Italian Mystery Series by Christobel Kent

Dead Season by Christobel Kent (Sandro Cellini series #3)

I am a big fan of mystery stories that provide an engaging detective in a foreign locale. Sandro Cellini is a retired Italian policeman who has opened up a private investigation agency with the support of his beautiful wife, Luisa, as well as wily assistant, Guili - the two very strong women in his life. The Dead Season takes place in the heat of August when most of the inhabitants of Florence escape to the cooler countryside. When a body is discovered on the side of a busy road, it is evident that he did not leave the city in time. I have loved each novel in this series, set in and around the beautiful city of Florence. The author starts with stories involving several characters which end up converging as the case comes together. Wonderfully atmospheric, I have fallen in love with this empathetic detective who is just trying to make a living, love his wife, and solve crime.

I recommend starting at the beginning of the series

The Drowning River (#1) 

A Murder in Tuscany (#2)

Laurie R. King and my top ten women mystery writer list

Garment of Shadows

Novelist Laurie R. King has rightly earned her standing in my top ten list of women mystery writers and her latest offering is one of the reasons why. Who else can combine the iconic character of Sherlock Holmes with a woman, Mary Russell, who is not only his wife but also his equal in detecting skills?  Then she places them in the fascinating historical setting of the Morocco of 1924, with France and Spain and native insurgents involved in colonial wrangling in the region. The novel opens with Russell discovering that she has no memories and needs to solve the mystery of her own identity. And so the adventure begins.

I love her prose such as, “It would be a plan as tangled as the streets of the medina, a garment woven of lies and half truths, of truths that look like lies, and lies that appear the truth. A garment suited to the half-light, its precise outline impossible to discern.” Beautiful!

While this is book #12 of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery series, this new novel could be read as a stand-alone. My advice is to start a reading journey with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice where the story all begins.

The complete list of books in the series can be found at the author's website at

http://www.laurierking.com/

Stay tuned to hear about the other women mystery writers on my list!

Another novel from Tana French!

Broken Harbor by Tana French

Once again author Tana French takes her readers on a roller coaster ride of emotion and suspense. Having played a secondary role in a previous Dublin Murder Squad novel, “Faithful Place,” Detective Michael “Scorcher” Kennedy takes the primary lead in a gruesome murder case.  

Mikey, as he is known to his family, starts working with his new rookie partner, Richie,  teaching him the ropes as they delve into a incident that has left three family members dead and one survivor in the hospital. The scene of the crime is a beach area outside of Dublin called Broken Harbor and the reader senses immediately that the lead detective has bad memories of the place. 

Not only that, he has family troubles with a mentally unstable sister who shows up in need of attention just as the investigation starts to heat up. Layers are peeled away with each chapter, guilt and motives are revealed in characters, and stories are uncovered from the past, both distant and recent. This stunning novel blurs the lines between chaos and order, good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, as it leaves the reader both unsettled and satisfied. 

Other novels by Tana French also recommended

In the woods  

The likeness (still my favorite) 

Faithful Place

Vive Gamache!

My sister and I are going on an early birthday trip to Quebec next week. The first part of the trip will be to do some whale watching where the Saguenay Fjord meets the St. Lawrence River, close to the town of Tadoussac.

After our marine adventures, we will turn back to the Eastern Townships, an area east of the city of Montreal. We will be in search of the village that is the inspiration for the setting of the Inspector Gamache mystery series by our favourite author, Louise Penny. We are sorry to be missing the launch of her latest book (only by a week!) at Brome Lake Books in Knowlton, but we will drop in to the bookstore to soak up the atmosphere! www.bromelakebooks.ca

The first book in the series is Still Life which introduces the quirky inhabitants in the village of Three Pines. Louise Penny writes an intelligent mystery as she explores the inner workings of the human heart.

 

Her best book (in my estimation) so far, stunningly written with history woven into a modern day plot, is Bury Your Dead. Don't read this title first, as it is worth the effort to make your way through the series in order (see below).

From Louise Penny on her website:  http://www.louisepenny.com

I'm often asked two questions: should the books be read in order? And, what is the order?
Both excellent questions. At the risk of appearing to want you to buy more books let me say that while it's not necessary to read them in any particular order (they're designed to be self-standing) there is quite a strong character development arc. I think you'd enjoy the books even more if read in order.
Now, here's the order, from the first to the most recent:

STILL LIFE
A FATAL GRACE / DEAD COLD
THE CRUELEST MONTH
A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER STONE
THE BRUTAL TELLING
BURY YOUR DEAD
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
Note that some of the titles vary between the Canadian/U.S. publications