Also of interest...in uncommon sleuths
The Bangalore Detectives Club
“This is a treat for historical mystery lovers looking for a new series to savor,” said Sarah Weinman in
The New York Times. In 1920s Bangalore, a young bride struggling to adjust to her new life finds purpose when a murder occurs and she decides to help clear the chief suspect. Kaveri, who’s clever and well read, grows closer to her doctor husband as the case builds, and “even though I did see the main twist coming, the danger level felt palpable and authentic.”
The Verifiers
(Pegasus Crime, $27) (Vintage, $17)
This exhilarating debut novel “almost makes you want to be a 20-something in New York—writing, making art, biking helter-skelter through traffic,” said Richard Lipez in The Washington Post. Claudia Lin works for a shady startup that probes the backgrounds of people its clients encounter on dating apps, and the matching industry proves dense with dark mysteries. Even so, “it’s the keen, sprightly, incidentally lesbian heroine and her complex Chinese immigrant family you can’t get enough of.”
One-Shot Harry
(Soho Crime, $25)
Mystery novelist Gary Phillips has “a knack for making the past feel immediate,” said Oline Cogdill in the South Florida Sun Sentinel. In his latest book, he introduces Harry Ingram, a Black photographer working in 1963 Los Angeles who can’t rest after a Korean War buddy dies in a suspicious crash. While pursuing truth in his segregated city, Harry snaps shots of abusive cops and unsung heroes alike, proving a fine guide to the past. “Readers will look forward to more camera work from Harry.”
The Paradox Hotel
(Ballantine, $28)
Rob Hart’s recent genre-bender “smashes together some of the best elements of science fiction and crime,” said Gabino Iglesias in NPR .org. The protagonist runs security at a hotel that offers time-traveling jaunts into the past for ultrawealthy tourists. But she’s also losing her grip on reality and the fabric of time as she tries to solve a murder involving a dead body that only she can see. The resulting mystery is “as funny and entertaining as it is dark and complex.”