Introducing our Queen of Mystery, MJ Beaufrand. MJ has the distinction of having a novel of hers, The River, nominated for an Edgar Award in 2011. She didn't win, but at the awards ceremony got to sit next to Michael Connelly, who seemed perfectly charming and very popular. Equally charming was Laura Lippman.
The Jack Taylor Series by Ken Bruen. Start with "The Guards." His prose is spare, but make no mistake, Bruen will immerse you into the Irish underground with ease.
Dave Robicheaux is a PI living on the Louisiana Bayou. Each new crime brings with it another personal turn in fortune, for example, an orphaned child he ends up adopting
The Holland Family is tested throughout generations, starting with Weldon Avery Johnson, who falls in with Bonnie and Clyde in 1934, and ending in contemporary times, with Aaron Holland Broussard, in "Every Cloak Rolled in Blood."
"Every Cloak Rolled in Blood" is my favorite mystery of 2022 by far. In the book, which Burke calls his most autobiographical, Broussard is mourning the death of his adult daughter. Of course, even though he tries to stay away from trouble, it comes to him. It was so moving, I cried.
A lovely tale about two elderly gentlemen who set out to discover who murdered their gay sons.
This fabulous title goes against my rule of, "If you're going to write about Jane Austen characters, you'd better damn well write like Jane Austen." In the novel, all the couples from Austen's novels converge on Hertfordshire for a weekend house party hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Knightley. They are all charming in the best ways, but Mr. Wickham has run afoul of each in one way or another. Of course he winds up dead before the first night is over. Who could've done it? Was it Captain Wentworth? Emma Knightley? Elizabeth Darcy? Read and find out!
Isabella "Izzy" Spellman is a licensed PI from a family of licensed PIs who live in San Francisco. Yes, Izzy drinks too much. Yes, she likes breaking to houses. But she's really good at sleuthing. If you like your mysteries zany and laugh-out-loud funny, as I do, this is the series for you.