Saturday, December 28, 2019
The Books of 2019: Mysteries
There is a separate post for LGBT mysteries, because I read a LOT of them this year. Almost all of the LGBTQ mysteries have boinking. Almost none of these do.
Mystery
A Geek Girl’s Guide to Arsenic (2016) and A Geek Girl’s Guide to Justice (2016) by Julie Anne Lindsey (8/10) are the second and third books in the Geek Girl mystery series and have a wonderful and delightful heroine.
Mia Connors is the IT person for the Horseshoe Falls community, but she’s way way more than that. She’s also a gamer, an identical twin, a costumer, and CEO of her grandmother’s natural beauty products company.
The series opens with the discovery of a murder, and Mia a possible suspect (and also under suspicion for some of her other activities).
Here are two quotes that give you a good idea as to just why I adore Mia so much.
I nodded in full acceptance. “Whatever. It’s my circus. They’re my monkeys.”
“I don’t understand hipsters and their dull, underenthused lifestyle.”
It’s also a romance, but there is no boinking.
Start with Book 1, A Geek Girl’s Guide to Murder and then gobble up the rest of the series.
At Your Service (2018) Sandra Antonelli (8/10) had quite a different feel from the other mysteries I read this year.
For three years, Mae Valentine has been acting as butler, housekeeper, and cook for Major Kitt when he’s not away on assignment as a Risk Assessment Specialist. Mae had actually retired, but when she got bored she decided to take it up again, since Major Kitt is often away.
Both characters are older and both have strong personalities, and those personalities clash when Mae becomes caught up in a mystery. It’s actually rather difficult to describe the mystery at all without giving away and of the reveals (and there are many).
Did I mention that Mae is middle aged? She’s lovely.
There is some boinking here.
Mystery, Historical
Who Slays the Wicked (2019) C.S. Harris (8/10) (Sebastian St Cyr)
This is the 14th Sebastian St Cyr mystery, and not the place to dive into this series, however, the first book is often on sale, and it looks like most of the series is available at my local library, so that gives you a WHOLE NEW SERIES if you haven’t read this before.
A lot happens has happened in this series, and although there are many threads that haven’t been resolved, each story arc is completed within its book, and there are no cliff hangers.
Also, Sebastian gets married several books into the series, and has a wonderful marriage, which is something I really love about this series.
Just a note, Grandmom enjoyed this series almost as much as I did.
Anna Lee Huber had a new Lady Darby mystery out this year, the 8th in the series. An Artless Demise (2019) (Lady Darby) (8/10)
This series, set in the 1830s, is an automatic pre-order for me. It’s also another series where you really should go back to the start of the series. Luckily, it looks like my local library at least has most of these available, so yours might as well.
Lady Darby was the widow of an infamous anatomist, and because suspect in society because it was assumed she willingly participated in the creation of her husband’s anatomy book. She meets–and eventually marries–Sebastian, an inquiry agent, which is how the two keep getting drawn into murders.
I also finally read her stand-alone, Secrets in the Mist (2016) (9/10), which is set in 1812.
This was an excellent mystery (and story) and if you like historicals, I highly recommend it (as well as her Lady Darby series).
Her Verity Kent series, set after The Great War is fine, I just don’t like it nearly as well as the Lady Darby series (Even though I do love the Post Great War setting.)
Girl Waits with Gun (2015) and Lady Cop Makes Trouble (2016) by Amy Stewart (8/10) are the first two books in the Kopp Sisters series. The books are loosely based upon the life of Constance Kopp and most of the events in the book actually happened.
I’ll note, however, that I stalled on the third book and although I haven’t quite given up, it’s getting close.
Mystery, Police
Two Montalbano books were published this year, and I discovered that Andrea Camilleri died over the summer, so there are only a few books left to be translated and published in the US.
Death at Sea: Montalbano’s Early Cases (2014/2018) translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8/10) is a collection of short stories, and The Other End of the Line (2016/2019) (8/10) is the next book in the Montalbano timeline.
If you haven’t read any Montalbano stories, I’d go with the short story collection to see if they’re you’re thing.
