Monday, February 01, 2010

Firsts on the 1st: New Series Characters Being Introduced in February 2010 Mysteries

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of as well shelved new February paperbacks on The Mystery Bookshelf. In this post, which we're calling Firsts on the 1st, we're introducing readers to new series characters who will make their debut during February.

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The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd
More information about the book

Title: The Bricklayer
Author: Noah Boyd
Series Character: Steve Vail
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Steve Vail is an ex-FBI agent who's been fired for insubordination but is lured back to the Bureau.

His first case: A woman steps out of the shower in her Los Angeles home and is startled by an intruder sitting calmly in her bedroom holding a gun. But she is frozen with fear by what he has to say about the FBI—and what he says he must do. A young agent slips into the night water off a rocky beach. He's been instructed to swim to a nearby island to deposit a million dollars demanded by a blackmailer. But his mission is riddled with hazardous tests, as if someone wanted to destroy him rather than collect the money. Vail has resigned himself to his dismissal and is content with his life as a bricklayer. But the FBI, especially Deputy Assistant Director Kate Bannon, needs help with a shadowy group that has initiated a brilliant extortion plot. The group will keep killing their targets until the agency pays them off, the amount and number of bodies escalating each time the FBI fails. One thing is clear: someone who knows a little too much about the inner workings of the Bureau is very clever—and very angry—and will kill and kill again if it means he can disgrace the FBI. Steve Vail's options—and his time to find answers—are swiftly running out.

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Deadly Disclosures by Julie Cave
More information about the book

Title: Deadly Disclosures
Author: Julie Cave
Series Character: Dinah Harris
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Dinah Harris is an FBI agent struggling with alcohol and depression, seeking answers amidst the fallout of her own personal issues.

Her first case: Thomas Whitfield, proud Secretary of the Smithsonian and its extensive scientific influence, has disappeared from his office with foul play suspected. Whitfield's body is eventually found, and other people connected to him begin dying as well, ultimately exposing a broader conspiracy connected to him begin dying as well, ultimately exposing a broader conspiracy connected to Whitfield's recent conversion to Christ and promotion of a biblical worldview in an academic world of financial gain hostile to this concept. Will Dinah be able to experience the redemptive power of Christ before it's too late? Or will the ominous danger stalking her investigation claim another victim?

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Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean
More information about the book

Title: Bellfield Hall
Author: Anna Dean
Series Character: Miss Dido Kent
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Miss Dido Kent is an amateur sleuth in early 19th century England.

Her first case: An engagement party is taking place for Mr. Richard Montague, son of wealthy landowner Sir Edgar Montague, and his fiancee Catherine. During a dance with his beloved, a strange thing happens: a man appears at Richard's shoulder and appears to communicate something to him without saying a word. Instantly breaking off the engagement, he rushes off to speak to his father, never to be seen again. Distraught with worry, Catherine sends for her spinster aunt, Miss Dido Kent, who has a penchant for solving mysteries. Catherine pleads with her to find her fiance and to discover the truth behind his disappearance. It's going to take a lot of logical thinking to untangle the complex threads of this multi-layered mystery, and Miss Dido Kent is just the woman to do it.

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Final Target by Steven Gore
More information about the book

Title: Final Target
Author: Steven Gore
Series Character: Graham Gage
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Graham Gage is an international private investigator.

His first case: A man lies unconscious in a hospital bed, the victim of a violent assault the police are calling "road rage." If he recovers, prosecutors are waiting to indict him for conspiracy, eager to send him to prison for the rest of his life. And he's the lucky one ... Gage believes the injured man—his closest friend Jack Burch—had no part in the ever-widening criminal conspiracy surrounding the collapse of defense contractor SatTek Industries. But Gage's search for the truth is rocketing him to hot spots around the globe—and dragging him into a deadly morass of lies, greed, and terror alongside traitors, killers, and international gangsters. As the plot slowly unravels the body count soars, and Gage finds himself in an impossible race to prevent the unimaginable. Because the first target was his friend ... but the final target is his country.

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No Man's Land by Eric L. Haney
More information about the book

Title: No Man's Land
Author: Eric L. Haney
Series Character: Kennesaw Tanner
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Kennesaw Tanner is a soldier of fortune.

His first case: Tanner is approached by government operatives with an offer: rescue the kidnapped heir of a powerful Persian Gulf sheik whose alliance with the U.S. has made him a target for terrorists. But what Tanner doesn't know is that there are elements within the government who want him to fail, that the sands of politics are shifting against him-and that the job he's being paid to do may cost him more than he bargained for.

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Town in a Blueberry Jam by B. B. Haywood
More information about the book

Title: Town in a Blueberry Jam
Author: B. B. Haywood
Series Character: Candy Holliday
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Candy Holliday runs a farm with her father in a seaside village in Maine.

Her first case: In the seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine, Candy has an idyllic life tending to the Blueberry Acres farm she runs with her father. But, when an aging playboy and the newly crowned Blueberry Queen are killed, Candy investigates to clear the name of a local handyman. And as she sorts through the town's juicy secrets, things start to get sticky indeed ...

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Deadly Dues by Linda Kupecek
More information about the book

Title: Deadly Dues
Author: Linda Kupecek
Series Character: Lulu Malone
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Lulu Malone is a former TV star and amateur sleuth in Hollywood who presents meditations on the life of the artist in between muggings, murders and mayhem.

Her first case: When Lulu finds her evil union representative stabbed to death, her first instinct is to run. Unfortunately, the exit is crowded, as she has four actor friends with her. Without much choice, Lulu becomes enmeshed in the real-life detective hunt, one that she has only experienced as an actor on TV. With her life in danger, and her beloved dog Horatio kidnapped, Lulus days are filled with threats, thrift store finds, and hindrances by unknown, overweight assailants.

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Slow Fire by Ken Mercer
More information about the book

Title: Slow Fire
Author: Ken Mercer
Series Character: Will Magowan
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Will Magowan is a former LAPD narcotics detective, now police chief of a small town in Northern California.

His first case: One morning, Will Magowan opens his mail and finds a mysterious job offer to become the police chief of Haydenville, a tiny town in rural Northern California. Once a highly decorated LAPD narcotics detective, Will was terminated after a devastating personal tragedy drove him to become addicted to the heroin he was charged with keeping off the streets. Fresh out of rehab but jobless and estranged from his wife, Will now lives alone in an old Airstream trailer on the fringes of L.A. Out of options, Will accepts the job. After moving to Haydenville, he discovers that the once postcard-perfect town is being corrupted by a criminal influence that threatens to destroy it. Haydenville’s normally law-abiding citizens begin to erupt in acts of unspeakable violence. Pets are going missing at an alarming rate. Stately Victorian homes are falling into disrepair. With only a rookie officer at his disposal, Will risks everything in his quest to save Haydenville—entering a labyrinth of dark secrets that have remained buried for almost 40 years.

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Miles To Go by Amy Dawson Robertson
More information about the book

Title: Miles To Go
Author: Amy Dawson Robertson
Series Character: Rennie Vogel
Format: Trade Paperback

What we know about the character: Rennie Vogel is an FBI counter-terrorism operative.

Her first case: Rennie has devoted her life and body to training as an FBI counterterrorism operative. The brutal pace has slowly stripped away her private life until only the most fleeting contacts with other women are possible. When her ambition of being the first woman ever considered to join CT3 is finally realized, she pushes herself to the limit to earn the position. When one disaster after another befalls her, Rennie finds herself abandoned. Only then does she begin to unravel the misdirection and deceit that surrounds their first assignment, and to wonder if her failure, not her success, was part of the plan. Ultimately, with miles of an inhospitable landscape and an ambiguous enemy between her and safety, Rennie must decide if she can trust the one thing she never has before: another woman.

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City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley
More information about the book

Title: City of Dragons
Author: Kelli Stanley
Series Character: Miranda Corbie
Format: Hardcover

What we know about the character: Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator in 1940s San Francisco.

Her first case: February, 1940. In San Francisco's Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice—whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor's shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic, she shakes down the city—her city—seeking the truth.

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How To Host a Killer Party by Penny Warner
More information about the book

Title: How To Host a Killer Party
Author: Penny Warner
Series Character: Presley Parker, Party Planner
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Presley Parker is a party planner in San Francisco.

Her first case: Presley was just happy to get her party planning business off the ground. Now she's gotten the gig of the year, planning Mayor Davin Green's sumptuous "surprise" wedding for his socialite fiancée, to be held on Alcatraz. But when the bride is found floating in the bay and the original party planner is found murdered, Presley becomes the prime suspect. If the attractive crime scene cleaner, Brad Matthews, doesn't help her tidy her reputation, she'll be exchanging her formal wear for prison stripes ...

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Truly, Madly by Heather Webber
More information about the book

Title: Truly, Madly
Author: Heather Webber
Series Character: Lucy Valentine
Format: Mass Market Paperback

What we know about the character: Lucy Valentine runs a matchmaking service.

Her first case: Lucy is as smart as can be, as single as you can get, and so not qualified to run a matchmaking service. But when her parents temporarily step down from the family business, Valentine, Inc., it’s Lucy’s turn to step up and help out—in the name of love. Plus, her rent is due. Here’s the problem: Lucy doesn’t have the knack for matchmaking. According to family legend, every Valentine has been blessed by Cupid with the ability to read “auras” and pair up perfect couples. But not Lucy. Her skills were zapped away years ago in an electrical surge, and now all she can do is find lost objects. What good is that in the matchmaking world? You’d be surprised. In a city like Boston, everyone’s looking for something. So when Lucy locates a missing wedding ring—on a dead body—she asks the sexy private eye who lives upstairs to help her solve the perfect crime. And who knows? Maybe she’ll find the perfect love while she’s at it …

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For a list of more mysteries scheduled for publication during February, please visit our home page. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with February 2010 releases.

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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