The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of September 2011 hardcover mysteries as well as shelved new September paperbacks on The Mystery Bookshelf.
In this series of monthly posts, which we call Firsts on the 1st, we're introducing readers to new series characters who will make their mysterious American debut in print during September. (Purchase options include Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, and the iTunes iBookstore, which are indicated by icons under the cover image.)
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Title: Quickstep to Murder
Author: Ella Barrick
Series Character: Stacy Graysin
Format: Mass Market Paperback
What we know about the character: Stacy Graysin owns a ballroom dance studio.
Her first case: What if your dance partner, business partner, and fiancé was stepping out with another woman? That's exactly what happens to Stacy, who shares ownership of a ballroom dance studio with the man who broke her heart, Rafe Acosta.
But when Stacy discovers Rafe's dead body in the studio one dark night, the police suspect her of killing him. To clear her name and save her studio, Stacey teams up with Rafe's estranged cousin from Argentina, Tav, to find the real killer. And if Stacy doesn't watch her step, the killer may make this dance her last.
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Title: Secret Combinations
Author: Gordon Cope
Series Character: Jack Kenyon
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: FBI Agent Jack Kenyon is an expert at cyber warfare.
His first case: Jack tracks down hackers and secret government agencies tjat leverage weak spots in the Internet to cause carnage to their enemies. Assigned to uncover an industrial spy ring trying to steal Cyberworm, a US secret code, Jack is sure the murder of a double agent is linked to his investigation. But the sudden passing of his aunt Lydia in London complicates his plans. As the named executor of her estate, Jack flies to England, only to discover evidence that Lydias death may have been connected to a terrorist plot to unleash a devastating computer virus.
As his professional life collides with his personal, Jack cant help but wonder about the odds of such a coincidence. Jack must solve Lydias murder and catch the conspirators intent on wreaking international havoc — before the truth about his family catches up with him.
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Title: The Bad Always Die Twice
Author: Cheryl Crane
Series Character: Nicki Harper
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Nicki Harper, a real estate agent, is the daughter of a screen goddess, who just wants to lead a quiet, comfortable life.
Her first case: Up until now, Nicki always thought that dead meant dead. But then, film icon Rex March turns up freshly murdered in the bed of Nicki's best friend after being reported dead six months ago. A little distrustful of law enforcement, Nicki feels compelled to solve the murder on her own. Her acquaintances range from the pinnacle of Hollywood royalty to the bottom of Tinseltown's barrel, including a not-so-grieving widow, a conniving younger lover, a best friend with secrets, a jilted mistress, a ''closeted'' confidante, a wacky neighbor, and a scheming business partner. Rex has a gaping hole where his eye used to be, and Nicki knows a lot of people with motives for the murder. The killer is getting ready for a repeat performance, so Nicki must act fast before her own screen fades to black.
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Title: A Crack in Everything
Author: Angela Gerst
Series Character: Susan Callisto
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Former attorney Susan Callisto is a political consultant in Boston.
Her first case: Susan is pushing thirty and taking stock. Before she traded financial security at a Boston law firm for sandals and jeans in Waltham, she specialized in real estate law. Now, as a political consultant for ordinary people seeking low-level office, her income may be dicey, but Susan loves her new life—until her sometime boyfriend, Detective Lieutenant Michael Benedict, dumps her without a goodbye. Not one to mope, Susan uses humor and perpetual motion to push away the pain.
Susan's new world is one where politics can turn deadly and even love may not survive. So when local high roller Charles Renfrow offers her a huge retainer to advise his political campaign, Susan is wary. Why would a scientist stalking the human genome want to be mayor of a small Massachusetts town? Finding the answer takes Susan through a maze of toxic secrets including those floating around Renfrow's biotech company. On her way to confront him, Susan instead finds the body of his beautiful assistant. Assigned to the case, Michael reenters Susan's life.
When Michael's suspicions settle on Roddie Baird, yet another, and favorite, of Susan's clients, Susan elbows her way into the investigation. She hopes to prove Michael wrong. As she probes—and lays her own life on the line—Susan uncovers a crack in everything …
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Title: Dead Beat
Author: Patricia Hall
Series Character: Kate O'Donnell
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Kate O'Donnell is a photographer in 1960s London.
Her first case: When Kate takes off for London from swinging Liverpool she has two things in mind: to make a career and to track down her missing older brother. But when she does find a trace of Tom, he’s still missing – leaving behind a dead flatmate and some very suspicious cops, including Harry Barnard of the vice squad. Kate determines to clear her brother’s name, but her investigations take her on a terrifying journey, and soon she isn’t sure if even the charming Barnard can be trusted …
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Title: Mind Over Murder
Author: Allison Kingsley
Series Setting: The Raven's Nest
Format: Mass Market Paperback
What we know about the characters: The Raven's Nest is a bookstore owned by cousins and best friends Clara and Stephanie Quinn.
Their first case: The bookstore has made an enemy of the town crier, Ana Jordon, who claims that the store's occult collection is "poisoning" the town's youth. Meanwhile, the store's number-one employee, Molly, has made no secret of her anger over Ana's antics. So when Ana is found dead, killed by the bust of Edgar Allen Poe sculpted by Molly, the evidence is stacked against her. And Clara must rely on her gift to make sense of this senseless murder …
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Title: Chalk Line
Author: Paula LaRocque
Series Character: Ben Gallagher
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Ben Gallagher is a Texas police officer.
His first case: Ben thinks life will once again be rosy when his younger brother Andrew is released from prison. But, on the very day Andrew is set free, the brothers discover the body of a lifelong friend, and the murder launches Ben on a fast slide from his revered rule of law. He is soon ordered to stay away from the case, but the closer he gets, the surer he becomes that a family member is somehow implicated. Torn between loyalties, he embarks on a race that takes him thousands of miles and a couple of decades away, leading to a cold case in the north—and a killer no one would ever suspect.
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Title: The End of the Line
Author: Stephen Legault
Series Character: Durant Wallace
Format: Trade Paperback
What we know about the character: Durant Wallace is an investigator with the North West Mounted Police.
His first case: It is the winter of 1884, and five hundred Canadian Pacific Rail workers have halted their push through the Rockies at Holt City, an isolated shantytown in the shadow of the Continental Divide. The men are tired and cold, and patience is as scarce as the rationed food. Then, Deek Penner, a CPR section boss, is brutally murdered at the end of the track. His body is found frozen on the banks of the Bow River.
Durrant Wallace, a veteran of the celebrated March West by the North West Mounted Police a decade earlier, is returned to active duty to investigate the murder. Durrant lost his leg in a gun battle with whiskey traders three years previous, and he struggles with being a Mounted Police officer who cannot ride. When Durrant arrives, Holt City is ripe with possible suspects: illegal whiskey smugglers, spies for rival railways, explosives dealers and a mysterious Member of Parliament who insists on getting his meddling fingers into everybody elses business. Durrant must use his cunning and determination to discover to identify the killer before he finds his next victim and derails the great Canadian national dream in the process.
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Title: Murder in the 11th House
Author: Mitchell Scott Lewis
Series Character: David Lowell
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: David Lowell is an astrological detective.
His first case: Lowell must use his astrologer’s charts and knowledge to solve the murder of a state judge in a New York City parking garage. Joined by his daughter, Melinda, a young defense attorney who believes the person arrested innocent; his hacker sidekick Mort; patient assistant Sarah; and bodyguard Andy, Lowell races against time to prove the innocence of Johnny Colbert, a mouthy bartender accused of the crime.
Birth charts and street smarts help Lowell sort out the misdirections of a cast of characters, ranging from the judge’s clerk to the judge’s life itself, to trace the crime back to a surprising source.
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Title: The Big Goodbye
Author: Michael Lister
Series Character: Jimmy "Soldier" Riley
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Jimmy "Soldier" Riley is a private investigator in 1940s Panama City, Florida.
His first case: Someone is following Lauren Lewis. She ducks into Riley's office, not to hire him, but to find out if he's the one following her. Back when they were lovers he told her if he ever decided to, she'd never know he was there.
It's 1940s Panama City, Florida. The world is at war, and the growing panhandle paradise is doing its part. Tyndall Field is training pilots. Wainwright Shipyard is building battleships. The Naval Section Base is protecting vessels in the Gulf. The Dixie Sherman Hotel is hosting celebrities such as Clark Gable. Harry Lewis, a wealthy banker, is running for mayor, unaware his wife is running for her life. With a secret to hide and a husband running for mayor in a city exploding and expanding like no other time in history, Lauren doesn't want trouble, but she's about to get a double-barrel full of it. Only one man can help her, and though it might destroy him, he doesn't mind. Better to die than be the walking wounded.
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Title: Button Holed
Author: Kylie Logan
Series Character: Josie Giancola, Button Box
Format: Mass Market Paperback
What we know about the character: Josie Giancola is an expert on buttons in Chicago.
Her first case: Working out of her shop in a neighborhood brownstone, Josie Giancola has become one of the country's leading experts on buttons. Her reputation draws a Hollywood starlet to the Button Box to shop for one-of-a-kind buttons to adorn her made-to-order wedding gown.
But after the Button Box is ransacked and the actress murdered, Josie's cozy world is thrown into chaos — and a killer is out to keep Josie's lips buttoned up … permanently.
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Title: Wicked Autumn
Author: G. M. Malliet
Series Character: Max Tudor
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Former MI-5 agent Max Tudor is a vicar in the idyllic village of Nether Monkslip.
His first case: Max has adapted well to his post as vicar of St. Edwold’s. The quiet village seems the perfect home for Max, who has fled a harrowing past. Now he has found a measure of peace among urban escapees and yoga practitioners, artists and crafters and New Agers. But this new-found serenity is quickly shattered when the highly vocal and unpopular president of the Women’s Institute turns up dead at the Harvest Fayre. The death looks like an accident, but Max’s training as a former agent kicks in, and before long he suspects foul play.
Max has ministered to the community long enough to be familiar with the tangled alliances and animosities among the residents, but this tragedy surprises and confounds him. It is impossible to believe anyone in his lovely village capable of the crime, and yet given the victim, he must acknowledge that almost everyone had probably fantasized about killing Wanda Batton-Smythe.
As the investigation unfolds, Max becomes more intricately involved. Memories he’d rather not revisit are stirred, evoking the demons from the past which led him to Nether Monkslip.
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Title: The Goat Woman of Largo Bay
Author: Gillian Royes
Series Character: Shadrack "Shad" Myers
Format: Trade Paperback
What we know about the character: Shadrack "Shad" Myers is an amateur sleuth in a fishing village on the northeastern coast of Jamaica.
His first case: When Shad sees movement on the island offshore, he thinks it’s just a goat. But it turns out to be Simone, an American who has run away from her professional and personal life in the U.S., an intriguing woman who captures Eric's heart. Always keeping his ear to the ground, Shad discovers that a gunshot heard near Simone’s place late one night isn’t exactly friendly fire, but tied to a plot to harm Simone and ultimately manipulate local elections. But why does someone want to harm Simone? And what does she have to do with the elections? Only Shad can find out.
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Title: A Killing in China Basin
Author: Kirk Russell
Series Character: Ben Raveneau
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Ben Raveneau is a homicide detective in San Francisco.
His first case: Many consider Raveneau to be at the tail end of his career — not least his ambitious young partner, Elizabeth la Rosa. But Raveneau’s long experience proves invaluable during the pair’s investigation of a murder in the city’s China Basin district. The body of a young woman has been found in a derelict building, her ankles and wrists tied. Who was she, and what was she doing there? The more Raveneau uncovers, the clearer it becomes that the dead girl was involved in something sinister indeed …
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Title: 15 Miles
Author: Rob Scott
Series Character: Samuel "Sailor" Doyle
Format: Trade Paperback
What we know about the character: Samuel "Sailor" Doyle is a homicide detective with the Virginia State Police.
His first case: Sailor Doyle has a mistress, an alcohol problem, a prescription drug dependency, and a burgeoning self-loathing that alienates his wife and family. And he's just transferred to homicide from vice when he is assigned to a double homicide on a rural farm some 15 miles outside Richmond. One of the victims has been interred in a makeshift tomb, while the other is stuck half-in, half-out of a hope chest overflowing with cat litter; the farm is covered with dead bodies—dozens of cats, sheep, goats, cows, and one dead horse; and the mentally handicapped daughter of the victims, Carl and Claire Bruckner, is missing. Doyle soon discovers that Bruckner was a Marine captain who lost his leg in Vietnam thanks to the incompetence of his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Lake—now a Republican Party presidential hopeful, who will be speaking in Richmond the following evening. What Doyle fails to realize as he follows the various clues is that wherever he goes, he is spreading disease—and not just any disease, but Yersinia pestis—the plague. Is the dead Marine planning revenge, even from beyond the grave?
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Title: Or the Bull Kills You
Author: Jason Webster
Series Character: Max Cámara
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Chief Inspector Maximiliano Cámara Reyes (Max Cámara) is homicide detective in Valencia.
His first case: "Either you kill the bull, or the bull kills you." Cámara thinks in proverbs, but he hates one thing above all: bullfighting. One hot afternoon in Valencia, however, he has to stand in for his boss, judging a festival corrida starring Spain’s most famous young matador. That night, he is back in the bullring, and what he finds on the blood-stained sand shocks the city of Valencia to its core. Cámara is roped into investigating a grisly murder while dealing with violent shadows from his own past, as well as confronting the suspiciousness of the bullfighting community and the stonewalling of local politicians in full electoral campaign. To top it all, Fallas, the loudest fiesta in the country, has just got underway. For Cámara, it seems his problems have only just begun …
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Title: Did Not Finish
Author: Simon Wood
Series Character: Aidy Westlake
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Aidy Westlake is a rookie race car driver.
His first case: When Derek Deacon threatens to kill Alex Fanning, his championship rival, Aidy doesn’t put much stock in it — it’s typical of the intense competitiveness and aggression in their world. But when Fanning dies after making contact with Deacon’s car during a race, a conspiracy ensues: the TV coverage is edited and the police wind up the investigation without interviewing witnesses. Compelled to prove Deacon is the murderer, Aidy pushes for the truth and is drawn into a world of fraud, organized crime and murder.
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Title: The Opium Equation
Author: Lisa Wysocky
Series Character: Cat Enright
Format: Trade Paperback
What we know about the character: Cat Enright is a horse trainer in Tennessee.
Her first case: Everyone hates Glenda. So when retired movie star Glenda Dupree was murdered at Fairbanks, her antebellum mansion near Nashville, Tennessee, there was much speculation, but no one missed her much. Prior to leaving life on earth, Glenda had managed to offend everyone in sight, including her neighbor, the (mostly) law-abiding Cat Enright.
Cat finds Glenda s body and is implicated in the murder, and also in the disappearance of a ten-year-old neighbor, Bubba Henley. Cat thinks Bubba s disappearance ties into the murder and realizes her name will not be cleared until he is found. Although a Henley ancestor built Fairbanks, the current Henley clan lives next door in a scruffy trailer. Because the police treat the missing boy as a runaway Cat begins her quest to find Bubba, solve Glenda s murder, and clear her name.
An unpopular sheriff and upcoming election mean the pressure to close the case is on. With the help of her riding students, a (possibly) psychic horse, a local cop, a kid named Frog, and an eccentric client of a certain age with electric blue hair, Cat takes time from her horse training business to try to solve the case and keep herself out of prison.
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For a list of more hardcover mysteries scheduled for publication during September, please visit our New Mysteries home page. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with September 2011 releases. See also our regularly updated eBook site for new mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers, MysterEbooks.com.
Please also visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.
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