The strange, ritualistic murders that rocked Vitoria, Spain, ended twenty years ago, when brilliant archaeologist Tasio Ortiz de Zárate was arrested by his twin brother, Ignacio. Now he's about to be released from jail, and the slaughter has started again. Can Inspector Unai López de Ayal, aka "The Kraken," stop the killing? The first part of Saenz's White City trilogy, an instant bestseller in Spain, is a mystery lover's mystery, combining hard-boiled characters with an entire fish market's worth of delicious red herrings. The medieval city of Vitoria is the perfect Gothic stage upon which a fascinating puzzler involving Basque legend and modern psychopathy plays out. Don't miss it!
This has everything you might want from a Victorian mystery: heaps of Hudson Valley atmosphere, a body by the side of the road, a fiancee who dons the widow's weeds, a simmering love triangle, an eccentric detective, and even a clairvoyant assistant. Then--there's a silver mine! That's in part because the book was published in 1866, and is considered the first full-length American detective novel. Regester, a pseudonym for dime-store novelist Metta Victoria Fuller, has a nifty way of pulling the rug out from under readers while making them reach for a handkerchief to wipe away a tear or two. Few contemporary mysteries offer so much gusto..
A young man is murdered on a houseboat in London. Laura, a troubled young girl, was seen leaving the boat. But then there’s Miriam, a quite noisy neighbour with a secret or two. And then the victim's aunt Carla. All three women are linked to the dead man and to each other. Hawkins introduces these characters and their backstories slowly, establishing the various connections through well-paced alternating chapters--but as the picture fills in, readers realize not everything is as it seems. As the mystery builds, you'll feel like you're in the hands of an expert filmmaker--and A Slow Fire Burning is a perfect summer read in any season.
