you travel the roads that is Josie's world.  In deciding what to do to help find Eric and handle the kidnappers, Josie finds out inadvertently that the dolls themselves have secrets from the Civil War, including the placement of mystery items inside the dolls.  It is not often that the author crafts a novel that basically began six books ago and keeps your interest.  I am sure that there is a wealth of characters and back story that precede the previous books, but all it did was make me want to go back and read the previous ones.  Josie is a gutsy character that I would love to know and can't wait to delve into other books by this author.  So if you are like me and always looking for that next series that you didn't know existed, choose these mysteries as your next stop and visit Josie at her antique shop in beautiful coastal New Hampshire.  These are available at most public libraries and book stores and print and ebook formats.  Happy reading

A Way with Widows by Harold Adams

This book was picked because for its setting in North Dakota, but turned out to be about a setting of 1930s rural America. Author Harold Adams has garnered praise for his mysteries with P.I. Carl Wilcox as the antagonist including a Shamus award for The Man Who was Taller than God. In this taste of life during the depression, Wilcox goes to the aid of his sister’s friend who is accused of killing her husband albeit in a neighbor’s home.

Wilcox leaves his money-making efforts behind (he repaints signs for merchants) and gets to the task while at the same time training his nephew in the art of fighting the town bully and providing sexual favors to some widows in exchange for information. Wilcox who is a World War I veteran and has done jail time and been a police officer before taking on part time private eye work seemed to be very one dimensional. None of the characters were very likeable even the kind-hearted sister.

I could almost hear the screen doors slamming every time someone came in or out of a house. Summertime in a small town took on entirely new meaning with no shortage of possible killers all female incidentally.  The ending saved Wilcox’s sister’s friend from jail or a trial but did not really seem to solve the crime. Does anyone really commit suicide by slitting their own throat? Questions lingered. It’s is enough to create a desire to read another of Adams series about Carl Wilcox to see if others are more substantial.

Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney

Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney

What could be more symbolic of Maine then charming old inns, located on rocky cliffs, with wild rose bushes and blueberries in abundance. This first book in the Grey Whale Inn mystery series was a hook drawing the reader into following books. The setting on Cranberry Island reminded me very much of Monhegan Island, a well-known artist retreat off the Maine coast. The characters were well drawn and represented the charming and sometimes eccentric residents of Maine quite well.
Protagonist Natalie Barnes is a real woman who struggles with financial woes, family issues, lack of eligible men and her beloved inn not to mention being a newcomer on a Maine island which has issues all of its own. Add in business competition, environmental problems and some rather despicable characters and the scene is set for a murder with no shortage of possible suspects. Beset by a police investigation centered on herself, while ignoring other possibilities, Barnes takes matters in her own hands with some hazardous consequences.

This book was a quick and enjoyable read perfect for hot summer days. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.
Murder on the rocks was nominated for an Agatha Award for best first novel. There are three additional adventures for Natalie Barnes available and another in the works. MacInerney describes herself as an “eclectic” writer as she explores an number of genres including fantasy. Check out her blog at karenmacinerney@blogspot.com for more information. Her books are available at most online vendors and at local libraries and independent bookstores. And… they include recipes which are awesome.

Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews

Set in Caerphilly, Virginia, this is the 11^th is a series of books about Meg Langslow and her endlessly interesting and eccentric family. Each mystery somehow involves a type of (often exotic) bird in the plot. In the latest of this charming series, Meg deserts her blacksmithing business and Llama farm to help organize the prestigious annual rose show. With both her parents competing for the Black Swan award, the highest honor, and the show being hosted on the property on a thoroughly unpleasant member of the club, it is not a job she relishes.

The hostess of the event soon appears to be the obvious victim of jealous competitors and unhappy employees at her estate, but when the body is turned over it turns out to be someone else entirely. Suspects abound as do motives ranging from jealousy to rage over animal cruelty.

Reading about the intricate details involved in prepping flowers for a professional show was eye-opening to say the least. Tiny tools and perfect timing are all apparently critical, interesting that those very things could be critical to a murder as well.

Andrews has one at least one award for every book in this series and more than one for many. They are fun to read, informative, and often the mystery is hard to solve in advance. This particular book was a finalist for the Lefty Award and the 2008 Agatha Award for Best Novel. Andrews is a member of Sisters of Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Private Investigators & Security Association. There are a total of 13 books in the series and I have only read about five, the rest are on my summer reading list.

"The Interrogation of Gabriel James" by Charlie Price

I know you aren't supposed to choose a book  by it's cover, but while browsing the YA shelves at a local book store, I found this title and liked the idea of a mystery. As some of our followers know, I am a high school librarian, I have seen that mysteries aren't currently the cool genre and I wanted to see what passes as mystery today.  The book is set in Billings, Montana where two killings have happened.  Gabriel  a local teen is sitting at the local police department in the interrogation room with two officers going through not only the event surrounding the actual crime, but what led up to it.  The book takes place over the course of that interrogation, but flips back and forth in time as the officers go through what happened. Filled with creepy innuendos that can only be described as disturbing, this book deals with racism largely about Native Americans, drugs, and other dark family secrets.  Gabriel finds out more than he bargains for including the indiscretions of his parents. Gabriel unwittingly over the interest of a girl, is drawn into the remnants of a former Hippie type commune with a checkered past.  Gabriel is stunned to find out who is doing the bidding of this former cult leader and the people whose agenda is no longer love but hate.  The back woods of Montana is a great back drop for the secrets. I don't want to be a spoiler.  The book has an extensive interview with the author and I found it a great way to get into his mind and why this particular story.  The questions are posed to intrigue the teen reader and enrich the story after the fact and it does.   If you follow the reviews on the book, you will find them greatly mixed.   The innuendo about incest is pretty creepy no matter what your age, but you may find kids drawn to the story through it's taboos.  Over all I think this is a good story and I would recommend to my older teen readers that want a psychological book with a crime thrown in for good measure.   My only criticism might have been a bit more forensics thrown in.   As a person who developed their love of mysteries as a teen, I think that a book based purely on the psychological angle might not have been enough to make a teen what to read more in the genre.  But  I  found Price a good author with a true understanding of teens and I would definitely order more of his books and place them on the shelves for my teen readers.