Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec -- December 2017

DEATH IN BRITTANY BY JEAN-LUC BANNALEC
December 14, 2017

PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Born 1966, in Bad Godesberg, Germany. Education: Received doctorate from
University of Frankfurt; also studied at University of Bonn. Addresses: Home:
Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
CAREER:
University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Frankfurt poetry
lecturer, 1992-96; freelance writer and editor, 1996-97; S. Fischer Verlag,
Frankfurt, editor, 1997-2002, program manager, 2002-08, manager of
S. Fischer Publishers, 2008-13, managing director and CEO, 2013--.

SIDELIGHTS:

Known more by his pseudonym, Jean-Luc Bannalec, publishing executive
Jörg Bong leads Germany's distinguished S. Fischer Verlag. He also holds an
advanced degree in philosophy, and has written about the thought of Karl
Philipp Moritz, Ludwig Tieck, and Marlene Streeruwitz.
"What Inspector Maigret did for Paris, and, more recently, what Chief
of Police Bruno does for the Dordogne," said Booklist reviewer
Connie Fletcher, "Commissaire Dupin does for Brittany."


Commissaire Dupin Series:


Death in Brittany (Jun 2015)
After a hotelier is murdered in a small village on the Breton coast,
Commissaire Georges Dupin identifies five possible suspects and uncovers
disturbing secrets behind the village's calm exterior.
Series: Georges Dupin novels, 1


Murder on Brittany shores (Jul 2016)
"Ten miles off the coast of Brittany lie the fabled Glenan Islands.
Boasting sparkling white sands and crystal clear waters, they seem
perfectly idyllic, until one day in May three bodies wash up on shore.
At first glance the deaths appear accidental, but as the identities of the
victims comes to light, cantankerous Commisaire Dupin is pulled back into
action for a case of what seems to be cold-blooded murder. Series:
Georges Dupin novels, 2


The Fleur de Sel Murders (coming in April 2018)
Commissaire Dupin is back in, this Brittany mystery from international
bestselling author Jean-Luc Bannalec.
The old salt farmers have always said that the violet scent of the
Fleur de Sel at harvest time on the salt marshes of the Guérande Peninsula
has been known to cause hallucinations. Commissaire Dupin also starts to
believe this when he’s attacked out of the blue in the salt works.
Georges Dupin novels, 3


Title read alikes


1
The crossing places by Elly Griffiths
Reason:  Cranky, zealous sleuths and a well-described setting, in
which the history and atmosphere of place play a huge role in the story,
makes these mystery puzzlers similarly appealing. Crossing Places is set
in England and Death in Brittany in France. -- Jen Baker
2
Strangled in Paris by Claude Izner
Reason:  The well-described settings seem like characters in these
mysteries set in France. Although Strangled in Paris takes place in the
19th century and Death in Brittany in the present, both books feature
cranky, quirky detectives and richly detailed, intricate plots. -- Jen Baker
3
The cruelest month by Louise Penny
Reason:  The grumpy, perceptive, and tenacious French-speaking
detectives in these novels, set on either side of the Pacific, create a
similar rapport with readers. Both books are intricately plotted,
highly descriptive and have a leisurely pace that creates taut suspense.
-- Jen Baker


Christmas Mysteries by PD James and All the Little Liars by Charlaine Harris -- Nov 9, 2017

CHRISTMAS MYSTERIES

Mistletoe Murder and other Mysteries by P. D. James


Many mystery authors write mysteries with a Christmas theme or
setting --- here are a few recent ones ….


From 2017:
The Usual Santas; A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers
Purring Around the Christmas Tree By Liz Mugavero
Murder for Christmas By Francis Duncan
Holiday Murder By Leslie Meier
A Christmas Return A Novel By Anne Perry
A Cajun Christmas KillingA Cajun Country Mystery By Ellen Byron
How the Finch Stole Christmas!A Meg Langslow Mystery By Donna
Andrews


From 2016:
The Christmas Mystery by James Patterson
The Twelve Dogs of Christmas By David Rosenfelt
Fields Where They Lay A Junior Bender Mystery By Timothy Hallinan
Deck the Hallways By Kate Carlisle
Crimson Snow Winter Mysteries
A Christmas Message A Novel By Anne Perry
Cheddar Off Dead By Julia Buckley
Better Off Thread By Amanda Lee
Christmas Caramel Murder By Joanne Fluke
The Christmas Mystery A Detective Luc Moncrief Story By James
Patterson


And From the “Queen of Mysteries”:
Hercule Poirot's Christmas; A Hercule Poirot Mystery By Agatha
Christie


CHARLAINE HARRIS
Nov. 9, 2017


Born November 25, 1951, in Tunica, MS; Education: Southwestern
at Memphis (now Rhodes College), B.A., 1973.
Memberships: Mensa, Sisters in Crime (served as board member),
Mystery Writers of America (board member), American Crime Writers
League, Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance (past president).
Addresses: Home: TX. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky
Literary Agency, P.O. Box 4558, Sunnyside, NY 11104-0558.
E-mail: bffpaula@yahoo.com.


Charlaine Harris writes several mystery series. The Sookie Stackhouse
novels are best known, but all the series feature believable female
protagonists, often living in vividly portrayed small Southern towns.
These Mysteries range from cozy to paranormal, but none is truly
dark or disturbing, so readers may enjoy all the series equally.
The early Aurora Teagarden mysteries are the most cozy….


Aurora Teagarden Mysteries:
  • Real murders (Jan 1990) #1
  • A bone to pick (Jan 1992) #2
  • Three bedrooms, one corpse  (Jan 1994) #3
  • The Julius house (Jan 1995) #4
  • Dead over heels (Jan 1996) #5
  • A fool and his honey (Jan 1999) #6
  • Last scene alive (Aug 2002) #7
  • Poppy done to death (Jul 2003) #8
  • All the little liars (Oct 2016) #9
    • The narrative of Aurora Teagarden was thought to be over.
    • In a surprising, but welcome return, All the Little Liars
    • picks up right where we left off with Roe...
  • Sleep like a baby (Sep 2017) #10




Manna from Hades -- Oct 2017

MANNA FROM HADES  by Carola Dunn
Oct. 12, 2017


Born April 29, 1946, in London, England; immigrated to the United States, 1968;.
Addresses: Home: Eugene, OR. Agent: Northwest Literary Agency, 4500 108th Ave.
NE, Kirkland, WA 98033. E-mail: caroladunn@juno.com.


"CORNISH MYSTERY" SERIES

Manna from Hades, 2009.
Set in Cornwall in the 1960s, in the fictional fishing port of Port Mabyn on the
North Coast. The day after collecting donations, elderly widow Eleanor Trewynn and
the vicar's wife find the dead body of a long-haired, scruffy-looking youth hidden
in the stockroom of the charity shop.


A Colourful Death, 2010.
The Valley of the Shadow, 2012.
Buried in the Country, 2016


Other series by Carola Dunn:
Daisy Dalrymple Series: Superfluous Women (2015) #22
Corpse at the Crystal Palace, #23 will be out in July 2018



Regency Adventures  (most recent 1991)


Regency London  (most recent 1989)

Author’s Website:   http://caroladunn.weebly.com





Read Alikes:


Fethering mysteries by Simon Brett  Reason: Older women detectives equipped with
a certain wry humor and cozy English settings (one in Cornwall and one in a quiet
seaside town) characterize these mystery series. ­­ Victoria Caplinger


Penhale wood : a mystery by Julia Thomas. (2017)
On a cold December night in Cornwall, nanny Karen Peterson disappears with
three-year-old Sophie Flynn. The next day, the child's body is found on the banks
of Penhale Wood.


The Cornish coast murder  by John Bude (2016)
This reissue of a work by one of the most popular (but now largely forgotten)
writers of the golden age of British crime fiction has a spectacularly cozy opening:
as rain patters and a wind off the Atlantic moans around the windows of a vicar's
snug, fire-lit study, he waits for his weekly guest, the village doctor.


The villa of death : a mystery featuring Daphne du Maurier  by Joanna Challis. (2011)
Young Daphne du Maurier must defend of a friend who has been accused of murder
in this next installment in the beguiling mystery series that readers of Rebecca will love.


Angel with two faces; a mystery featuring Josephine Tey by Nicola Upson. (2010)
Scotland Yard Inspector Archie Penrose and mystery author Josephine Tey team up
to solve the murder of estate worker Harry Pinching in Penrose’s hometown in
Cornwall.


Lamorna Wink; a Richard Jury mystery by Martha Grimes  (1999)
After taking up residence in an old Cornish manor, Melrose Plant is quickly
drawn into a mystery involving the disappearance of his beloved aunt, but when
corpses begin surfacing all over the English countryside, Richard Jury will have to
step in to sort out the mess.

Monday, September 11, 2017

Beastly Things by Donna Leon, Aug. 2017

  • Beastly Things by Donna Leon
  • August 10, 2017
PERSONAL INFORMATION: Born September 28, 1942, in Montclair, NJ. Avocational Interests: Baroque opera. Addresses: Home: Venice, Italy.
CAREER: Writer. Former crime reviewer for the Sunday Times, London, England; University of Maryland University College, Italy campus, former English professor; American military base of Vicenza, Italy, English professor, 1981-99. Has also taught at American military bases in Italy. Founder of Il Complesso Barocco (an opera company), Venice, Italy. Worked as a teacher in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, England, Iran, and China.
An American living in Venice, Italy, Donna Leon was initially more widely known in Europe than in the United States for her best-selling series of mysteries featuring Guido Brunetti, a commissario of the Venice police. Brunetti is devoted to his family, which consists of two demanding teenagers and his wife, Paola, whose passion is reading Henry James and who is the daughter of an Italian aristocrat. Brunetti's personality is complex. Kindhearted but intelligent with a razor-sharp wit, he has compassionate insights into the heart of Venice and the soul of its people. His home life is incorporated into the stories, and Venice itself is a character in each of Leon's fictional works.

Inspector Guido Brunetti series:(* titles from TV series that are available on DVD)
  • *Death at La Fenice #1
  • *Death in a strange country,  #2
  • *Dressed for death #3  
  • *Death and judgment, #4
  • *Acqua Alta, #5
  • The death of Faith, #6   
  • *A noble radiance, #7   
  • *Fatal remedies #8
  • *Friends in high places #9
  • *A sea of troubles #10   
  • *Wilful behavior #11
  • *Uniform justice #12   
  • *Doctored evidence  #13
  • *Blood from a stone  #14
  • *Through a glass darkly #15
  • *Suffer the little children #16   
  • *The girl of his dreams #17
      About face #18
  • A question of belief  #19
  • Drawing conclusions #20   
  • Beastly things #21
  • When the body of man is found in a canal, damaged by the tides, carrying no wallet, and wearing only one shoe, Brunetti has little to work with. No local has filed a missing-person report, and no hotel guests have disappeared. Where was the crime scene? And how can Brunetti identify the man when he can't show pictures of his face?
  •  
  • The golden egg (Mar 2013) #22   
  • By its cover (Apr 2014) , #23  
  • Falling in love (Apr 2015) #24
  • Waters of Eternal Youth #25
  • Earthly Remains #26
Read­alikes:
Dead lagoon by Michael Dibdin,l Reason: Though Beastly Things concerns the discovery of a corpse and Dead Lagoon involves a missing person, both atmospheric, intricately plotted mysteries, set in Venice, feature world ­weary Italian policemen whose determination to solve cases outweighs their distaste for official corruption. ­­ Gillian Speace

Bruno, chief of police by Martin  Walker, ­ Reason: NoveList recommends "Bruno Courreges mysteries" set in St. Denis in the Perigord Region of France for fans of "Guido Brunetti mysteries". Check out the first book in the series.

Nic Costa mysteries by David Hewson, Reason: Both of these series feature men of conscience who refuse to give up and are not afraid to challenge their superiors. These intricately plotted, well written books explore the agonies of everyday life through humane policemen who want justice. ­­ Merle Jacob

Commissario Alec Blume novels by Conor Fitzgerald, Reason: Although the Commissario Alec Blume novels take place in Rome while the Guido Brunetti mysteries are set in Venice, both series feature appealing detectives, well ­realized settings, and intricate storylines. ­­ Victoria Caplinger

Urbino Macintyre Venetian mysteries by Edward Sklepowich Reason: While Guido Brunetti is a police investigator and Urbino Macintyre is an amateur sleuth, both thoughtful, leisurely ­paced series vividly portray Venice, making the city itself a character in the stories. ­ ­ Katherine Johnson