Category: Mystery

Photo Finished by Christin Brecher

I’ve been a big fan of Christin Brecher’s since her debut novel, Murder’s No Votive Confidence. The series that that book kicks off upends the (culinary) cozy formula in the best possible way, and is a must-read for me. I’m not actually sure if she’ll be writing any more of that series tho, as her …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/13/photo-finished-by-christin-brecher/

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

I like seeing writers stretching and trying new things. To date, and in addition to her short fiction which I have not read, Mary Robinette Kowal has published a completed series of five Regency romances with magical elements, an ongoing series of space exploration against the background of an Earth slipping into uninhabitability, a (so …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/01/the-spare-man-by-mary-robinette-kowal/

The Good Asian — Deluxe Edition Vol. 1: 1936 by Pornsak Pichetshote & Alexandre Tefengki

with colors by Lee Loughridge and letters by Jeff Powell. Most forewords don’t do a whole lot to adequately contextualize the books they’re introducing, but David Choe absolutely hits it out of the park with his no-holds-barred examination of what it meant to be a Good Asian in the West in the 20th century. In …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/06/06/the-good-asian-deluxe-edition-vol-1-1936-by-pornsak-pichetshote-alexandre-tefengki/

Witch And Famous by Angela M. Sanders

I do so love how this mystery series goes from strength to strength, as our librarian heroine Josie Way learns how to control her witchy powers while helping out the citizens of the small town of Wilfred, Oregon. Bibliomancy isn’t just about recommending the right books to the right people at the right time, but …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/31/witch-and-famous-by-angela-m-sanders/

Tell-Tale Bones by Carolyn Haines (EXCERPT)

Read an excerpt from the newest book in Carolyn Haines’ sassy Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series! Tell-Tale Bones is the latest spooky installment, involving cold cases and a reputedly haunted grave. We were graciously given permission to let you take a look inside this 26th book in the series, with a passage from Chapter 2! …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/24/tell-tale-bones-by-carolyn-haines-excerpt/

Sation Eternity by Mur Lafferty

Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

What’s it like to be the protagonist of a mystery series? Everywhere you go, people die. Vacation? Murder. Big social occasion? More murder. Village fête? Very murdery. Spotting the clues and solving the crime when local police are stumped does not exactly win friends either. Mallory Viridian hates it. She’s had years of practice, and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/15/sation-eternity-by-mur-lafferty/

Come Away From Her by Samuel W. Gailey

Cover art lately has been impressive all across the industry but y’all, look at this gorgeous thing. It’s even prettier than the Kiki Smith etching that inspired the book, in my opinion anyway. And in my opinion? Come Away From Her reads like Marilynne Robinson deciding to turn her hand at commercial fiction a la …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/26/come-away-from-her-by-samuel-w-gailey/

Not Saying Goodbye by Boris Akunin

Not Saying Goodbye by Boris Akunin

Events at the end of Black City left Erast Fandorin, the Sherlock Holmes of Tsarist Russia, in a coma. The beginning of Not Saying Goodbye reveals that he has been in that state for a bit more than three years. Masa, his faithful companion for more than a quarter of a century, has watched over …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/13/not-saying-goodbye-by-boris-akunin/

You Never Said Goodbye by Luca Veste

So I was pretty pleased when within the first few pages, the love interest turns out to be an Arsenal fan! But then the Main Character asks her what she likes about them, and she responds, “Well, they used to be good[.]” I will shelve my entire lecture on the Mikel Arteta project that was …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/12/19/you-never-said-goodbye-by-luca-veste/

How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smith

How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smih

The long-running No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series relies on a careful balance between new stories — usually cases that the agency is called on to solve — and deeper development of its continuing characters. Too much of the former, and it runs the danger of reading like an episode of old-style television: dramatic events that leave …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/07/23/how-to-raise-an-elephant-by-alexander-mccall-smith/