Cooper, Susan Rogers. Full Circle. Severn House. Dec. 2010. 224p. ISBN 978-0-7278-6955-5. $28.95.
In this follow-up to 2008’s Romanced to Death, which reintroduced the E.J. Pugh series, teenaged Bessie is being stalked. Is the killer who got her entire birth family after her? LJ on Romanced: “You will not be able to put it down.”
Guttridge, Peter. City of Dreadful Night.Severn House. Dec. 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-0-7278-6943-2. $28.95.
This first in the bloody-sounding “Brighton Trilogy” bounces between 1934 and 2009. From the Observer’s crime fiction critic, no less.
James, Peter.
Dead Like You: A Roy Grace Novel. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Dec. 2010. 560p. ISBN 978-0-312-64282-2. $25.99.
Det. Supt. Roy Grace is over mourning the disappearance of his wife—he’s about to get remarried—but now he must confront an awful series of rapes starting on New Year’s Eve that recall crimes from 1997. British author James, whose mysteries have sold five million copies worldwide, finally arrives here. Library marketing.
Jones, Solomon. The Last Confession: A Crime Novel. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Dec. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-312-58020-9. $24.99.
About to retire after 31 tough years in South Philly, Det. Mike Coletti suddenly realizes that a priest scheduled for execution is innocent. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Jones’s mysteries are Essence best sellers.
Maron, Margaret. Christmas Mourning. Grand Central. Nov. 2010. 320p. ISBN 0-446-55580-7. $25.95.
From multiple award winner Maron: a car crash takes out a cheerleader, and things start looking suspicious. Judge Deborah Knott presides.
Murphy, Shirley Rousseau. Cat Coming Home: A Joe Grey Mystery. Morrow. Dec. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-180693-3. $16.99.
Grandson in tow, Maudie Toola returns to her childhood home after her son’s murder—and the killer follows. Meanwhile, a prison cat carries a message from a state prisoner. Feline P.I. Joe Grey finesses the two cases—of course there’s a connection—and finds prison kitty a home.
Penzler, Otto, ed. The Greatest Russian Crime and Suspense Stories. Pegasus. Dec. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-1-60598-135-2. $25.
Chekhov. Dostoyevsky. Gorky. And current greats like Boris Akunin. Only some of the authors in this compendium from mystery maven Penzler. It’s hardly surprising that mysterious Russia has produced top crime fiction.
Pronzini, Bill. The Hidden: A Novel of Suspense. Walker. Nov. 2010. 224p. ISBN 978-0-8027-1800-6. $24.
The Coastline Killer is committing random acts of violence in northern California, so why does a troubled young couple opt to vacation at an isolated cabin there? So that this Mystery Writers of America grand master can write another great chiller.
Randle, Kevin D.
Vampyr?Five Star: Gale Cengage. Dec. 2010. 274p. ISBN 978-1-59414-921-4. $25.95.
When the police arrest Tom Johnson for killing Linda Miller, they cannot understand why he insists that they burn the body. Hmmm, could vampires be real? Randle has written lots of sf as well as mystery and action tomes, which should help with this genre blender.
Talton, John. South Phoenix Rules: A David Mapstone Mystery. Poisoned Pen. Dec. 2010. 250p. ISBN 978-1-590588-14-7; pap. ISBN 978-1-590588-16-1. $14.95.
When a New York professor is murdered in Phoenix, historian-turned-deputy David Mapstone takes it personally. Mapstone mysteries do nicely; Dry Heat was named 2005 fiction book of the year by Arizona Highways magazine.
Thomas, Donald. Sherlock Holmes and the Ghosts of Bly.Pegasus. Dec. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-1-60598-134-5. $25.
A young woman, declared insane, has murdered a child in her care even as an actor succumbs to onstage poisoning. Are ghosts afoot? Thomas continues his Holmes stories, which have been praised by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
Victor, Marilyn & Michael Allan Mallor. Killer Instinct: A Snake Jones Mystery.Five Star: Gale Cengage. Dec. 2010. 300p. ISBN 978-1-59414-894-1. $25.95.
An antiwolf sort is found murdered in Minnesota, and zoologist Lavender “Snake” Jones fears that her wolf biologist friend is involved. Victor, who is president of the Twin Cities chapter of Sisters in Crime, volunteers at the Minnesota Zoo.—Barbara Hoffert
