A world of whodunits
Five wonderful mystery novels whisk readers around the globe
In this great new crop of whodunits, mystery fans can revel in being armchair detectives and armchair travellers to locations around the globe — London, Tuscany, Sicily and the English countryside.
1
A Grave Robbery Deanna Raybourn
In aristocratic Victorian society, women are expected to remain in the background. Veronica Speedwell, though, is irreverent and outspoken; she's a lepidopterist (butterfly expert) who lives with her upper-class lover, Stoker, a natural historian who specializes in taxidermy. They also are amateur sleuths. Their latest case begins when their patron, an inveterate collector named Lord Rosemorran, brings them his latest find: a glass-covered casket containing what looks like a waxen female form. Discovering that it's the well-preserved body of a woman who died years ago, Veronica and Stoker set out to find who she is and how she was killed. Assisted by some friends — a maverick Scotland Yard detective and an ambitious female journalist — they take death-defying risks in their quest to bring the dead woman's murderer to justice. Fans of the series will rejoice in this newest adventure, but Raybourn ensures that A Grave Robbery also stands on its own.
2
The Road to Murder Camilla Trinchieri
When wealthy Italian widow Nora Salviati Lamberti is murdered at her Tuscany villa, and the sole person on the scene speaks only English, the local police call in Nico Doyle, a retired NYPD homicide detective now living in the nearby town of Gravigna. Doyle is charmed by the possible suspect — an Englishwoman named Laetitia Barron — and believes she's innocent. The head of the local police isn't so sure, but there are plenty of other suspects, including the victim's two alienated daughters. Italian-american author Trinchieri presents the engaging fourth volume in her Tuscan Mystery series, blending a mystery steeped in the culinary and cultural pleasures of Tuscany with the tale of Doyle's efforts to build a new life there.
3
A Deadly Walk in Devon Nicholas George
Rick (Chase) Chasen, a retired San Diego police detective whose partner died of cancer a year ago, joins a friend on an organized walking tour in southwestern England in hopes of moving past his grief. Instead, Chase finds himself in the midst of a murder inquiry when another walker, Ronald Gretz, is pushed off a cliff, dying instantly. The local police suspect Gretz's much-younger wife, who inherits his wealth, but Chase's instincts tell him she's not the killer. Debut author George relates how Chase uncovers potential motives of other members of the walking group; in the process, Chase becomes a target for the murderer. George offers a satisfying mystery with a welldrawn protagonist.
4
The Murder of Mr. Ma John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan
In post-first World War London, racism against “outsiders” is strong, so the police aren't interested in solving the murder of a Chinese immigrant named Ma Ze Ren. Enter Chinese Judge Dee Ren Jie, who met Ma in the war and has come to London to track down his killer. Soon Dee finds himself with more murders to investigate as two other men who were part of the wartime Chinese Labor Corps with Ma also are found dead.
Dee teams up with an unlikely partner — a scholar named Lao She — and together they crisscross London looking for clues and employing their martial arts skills when their lives are threatened. Co-authors Nee and Rozan (author of the Lydia Chin and Bill Smith P.I. novels) offer an appealingly action-packed Sherlock Holmes pastiche with roots in both Chinese crime fiction and the history of early-20th-century England.
5
The Sicilian Inheritance Jo Piazza
A year ago, Sara Marsala was on the cover of Philadelphia magazine for running the city's best steak house. Now the restaurant is bankrupt, her marriage is ending and her beloved greataunt Rosie has just died. Then Sara discovers that Rosie has left her a parting gift: a trip to Rosie's native village of Caltabellessa in Sicily to determine whether the family still has ownership rights to a parcel of land there. Sara's research in Caltabellessa stirs up old enmities, and she becomes the target of longtime villagers who try to scare her off. Piazza pairs Sara's present-day story with the early-20th-century saga of Serafina Forte, Rosie's mother, who was brutally murdered before she could join her husband and children in their new American home. Now, the long-forgotten story of her life and death holds the key to whether Sara can claim the family's land. Moving back and forth in time, Piazza smoothly blends a mystery deep into the heart of a family chronicle.