June’s Best New Mysteries

Dangerous Minds, by Janet Evanovich
A beautiful island in the Pacific, home to Buddhist monk Wayan Bagus, has vanished. That’s right, an entire island—it even had a volcano on it! Obviously, something sinister is afoot in the second novel in Evanovich’s offbeat Knight and Moon series. Wealthy and charismatic dilettante Emerson Knight likes nothing better than a good mystery, and this one just keeps deepening, eventually leading to a cover up that appears to be courtesy of the National Park Service. When Emerson realizes he’s in over his head, he enlists brilliant but straight-laced financial analyst Riley Moon to help (and of course Emerson’s cousin Vernon, currently residing in an RV behind his house, comes along for the ride). Fans of Evanovich’s incomparable Stephanie Plum series will love the humor, fast-paced mystery, and romance this quirky author brings to every book.

Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz
The diabolically clever Magpie Murders opens with the text of a classic whodunit set in sleepy English village; the latest novel in fictional author Alan Conway’s popular Atticus Pünd detective series. That mystery itself is absorbing enough, but things take a turn for the weird when editor Susan Ryeland must use the clues woven throughout it to solve a chilling real-life murder. Horowitz’s prose is elegant, his characters multifaceted and deeply human, and the ingenious construction of this brilliant puzzler (which pays homage to the classic whodunnit while taking it apart and reassembling it into something completely new) will leave you reeling. In his bestselling novels Moriarty and Trigger Mortis, Horowitz proved his knack for writing spellbinding stories, but Magpie Murders is a tour de force mystery-within-a-mystery that takes things to an astonishing new level.

Lockdown, by Laurie R. King
A master of the genre has returned with a powerhouse of a standalone suspense novel. Plagued by violence, gangs, and poverty, California’s Guadalupe Middle School has long been a hopeless place. But in the year since she arrived, principal Linda McDonald has been determined to turn things around. She’s hoping that hosting a Career Day will bring students, teachers, and the community at large together to celebrate hope and possibility. Unfortunately, many of those attending Career Day have their own motivating obsessions, and an innocent event becomes the catalyst for a day of unspeakable terror—and breathtaking heroism.

Daughter of Sherlock Holmes, by Leonard Goldberg
The genius premise of this engaging story, that Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler had a daughter who inherited their preternatural sleuthing abilities, is one that both Holmes devotees as well as mystery readers who like smart, well-plotted whodunnits will find irresistible. But it gets better: the brilliant and tenacious Joanna Blalock finds herself teaming up with none other than the son of Dr. John Watson himself to solve the mystery of a suspicious suicide witnessed by herself and her ten-year-old son. A whip-smart, whimsical ride with a heroine you’ll love to root for.

Once Upon a Spine, by Kate Carlisle
In the 11th novel in the charming Bibliophile series starring heiress, bookbinder, and chocolate cream pie aficionado Brooklyn Wainwright, Brooklyn prepares to meet the parents of her fiancé, Derek, and she’s a bit concerned, because they are fancy pants Brits visiting from England. As if that weren’t scary enough, Brooklyn’s delightful neighborhood may be in jeopardy; rumors are swirling that high-rise apartments are in the works to replace the lovely local shops across the street. Throw in a rare edition of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland that’s causing consternation at the Brother’s Bookshop, and a couple of extremely suspicious deaths of local shopkeepers, and you’ve got a mystery that’s going to keep you on your toes.

Take Out, by Margaret Maron
In an effort to distract herself from the recent death of her lover, NYPD Detective Sigrid Harald throws herself into an investigation into the suspicious deaths of two homeless men whose bodies were found in the West Village. When poisoned food is discovered in nearby takeout containers, Sigrid finds herself peeling back the disturbing layers of a neighborhood rich with history and home to colorful characters, from an opera star to a mafia widow, who harbor dark secrets. When a valuable and long-lost painting turns up to complicate things further, and the number of suspects with nefarious motives only grows, Sigrid begins to wonder who she can trust anymore.

The Right Side, by Spencer Quinn
LeAnne Hogan returned from Afghanistan a shell of her former self, and with permanent battle scars—both physical and emotional. The injuries she suffered during a desert operation gone wrong disfigured one side of her face and left her with only one eye—and she can barely remember what happened. When her hospital roommate Marci dies, it is the last straw. Shock and grief propels LeAnne to drive across the country, arriving in Marci’s hometown in Washington state, where she discovers that Marci’s eight-year-old daughter is missing. Together with a mysterious stray dog, with whom she forms a surprising and  powerful alliance, LeAnne focuses her life on finding Marcy’s daughter. The psychological suspense in The Right Side is relentless, and LeAnne—deeply flawed, troubled, and yet hopeful—is a character readers won’t soon forget.

Unsub, by Meg Gardiner
It’s been twenty years since a terrifying murderer went on a grisly eleven-victim killing spree in the Bay Area. But Caitlin Hendrix remembers the case well, because her father was the lead investigator, and his failure to catch the unknown subject—or UNSUB—nearly destroyed him. The Prophet, as he was known, carved the sign of Mercury into his victims’ flesh, and his mind games ruined Mack Hendrix’s once bright career, which left his family reeling. Now a new killer has put a bizarre twist on The Prophet’s M.O., and Caitlin, a newly minted Narcotics detective, finds herself fighting the urge to pursue him as obsessively as her father once did. When the victims grow ever closer to Caitlin’s inner circle, it becomes impossible to ignore her father’s warnings against getting sucked into the case too deeply. But will she repeat his mistakes? This first novel in a new series is an unforgettably mind-bending psychological thriller.

Shiver Hitch, by Linda Greenlaw
Miami homicide detective Jane Bunker traded life in the fast lane for a slower-paced existence in quiet Green Haven, Maine, but even with her job as a marine insurance investigator, murder still manages to catch up with her. Sent to Acadia Island to assess the damages from a house fire, Jane also discovers the charred body of the house’s owner, a very unpopular local, and suddenly the fire looks anything but accidental. To complicate matters, she’s still dealing with her kooky landlords, the Vickersons—and she’s about to have more company now that her brother Wally, who has Downs syndrome, has lost his assisted living situation and is going to be joining them. The more Jane tries to slow things down, the quicker they speed up in this charming series full of colorful small-town characters.

Last Place You Look, by Kristen Lepionka
Roxane Weary, the loose-cannon protagonist of this crackling debut, is the kind of hardboiled detective who doesn’t let investigations get in the way of numbing her pain with booze and casual sex. Fifteen years ago, a young woman named Sarah Cook disappeared on the same night her parents were murdered. Sarah’s boyfriend at the time, Brad Stockton, was charged with the crime, and has been on death row ever since. When Brad’s sister spots someone she believes to be Sarah at a gas station, she hires Roxane to track her down in a desperate attempt to stop her brother’s execution. Of course, Roxane has got her own problems, most notably the recent loss of her father, a cop who was killed in the line of duty. As the mystery deepens, Roxane begins to notice a pattern, and to suspect that Sarah might not have been the only beautiful young woman to disappear under strange circumstances. Readers who love prickly antiheroes and nonstop action will race through this one.

Knife Creek, by Paul Doiron
Game warden Mike Bowditch and his girlfriend Stacey have been tasked with hunting down feral hogs in their Maine district when they make a horrifying discovery: the remains of a newborn, buried in the woods. The clues cause them to suspect that the baby belonged to a woman who disappeared from a rafting trip and is believed dead. The re-opened investigation that follows leads Mike to wonder whether some of the people in his closest orbit could be hiding some very dark secrets. The eighth book in Doiron’s beautifully crafted Mike Bowditch series is a deeply satisfying story filled with complex characters.
What new mysteries are you going to get to the bottom of this month?