Recently received

Strange Bird by Anna Jansson (Stockholm Text trade paperback, 10 September 2013).

When a bird flu pandemic reaches the picturesque yet uncanny island Gotland, panic spreads among the inhabitants who are frantic for an elusive cure. As the community becomes more desperate, the hunt for scapegoats begins. Extremist and anti-immigrant groups gain ground while nurse Sandra Hägg makes a gruesome discovery at the health clinic where she works—a discovery that will cost her life. Soon Detective Inspector Maria Wern is handpicked to investigate the case.


Not the Killing Type (Booktown Mystery #7) by Lorna Barrett (Berkley Prime Crime hardcover, 2 July 2013).

It’s November in Stoneham, New Hampshire, and that means it’s time for the Chamber of Commerce elections. The race is already a bit heated, as the long-standing Chamber president is being challenged by a former lover—Tricia’s own sister, Angelica. Then local small business owner Stan Berry throws his hat in the ring.

Unfortunately, it’s not there for long when he’s found murdered in the Brookview Inn. The murder weapon is a brass letter opener belonging to the inn’s receptionist. Tricia knows there’s no way the receptionist is a killer. And when Angelica asks Tricia to help clear her name and win the election, she sees little choice except to start snooping.

She soon uncovers a ballot box full of lies and betrayals, and a chamber full of people who had grudges against the victim. But were they serious enough to lead to murder? And who truly had something to gain? Tricia will have to do some serious sleuthing before she pulls the lever on a killer.


The Man from Berlin by Luke McCallin (Berkley Prime Crime trade paperback, 2 July 2013).

In war-torn Yugoslavia, a beautiful young filmmaker and photographer—a veritable hero to her people—and a German officer have been brutally murdered.

Assigned to the case is military intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt. Already haunted by his wartime actions and the mistakes he’s made off the battlefield, he soon finds that his investigation may be more than just a murder—and that the late Yugoslavian heroine may have been much more brilliant—and treacherous—than anyone knew.

Maneuvering his way through a minefield of political, military, and personal agendas and vendettas, Reinhardt knows that someone is leaving a trail of dead bodies to cover their tracks. But those bloody tracks may lead Reinhardt to a secret hidden within the ranks of the powerful that they will do anything to keep, and his search for the truth may kill him before he ever finds it.


Watching Eagles Soar by Margaret Coel (Berkley Prime Crime trade paperback, 2 July 2013).

In this thrilling collection of short stories, and essays Margaret Coel invites you to follow Father John O’Malley and Vicky Holden further into the hidden mysteries and crimes of the Wind River Reservation:

When artifacts are stolen from the Arapaho Museum, Father John and Vicky are drawn down a path of two-bit hoodlums, drug dealers, and murder…An allergic reaction lands a young man in the ICU, but his life hinges on solving the mystery of a thirty-year-old murder…Vicky finds herself in a game of cat and mouse with Lonny Hereford, the murderer they call Bad Heart, whom she helped put away three years ago… 


The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker (Pamela Dorman Books hardcover, 1 August 2013).

Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman.  During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty.  Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true.

Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic.