She Shoots to Conquer
by Dorothy Cannell
Published 2009 by Minotaur Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780312343392

Find this book in our catalog.

Jacket Notes:

Ellie Haskell--part Miss Marple, part modern British mum ("Booklist")--is on the case, in this witty new cozy. On a dark and foggy night, charming amateur sleuth Ellie Haskell, her husband Ben, and her plucky sidekick Mrs. Malloy find themselves stranded at a grand estate on the Yorkshire moors. Lord Belfrey of Mucklesfeld Manor has decided to save his crumbling establishment by offering himself as the prize on a TV reality show titled "Here Comes the Bride."Thrilled at the prospect of marrying a lord, Mrs. Malloy eagerly joins the competition. After one of the potential brides is shot during an archery contest, Ellie begins to explore the dark passageways and hidden nooks of the delightfully Gothic estate--but she may not be prepared for the secrets lurking behind closed doors.

Publishers Weekly 02/09/2009

At the start of Cannell's droll if draggy 13th Ellie Haskell mystery (after 2008's "Goodbye, Ms. Chips"), Ellie; her chef husband, Ben; and their housekeeper, Mrs. Roxie Malloy, take a wrong turn one foggy night on the Yorkshire moors. They wind up at Muckelsfeld Manor, where Georges LeBois, a French director, is producing "Here Comes the Bride", a reality TV program aimed at finding a wife for Lord Aubrey Belfrey, whose estate could benefit from the publicity. When one of the contestants dies in a car accident in the fog, single Roxie takes her place, and Ben becomes chef for the shoot. Besides becoming enamored of a homeless black Lab, Ellie gets drawn into the mystery surrounding Aubrey's older brother's wife, who's rumored to have absconded with some family jewels before her husband died. While the eccentric supporting cast, notably Muckelsfeld's scary housekeeper, lends interest, Cannell doesn't fully exploit the juicy reality show premise. "(Apr.)" Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu: A Detective Kubu Mystery
by Michael Stanley
Published 2009 by Harper

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780061252495

Find this book in our catalog.

Jacket Notes:

Botswana's Detective Kubu is caught in a twisted tangle of money, murder, andhidden motives, in his second evocative mystery from the author of "A CarrionDeath." Two vicious murders, only hours apart Normally a peaceful wilderness retreat, the Jackalberry bush camp has suddenly become a ghastly crime scene--and the details are still emerging when Detective David "Kubu" Bengu is assigned to the case. Zimbabwean teacher Goodluck Tinubu and another tourist have been found bludgeoned to death, while another guest at the camp--rumored to be a dissident wanted in Zimbabwe--has disappeared without a trace. With the local police unable--or unwilling--to provide much assistance, Detective Kubu relies on his own instincts to track down those responsible for the crimes. But a startling piece of forensic evidence from Goodluck Tinubu's murder adds a complicated twist to the investigation, and Kubu must work fast to solve a seemingly impossible riddle before any more Jackalberry guests meet their death. Suspecting that everyone at the camp has something to hide, the wily detective from Gaborone sets a clever trap to find the truth. The memorable Kubu of "A Carrion Death" returns in this gripping story of murder, greed, and hidden motives. Set in northern Botswana, amid lush vegetation and teeming wildlife, "The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu" captures the intense loyalties and struggles taking place at the country's borders--and the shattered dreams of those living just outside this modern democracy.

Publishers Weekly 03/30/2009

In Stanley's fine second mystery to feature Botswana police detective David Bengu (after 2008's "A Carrion Death"), Bengu, an overweight gourmet aptly nicknamed Kubu (Setswana for hippopotamus), investigates the murders of two male guests at an isolated bush camp. One victim was a black South African tourist; the other, according to his fingerprints, was Goodluck Tinubu, supposedly killed 29 years earlier in the Rhodesian civil war. A third camp guest, who's disappeared, becomes the prime suspect. While the local police want to blame the country's lucrative drug trade for the murders, Bengu believes the key lies in Goodluck's background, though many people, including Bengu's father, knew Goodluck as a thoughtful, devoted teacher. The story runs on a little too long, as though Stanley, the South African writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, couldn't bear to leave this evocative setting. Readers will feel the same way. "(June)" Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Nowhere-Land
by A W Hill
Published 2009 by Counterpoint LLC

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781582434988

Find this book in our catalog.

Jacket Notes:

After a young member of the Jehovah's Witness Church is abducted, the church engages cult specialist Stephan Raszer to find her perilous trail. To solve the puzzle and find the girl, Raszer must try to hold on to his soul and his sanity in a world turned on its head.

Publishers Weekly 04/13/2009

Fans of role-playing games will best appreciate Hill's genre-bending third novel to feature L.A. detective-shaman Stephan Raszer (after "The Last Days of Madame Rey"). Jehovah's Witness elder Silas Endicott hires Raszer to find his 20-year-old daughter, Katy, abducted by three men in dark business suits after she left an abandoned dance hall high up in a canyon. Raszer probes the twists of fate that led Katy from her life as the last pure thing to an enslaved pawn of a modern descendant of the original assassins. From California and New Mexico to the war-torn borderlands where Turkey, Iran and Iraq meet, Raszer relies on both technology and mystic connections to track Katy. In the end, Raszer must figure out how to penetrate an ancient fortress, where the leader known only as the Old Man holds sway. Hill's overheated and at times laborious mix of religious arcana and the occult may make this a slog for those expecting a conventional thriller. "(June)" Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Jelly's Gold
by David Housewright
Published 2009 by Minotaur Books

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780312370824

Find this book in our catalog.

Jacket Notes:

Rushmore McKenzie, a retired St. Paul policeman and unexpected millionaire, often works as an unlicensed P.I., doing favors as it suits him. When graduate students Ivy Flynn and Josh Berglund show up with a story about $8 million in missing stolen gold from the '30s, McKenzie is intrigued. In the early 20th century, St. Paul, Minnesota was an open city --a place where gangsters could come and stay unmolested by the local authorities. Frank "Jelly" Nash was suspected of masterminding a daring robbery of gold bars in 1933, but, before he could unload it, he was killed in the Kansas City Massacre. His gold, they believe, is still somewhere in St. Paul. But they aren't the only ones looking. So are a couple of two-bit thugs, a woman named Heavenly, a local big-wig, and others. When Berglund is shot dead outside of Ivy's apartment, the treasure hunt turns unexpectedly deadly. McKenzie is looking for more than a legendary stash from seventy-five years ago, he's looking for a killer and the long hidden truth behind Jelly's gold.

Publishers Weekly 03/30/2009

In Edgar-winner Housewright's enjoyable sixth novel to feature PI Rushmore Mac McKenzie (after 2008's "Madman on a Drum"), graduate student Ivy Flynn, last seen in 2005's "Tin City", and her new boyfriend believe gold from a 1933 bank robbery engineered by Frank Jelly Nash is still hidden somewhere in St. Paul, Minn. When Mac agrees to investigate, it becomes apparent others are after the same pot of gold, now worth at least $8 million. The searchers consult historical archives and private letters, interview descendants of crooks and bigwigs, and even manage to locate one ancient ex-con who knew Nash. Readers get a dual treat as the likable Mac deals with a parade of present-day sharpies and gold hunters, while Housewright retells the story of the wholesale corruption that for decades made St. Paul a playground for a who's who of gangsters, including John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and others who hobnobbed with St. Paul's upper crust. "(June)" Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.