New Mystery Series - Part 3

It's a hot one today, very little breeze. As I relax at the kitchen table writing this entry, the puppies are sprawled on the kitchen floor. Maybe the lino is a bit cooler than lying on the rug. Or maybe they just like to be close to me. Clyde is right by my feet which is no surprise. Bonnie is in her favorite spot at the base of the island, the spot that 'chicken from the sky' often comes from. Jo is relaxing in bed checking out the daily Archer's radio broadcast. So we're all doing OK, just trying to stay cool. Today it's 28 degrees Celsius. For the rest of the week and into next it's supposed to be in the low 30's. 'My kingdom for a breeze!!'

I finished one book this morning but I'll update that closer to the end of the month as I think I'll probably finish at least 3 more. We'll see. For now, here if part three of my New Series list. Check my last two entries for the initial posts. I hope you might have got some ideas for new reading options in my last two.

New Mystery Authors / Series Part 3

1. Val McDermid (UK). I've read a few of McDermid's books and enjoyed some TV series and movies that were made based on her books. I've especially enjoyed the Wire in the Blood books. She has written 4 series and a number of standalone books. I have yet to try her Kate Brannigan series of 6 books but I do have the 4th book on my bookshelf; Clean Break. The synopsis is below.

"Kate, a Manchester-based private investigator, is definitely not amused when thieves steal a Monet painting from a stately home where she has arranged the security. The theft is clearly the work of professionals: they penetrate alarm systems, enter quickly, grab only what they have come for, and disappear into the night. Kate feels responsible. And, according to her contract, she owes Henry Naismith, owner of Birchfield Place, thirty hours of her time to try to find his Monet. The police will search, too, but Kate has sources that the authorities could never touch. And if finding a missing Monet isn't difficult enough, Kate must also confront a deadly case of industrial sabotage. Someone may be intent on putting the Kerrchem company out of business. What seems at first to be a simple instance of blackmail soon turns into a shocking case of murder."

2. Seicho Matsumoto (Japan). I only recently heard about Seicho Matsumoto. He lived from 1909 - 1982 and was author of four novels. According to an article I read in Wikipedia, he created a new form of Japanese crime fiction, focused on human psychology and ordinary life. I bought Inspector Imanishi Investigates to check out his writing.

"In the wee hours of a 1960s Tokyo morning, a dead body is found under the rails of a train, and the victim’s face is so badly damaged that police have a hard time figuring out the victim’s identity. Only two clues surface: an old man, overheard talking in a distinctive accent to a young man, and the word “kameda.” Inspector Imanishi leaves his beloved bonsai and his haiku and goes off to investigate—and runs up against a blank wall. Months pass in fruitless questioning, in following up leads, until the case is closed, unsolved.

But Imanishi is dissatisfied, and a series of coincidences lead him back to the case. Why did a young woman scatter pieces of white paper out of the window of a train? Why did a bar girl leave for home right after Imanishi spoke to her? Why did an actor, on the verge of telling Imanishi something important, drop dead of a heart attack? What can a group of nouveau young artists possibly have to do with the murder of a quiet and “saintly” provincial old ex-policemen? Inspector Imanishi investigates."

3. William McIlvanney (UK). McIlvanney is a Scottish writer who has written 3 books in the Laidlaw series.  I have the first book in the series, Laidlaw (1977).

"Meet Jack Laidlaw, the original damaged detective. When a young woman is found brutally murdered on Glasgow Green, only Laidlaw stands a chance of finding her murderer from among the hard men, gangland villains and self-made money-men who lurk in the city's shadows."

4. T. Frank Muir (UK). Muir is another Scottish crime writer, who has written 8 books in the DCI Andy Gilchrist mystery series; from 2007 - 2017. I have the first book in the series, Eye for an Eye, on my bookshelf.

"The idyllic university town of St. Andrews has become home to the most vicious serial killer Britain has ever known. Striking during heavy rain, choosing only victims who abuse women, 'The Stabber' has Detective Inspector Andy Gilchrist and his team baffled."

5. Magdalen Nabb (UK). Nabb is a British writer who lived from 1947 - 2007. During her life she wrote 14 books in her Marshal Guarnaccia series set in Italy. I've purchased the first book in the series, Death of an Englishman (1981).

"Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Florentine Carabinieri wants to go south for Christmas to spend the holiday with his family in Sicily, but a retired Englishman living in Florence has been murdered. Who has shot Mr. Langley-Smythe in the back? The marshal must discover the identity of the criminal and the motive for the crime before he can take the train home for the holidays."

6. Gregg Olsen (US). American writer Olsen has written a number of non-fiction and fiction novels. In 2008 / 2009 he wrote two books in a series featuring Emily Kenyon. I have the 2nd book in this series, Heart of Ice (2009).

"Three bodies, three different towns. Each victim was a sorority girl--pretty, privileged, and brutally murdered. There are no fingerprints, no clues. He is scrupulously careful, craving those exquisite seconds when the light fades from his victim's eyes. But the rush never lasts, and the killing won't stop--not until one special woman has been made to suffer. . . "

7. Robert B. Parker (US). American writer Parker lived from 1932 - 2010. He was a prolific writer, author of a number of series. I've not explored any of his books, but have enjoyed TV series based on both the Spenser for Hire and the Jesse Stone books. More and more I've wanted to check the series out so have purchased some of the books in both series. There are 41 books in the Spenser series and 9 in the Jesse Stone series. I will highlight the first book Spenser and #3 of the Jesse Stone books.

a. The Godwulf Manuscript (#1 / 1973).

"Spenser earned his degree in the school of hard knocks, so he is ready when a Boston university hires him to recover a rare, stolen manuscript. He is hardly surprised that his only clue is a radical student with four bullets in his chest.

The cops are ready to throw the book at the pretty blond coed whose prints are all over the murder weapon but Spenser knows there are no easy answers. He tackles some very heavy homework and knows that if he doesn't finish his assignment soon, he could end up marked "D" -- for dead."

b. Death in Paradise (Jesse Stone #3).

"Robert B. Parker is back in Paradise, where Detective Jesse Stone is looking for two things: the killer of a teenage girl--and someone, anyone, who is willing to claim the body... "

8. Eliot Pattison (US). Pattison is an American international lawyer who writes about international trade and also mysteries, two series with one set in Tibet and one set in colonial North America. I've been interested in trying Pattison's Inspector Shan series and have 3 of the nine books. I'll provide the synopsis of the first book, The Skull Mantra (1999).

"The corpse is missing its head and is dressed in American clothes. Found by a Tibetan prison work gang on a windy cliff, the grisly remains clearly belong to someone too important for Chinese authorities to bury and forget. So the case is handed to veteran police inspector Shan Tao Yun. Methodical, clever Shan is the best man for the job, but he too is a prisoner, deported to Tibet for offending someone high up in Beijing's power structure. Granted a temporary release, Shan is soon pulled into the Tibetan people's desperate fight for its sacred mountains and the Chinese regime's blood-soaked policies. Then, a Buddhist priest is arrested, a man Shan knows is innocent. Now time is running out for Shan to find the real killer."

9. Rebecca Pawel (US). Pawel is an American high school teacher and author of a mystery series set in fascist Spain and featuring Inspector Tejeda, an officer in the Guardia Civil. There are 4 books in the series. I've got the first one, Death of a Nationalist (2003).

"Madrid 1939. Carlos Tejada Alonso y León is a Sergeant in the Guardia Civil, a rank rare for a man not yet thirty, but Tejada is an unusual recruit. The bitter civil war between the Nationalists and the Republicans has interrupted his legal studies in Salamanca. Second son of a conservative Southern family of landowners, he is an enthusiast for the Catholic Franquista cause, a dedicated, and now triumphant, Nationalist.

This war has drawn international attention. In a dress rehearsal for World War II, fascists support the Nationalists, while communists have come to the aid of the Republicans. Atrocities have devastated both sides. It is at this moment, when the Republicans have surrendered, and the Guardia Civil has begun to impose order in the ruins of Madrid, that Tejada finds the body of his best friend, a hero of the siege of Toledo, shot to death on a street named Amor de Dios. Naturally, a Red is suspected. And it is easy for Tejada to assume that the woman caught kneeling over the body is the killer. But when his doubts are aroused, he cannot help seeking justice."

10. Caro Peacock (UK). Peacock is a pseudonym for English writer Gillian Linscott. Under Peacock, she has written the Liberty Lane mystery series of six books. I have the first book in the series, Death at Dawn.

"The year is 1837. Queen Victoria, barely eighteen, has just ascended to the throne of England, and a young woman named Liberty Lane has just had her first taste of true sorrow. Refusing to accept that her gentle, peace-loving father has been killed fighting a duel, she vows to see justice done. . . . 


The trail she follows is a twisting and dangerous one, leading the spirited young Englishwoman into an intricate weave of conspiracy. Contacted by secret agents, she is asked to pose as a governess in order to infiltrate cold, rambling Mandeville Hall and spy on its master, Sir Herbert Mandeville, who is at the center of a treasonous plan.

Nothing at the hall is what it seems, and every turn reveals another deceit, another surprise, another peril, leaving Libby to wonder who to trust and embroiling her in a deadly affair that could destroy the young queen and place Libby herself in mortal peril. . . ."

Well, there you go. Tomorrow I'll finish off this category. See anything in which you might be interested? Enjoy your week!