Monday, April 28, 2008

A little gift to start the week--

I received a little gift to start the week in the form of a paperback mystery by Elizabeth Ironside. A new writer to me, Ironside is the pen name for Lady Catherine Manning who's written psychological thrillers for more than 20 years according to the Washington Post. Here's an old (1978, I suspect from a tag on the pix) but solo photo of Lady Manning from Google.

She is also the wife of Sir David Manning, a recent British Ambassador to the U.S.

The book I received today Death in the Garden features a mysterious death which spans 60 years involving the attention of family members both of whom turn 30 years old. Set in Britain during 1925, Diana Pollexfen celebrates her birthday when her husband dies from a poison cocktail. This cocktail includes photographic chemicals which Diana owns. Fast forward to Diana's grand-niece, Helena, in 1985, and she obsesses over the old story while reviewing Diana's old papers to look anew into George Pollexfen's death.

Death in the Garden is a gift from a library regular who said his wife is mystery lover and enjoys this writer. So, I appreciate the thoughtfulness and I'll share about this writer now. It definitely sounds like a good, classic-styled mystery. The paperback also touts critical praise from the Denver Post, the New York Times and National Public Radio.

This book was originally published in the UK in 1995 with the U.S. edition to follow ten years later. The book is 294 pages and published by Felony & Mayhem.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

New Mysteries on the Shelves (3)

I skipped a month in March with new titles but here are two more now. My first one is listed in the library system's African American fiction section yet it is also a mystery series.

Bill Moody's Shades of Blue is another in a series of the Evan Horne novels with a jazz pianist who gets involved in mysteries and danger. In this novel, Horne is currently in California with modest success in the Bay Area jazz circuit. Things quickly change as Horne receives a phone call that his mentor and fellow pianist, Calvin Hughes, has died leaving him all his possessions including a small Hollywood home. Sifting through Hughes' sheet music remains, Horne finds notes of significant jazz recordings which appear to be his uncredited work. That might be the case yet Horne probes and finds yet even more secrets might exist.

Shades of Blue is the sixth book of this series and is 265 pages.

The second book is Southern Fatality : a Jersey Barnes mystery by T. Lynn Ocean. This the first (as best as I can tell) novel with tough lady private investigator Jersey Barnes, a former private security specialist. Set in the Carolinas, Barnes accepts a job from a boyfriend which should be a "simple favor" of surveillance but a double kidnapping and cover-up later prove matters very wrong. The trail includes a share of various characters with a faithful dog no less in a novel that doesn't shy away from humor and wit.

The book is 278 pages long.