Cascade Mountain Railroad Mysteries by Anne Capeci (Peachtree)

When I was reviewing children's books I always looked for the most bang for the buck. This series for young readers fills the bill. The spot-on adventure series offers good mystery and excellent history without being "teachy." The first in the series, DANGER DYNAMITE, introduces a diverse group of children in a Cascade Mountain railroad village. Missing dynamite, school pranks, and an old wanted poster combine to set the stage for a well-crafted adventure. "Dynamite" was nominated for an Agatha award.

This excellent series also includes DAREDEVILS, GHOST TRAIN, and MISSING!

THE FIRST CUT by Dianne Emley (Ballentine)

In her first day back on the job after a brutal attack, Nan Vining learns that she'll be relegated to the burgulary division. Despite lingering post traumatic stress symptoms, Vining wants back in homicide. In an obvious example of be careful what you wish for, Nan is pressed into duty when the nude body of an LA police officer is found in Pasadena. Emley takes the reader on both sides of the crime—inside the horrific as well as through the police investigation. The characters are well drawn and the violence, though gruesome, is not gratuitous. Dianne Emley is a writer to watch!

ALL MORTAL FLESH by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Thomas Dunne Books)

Every good mystery has tension. When Spencer-Fleming introduced Clare Fergusson, priest, and Russ van Alstyne, sherrif, four books ago, the immediate attraction they had for each other was enormous. Both, however, were bound to a code that prohibited their acting on the attraction because Russ was married. Now, Russ's wife has kicked him out of the house—he's moved back in with his mother; Clare has determined not to see him again. Circumstances change. Linda van Alstyne is found brutally murdered by a neighbor; the spouse is the obvious suspect; and the state police officer in charge of the investigation is determined that Russ is indeed the killer. Loyalties are important in this riveting story which I couldn't stop until I finished. Spencer-Fleming has garnered a shelf full of awards in her short career. I'd suggest making room for more—ALL MORTAL FLESH is her best yet.

STRIPPED by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's Minotaur)

As detectives Jonathan Stride and Serena Dial investigate a rash of seemingly unrelated murders they realize that all the crimes have ties to the brutal murder of a Las Vegas headliner back in the days when the Ratpack ruled. The current murders are unique, clever, and professional, and they lead directly to the city's power brokers. This is definitely not a shining moment for tourism. STRIPPED is gritty, harsh, and spell-binding.

MURDER UNLEASED by Elaine Viets (New American Library)

I've been reading Elaine Viets since her first book came out, and the "dead end job" series is my favorite. Helen Hawthorne has settled into a series of truly awful jobs but she's tempered her life with truly caring friends and a new love interest. In this outing, the job isn't really so bad—she's working in the Pampered Pet Boutique—but the animal parents are frequently over the top. When she delivers one pampered pet to his owner, Helen finds the woman not dead drunk, but dead. In case murder isn't enough, the boutique's groomers are at war, Ft. Lauderdale's most valuable dog is pupnapped, and a hurricane is targeting the city. I always feel better after an afternoon with Helen—my problems pale!

SHOOTING GALLERY by Hailey Lind (Signet)

Annie Kincaid has set her path on the straight and narrow, but it's hard to make a living as a faux finisher in San Francisco—especially when she could be making big bucks forging Old Masters. She also finds it's hard to stay alive when you've got a trouble magnet in your pocket. Annie's visit to a gallery exhibition not only nets her a new client, but she discovers a body. Her landlord offers her an opportunity to restore a damaged Picasso, and a charming international art thief offers her an opportunity to clear a friend of a crime. Clearly, Annie is a gal to watch as she stumbles through live, one obstacle at a time. I'm not only ordering the debut in this series, but I'm putting Hailey Lind on my not-to-be-missed reading list.

SILENCE OF THE GRAVE by Arnaldur Indridason (Thomas Dunne Books)

Competition among Icelandic crime writers might be low, but when one wins the the coveted Golden Dagger award, that's a different story! SILENCE is just the second of the author's books translated into English. Detective Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson and his team have a relatively benign case: old bones have turned up during construction of a new Reykjavik housing development. Then Erlendur gets a frightening call from his pregnant daughter, begging for help before she is cut off. In his efforts to help her, his mind is split—wondering about the case, worrying about his daughter, and remembering things from his own past.

The beauty of this book is not so much the story, but the way it unfolds. Flashbacks are woven in so skillfully, the reader often is tricked into making false assumptions about which storyline is being told. Then, an "aha" moment occurs, and the path becomes clearer, only to have a new fog drop and confuse one again. Then, as the final pages are read, one can look back and see—everything was there all along! This book is worthy of its honor.

ESCAPE CLAUSE by James O. Born (Putnam)

Some people are always in the right place at the right time; others aren't. Florida lawman Bill Trasker is the latter. Just off a stressful case, he was standing in line at the bank with his 8-year-old daughter when a bank robbery ensued. To help him unwind, his boss sent him to do a review on an inmate homicide at a secluded prison. Bill's trouble magnet, however, continued working at high capacity. Murder, attempted murder (of Bill), kidnapping, and a prison break move Bill's temporary duty from simple to complex and dangerous. Those same complications make for a compelling, fast-paced thriller! James O. Born is now on my must-be-read list.

AS DEAD AS IT GETS by Cady Kalian (Forge)

I don't know much about Hollywood, but when I finished this book, I felt as if I did. Maggie Mars is a successful screenwriter, but it seems that in Hollywood, you're only as good as your next hit. She's working hard to write, serving on the board of her screenwriters' guild, and managing her life. When her mentor, Roger Urban, is found dead in women's sexy clothes, Maggie feels compelled to add another dimension to her life—amateur sleuth. This debut mystery is fast-paced and often funny; it also offers a look into the backstory of the entertainment industry. Cady Kalian is the pseudonym for Irma Kalish (award-winning TV writer) and Naomi Gurian (attorney and former executive director of the Writers Guild of America, west). Enjoy your brush with LaLa Land.

THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine Books)

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner said that in REQUIEM FOR A NUN. A young woman whose body was found brutalized during a blizzard in Small Plains KS left an imprint on the town that is still alive 17 years later. Her gravestone has become a mecca for folks seeking healing and more recently, another body is discovered during another blizzard. Can this new body offer clues to the death of the first? Of course it can! This is a first-class mystery by award-winning Nancy Pickard! Nancy just picked up a Macavity and a Barry at Bouchercon—and she's nominated for an Anthony, but I haven't heard the results of that one yet. This suspense novel is great—with wonderful characters, flashbacks at just the right places, and a rewarding ending. I carried it around the house with me until I finished it.

Cool Mystery Website

Prolific Texas mystery writer Bill Crider has expanded his areas of expertise! He's got a great blogsite that's fun to read. Now, he's added interviews with other mystery authors at the Bouchercon mystery conference, this year in Madison WI. Check it out at http://billcrider.blogspot.com/-- you'll be glad you did!

FOOLISH UNDERTAKING by Mark de Castrique

Barry Clayton has come home to the NC mountains to help with his family's funeral business. An ex-cop, he doesn't expect to be knocked out there the night before a funeral. And he most definitely doesn't expect to have the body stolen. Maybe the fact that the deceased was a Montagnard hero who helped saved the lives of not only Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins, but also a U.S. senator, a three-star general, and a Hollywood star would offer some clues to the who and why of the theft. Or maybe the current international picture could shed some light on the situation. Nevertheless, time is a big factor in the puzzle—and the players are all people with clout. Mark de Castrique is an author to watch.

CONSIGNED TO DEATH by Jane K. Cleland (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Whistle blowers might come off on the high moral ground, but they frequently lose trust among their peers. That's what happened to Josie Prescott, who left her NYC job at a well-known auction house to establish her own company in New Hampshire. Things have gone well for her, but they've been slow—she's had to train a staff from scratch, acquire items, and build a warehouse and showroom. She's excited about her opportunity to land an entire estate of fabulous proportions when she suddenly becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation. After all, the antiques trade can be cut throat in more ways than one. "Antiques Roadshow" junkies will revel in Josie's world; cozy readers will delight in the beginnings of a new, articulate series. Like Oliver, I ask for "more, please."

DYING LIGHT by Stuart MacBride (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Finally Scotland has another dynamite police procedural series. MacBride makes both his fictional and physical homes in Aberdeen. Detective Sergeant Logan MacRae was once a shining star on the force, but a bad tip which resulted in critically injuring a fellow policeman (with no arrests) delegates him to the "Screw-Up Squad." MacRae must use all his skills to find a serial murderer of prostitutes, which no one else believes is such, while most of the manpower of the force is focused on a series of murder by arson. Complicating MacRae's efforts are the two women in his life—his live-in lover, WPC Jackie Watson, and his new detective inspector Roberta Steel. MacRae's personal relationships add a lightness to the reality of the dark crimes, reminding the reader that there is, indeed, a silver lining out there—somewhere.

THE MORTICIAN'S DAUGHTER by Elizabeth Bloom (Mysterious Press)

Just when you think things can't get any worse, they do. Ginny Lavoie's personal life and career are in shambles when she hears from her best childhood friend, "Danny's dead." Knowing the death of a child will trump most any other problem, Ginny leaves New York for the run-down mill town in the Berkshires where she spent her childhood. On her return, she realizes even a disgraced NYPD detective can do more to find Danny's murderer than the incompetent local police chief. Like Thomas Wolfe, she also realizes it's hard to go back home again. Finding the answers to Danny's death means asking questions about the past—and few of the folks involved want to bring old stories to light. Bloom writes cliff-hanging chapter endings that made it very difficult for me to put this book down. I'll look forward to continuing my new relationship with Ginny Lavoie.

STILL LIFE by Louise Penny (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Miss Jane Neal never got to see her first art exhibition. She died, apparently shot by a hunter, on Thanksgiving Sunday, just after her work was accepted for an upcoming show. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec brings his investigative team to the rural village south of Montreal, all of them expecting a short stay. No matter how the facts are assembled, the obvious conclusion of accident doesn't fit, no matter how the locals present the facts. Gamache is sure there's more to this small village than meets the eye. Indeed, the reader learns many village secrets never revealed to Gamache, much like reality. As the investigative team sorts through clues, the story builds to a (dare I say it?) novel ending. Louise Penny will very likely garner a long list of award nominations for this debut.

THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE by Rennie Airth (Penguin)

Seeeing some names on book covers causes me to plan a reading break. Rennie Airth is one of them. Inspector John Madden is now retired from Scotland Yard and living with his physician wife and children and running their farm. Coming home from Sunday luncheon, a detour brings them face to face with an un-Sunday-like gathering of men in a neighboring hamlet. Recognizing a village bobby in the crowd, Madden feels a "chill of premonition" and joins the group. A missing child and an impending storm prompt a search; a grisly discovery and subsequent manhunt call forth an absorbing mystery. Without today's advanced technologies, Madden is forced to solve a crime using manpower and brain power. Airth shows no hesitancy in employing the reader's emotions to hold his interest. A compelling read!

SUFFERING FOOLS by Ed Gaffney (Dell)

I rarely reach for legal thrillers when I first visit my bookshelves, but I'm nearly always glad when I do. This one is no exception. What we have here is enough conflict for several novels, but Gaffney boils everything down into a manageable load. Zack Wilson and Terry Tallach, successful attorneys, accept a pro bono case—very commendable. Several problems arise: their befuddled client doesn't answer to his own name, the state has a compelling case, and the investigator has gathered top notch evidence. Like a knitter adding bits of colorful yarn to a complicated pattern, Gaffney pulls all the strings to just the length for a tight knot at exactly the right time. This the type legal thriller that keeps drawing me to that section of the bookcase!

A KILLER CONNECTION by J. B. Stanley (Berkley)

I picked up this first "collectible mystery" with the thought that it would be a light cozy. To my delight, however, it's a cozy with depth. Molly Appleby is a writer for "Collector's Weekly" magazine, and she comes to the job with a background rooted in the antiques business—her mother once owned a profitable antiques business and is now a premier pottery collector. Invited to a Seagrove (NC) kiln opening, the two are appalled to witness the death of the state's most obnoxious collector. Something Molly sees causes her to doubt the accidental death ruling. As she learns more about North Carolina pottery making, she is more and more convinced that George-Bradley Staunton was murdered. Mystery lovers and pottery collectors alike will enjoy Stanley's fine first outing.

THE YELLOW DOG by Georges Simenon (Penguin)

Everybody who claims to be a mystery reader should have several authors' works snuggly in their "already read" list. One of the more prominent is Simenon, whose Inspector Maigret has entertained readers for 75 years. Three of Maigret's most compelling cases are now reprinted in small paperback format designed for summer reading. When a series of crimes befall the leading citizens of Concarneau, only one is fatal, but the targets are quickly brought to quivering mass while waiting for the next attack. Adding to their fear, a mysterious yellow dog is found near the scene of each assault. Maigret's thinking-and-watching detecting methods are ridiculed by the town's pompous mayor, but the observations prevail when the pipe-smoking Maigret reveals not only who dunit, but why.