crime and mystery
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Mixing History with Mystery
Fellow readers, there are few things I love more than crossover titles – books with footing in multiple genres. I am a huge mystery reader, and I will follow mystery plots into many other genres. Today, let’s talk about some new mysteries that are also quite good historical fiction titles. The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne… Continue reading
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Curl Up With a Cozy Cat Mystery
As night descends sooner and sooner and light autumn rain patters on your windowsill, you may want to consider which books to read with your hot tea as you snuggle in a warm, fleece-lined blanket. Here are five cozy cat mystery series to curl up with. Cat in the Stacks Mysteries by Miranda JamesTake a… Continue reading
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Spring into Suspense with these Thrilling Tales!
This Spring, Thrilling Tales – our regular lunch hour Story Time for Grown Ups – will transport you from the psychoanalyst’s couch to the funeral parlor, from suburbia to death row, from the swamp to a magical realm where dragons fly overhead. Join us, won’t you? Admission is free, and brown bag lunches are welcome!… Continue reading
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Snowbound! Winter Chills and Thrills
Desperate messages came flooding in, through the silent darkness of the winter nights. “Help! Snowed in at home! I need something to read!” So, adding to our recent list of Wintry reads, here are some gripping novels that revolve around winter storms. The Quality of Silence, by Rosamund Lupton. An astrophysicist and her precocious hearing-disabled daughter… Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2018 : A Mystery or Thriller
If you’re already a mystery or thriller fan, you don’t need our help — this square is a freebie! But what if you don’t usually read crime novels? Not to worry — we have you covered: just find the kind of books you like below, and get reading! Classics: The Shooting Party, by Anton Chekhov.… Continue reading
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Upcoming Thrilling Tales from our Story Time for Grown Ups.
For over a decade, every other Monday at noon listeners have flocked to Thrilling Tales, the Library’s story time for grownups, spending their lunch hour rapt in suspenseful narratives. Janice Leadingham, a local bookseller said in a recent article in City Arts: “Especially for impatient people, it’s good because it slows things down a bit. For one hour, you can… Continue reading
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Mystery Challenge: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Paranormal
~by David H. The mystery story is one of the most flexible of stories, because a mystery can take place anywhere. The time and place don’t make any difference; all that’s required is a crime and someone to solve it. So what happens when a mystery takes place in the depths of space or on… Continue reading
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Mystery Challenge: Exotic Locales
~ by Selby G. One of the many great things about reading a book is that it can take you anywhere. Can’t squeeze in a vacation to China? Read a book and follow the characters down alleyways in Shanghai or to a temple in Beijing. Combine those foreign landscapes with a good mystery and you… Continue reading
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Mystery Challenge: Historical Mysteries
~by Jen B. If you love a good historical murder mystery, you’ll be ready for sleuths to do their own leg work and be adept at deciphering psychological clues. Although they lack modern technology and forensics, these stories, set over 50 years ago, showcase the bygone talents of great minds. A few time periods provide… Continue reading
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Science Fiction Fridays: Science fiction mystery blends
Science Fiction and Mystery may be starkly separated genres for some, but recently I love the way they blend together in three great series. The examples below range from the lighter, funny end of things to the traditional and even the darker genre mixtures. Check them out if you’d like to see for yourself. KOP,… Continue reading
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Crime: Inappropriate morality tales – Mysteries for teens
“Do you have something inappropriate?” asked a teen patron at the Beacon Hill library. “Lots,” I countered and pulled out Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan. What can be more horrific than plotting to kill your teacher? “No,” he whispered violently, “I mean like sex.” Oh, that kind of inappropriate, I chortled inside. Continue reading
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Thrilling Chilling Winter Stories, Live!
This Winter, Thrilling Tales (the Library’s storytime for grownups) has got some great tales of crime and suspense lined up by masterful storytellers of today and yesteryear. We’ll have arctic adventure, unspeakable terror, hitmen, con-men, stick-up artists and librarians! Yes, that’s right – on Monday January 28 we will be having a special storytime dedicated to libraries and librarians, and coinciding with the… Continue reading
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Crime: The I’s Have It.
As I set out to read my way through my alphabet of crime, I was a little worried about the letter ‘I,’ but it turned out to be quite a little Anglo-French treasure trove. Here are three great authors in our mystery “I’s,” each with their own distinct voice. Graham Ison is one of the many… Continue reading
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Crime: The Sherlock Holmes you don’t know.
Arriving at the D’s in my Alphabet of Crime, I want to pay homage to Arthur Conan Doyle, or more specifically to his greatest creation. Sherlock Holmes is especially hot right now, but as arguably the most beloved series character in the history of fiction, he never really goes out of style. Of course you can… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Dana Stabenow
Alaksa native Dana Stabenow is the author of two popular crime series set in her home state: nearly a score of titles featuring kickass Aleut private eye Kate Shugak, and a quartet of titles centering on straight-shooting state trooper Liam Campbell. The pair finally meet in Stabenow’s newest title, Restless in the Grave, released on Valentine’s Day.… Continue reading
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Crime: The Man Who Was Thursday, by G.K. Chesterton
Last week I talked about E.C. Bentley’s singular mystery Trent’s Last Case, which was dedicated to his old friend G.K. Chesterton; now that I’ve reached the C’s in my alphabet of crime, it seems only fitting to revisit Chesterton’s singular thriller, The Man Who Was Thursday, itself dedicated to Bentley. Although mystery fans will best… Continue reading
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Crime: The Singular Pleasures of E.C. Bentley
This year I’m reading my way through the mystery section, A-Z. Read along, won’t you? I’ve just had the best time reading E.C. Bentley’s Trent’s Last Case, a beguiling whodunit that prefigured crime’s Golden Age. It is 1913, and detectives are very much dominated by Sherlock Holmes and his countless imitators, such long forgotten ratiocinators as Sexton Blake, Duckworth Drewe,… Continue reading
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An Alphabet of Crime: Killer B’s
Arriving at the B’s in my project to read through the mystery aisle, I can’t help but notice some favorite darker mystery authors that I’d love to share. Next week I’ll try something new, but for now here are some old friends: Christine Falls, by Benjamin Black. Black has brilliance to spare. Having already written a layered spy novel to rival… Continue reading