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The 1988 debut of Brattleboro police detective Joe Gunther depicts small town life with all its charms and frustrations. The characters are multifaceted and believable, and the suspense stays on till the end. If you know the town of Brattleboro, you’ll find familiar places and types.
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This character-driven mystery introduces us to Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire and American pathologist Nora Gavin, who team up to learn more after a decapitated woman is found preserved in a bog in Ireland. Nora is running away from a personal tragedy back in the United States, and Cormac is recovering from the death of a close friend. Together they search for answers in the historical death of a woman, and a current missing woman. The characters are richly drawn, as is the countryside of Ireland, with a strong dose of Irish folklore and musical tradition thrown in.
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This is the start of a series that was originally published in Australia that are now being republished here. Phryne (rhymes with brine-y) Fisher is an independent 1920s female sleuth, who solves a jewel theft while bored in England, and then moves to Melbourne to investigate the mysterious illness of the daughter of a family friend. Meet the interesting cast of characters that you will come to know and love in subsequent books. Phryne is feisty, wealthy, and enjoys fine clothing, fine food, and fine men.
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The first in the series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. Brunetti is called in when a famous conductor dies of poisoning during an intermission at La Fenice. The city of Venice is the backdrop to an abundance of suspects, as Brunetti, with little help from his superior or the other policemen assigned to him, deftly investigates.
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This entertaining mystery, in which a flock of Irish sheep search for their shepherd’s killer, delivers more than it promises. As you’d expect, it’s funny, charming, and imaginative… but it’s not just a lighthearted cozy. The sheep are real, fascinating characters with as much tragedy as comedy in their lives, and the author never forgets that they aren’t simply humans in woolly coats.
By turns hilarious, mysterious, and lyrical, this fine debut novel transcends its genre and should appeal to a broad range of fiction readers.
Beautifully translated from the German by Anthea Bell.
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In an alternate history where the US created a ‘Pale of Settlement’ for Jews after World War II in a desolate corner of Alaska, Yiddish is spoken, ultra-Orthodox gangsters control the islands and a lonely detective tries to solve the murder of a neighbor he barely knew. No ordinary crime novel, Chabon’s language is extraordinarily rich and the setting imaginative and evocative.
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A collection of short stories, each of which could equally well be described as science fiction and as a mystery. These stories are fun, amusing, and all the more charming for being a little dated. A quick, easy read.
Tagged: Fiction, Mystery, Science fiction, Short stories