Jane and the Barque of Fraility by Stephanie Barron
Ninth in this series featuring Jane Austen as a detective, this story is set in the spring of 1811 when Jane is residing in London overseeing the preparation of her novel, Sense and Sensibility, for publication. Jane and her sister-in-law Eliza become involved when the body of a Russian princess is found on the doorstep of influential politician Lord Castlereagh. Though the mystery is not as suspenseful as others in the series, there is a fascinating cast of characters, Bow Street Runners, royalty, and the title’s ‘barques”, the famous courtesans of the period.
Besides the obvious audience of Jane Austen lovers, readers of Anne Perry’s William Monk and Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mysteries will love this series for its period authenticity. Bruce Alexander’s series, with 18th century London’s Sir John Fielding, as investigator and judge, is another read-alike.
Suzanne McGuire, Commack Public Library
Fall Guy by Carol Lea Benjamin
Detective Tim O’Fallon is found dead—an apparent suicide. Rachel Alexander has been named as executor of O’Fallon’s estate—but Rachel hardly knew him. Why would he appoint her to notify family members and to dispense of his possessions?
With Greenwich Village as a backdrop, Fall Guy is the story of how private investigator Rachel Alexander, with the aid of her therapy-trained pit bull Dash, pieces together the circumstances surrounding the death of a person she hardly knew. She encounters O’Fallon’s sister, his brother, and a series of unsavory acquaintances. She is increasingly convinced that O’Fallon’s death was not a suicide, but a homicide. There are a number of possible suspects, but one individual is particularly suspicious. Rachel is almost convinced that she has unraveled the mystery of O’Fallon’s death. That is, until O’Fallon’s sister Maggie begins to confide life-long family secrets to Rachel.
Benjamin’s writing is convincing and realistic; dialogue is abundant; and the characters are quirky, yet believably authentic. Anyone who enjoys a murder mystery that keeps them guessing until the satisfying conclusion will enjoy Fall Guy.
Fall Guy is one in a series of Rachel Alexander mysteries written by Carol Lea Benjamin. If you enjoy this book, you may enjoy reading the other titles in the series.
Other mysteries that feature women and their dogs include:
Best in Show by Laurien Berenson
A Bloodhound to Die For by Virginia Lanier
Detective mysteries with a Greenwich Village setting:
Free Love or Murder Me Now, both by Annette Meyers.
Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen
The second in the Molly Murphy series finds the heroine determined to become a private eye in turn-of-the-century New York City. She tries to apprentice herself to a crusty old cockney P.I. and is just beginning to win him over when tragedy strikes and Molly is on her own again, struggling to find who killed her employer. Molly goes from the emerging bohemia of Greenwich Village (with some delightful residents) and then to much darker places as she discovers an anarchists’ cell and a plot to bring down our country. As in the first book in the series, Molly is aided mightily by New York City Police Captain Daniel Sullivan and their romance simmers.
Readalikes:
Agatha Raisin mysteries of M. C. Beaton
Beaton’s historical romances written under the name Marion Chesney.
Fiona Buckley’s Ursula Blanchard mysteries are another possibility.
Marie T. Horney, Cold Spring Harbor Library
Sofie Metropolis by Tori Carrington
Sofie Metropolis leaves her groom on the altar after she finds him cheating with her maid of honor. When she returns from the honeymoon she took alone she decides that a change is in order. Sofie leaves her waitressing job at her father's restaurant to join her uncle's PI firm, much to the chagrin of her family.
Though the book has all the ingredients of a chick lit mystery, including sexy Aussie Jake Porter, it falls flat. Set in ethnic Astoria, the novel parallels the Stephanie Plum novels in many respects--including a funny, self-deprecating heroine and eccentric family members and neighbors but the writing is more pedestrian and not as sharp.
This book was first in a series and perhaps husband and wife team Tori Carrington will produce a more interesting sequel.
Read-Alikes:
Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich
Bubbles Yablonsky (hairdresser/reporter/sleuth) novels by Sarah Strohmeyer also feature a wise-cracking heroine with lots of eccentric characters
Michelle Epstein, East Northport Library
Predator by Patricia Cornwell
Predator is Patricia Cornwell’s 14th Kay Scarpetta novel. Scarpetta, now freelancing with the National Forensic Academy in Florida, teams up once again with her colleagues Pete Marino, Benton Wesley and her niece Lucy, this time to investigate the strange disappearance of four people from their home. In a nearby home a woman is found murdered in her bed and in another home a man is found dead of a shotgun blast to the chest. Meanwhile, a woman is being held in an abandoned house after being kidnapped by an unknown man. What these crimes have in common is the web that holds this novel together.
Kathleen Scheibel, South Country Public Library
Death Dance by Linda Fairstein
Outspoken Alexandra Cooper, assistant DA for the sex crimes prosecution unit, is reunited with fellow Manhattan crime scene investigators Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace as they tackle the case of a murdered dancer with the Royal Ballet. The world-famous but aging ballerina, Natalya Galinovais, vanishes backstage at the Metropolitan Opera House during a performance - only to be found the next day murdered and thrown onto the top of a cooling unit. It was no secret that she had a bad attitude and a cuckolded husband, but her murder still comes as a shock even to a whole slew of suspects, among them Broadway kingpin and voyeur Joe Berk and his shady niece Mona. Berk is the head of the Berk Organization, one of the four companies that own all the legitimate theaters on Broadway. His unusual apartment on top of the Belasco Theatre comes complete with a ghost and a secret elevator – the latter dating from the time of Belasco himself when he would sneak girls upstairs. At the Met there are sabotaged sets, killer curtains with a sidewalk execution thrown in for good measure.
Fairstein is a satisfying read: clearly defined believable characters, crisp dialogue, precise descriptions, heart-racing suspense and humor, with a good serving of history thrown in for good measure. This is the eighth book in the Alex Cooper series, but it is not necessary to start with the first book in the series – she recaps the vital information in each of the novels.
Read-Alikes
Kathy Reichs’ Tempe Brennan series
Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone series
Lisa Scottoline’s Bennie Rosato series
Jonnie Jacobs’ Kali O’Brien series
John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy series
Kathleen Carter, Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library
The Chocolate Chip Murder by Joanne Fluke
Independent-minded Hannah Swenson makes her debut in a cleverly plotted story, full of appealing characters and delicious cookie recipes. Returning after her father's death to her hometown of Lake Eden, Minn., Hannah opens her own shop, the Cookie Jar, where much of the town's gossip percolates along with the strong coffee. Early one morning, she finds the driver of a delivery truck shot dead in the alley behind her shop. Hannah's brother-in-law, Bill, the county's deputy sheriff, recruits her to help him chase down the culprit. A surprising number of suspects emerge, but due to her cafe business and catering of local social events, Hannah is admirably placed to hear all, see much and investigate a little. Motives ranging from blackmail to extortion abound, as do descriptions of clothing and shopping. Cat fanciers will appreciate knowing how Hannah found her cat. Fluke also stretches the imagination when Bill leaves most of the sleuthing to Hannah and when the sheriff's men fail to discover a second body at the dairy where the first victim was employed.
Read-Alikes:
Lillian Jackson Braun
Rita Mae Brown
M. C. Beaton
Rhea Pollock, Brentwood Public Library
Body Double by Tess Gerritsen
Returning home from Paris, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles is greeted by a nightmarish scene. Slumped in a car in her driveway is a dead woman, a gunshot wound to her head. Cops and neighbors stare at her as she approaches and when Maura looks into the car, she understands why. The body on the front seat is her mirror image.
Readalikes:
Peter Clement
Robin Cook
Michael Crichton
Eileen Dreyer
Thomas Harris
Iris Johansen
Michael Palmer.
Rosalie Toja, Brentwood Public Library
“B” is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
Sue Grafton is considered one of the first female authors to break through the sexual divide and successfully capture her position in the mystery subgenre of private investigators with her character Kinsey Millhone of her Alphabet Series. Sue and Kinsey have been setting out on adventures together since 1982. The setting is Santa Teresa, California. The series now goes up to “S” is for Silence, and the books can be read independently.
In “B” is for Burglar Kinsey has just come off a mysterious life-or-death situation a few weeks prior and is hired to investigate a missing woman. Death, deceit, and a teenage boy with a pink Mohawk travel with us through Kinsey’s case file to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Elaine Boldt.
The story is fast-paced with a good level of main character development. The unfolding of the case is definitely the forefront of the story. The vivid descriptions Kinsey gives of secondary characters makes it extremely easy for the reader to envision in their head.
The series is written in the first person so the reader gets the story from Kinsey’s eyes. Kinsey is a divorcee who spent a short time as a police officer (an advantage that gets mentioned throughout the book). She is a tough, likeable, loner and has been compared to Evanovich’s character Stephanie Plum but unlike Stephanie, Kinsey is not bubbly, has no family, and has a background in law enforcement.
“B” is for Burglar would be suited for older YA through adult readers, it’s a fast paced easy read.
Readalikes:
Sara Paretsky- V.I. Warshawski Series
Raymond Chandler The Long Goodbye
Liza Cody’s- Anna Lee Mysteries
Nevada Barr-Anna Pigeon Series
Neely McCahey, Rogers Memorial Library
Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood
Freelance Detective Phryne Fisher is a twenty-something, jet setting, and independently wealthy 1920s flapper. Set in Melbourne, Australia, Flying Too High is Phryne's second detective mystery. Phryne tackles two mysteries simultaneously in this quick, fun little mystery novel that is full of intrigue, interesting characters and "artful" seduction. Phryne is first called in to solve a murder but then finds herself summoned to solve the kidnapping of a young girl as well. Phryne, by using her unlimited monetary resources, wit and daring charm; is able to solve both mysteries, bringing the rightful parties to justice.
Read-Alikes:
Rhys Bowen
Pam Wells, Lindenhurst Public Library
A Holly, Jolly Murder by Joan Hess
Claire Molloy owns and operates a bookstore in Farberville, a small college town. While helping local Druid Malthea Hendlerson locate some New Age titles, Claire is invited to attend the sacred Winter Solstice celebration planned by the members of the Sacred Grove of Keltria. No one is exempt from suspicion when one of the members is found murdered. Further complicating her otherwise quiet holiday season is her teenage daughter, Caron, whose job as a Christmas elf in the local mall is anything but merry. Time is running out while Claire finds herself way too deep in the unfamiliar world of pentagrams and spells.
Read-Alikes:
Fans of witty writing with many twists and turns
Janet Evanovich
Carolyn Hart
Catherine Nashak, Deer Park Public Library
By A Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman
Tess Monaghan, a former reporter now a private investigator from Baltimore, has a new case. Mark Ruben, an Orthodox Jewish furrier, hires her to find his missing wife and three children. With the help the Snoop Sisters, an online support group for women detectives, an intricate web is unraveled and Mark is reunited with his family. Although the reader knows the whereabouts of the family throughout the book, many surprises and twists keep the reader off balance.
Read-Alikes:
Fans of Faye Kellerman will enjoy this mystery for the religious aspects.
Fans of Janet Evanovich might also enjoy.
Karen Jaffe, Comsewogue Public Library
Bootlegger’s Daughterby Margaret Maron
This is the first book in a series about Deborah Knott, the only daughter of a notorious North Carolina bootlegger. While Kezzie Knott was only convicted of income tax evasion and is long since “retired,” he is still a large factor in Deborah’s life and career. Deborah decides to run for a local judge’s seat, but becomes involved in a twenty-year-old murder case by accident.
The murders in this series are believable, in that there are no master criminals, mostly just seemingly ordinary people. The setting of the books is mostly eastern North Carolina and you really get a sense of the place and the culture.
Elizabeth Reade, Mastics Moriches Shirley Library
A Wild and Lonely Place by Marcia Muller
A terrorist is attacking consulates in the United States but his latest bombing attempt on an Arab embassy in San Francisco is foiled. Now there is a $1 million reward offered for capturing the “Diplo-Bomber” and the FBI has asked tough, smart Sharon McCone, private investigator to help with the investigation. Sharon interviews an American woman, Mavis Hamid, who is separated from her wealthy Arab playboy husband and is kept a virtual prisoner at the Arab embassy by her mother-in-law, Malika, she claims for the safety of her daughter-in-law and her granddaughter, Habiba. Sharon is immediately drawn to the wise and lonely child and when the child disappears the case becomes personal for Sharon.
Riveting suspense and smooth plot development make this a fun read but it is not without its flaws. The rescue of Habiba by McCone is far-fetched; McCone has to be dropped in the sea from a plane and has to swim ashore to infiltrate the well-guarded island where Habiba is being held. There are also a few details that date the story i.e. McCone’s eighteen year old nephew Mick, a computer wizard (of course), explains quite elaborately to his Aunt what the Internet is but ironically the Arabs are the victims of the bombing attempt in this1995 Sharon McCone mystery.
Peggy McCarthy, Smithtown Public Library
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan is an American, forensic anthropologist working in Montreal as part of the medical examiner’s office. When bodies begin to turn up in strange places, it is up to Dr. Brennan to identify the bodies, figure out the link between them and help find the killer before he strikes again.
Reichs does a wonderful job at fleshing out her characters. There’s Detective Claudel who gives Brennan nothing but trouble, Gabby, Tempe’s flaky best friend, who’s studying local prostitutes and their culture and let’s not forget Brennan who has plenty of personal issues of her own. Montreal as well becomes one of the characters as readers make their way from one part of the city to another following Brennan and the police on the trail of a serial killer. The plot moves quickly, although some of the technical jargon and explanations can be too much at times. Reichs writes a novel with enough mystery and suspense to keep the reader guessing. It may take a chapter or two to get into the book, but Temperance Brennan is worth the wait.
Read-Alikes:
Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series
Jeffrey Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series
Tess Gerritsen’s Jane Rizzoli/Dr. Maura Iles series
Iris Johanson’s Eve Duncan series
Azurée Agnello, West Babylon Public Library
A Bitter Feast by S. J. Rozan
This is the fifth book in the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mystery series from author Rozan. Lydia Chin is a Chinese-American, twenty-something, female, private investigator, who has lived in and practiced in New York City’s Chinatown her whole life. Lydia is a petite, but always street savvy PI, who takes on cases that would fluster a much tougher private eye, and is particularly good at going undercover. Bill Smith her un-official partner is older, more world weary and cynical, but always looking out for Lydia’s back. Rozan has tended to alternate her first-person focus between Lydia and Bill in the series. Lydia and Bill’s sometimes stormy romantic relationship always provides an element of “will they or won’t they” in the series.
Chinatown itself is a main character in the book. The descriptions of restaurants, street markets, and the daily interactions between residents are worth savoring. This book comments on the changing power structure in Chinatown in the late 1990s as newer Fukienese immigrants are moving in to conflict with the older, established Cantonese order. Lydia’s mother provides an element of chick lit as well, always questioning why Lydia isn’t married by now and providing her with grandchildren.
The mystery, while complex and entertaining, takes a backseat to the interactions between the characters and the day-to-day rhythms of life in Chinatown. The main story line concerns Lydia being hired to investigate the disappearance of four immigrant workers from a restaurant owned by one of Chinatown’s Cantonese power brokers. Immigrant smuggling, drug running, union politics, and a few shady U.S. government operatives have roles in the storyline.
Read-Alikes:
Linda Barnes’ Carlotta Carlyle series
Leslie Glass’ April Woo series
Norman Kelly’s Nina Harrigan series
Lillian O’Donnell’s Gwenn Ramadge series
Lisa Miscione’s Lydia Strong series
Bruce Silverstein, Patchogue-Medford Library
This Dame for Hire by Sandra Scoppettone (2005)
Set in New York City in 1943, this is the first of Scoppettone’s Faye Quick series. When private eye Woody Mason goes off to war, he convinces his secretary, five foot four inch Quick, to run his detective agency. One snowy night as she is walking home on Bleecker Street, she discovers the body of Claudette West, a student at NYU and the daughter of a Park Avenue family. The wealthy West family is sure that Claudette’s good-for-nothing boyfriend is the culprit but Faye discovers some surprises about Claudette’s life as she investigates her friends and family in this fast-paced story.
Strong characters and an insightful look at New York City during World War II Quick is fun, caring and quick with the quips. Critics compare Faye Quick to Myrna Loy and Ida Lupino or “Sam Spade with lipstick and stockings.” Scoppettone will appeal to teens, as well as men and women readers of mystery and detective stories.
Too Darn Hot is the second in the Faye Quick series published in 2006.
Read-Alikes:
Judy Clemens
Sharon Fiffer
Libby Fischer Hellmann
Grace O’Connor, West Islip Public Library
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