Five murder mystery novels kick off your summer

Don’t forget to pack a mystery — or two — in your summer vacation bag. Here are five that will charm you — and keep you guessing whodunit.

1. “The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies” by Alison Goodman

Twin sisters Lady Augusta and Lady Julia Colebrook make an unlikely but memorable duo of detectives. They are in their early 40s and unmarried — Augusta (“Gus”) by choice, Julia by tragedy — and thus regarded by early-1800s society as worthless old maids. Reminiscent of Miss Climpson in Dorothy Sayers’ “Lord Peter Wimsey” mysteries, however, Gus and Julia have plenty of brains and grit. They use those talents, as well as their highborn position, to create an undercover “benevolent society” focused on remedying the ill treatment of women, one person at a time. In this first book in a new series, Goodman presents three cases where the sisters, joined by the dashing outlaw Lord Evan Belford, rescue women and girls from desperate circumstances. The purposefully unresolved ending will have readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. (Berkley, $17, paperback)

2. “A Stolen Child” by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Taylor presents an appealingly nuanced twist on the traditional police procedural. The story revolves around Maggie D’Arcy, a former Long Island homicide detective who has moved to Dublin and trained as a Garda, a member of Ireland’s national security force. Despite her years as a detective in the United States, procedure dictates that D’Arcy begin as a patrol officer, but when a young woman is murdered and her toddler goes missing, the detective in charge of the case asks D’Arcy to temporarily join the team to help find the child — and the murderer. Taylor deftly weaves together D’Arcy’s efforts to crack the case with her worries about her unsettled new home life in Ireland with her partner and her teenage daughter. Readers also will enjoy the way Taylor unravels her plot, highlighting first one possible motive, then another. Those interested in reading more about D’Arcy should check out the previous three books in this impressive series. (Minotaur, $28)

3. “Hollow Beasts” by Alisa Lynn Valdés

With a ripped-fromthe-headlines plot, Valdés’ novel offers an authentic voice, fine writing, and a protagonist with a complicated backstory and one of the most dangerous jobs in American law enforcement: game warden. Following her husband’s death, Jodi Luna jettisons her life in Boston academia and, with her teenage daughter, moves back to the rugged northern New Mexico wilderness where she grew up. When Luna catches a poacher on her first week as a state game warden, he retaliates by stalking her and her daughter. As Luna investigates further, she discovers he’s part of an extremist group that has set up operations in the surrounding mountains, bringing kidnapped young Black, Indigenous and other minority women there to torture and kill them as a political statement. Valdés, a native New Mexican and author of the best-selling novel “The Dirty Girls Social Club,” offers readers a suspenseful tale while shining a spotlight on racism and white supremacy in the Southwest. (Thomas & Mercer, $28.99)

4. “Mastering the Art of French Murder” by Colleen Cambridge

Set in 1949 Paris, this engaging mystery is narrated by Tabitha Knight, a half-French, half-American young woman who has recently moved from Detroit to Paris for an extended stay with her French grandfather. Early on, Knight meets Julia Child, her neighbor and fellow expat, and they become good friends, bonding over cooking and all things French. When a woman is killed after leaving a party in Child’s apartment one December night, the two friends find themselves among the suspects and decide to team up to find the actual murderer. The intrepid Knight does most of the legwork, scurrying around the streets of post-World War II Paris, but it’s Child’s ebullient personality that is the heart of the book. Part historical fiction, part mystery, “Mastering the Art of French Murder” is totally delectable entertainment for fans of lighthearted detective fiction. (Kensington, $27)

5. “The Last Remains” by Elly Griffiths

Few mystery authors voluntarily decide to end a popular series, but that’s just what Griffiths has done. “The Last Remains” is her newest — and final — mystery featuring archaeologist/ detective Ruth Galloway. The novel is a marvelous parting gift, detailing how Ruth lends her expert help to the police when a skeleton is found bricked up behind a chimney in a cafe under renovation. It turns out the remains aren’t exactly ancient; the skeleton is identified as a young woman named Emily Pickering, who disappeared 20 years ago. As the police struggle to figure out who killed Emily, Ruth and Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson wrestle with how to resolve their long-term, roller-coaster relationship. Series fans will be delighted at how Griffiths integrates many of Ruth’s past cases into the plot and ties up all kinds of loose ends while offering yet another page-turner of a mystery. (Mariner, $30)

(Courtesy Image) Twin sisters Lady Augusta and Lady Julia Colebrook make an unlikely but memorable duo of detectives in “The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies” by Alison Goodman.