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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

New mysteries and adventures are waiting to be discovered @ your library

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series #12) by Alexander McCall Smith

From Barnes & Noble

Whether you think of them as low stress mysteries or African cozies, Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels are irresistible. The twelfth installment of this beloved series breathes with the personalities of its main characters: Precious Ramotswe, Grace Makutsi, Phuti Radiphuti, Violet Sephotho, and all the rest. As always, the network of plots are woven into those personalities and as always, Mma Ramotswe confronts and solves personal problems that would embarrass hard-boiled American detectives, but will only charm any honest reader. Restful, arresting nighttime reading.




The Night Season by Chelsea Cain

From Barnes & Noble

Oregon detective Archie Sheridan and local journalist Susan Ward team up again in this extreme weather thriller. As heavy rains pound Portland, apparent drowning victims keep surfacing on the Willamette River. While others tremble before the steadily rising waters, the sleuth and reporter come to the harsh realization that a serial killer is loose and hiding behind nature's merciless torrents. Chelsea Cain's fourth Archie Sheridan mystery (Heartsick; Sweetheart; Evil at Heart) builds its intensity and suspense by rapid cuts between the ominous gathering flood and the dangerous manhunt. One of our most talented young mystery writers.



The Informationist by Taylor Stevens

Publishers Weekly

Stevens's blazingly brilliant debut introduces a great new action heroine, Vanessa Michael Munroe, who doesn't have to kick over a hornet's nest to get attention, though her feral, take-no-prisoners attitude reflects the fire of Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander. Nine years have passed since Munroe, the daughter of American missionaries, escaped Cameroon at age 15 after a violent incident. She's forged a new life in Texas as an "informationist," a person who specializes in gathering information about developing countries for corporations. Munroe's best friend, marketing consultant Kate Breeden, refers her to Miles Bradford, a high-stakes security pro, who believes she's the perfect choice to help Houston oilman Richard Burbank find his adopted daughter, Emily, who vanished four years earlier at age 18 while vacationing in west central Africa. Munroe returns to Africa, where she reconnects with her ex-boyfriend, Francisco Beyard, a sexy drug- and gun-running businessman, who assists in the dangerous search for Emily. Thriller fans will eagerly await the sequel to this high-octane page-turner.



Night Road by Kristin Hannah

Publishers Weekly

Hannah follows up Winter Garden with a strained story of friendship, social pressures, love, and forgiveness. After a string of foster homes and the death of her heroin-addict mother, Lexi Baill is taken in by a newly discovered great-aunt who lives a spartan life near Seattle. Despite financial problems, the two are glad to have found each other, and though Lexi resolves to stay safely on the periphery at her new high school, she soon meets Mia, unhappy and awkward despite a solid family life, a loving twin brother, Zach, and a closetful of clothes. The friendship flourishes, and Mia's mother, Jude, relieved and pleased for her daughter, draws Lexi into the family circle. But trouble begins in senior year with a slowly growing attraction between Zach and Lexi, who take great pains to make Mia comfortable with the change in the dynamics. This familiar story takes an unfortunate turn deep into after-school-special territory when Lexi, Mia, and Zach collectively make a bad decision that results in a tragedy with extreme repercussions. Even readers who like their melodrama thick will have problems as Hannah pushes credibility to the breaking point, and more than once.

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