This month, we read and reviewed a variety of mysteries, including two that seem especially appropriate for the spooky season. Altogether these offerings demonstrate just how differently writers can approach the genre. There’s offbeat humor, reassuring coziness, a thriller with clues in the art world, another rooted in indigenous archaeology, a creative take on time travel, and more. Our feline this month comes from a magazine founded in 1895 that published short stories, with cover illustrations by the publisher’s wife, Nellie Littlehale Umbstaetter Murphy. Rex Stout was among the writers whose work was published there, along with Jack London, Henry Miller, and O. Henry. The color of the cat seemed appropriate for Halloween.
Kevin O’Brien, Everyone a Stranger – “…an entertaining historical mystery with cozy elements and touches of a 1940s spy thriller, an appealing heroine up against steep odds, and a comforting resolution of all the loose threads in the end.” Barbara Fister
Sherry Thomas, The Librarians – “Come for the library setting and puzzle over the wide-ranging and intricate plotting, but the real pleasure of the book is getting to know characters you will care about.” Barbara Fister
Tom Ryan, We Had a Hunch – “Tom Ryan’s We Had a Hunch is structured like a TV series in which some episodes are solid, almost thrilling, and some are kind of beside the point, but overall, they make you want to keep watching.” Mary-Jane Oltarzewski
Kate Belli, The Gallery Assistant – “…gradually we get to know [the protagonist] as she begins to see in art something profound and meaningful just as we learn more about why she is such a mess. By the end, we’re firmly on her side as she untangles the mysteries surrounding the murder and the dark side of the gallery business.” Barbara Fister
Olivia Blacke, Death at the Door – “For a story about the ghost of a hard-drinking woman who died – maybe by suicide, maybe by murder – investigating a homicide committed on her old mortal turf, Olivia Blacke’s Death at the Door is a fun, breezy read.” Mary-Jane Oltarzewski
Alexander McCall Smith, In the Time of Five Pumpkins – “As with all the books in this series, In the Time of Five Pumpkins is an ode both to the human condition with all its joys and foibles and to Botswana and its traditions, a strong, supportive backdrop that informs the lives of all the characters.” Meredith Frazier
Ania Ahlborn, The Unseen – “Ahlborn does a fabulous job of convincingly immersing the reader in the miasma of the characters’ confusion while allowing just enough understanding of the events to keep the reader engaged in the plot. Her descriptions of the setting and events use all the senses.” Sharon Mensing
Vanessa Lillie, The Bone Thief – “…a complex, absorbing, and sometimes demanding book…Lillie weaves into her story the past and present of the Indian nations native to New England, communities that predate colonization and are still fighting for recognition.” Barbara Fister
Eric Heisserer, Simultaneous – “…an absorbing, occasionally funny, and provocative take on time travel that avoids the usual paradoxes by simply rushing ahead with characters who grab hold of our imaginations and won’t let go.” Barbara Fister