Prime Suspect

Adelia Aguilar (Sleuth)

  

Ariana Franklin is the pen name of British author Diana Norman (pictured above). After writing a bunch of historical fiction and non-fiction, Diana turned to historical mysteries. This is when Ariana Franklin and her sleuth Adelia Aguilar were born.

Adelia Aguilar is a female pathologist living during the reign of Henry II of England. After four children are murdered in the medieval college town of Cambridge and with a religious war about to erupt between the Catholics and the Jews over the children's deaths, Henry begs his cousin, the King of Sicily, to send the best "master of the art of death" to solve the murders.

The Sicilian King sends Adelia. Since she's a woman who could easily be declared a witch in superstitious England, she is forced to act as an assistant to her true assistant and protector, Mansur, a Marsh Arab. Along the way, Adelia picks up a few travelers including Gyltha, an eel seller, and her urchin grandson, Ulf. Also, Adelia meets Sir Rowley Picot who charms Adelia and becomes very important to her. But you will have to read about it in the first book of the series Mistress of the Art of Deathto learn more about Adelia and all the interesting characters she meets in Medieval England.

The second book, The Serpent's Tale, finds Adelia trying to clear Eleanor of Aquitaine of the murder of her husband's (King Henry II) mistress, Rosamund Clifford. But instead of welcoming Adelia's help to clear her name, Eleanor promptly imprisons Adelia and her entourage in a nunnery!

After successfully resolving the murder in the second book, Adelia returns in Grave Goods. She is sent to Glastonbury after a fire has destroyed the beautiful Abbey and uncovered a pair of human skeletons. Could the skeletons possibly be King Arthur and Guinevere? Adelia must find out the truth before a Welsh rebellion threatens to topple King Henry II from the English throne.

The latest book in the series, A Murderous Procession, is released on April 1, 2010 in the US. King Henry II sends his daughter Joanna to Palermo to marry William II of Sicily. He needs someone he trusts to protect his daughter and to see her safely on her journey. Adelia is chosen for this onerous task and she doesn't like it one bit.

Ariana's books are fascinating. The historical details are interesting and at times astonishing. Ariana's grasp of the period allows us to explore the time period without feeling like we are reading a boring history text. The medical capabilities of the time are minutely explored. Ariana restricts herself to the medical knowledge that was available at the time. This helps keep the story rooted in it's time and keeps it from leaping into a fantasy world of CSI: Medieval England. Women were indeed educated as physicians in Sicily which at the time possessed the greatest medical training college in the Western World.

For readers who enjoy Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael mysteries, Ariana Franklin's Adelia Aguilar novels are sure to delight.

To learn more about Adelia Aguilar and her creator, visit Ariana Franklin's Website.

  

Adelia Aguilar Novels

1. Mistress of the Art of Death (2007)
2. The Serpent's Tale (2008) aka The Death Maze
3. Grave Goods (2009) aka Relics of the Dead
4. A Murderous Procession (2010)

Publishers:

• Putnam, New York.

Bernie Gunther & Berlin Noir (Sleuth)

 

The latest Bernie Gunther novel by Philip Kerr (pictured above) hit American bookstores last week (March 18, 2010). If The Dead Rise Not is the sixth Bernie Gunther novel but it is the prequel to the Berlin Noir Trilogy.

Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels give us readers an eyes-wide-open tour of Nazi Germany and all the evils (both big and small) that the Nazis inflicted on the German citizens and the world during WWII. Bernie was a police detective of the old Wiemar Republic. When he sees the Nazis begin to takeover, he leaves the official police to first become a hotel "house" detective at the famous Adlon Hotel in Berlin and later forced backed into the Nazi police force by Heydrich.

After the Berlin Noir Trilogy, Kerr continued to tell Bernie's story and the story of Germany following WWII in one novel. The next tells of Bernie's defection to Argentina where he soon finds himself investigating a murder that is eerily like a murder he investigated back in Berlin. The third and most recent post Berlin Noir novel, as I mentioned above, is set before the first novel of the triloby to fill in Bernie's backstory and relate how major characters first appeared in Bernie's life.

Bernie is a great sleuth. He isn't perfect. He tries to help people in need and often breaks the law to do so. His morals and values change according to new realities. The supportuning characters that pop up in the novels are interesting and feel real. And Bernie also runs into all the top Nazis even the Leader himself during his investigations and gives us bone-chilling descriptions of men that haunted and still haunt the dreams of those that lived through Nazi Germany and WWII. The writing is crisp and the dialogue snappy as in the best noirs.

Listed below are the Bernie Gunther Novels in publishing order. The year listed following the year published is the date in which the action of the novel takes place.

Bernie Gunther Novels

1. March Violets* (1989) - 1936
2. The Pale Criminal* (1990) - 1938
3. A German Requiem* (1991) - 1947
4. The One From The Other (2006) - 1949
5. A Quiet Flame (2008) - 1950
6. If The Dead Rise Not (2010) - 1934

*The first three novels are also refered to as Berlin Noir and are available in one volume.

Publishers:

• Viking, London.
• Quercus, London. (From 2008)
• Putnam, New York.

2010 Edgar Award Nominees

 

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television will announce the winners at the 64th Gala Banquet in New York City on April 29, 2010.

The Edgars are awarded by the Mystery Writers of America. Below is the list of this year's nominees. For more information about the Edgars and the Mystery Writers of America, check out their websites.

• Mystery Writers of America website: http://www.mysterywriters.org/
• The Edgar Awards: http://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=AwardsPrograms

BEST NOVEL

• The Missing by Tim Gautreaux (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
• The Odds by Kathleen George (Minotaur Books)
• The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
• Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Random House - Ballantine Books)
• Nemesis by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett (HarperCollins)
• A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

• The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano (Grand Central Publishing)
• Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Simon & Schuster - Touchstone)
• The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf (MIRA Books)
• A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)
• Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (HarperCollins)
• In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

• Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
• Havana Lunar by Robert Arellano (Akashic Books)
• The Lord God Bird by Russell Hill (Pleasure Boat Studio – Caravel Books)
• Body Blows by Marc Strange (Dundurn Press – Castle Street Mysteries)
• The Herring-Seller’s Apprentice by L.C. Tyler (Felony & Mayhem Press)

BEST FACT CRIME

• Columbine by Dave Cullen (Hachette Book Group - Twelve)
• Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn (Simon & Schuster)
• The Fence: A Police Cover-Up Along Boston’s Racial Divide by Dick Lehr (HarperCollins)
• Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo (The Penguin Press)
• Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

• Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
• The Lineup: The World’s Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest
• Detectives edited by Otto Penzler (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)
• Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne Books)
• The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin’s Press)
• The Stephen King Illustrated Companion by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

• "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" – Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins (Busted Flush Press)
• "Femme Sole" – Boston Noir by Dana Cameron (Akashic Books)
• "Digby, Attorney at Law" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Jim Fusilli (Dell Magazines)
• "Animal Rescue" – Boston Noir by Dennis Lehane (Akashic Books
• "Amapola" – Phoenix Noir by Luis Alberto Urrea (Akashic Books)

BEST JUVENILE

• The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour by Michael D. Beil (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf)
• Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books)
• Creepy Crawly Crime by Aaron Reynolds (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)
• The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer (Penguin Young Readers Group – Philomel Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

• Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (HarperCollins Children’s Books – HarperTeen)
• If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)
• The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford (Penguin Young Readers Group – Viking Children’s Books)
• Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books)
• Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

• “Place of Execution,” Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (PBS/WGBH Boston)
• “Strike Three” – The Closer, Teleplay by Steven Kane (Warner Bros TV for TNT)
• “Look What He Dug Up This Time” – Damages, Teleplay by Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler & Daniel Zelman (FX Networks)
• “Grilled” – Breaking Bad, Teleplay by George Mastras (AMC/Sony)
• “Living the Dream” – Dexter, Teleplay by Clyde Phillips (Showtime)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"A Dreadful Day" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Dan Warthman (Dell Magazines)

GRAND MASTER
Dorothy Gilman

RAVEN AWARDS

• Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, Pennsylvania
• Zev Buffman, International Mystery Writers’ Festival

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Poisoned Pen Press (Barbara Peters & Robert Rosenwald)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 28, 2010)

• Awakening by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)
• Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof by Blaize Clement (Minotaur Books)
• Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
• Lethal Vintage by Nadia Gordon (Chronicle Books)
• Dial H for Hitchcock by Susan Kandel (HarperCollins)

 

Sebastian St. Cyr (Sleuth)

 

C.S. Harris (aka Candice Proctor and C.S. Graham) writes a fun Regency era mystery with the dashing and mysterious Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin.

My favorite genre of mystery is historicals. This series is one of my favorites. Harris combines all the historical highlights of Regency England with the darker and raunchier aspects that make the era so fascinating. Harris, also, has a firm grasp on the intricacies of creating a mystery puzzle. The clues are well-hidden and each one is essential to undercovering the evildoer in an exciting and revealing climax.

The series starts off with What Angels Fear and it finds our sleuth, Devlin, accused of raping and murdering an "actress" who is also the mistress to the cream of the Ton. Devlin is forced to go on the lam to prove his innocence and find a murderer. Each book in the series also reveals parts of Devlin's backstory. And when the "Big Secret" is revealed, it is a doozy.

Harris also writes a Thriller series with Steven Harris, her husband, as C.S. Graham. Under her real name (Candice Proctor) she has written 7 Historical Romances. And if that isn't enough, she has a couple nonfiction titles under her belt.

More about C.S. Harris and Devlin at her website.

Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries

1. What Angels Fear (2005)
2. When Gods Die (2006)
3. Why Mermaids Sing (2007)
4. Where Serpents Sleep (2008)
5. What Remains of Heaven (2009)

Publishers:

• Penguin Group, New York.

Cara Black (Author)

 

Cara Black writes a thrilling crime series set in Paris in the 1990s. Her sleuth is a private investigator and computer security expert named Aimee Leduc. Aimee along with her partner, a dwarf named Rene, solve murders and kidnappings and other crimes in the seedier neighborhoods of Paris. Each novel takes place in a different section of Paris's 20 arrondissements. She expertly weaves the mystery with the history of the neighborhood and its current multicultural character. The stories are firmly set in the 1990s and deal with issues like immigration, terrorism, the legacy of Nazism in Paris from WWII, and even the death of Princess Diana. These too are woven into Cara's mysteries to make them grander and give a more universal scope to her novels.

Cara's 10th Aimee Leduc Mystery, Murder in the Palais Royal, was published on March 1, 2010. I am in the middle of reading #5 Murder in Clichy.

I have to confess, I always thought Cara Black was a resident of Paris. Her knowledge and description of the City of Lights is so detailed, I thought only a native could write like this. But, no. Cara lives in one of my other favorite cities, San Francisco. However, she visits Paris frequently on research trips (one of the joys of being a writer!).

Cara Black is a featured author at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend in my hometown. She along with Libby Fischer Hellmann, Shilpa Agarwal, and Suzanne Arruda will discuss mystery writing in foreign lands in a forum called "Other Countries, Other Crimes." On Sunday, Cara and Libby will talk about the emergence of the female private investigator in mysteries in a forum called "Good Girls and Bad Guys."

Visit Cara Blacks website for much more on Aimee Leduc, Paris, and her book tour. http://www.carablack.com/

Aimee Leduc Mysteries

1. Murder in the Marais (1998)
2. Murder in Belleville (2000)
3. Murder in the Sentier (2002)
4. Murder in the Bastille (2003)
5. Murder in Clichy (2004)
6. Murder in Montmarte (2005)
7. Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (2007)
8. Murder in the Rue de Paradis (2008)
9. Murder in the Latin Quarter (2009)
10. Murder in the Palais Royal (2010)

Publishers:

• Soho Press, New York

www.sohopress.com