FICTION
Released: July 1, 2012
"Peach is a formidable opponent whose insight and persistence earn him top honors among British procedurals."
A foiled robbery pits DCI Percy Peach (
Merely Players, 2011, etc.) against a wolf in philanthropist's clothing.
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FICTION
Released: July 3, 2012
"Alfieri (City of Silver, 2009) has written an anti-war mystery that compares with the notable fiction of Charles Todd."
1868's War of the Triple Alliance pits little Paraguay against its mighty neighbors Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay--and a freelance killer.
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FICTION
Released: July 3, 2012
"Streamlining the complexities of this series by focusing on dialogue and character development rather than elaborating everyone's connection to Chihuahuas might expand its reach beyond readers infatuated with the breed."
The staff of a supernatural magazine can't decide if its latest mystery is a case of human trickery or something more.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 1, 2012
"A page turner full of mystery and horror that's unfortunately marred by a weak ending."
FICTION
Released: Aug. 1, 2012
"The latest from Dunnett (Scotched, 2011, etc.) doesn't exactly break new ground, but cozy readers may well enjoy a story that meets their expectations."
The still waters of a quiet Maine town run deep when a local professor is killed and suspects abound.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 2, 2012
"Despite the high body count, Tracy (Shoot to Thrill, 2010, etc.) seems to have taken something off her customary manic formula: The murders are much less florid than usual, and the regulars seem almost subdued."
Amazing but true: The Monkeewrench gang, that misfit quartet of lovable cybergeeks who moonlight as the nemesis of Twin Cities serial killers, actually gets upstaged by the Minneapolis Police Department.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"A knowing thriller in which the world must be saved on several fronts from the fascist threat."
The seventh installment of Griffin's Men at War series dramatizes a pivotal moment in the campaign against Hitler, who plans on hitting London with "aerial torpedos" laced with nerve gas--this while the U.S. is still developing the atomic bomb back home.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"Cumming's sixth thriller (The Trinity Six, 2011, etc.) is smart and intricate, with a large cast of cool characters and an authentic feel. "
FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"Fans of McFarland's series (A Bad Day's Work, 2010, etc.) will be shocked at the involvement of Uncle Bud. It's hard when a mystery hits so close to home."
Determined to avenge an attack on her uncle, a photographer turns investigator in this character-rich whodunit and whydunit.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"A high-stakes, high-tension yarn in which you keep wishing everything would turn out fine for the deeply flawed, deeply sympathetic hero even though you know it won't."
Now that he's antagonized every other lawman in the state of Maine (
Trespasser, 2011, etc.), game warden Mike Bowditch gets exiled to Washington County, the Down East territory where nothing ever happens. Things happen.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"Cain's abiding determination to outdo the suspense, plot twists and gore of each previous outing is both perverse and awe-inspiring."
A fourth match--a fifth, if you count
The Night Season (2011), in which she's limited to a cameo--between Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer, and Archie Sheridan, the Portland cop who alternates between locking her up and having sex with her.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"Riley's obtuseness makes her a uniquely incompetent detective, an investigative reporter constantly surprised by developments less likely to ambush seasoned genre fans."
Another hot tip from her best informant, her mother, leads TV reporter Riley Spartz (
Killing Kate, 2011, etc.) far from the Twin Cities to a murder among the Amish community in misnamed Harmony, Minn.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"A foodie's delight, packed with information on coffee and desserts, along with appended recipes and a satisfyingly rich mystery."
FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"White (Dead Time, 2008, etc.) makes it clear that Alan's 19th appearance is his penultimate case; the next case will be his swan song. Judging from the risks he takes this time, fans won't want to miss the sequel."
As a series of wildfires swoop ever closer to his Boulder office, psychotherapist Alan Gregory's life threatens to go up in metaphorical flames even before their arrival.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
Journalist Östlundh's first English-language translation provides sad proof that not every crime novel that takes root under the midnight sun blossoms equally brightly.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
"In a radical departure from her scrapbooking series (Ready, Scrap, Shoot, 2012, etc.), Slan refashions a beloved heroine as a surprisingly canny detective. Her stylistic imitation of Charlotte Brontë is seasoned with a dash of social commentary and plenty of suspects to mull over."
FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
Detective Sgt. Magnus Jonson, seconded from Boston to Reykjavík, tackles two cases, one with global consequences, the other striking considerably closer to home.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 8, 2012
"Culver's latest charts new developments in Hanna and Sam's relationship, though it provokes fewer laughs than A Good Day to Pie (2011)."
Making consistently fabulous pies is the least of a local baker's problems when a critic who gave her a thumbs-down is murdered.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 14, 2012
"An entertainingly complex, quick-moving psychological thriller."
In Hiller's (
Sabra Zoo, 2010) second thriller, Michel Khoury is a skilled linguist, a supposed student at the London School of Oriental and African Studies, and a PLO operative controlled by the mysterious Abu Leila.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 15, 2012
"Forget the ingenious, disposable mystery. Reading Vichi is like vacationing with friends who've lived in Florence all their lives, know how to enjoy all the high and low spots, and solve murders."
A first American appearance for a shrewd, worldly Florentine police inspector with some appealingly unexpected affinities.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"As usual, Cleverly (The Blood Royal, 2011, etc.) neatly captures the style and feeling of the period between the world wars and provides plenty of mystery, suspense and danger."
A desperate plea for help from a schoolboy sucks Scotland Yard Detective Joe Sandilands into a case that could end his career.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"A fine thriller that succeeds on every level. How often do you read about a hero who just wants to die in peace?"
FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"To Disher's usual brisk pacing, add heaps of noir. The result is not for everyone but is a banquet for those who like it uncut and unsparing."
Dirty doings Down Under as Australian superthief Wyatt (
Wyatt, 2011, etc.) returns to steal something he wishes he hadn't.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"Another charming demonstration that it's better to travel hopefully than to arrive--a motto that might stand for every soap opera ever written."
FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"Geologist Andrews enhances Em's adventures (Dead Dry, 2005, etc.) with expert detail. A challenging mystery with the added fillip of evocative descriptions of the canyon."
FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"Morgon's fourth appearance (The Terrorist, 2010, etc.) is a subtle and complex thriller/whodunit, written with wit, intelligence and luminous precision."
Three decades after it began, an unlikely investigator examines the way the Nazi occupation of France turned neighbor against neighbor and led to murder.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"A fictional debut for a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, born and raised in West Virginia, whose love for the state, filled with natural beauty and deep poverty, pervades a mystery that has plenty of twists and turns and a shocking conclusion."
A tough prosecutor who's trying to make a difference in the lives of West Virginians suddenly finds her own life in shambles.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"George's all-too-familiar story is so richly observed, subtly characterized, precisely written--her syncopated paragraphs are a special delight--and successful in its avoidance of genre clichés that you'd swear you were reading the first police procedural ever written."
George's Pittsburgh cops (
Hideout, 2011, etc.) investigate a robbery-murder that's a lot less routine and more sordid than it looks.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 21, 2012
"More lawyers, law enforcement types, Class-A felonies and plot twists than you can shake a stick at. Instead of a map, Corleone should have supplied a score card."
Honolulu attorney Kevin Corvelli's latest pair of clients serve up surprise after unhappy surprise.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 28, 2012
"Elliptical and often oracular, but also remarkably penetrating and humane. The most illuminating analogies are not to other contemporary detective fiction but to The Name of the Rose and Murder in the Cathedral."
A prior's murder takes Quebec's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his sidekick, Inspector Jean-Guy Beauvoir, inside the walls of the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loupes.
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