2001 Selections
(listed by author's last name)
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KEY DECEPTIONS - M. E. Cooper
(Italy; 1489) In 15th century Bologna, Italy, Jews are prohibited under penalty
of death from becoming locksmiths. Lovely, young widow, Avisa, befriends a
young Jewish lad, Bernardo, putting her life at risk. A glib orator comes
to Bologna; the city collects silver for city's bells. When the silver is
stolen, Duke Bentivoglio vows vengeance and it takes all Avisa's locksmithing
skills and courage to save her life and those she loves.
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THE STRANGE FILES OF FREMONT JONES - Dianne Day
Set in 1900 San Francisco, the main protagonist is a young 'type-writer' who comes
to SF and finds adventure, affection, and a whole lot more.
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A MORTAL BANE - Roberta Gellis
(London; 1139) Magdalene la Batarde is the madam of the Old Priory Guesthouse
in Southwark. She and her women are expected to engage in a number of sinful activities,
but bloody murder isn't one of them--until Baldassare, the messenger, dies. Though
Baldassare isn't a regular client of the Old Priory Guesthouse, Magdalene and
her women refuse to allow his death to go unavenged. Of course, their efforts aren't
completely altruistic. Chances are if they don't find the killer, they will be
assumed guilty because they are whores, and will be gutted and hanged.
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THIRTEENTH NIGHT - Alan Gordon
1st in series. 1200, medieval England. Protagonist is a professional jester.
The Fool's Guild is a group of jesters and clowns. This story uses Shakespeare's
play "Twelfth Night" as background.
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A FREE MAN OF COLOR - Barbara Hambly
(New Orleans; 1833) In the midst of Marti Gras, Benjamin January, a Creole physician
and music teacher, is playing piano at the Salle d'Orleans when the evening's festivities
are interrupted by murder. And soon the eyes of suspicion turn toward Ben, for,
black as the slave who fathered him, this free man of color is still the perfect scapegoat.
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BELLADONNA AT BELSTONE - Michael Jenks
1321. Lady Elizabeth of Topsham, prioress of St. Mary's, is fighting to retain
her position in the face of devastating opposition. She has been accused by Sister
Margherita, St. Mary's treasurer, of giving much-needed funds to the new vicar,
a man she often sees alone at night. Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's
Peace, together with his old friend Simon Puttock, are summoned to investigate.
There is no doubt that the threefold vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty are
being broken with alarming frequency. Then, when a second nun is murdered, they
find themselves facing their most difficult case yet.
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BEEKEEPER'S APPRENTICE - Laurie King
(England 19l5 to 1919) Tutoring the audacious Miss Mary Russell in all the fine
arts of deduction, Sherlock Holmes is called out of retirement to oversee her ultimate
challenge when bombs are placed on both of their front doorsteps.
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BICYCLE BUILT FOR MURDER - Kate Kingsbury
The Manor House seaside village is called Sitting Marsh. It’s World War II, a time
of bombing, blackouts, rationing, and American soldiers on British soil. The main
character Lady Elizabeth Hartleigh Compton is thirty-one and divorced. She inherited
a Jacobean mansion, cottages, and vast acres after her parents were killed. She
cares for her tenants beyond what is expected and proves it when a mother asks
her to investigate the disappearance of her wayward daughter.
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THE DUTCHMAN - Maan Meyers
(New York, 1600 -1775) Pieter Tonneman, the law in the fledgling Dutch settlement
on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, must look into the apparent suicide of
a local tavern owner and a fire in Jews Alley.
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A WICKED WAY TO BURN - Margaret Miles
(Boston; 1763) The Bracebridge mystery series. Colonial farmer Charlotte Willett's
first enthralling adventure begins when a merchant disappears--prompting cries of
witchcraft, theories of Spontaneous Combustion, and a visit from the King's Man.
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DEATH ON A SILVER TRAY - Rosemary Stevens
Regency England. First in the the Beau Brummell series. Beau Brummell stood as
the uncrowned king of genteel society. The quintessential style-maker, trend-setter,
and fashion-forger, Brummell was the last person one would expect to find in the
middle of a murder mystery. But then, Beau Brummell was never one to do what was expected...
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ONE FOR SORROW - Mary Reed, Eric Mayer
Constantinople, capital of the 6th century Roman Empire. John the Eunuch, Emperor
Justinian's Lord Chamberlain, orders a Christian court while himself observing the
rites of Mithra. Thomas, a knight from Britain, Ahasuerus, a soothsayer, and two
ladies from Crete stir up events and old memories for John, who must ask how the
visitors link to the death of Leukos, Keeper of the Plate. An Egyptian brothel
keeper and a Christian stylite know more than they are telling. In due course,
John gets his man - and a love scene....
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Top
2000 Selections
(listed by author's last name)
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RIVER OF DARKNESS - Rennie Airth
After World War I, a small Surrey village deals with five butchered bodies. Scotland
Yard sends Inspector John Madden, a man still recovering from his own war experience
and from the deaths of his wife and child to investigate the murders. The beautiful
Dr. Helen Blackwell, who introduces him to the new science of criminal psychology,
helps him to solve the mystery and capture the killer.
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MURDER AT BENT ELBOW - Kate Bryan
Set in San Francisco in 1875 with a quirky female protagonist! Maggie leaves the Pinkerton
National Detective Agency behind to set up her own shop in San Francisco--and tracks
down Miss Harriet Hogg, a former Indian captive and potential heiress hopping from saloon
to saloon in the middle of nowhere, Nevada.
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A FAMINE OF HORSES - P. F. Chisholm
(A Sir Robert Carey Mystery) In the year 1592, Sir Robert Carey, a handsome courtier,
comes north to Carlisle to take up his new post as Deputy Warden of the West March.
He has wangled his appointment to be nearer his true love, a married woman, and
farther from the still eye of his Queen and the disapproving eye of his father.
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SILVER PIGS - Lindsey Davis
A.D. 70; Roman P.I. Marcus Didius Falco; Combining the wry humor of a modern gumshoe
novel with the serpentine political intrigues of ancient Rome, Silver Pigs follows
the riotous exploits of a hard-nosed private detective.
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DEAD MARCH - Ann McMillan
Virginia, 1861: Aided by a fledging British news correspondent, Narcissa Powers,
a well-to-do young white widow, and Judah Daniel, a free black herbalist and "conjure
woman", combine their resources to solve the suspicious murder of a slave girl.
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THE CASE OF THE COMPARTMENT 7 - Sam McCarver
In April 1914, Professor John Darnell is hired to investigate sightings of a bloody
phantom of a woman in compartment 7-- on the Orient Express.
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DEATH COMES AS EPIPHANY - Sharan Newman
A medievalist specialist - 12th-century France. Catherine, a novice-scholar turned
detective, is asked to track down evil priests, a fortune in stolen jewels, an
heretical manuscript, and solve the mystery of those ill-fated lovers, Abelard and Heloise.
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HE SHALL THUNDER IN THE SKY - Elizabeth Peters
Amelia Peabody and her family return to Egypt for another season of archeological
excavation. When an exquisite sculpture is found, it confirms Amelia's unsettling
suspicion about the re-emergence of her villainous arch-nemesis, Sethos, the Master Criminal.
(Note: It answers a lot of questions from prior
novels: Seeing a Large Cat, The Ape Who Guards the Balance, and The Falcon at the Portal.)
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THE APOTHECARY ROSE - Candace M. Robb
Set in 14th-century England. When the ward of the Lord Chancellor of England dies
in the St. Mary's Abbey Infirmary, Owen Archer (formerly Captain of Archers) is
ordered to York to find out what really happened. Undercover in York as an apothecary,
he discovers the complicated history behind the murder.
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THE DEVIL IN MUSIC - Kate Ross
Regency England, 1820's - Dandy and Amateur sleuth Julian Kestrel is back in his
fourth mystery--and this time he confronts murder far from home in the sensuous, turbulent Italy.
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THE DAUGHTER OF TIME - Josephine Tey
While at a London hospital recuperating from a fall, Inspector Alan Grant becomes
fascinated by a portrait of King Richard. With an American researcher's help, Grant
delves into his country's history to discover just what kind of man Richard Plantagenet
was and who really killed the little princes.
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MURDER ON ASTOR PLACE - Victoria Thompson
A Gas Light Mystery. As a midwife in turn-of-the-century New York, Sarah
Brandt has seen pain and joy. Now she will work for something more--a search for
justice--in a case of murder involving one of New York's richest families.
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Top
1999 Selections
(listed by author's last name)
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ROYAL WHODUNNITS - Mike Ashley
Brand-new crime stories of right royal mystery feature the crowned heads of Europe
to delight both the mystery lover and the royal-watcher.
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EXCEPT THE DYING - Maureen Jennings
As the brutal winter of 1895 bears down on Toronto, a young girl's body turns up in
a desolate alley. When it's discovered that the girl was pregnant, Det. William
Murdoch suspects someone was trying to hide a scandal. But when he learns more about
the girl's life, he realizes her death is the work of someone with a far more sinister purpose.
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THE CASE OF CABIN 13 - Sam McCarver
On the Titanic; 1912. John Darnell is a professional investigator whose specialty
is debunking theories of paranormal activities.
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THE QUEEN'S MAN - Sharon Kay Penman
Epiphany, 1193. Eleanor of Aquitaine sits upon England's throne. Her beloved son
Richard Lionheart is missing, presumed dead--and the court whispers that her younger
son John is plotting to seize the crown.
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MURDER ON ST. MARK'S PLACE - Victoria Thompson
A Gaslight Mystery. Although Sarah family is wealthy prefers to reside in Manhattan's
tenements. She is a midwife to the poor. She and Police Sergeant Frank Malloy investigate
the murder of a charity girl.
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