Read any good books lately?
Looking for a good book to read? Well, check out your library. We are constantly reading reviews searching for new fiction, things outside the bestsellers list. These books are all available at your library. Check one out today.
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard probes the truth behind miracles and the tragedies behind lies in this mesmerizing suspense novel set in Kansas. “Small Plains, Kansas, January 23, 1987: In the midst of a deadly blizzard, eighteen-year-old Rex Shellenberger scours his father’s pasture, looking for helpless newborn calves. Then he makes a shocking discovery: the naked, frozen body of a teenage girl. Even dead, she is the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. It is a moment that will forever change his life and the lives of everyone around him. The mysterious dead girl - the “Virgin of Small Plains” - inspires local reverence: In the two decades following her death, strange miracles visit those who faithfully tend to her grave; some even believe that her spirit can cure deadly illnesses. Slowly, word of the legend spreads.”
Catching Genius by Kristy Kiernan tests the bonds of sisterhood and goes to the well of family secrets and stunted connections in her easy-reading debut. “As children, the Sykes sisters - Connie and Estella - were unassuming, precocious, and very close, until one sister was discovered to be a math prodigy. Estella, pushed to focus on her gift, fell into their father’s favor, leaving Connie to grow up in her shadow. Connie, the “normal” little sister, became defined by her beauty rather than her intellect. Now, years later, at the request of their mother, the sisters are forced to reunite on the Gulf Coast of Florida as they pack up their childhood home and ready it for sale. The reunion comes at a time of crisis, in which both Connie and Estella must come to terms with painful revelations and devastating consequences.”
The King of Lies by John Hart is a stunning debut; an exceptionally deep and complex mystery thriller. Jackson Workman Pickens, whom most people call “Work,” is a struggling North Carolina criminal defense attorney. Work has wrestled with inner demons for most of his life, especially after the death of his mother and the disappearance of his wealthy father, Ezra Pickens, a highly successful lawyer who took him into his practice. Trapped in a loveless marriage and haunted by poor emotional choices and his sister’s psychological trauma, Work finds himself under suspicion when his father’s corpse surfaces more than a year after Ezra was last seen alive. Work’s quest for the truth behind his father’s demise opens old wounds and forces him to face the consequences of his own decisions.
Mysteries for a quiet evening
If you are a mystery fan who is looking for something different, something new, something to assuage the boredom of television commercials, check out this list. All the books are available from your library.
Nancy Atherton’s Cozy Mystery series featuring Aunt Dimity is unique in the annals of Mystery because the title character is not actually the protagonist but rather an off-stage, supporting character — and a ghost. Even more mystifying, the small pink stuffed bunny prominently featured on the cover of each tale is her accomplice, Reginald, whose antics the author faithfully chronicles along with those of the actual protagonist, a young woman named Lori Shepherd. Whimsical touches, plenty of human foibles treated humorously, and the warmhearted and somewhat naïve but always optimistic heroine who learns and grows in each adventure make these Cozy Mysteries very appealing across a broad spectrum of readers.
The Mrs. Murphy mysteries might lend your winter evenings a touch of humor, as well as several good reads. The series , written by Rita Mae Brown, features the three pets of Crozet, Virginia, postmistress “Harry” Harristeen: Tee Tucker, Harry’s corgi dog; Pewter, her fat gray cat; and tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, the brains of the operation. As the animals puzzle over various whodunits, Harry becomes involved in murder and mayhem. If you love animals and mysteries try these fun- loving books beginning with Wish You Were Here.
If you are a mystery fan who is looking for something different, something new, something to assuage the boredom of television commercials, check out this list. All the books are available from your library.
Nancy Atherton’s Cozy Mystery series featuring Aunt Dimity is unique in the annals of Mystery because the title character is not actually the protagonist but rather an off-stage, supporting character — and a ghost. Even more mystifying, the small pink stuffed bunny prominently featured on the cover of each tale is her accomplice, Reginald, whose antics the author faithfully chronicles along with those of the actual protagonist, a young woman named Lori Shepherd. Whimsical touches, plenty of human foibles treated humorously, and the warmhearted and somewhat naïve but always optimistic heroine who learns and grows in each adventure make these Cozy Mysteries very appealing across a broad spectrum of readers.
The Mrs. Murphy mysteries might lend your winter evenings a touch of humor, as well as several good reads. The series , written by Rita Mae Brown, features the three pets of Crozet, Virginia, postmistress “Harry” Harristeen: Tee Tucker, Harry’s corgi dog; Pewter, her fat gray cat; and tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, the brains of the operation. As the animals puzzle over various whodunits, Harry becomes involved in murder and mayhem. If you love animals and mysteries try these fun- loving books beginning with Wish You Were Here.
While more serious, but not entirely so, Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott mysteries may be just the books you are looking for. Deborah, The Bootlegger’s Daughter, is a judge in North Carolina. Between the trials and tribulations of her days in court and trying to keep up with her not always law-abiding family, Deborah has her hands full. These books are just plain good reading.
Susan Wittig Albert begins a new series of light mysteries with the main character being none other than Beatrix Potter, the author of many children’s books including Peter Rabbit. The first book of this series is The Tale of Hill Top Farm. “In 1905 England, it was most unusual - if not outright scandalous - for an unmarried woman to buy and run a farm. But that’s exactly what Beatrix Potter sets out to do when she purchases Hill Top Farm. Beatrix, trying to recover from her sorrow at the death of her fiance, believes that the countryside will have a healing effect. But when one of the villagers dies unexpectedly, with allegations of foul play, Hill Top Farm turns out to be anything but quiet.”
If you prefer this English setting for your mysteries try Deborah Crombie for some rousing good reads. Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James sleuth their way through one adventure after another beginning with A Share in Death. In it we find Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Duncan Kincaid vacationing incognito at a time-share house in the north of England. When another guest is murdered he must assume his true identity once again to solve the case.
And speaking of English mysteries, did you know that British mysteries actually started with Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes though the very first mystery was published in 1841 and written by Edgar Allan Poe. The title of his book was The Murders in the Rue Morgue. He inspired many others to write mysteries, including the famous Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote about his well-known character, Sherlock Holmes. Doyle’s first story about Holmes, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887 in the Beeton Christmas Annual.
Agatha Christie, considered by many to be the “queen of crime”, published her first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920 and introduced the long-running character detective Hercule Poirot, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ruth Rendell, Ellis Peters, Ngaio Marsh, Peter Lovesey, P.D. James, Martha Grimes, M.C. Beaton and Anne Perry are but a few of the British authors popular today. Even A.A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh, tried his hand at writing a mystery.
If you love books and mysteries, John Dunning’s mystery series might just have been written for you. It begins with Booked to Die, which introduces us to Cliff Janeway, Denver cop and rare book collector. A sensitive and introspective sort, Janeway chafes in the hard-edged role of law enforcer so often demanded of him. When a down-on-his-luck book scout named Bobby Westfall is murdered, Cliff at first suspects local thug and personal nemesis Jackie Newton. Newton’s girlfriend, a victim of physical abuse, makes Cliff more determined than ever to nail Newton. Sensitivity notwithstanding, he goes after his quarry with both fists cocked and both barrels aimed, neglecting any semblance of correct police procedure. This ironic twist shapes the plot as Janeway delves further into his city’s antiquarian book trade, whose practitioners display an expertise exceeded only by their greed.
Bones by Jan Burke For four long years, no one has known what became of Julia Sayre On the morning after this mother of two disappeared, her family sought the help of reporter Irene Kelly. But despite Irene’s best efforts, until now only one person has known where to find Sayre: her killer. Nick Parrish, brilliant and sadistic, already faces the death penalty in a torture-murder case. Now he wants to cop a plea — life imprisonment in exchange for directing police to the isolated mountain grave where he buried Julia Sayre. But Nick Parrish’s deadly plan to regain his freedom is already in motion, and Irene will need all her courage and ingenuity to remain the reporter — not the victim — in tomorrow’s headlines.
In Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen tells the tale of two gifted sisters who draw on their talents to belatedly forge a bond and find their ways in life – an easy going debut novel. Take a pinch of marigold to stimulate affection, add a dash of snapdragon to repel evil influences, finish with a generous helping of rose petals to encourage love, then stand back and let nature take its course. It may be the recipe for Claire Waverley’s successful catering business, but when it comes to working its magic on her own love life, she seems to be immune to the charms found only in the plants that have always grown behind the Waverley mansion. Like generations of Waverley women before her, Claire has accepted her family’s mysterious gifts, while her estranged sister, Sydney, could not run away from them fast enough.
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint tells the story of a talented painter, Jilly Coppercorn. Jilly was recently involved in an apparent car accident which has left her crippled in mind and body. As her friends gather around her, Jilly’s own story comes to the fore, filled with mysteries and secrets she has hidden from herself as well as from others. The layers of the story unfold as surely as the layers of an onion.
Widdershins, also by Charles de Lint, continues the saga of Jilly Coppercorn and brings it to a satisfying conclusion in which people from dreams, lore and story pass easily into the human world and as easily draw humans into their.
Pontoon, by Garrsion Keillor is the latest addition to the Lake Wobegan series. It opens with a typically laconic musing: “Evelyn was an insomniac, so when they say she died in her sleep, you have to question that.”
The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is the exciting eighth supernatural thriller from bestsellers Preston and Child. FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast and his ward, Constance Greene, seek peace of mind at a remote Tibetan monastery, only to fall into yet another perilous, potentially earthshaking assignment. If you have not read the other novels in this series you may want to begin at the beginning with Relic followed by Reliquary.
Settle down to a rousing good ghost story with Diane Setterfield’s debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale. Setterfield has rejuvenated the genre with this closely plotted, clever foray into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths. She never cheats by pulling a rabbit out of a hat; this atmospheric story hangs together perfectly. One of the best books we have read this year.
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue was introduced as an adult fairy tale. “On a summer night, Henry Day runs away from home and hides in a hollow tree. There he is taken by the changelings - an unaging tribe of wild children who live in darkness and in secret. They spirit him away, name him Aniday, and make him one of their own. Stuck forever as a child, Aniday grows in spirit, struggling to remember the life and family he left behind. He also seeks to understand and fit into this shadow land, as modern life encroaches upon both myth and nature.”
