‘Tis the season for curling up with a good mystery and I’ve got some for every reading interest level today. I've also tried to have a balance of male and female sleuths for readers today. Click on the titles to see my full review of each book including any content notes/trigger warnings.
Crime and Poetry (A Magical Bookshop Mystery, #1) by Amanda Flower
Violet Waverly dropped everything in Chicago and raced to Cascade Springs after her grandmother's call hinting she was at death's door. She arrives to find a very lively Grandma Daisy who isn't at all ashamed of lying to get Violet back home from graduate school. Violet might have turned right around for Chicago but for the deep fatigue after driving numerous hours to Upstate New York. So she stays the night and finds her grandmother's boyfriend dead in the driveway in the morning. Some of the police see Grandma Daisy as a prime suspect, and Violet knows from experience what it is like to be falsely accused of murder in Cascade Springs. So she's sticking around until her Grandma's name is cleared, and then she's back to her doctorate on 19th century American authors.
Beyond the unique Niagara Falls adjacent setting, I liked this one for the way Amanda Flower made Violet Waverly feel unique in the world of cozy mystery sleuths.
Target Readers:
Cozy Mystery Fans, Magical Realism Fans, Upper New York State Setting Fans, Grandmother/Granddaughter Story Fans, Animal Assistant Sleuth Fans, Bookstore Setting Fans, Classic Literature Fans (Emily Dickenson’s Poetry is important to the plot), Adult Readers (though totally approachable for YA)
Eddie Whatever by Lois Ruby
Eddie has to do a community service project as one of his bar mitvah requirements. His mom signs him up to volunteer at the Silver Brook Pavilion retirement home. Eddie feels like he already has enough on his plate with the robotics club (which has hit a major road block), baseball team (still yet to win a game), and worrying about whatever has made his dad so mopey and is causing his parents to fight behind closed doors. He isn't sure if he can handle volunteering at the retirement home. The people there are...odd, and some of the residents inform him the place is haunted by the twin of the lady who likes to guard the front door. As the days pass, the residents do start to grow on Eddie. And when more and more things go missing, blamed on the ghost, Eddie starts to think there may be a very un-supernatural answer. But can he catch the thief before he goes down for the crime and loses his chance at completing his bar mitvah?
I loved how this story demonstrated the power of intergenerational friendships and of being a good listener.
Target Readers:
Mystery Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Intergenerational Friendship Fans, Jewish Character Fans, Feel Good Story Fans, Stand Alone Mystery Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Elysium Tide by James R. Hannibal
Peter Chesterfield is one of the Royal London Hospital's best neurosurgeons. He's also a jerk and a workaholic. When his sharp tongue gets him in trouble, some friends - with his best interests in mind - send him to Hawaii to hopefully rediscover his humanity. There's also a medical symposium at the Elysium Grand hotel on Maui so he can visit conferences if he doesn't want to go to the beach on his forced vacation.
Detective Lisa Kealoha is a local who very nearly ended up as a career criminal. She still feels like she has to prove she has earned her top detective spot, a feeling made worse by the way some of her co-workers are obviously gunning for her position. When a car theft ring case adds on some murders, Lisa has a sense that they might be dealing with some transplant mobsters from LA, which would be really bad news.
Peter and Lisa's paths crash together when Peter rescues a woman from the waves while out walking on the beach at night. Thanks to his specialization, he knows immediately that the woman is a victim of a crime, and when he loses her in the ambulance he feels he owes it to her to help find whoever did this. Lisa isn't sure she can trust this British know-it-all doctor who was conveniently first on the scene; and he has a very annoying tendency of being one step ahead of her in the investigation trail thanks to his keen mind and his new friendship with the hotel doctor. Lisa can't decide whether to let them help or lock them up to keep them out of her hair. And the case is really getting to her as she feels more and more threatened by coworkers trying to one up her on top of the fact that the woman pulled out of the ocean by Peter was a kid she used to babysit. Meanwhile, Peter is starting to realize his colleagues may have had very good reasons to send him away to regroup. Is there any hope for him? Could this God that Lisa and the doctor talk about be real? One thing is clear, both of them will need some serious help to puzzle out this case and survive to tell about it.
This earned all stars with me by balancing a compelling mystery that I couldn't put down with memorable and diverse characters in a unique setting.
Target Readers:
Mystery Fans, Hawaii Setting Fans, Twisty Plot Fans, Character Development Fans, Christian Fiction Fans, Non-romantic Fiction Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Adult Fiction
In Myrtle Peril (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries, #4) by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Myrtle's father is in hospital to get his troublesome infected tonsils removed. He is going under the knife just as one of his old cases gets interesting again. The powers that be would like to run a railroad line through Snowcroft lands, but it isn't certain if the land belongs to an heir or the Crown. The Snowcrofts were all presumed drowned in a shipwreck years ago, but neither the ship nor the crew have ever been found so there's a chance someone survived. In response to an advert in the newspaper, potential heirs start crawling out of the woodwork, but one girl seems like she really could be the long lost Snowcroft child, Ethel. It is father's job to gather evidence on her behalf but with him out of commission Myrtle, Miss Judson, and Mr. Blakeney (oh, and of course Peony) must take up the investigation. But then father goes and adds to their case load by telling Myrtle he saw a murder at the hospital the evening after his surgery. Myrtle and Miss Judson are skeptical. He was on pain killers, and isn't the most reliable witness, and no one else at the hospital heard or saw a disturbance that night. He is most insistent that Myrtle investigate, though, so she finds herself sneaking around the hospital on her father's orders.
The Myrtle Hardcastle mysteries may be written for middle graders, but Ms. Bunce doesn't pull any punches in writing a twisty-turny-puzzling mystery that’s super hard to put down.
Target Readers:
Mystery Fans, Historical Fiction Fans, Precocious Young Sleuth Fans, Father/Daughter Story Fans, Long Lost Heir(ess) Story Fans, Animal Assistant Sleuth Fans, Middle Grade Fiction
The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill
Piper's best friend Lydia vanishes from the posh neighborhood without a trace. Piper was the last person to see her. Not content to sit around and let the police handle the case, Piper decides to do some investigating to help them. But it is 1920s Chicago, not exactly a safe time for a young woman to go poking her nose around. Piper has to deal with overprotective brothers and a father, a neighborhood full of secrets, a young police detective who decides he'd rather investigate with her than have to hunt her down too, her grief over Lydia's disappearance, nosy reporters, and as if that weren't enough, her father's impending remarriage which is bringing up grief over her mother's death all over again.
This was a smart and tantalizing mystery set in Roaring 20s Chicago.
Target Readers:
Mystery Fans, Historical Fiction Fans, Chicago Setting Fans, Clean Romance Fans, Young Adult Readers
Pedro’s Mystery Club (Pedro) by Fran Manushkin, ill. by Tammie Lyon
Pedro, Katie, and Jojo form a mystery solving club and solve mysteries for Pedro's parents.
I like that young readers can be sleuths just like Pedro and friends, finding lost items around their houses too by following the same procedures.
Target Readers:
Mystery Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Multicultural Cast Fans, Leveled Readers Fans, Picture Book Readers
Wishypoofs and Hiccups (Zoey and Sassafras, #9) by Asia Citro, ill. by Marion Lindsay
When magical creatures start showing up at Zoey's door with strange problems, like sudden hair growth or shrinking or hands sticking together, Zoey is very puzzled. But when a Wishypoof with the hiccups also rings the special doorbell, part of the mystery is cleared up. Can Zoey use science to help the Wishypoof figure out how to get rid of the hiccups?
A relatable, educational, but also imaginative scientific mystery for Zoey to tackle with the help of her mom, her cat Sassafrass, and other magical creatures in the neighborhood.
Target Readers:
Mystery Fans, Science Fans/Studiers, Fantasy Fans, Animal Assistant Sleuth Fans, Imaginative Readers, Mythical Creature Fans, Lower Grade Readers
