While most mystery series do not have to be read in order, many mystery readers prefer to start at the beginning and follow the main characters through the growth of their mystery solving skills. Below you will find a few newer titles that are number one in a forthcoming mystery series, owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions are provided by the publisher.
Knife Skills by Wendy Church, The Shadows of Chicago series. Sagarine Pfister is a great cook but has been blacklisted by almost every restaurant in Chicago. When she finds the head chef of a below-average restaurant dead in a walk-in freezer, the owner, Russian gang boss Anatoly Morzov, offers her the head chef job. While the Chicago PD searches for a killer, the FBI pressures Sagarine to inform on the gang. As Sagarine becomes more deeply involved with the gang and one of Morzov’s lieutenants, the FBI’s demands put her at increased risk of discovery. She has to make a decision about where her loyalties lie as she finds herself running for her life.
Murder by cheesecake by Rachel Ekstrom-Courage, A Golden Girls cozy mystery. When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf-themed wedding Rose is hosting.
Midnight Streets by Phil Lecomber, A Piccadilly noir novel. When Cockney private detective George Harley saves a young girl’s life on a dark London night in 1929, he doesn’t realize it marks the beginning of an investigation which will change his life forever. The incendiary novel which inspired the girl’s abduction also seems to be linked to a series of grisly murders that are taking place on Harley’s patch. Set during the Golden Age of Crime Fiction, Harley’s world is a far cry from the country house of an Agatha Christie whodunnit.
Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd, Nora Breen investigates. The first in a cozy mystery series about a former nun who searches for answers in a small seaside town after her pen pal mysteriously disappears. Haunted by a line in her friend’s letter, Nora Breen asks to be released from her vows and arrives at Gulls Nest, a charming hotel in Gore-on-Sea in Kent. A seaside town, a place of fresh air and relaxed constraints, is the perfect place for a new start. Nora hides her identity and pries into the lives of her fellow guests. But when a series of bizarre murders rattles the occupants of Gulls Nest it’s time to ask if a dark past can ever really be left behind.
The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes, Expectant detectives. The Expectant Detectives is first in a delightful new mystery series following a group of pregnant women who meet at a prenatal class and team up to solve the murder of someone in their village.
I Only Read Murder by Ian Ferguson & Will Ferguson, Miranda Abbott mystery. Miranda Abbott, once known for the crime-solving, karate-chopping church pastor she played on network television, has hit hard times. She’s facing ruin when a mysterious postcard arrives, summoning her to Happy Rock, a small town in the Pacific Northwest. In dire straits, she signs up for an amateur production at the Happy Rock Little Theater. On opening night, one of the actors is murdered, live, in front of the audience. Now everyone is under a cloud of suspicion, including the town doctor, the high school drama teacher, an oil-stained car mechanic, an elderly gentleman who may have been in the CIA — and Miranda herself. Clearly, the only way to solve this mystery is for Miranda to summon her skills as television’s Pastor Fran.
Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack, The vacation mysteries. All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series — is that too much to ask? Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case. Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker, and even her ex, Oliver, theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed.