The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of April 2011 hardcover mysteries as well as shelved new April 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 during April.
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Title: Golden Serpent
Author: Mark Abernethy
Series Character: Alan McQueen
Format: Mass Market Paperback
What we know about the character: Alan "Mac" McQueen is an Australian spy.
His first assignment: Mac was once a star of the global intelligence community, renowned for being the Aussie spook who shot and killed Abu Sabaya, the world's most dangerous terrorist.
But that was 2002.
Now, during a routine assignment in Indonesia, McQueen discovers that Sabaya is not in fact dead. Instead he's teamed up with rogue CIA veteran Peter Garrison and is armed with a cache of stolen VX nerve agent he's threatening to deploy in a dramatic and deadly manner.
Battling to stay one step ahead of Sabaya's hit-men, CIA double-agents and deep corruption within Australian intelligence, Mac must find the stolen VX before it's too late. His mission will take him on a chase through South-East Asia and test all of his considerable courage and ingenuity.
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Title: Running on Empty
Author: Sandra Balzo
Series Character: AnneLise Griggs
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: AnneLise Griggs is a reporter in the small town of Sutherton, North Carolina.
Her first case: Life on Sutherton's Main Street has always been inexplicably hazardous. Like the student who bet he could paddle a beer-filled ice chest across the lake. And lost. Not to mention the occasional tourist who wandered into the mountains, never to wander back out. But the day Daisy Griggs siphoned three pints of blood from poor Mrs Bradenham seemed to set a new standard. Now more and more people are dying and unless Daisy’s daughter AnneLise can figure out why, her mother may be next.
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Title: Thou Shalt Kill
Author: Daniel Blake
Series Character: Franco Patrese
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Franco Patrese is a homicide detective in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
His first investigation: Patrese is a man who has lost his belief in humanity, and the latest serial killer stalking his town on a mission to kill according to the ten commandments isn’t quite restoring his faith. Patrese knows that this kind of vigilante justice is the most dangerous kind, and he's prepared to go into some dark places mentally and physically to catch his killer.
Partnered with old timer but experienced detective Mark Beradino, they discover the charred body of the first victim, Michael Redwine, a renowned brain surgeon, found in one of the city's most luxurious apartment blocks. Then Father Kohler, a Catholic bishop, is set alight in the confessional at his Cathedral. But they soon discover that these murders are just the first in a series of increasingly shocking and seemingly unconnected murders. Patrese's investigation uncovers high-class prostitution, medical scams and religious obsession, but what Patrese doesn't realize is how close to the case he really is, how connected they all are, and how it will take a terrible personal betrayal to uncover the truth.
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Title: Guilt by Association
Author: Marcia Clark
Series Character: Rachel Knight
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Rachel Knight is a District Attorney in Los Angeles.
Her first case: Rachel is a tenacious, wise-cracking, and fiercely intelligent prosecutor in the city's most elite division. When her colleague, Jake, is found dead at a grisly crime scene, Rachel is shaken to the core. She must take over his toughest case: the assault of a young woman from a prominent family.
But she can't stop herself from digging deeper into Jake's death, a decision that exposes a world of power and violence and will have her risking her reputation — and her life — to find the truth.
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Title: Hera's Revenge
Author: Wendy Dingwall
Series Character: Yvonne Suarez
Format: Trade Paperback
What we know about the character: Yvonne Suarez is a travel agent with the Pinkerton Travel Agency.
Her first case: When an airport employee turns up dead in baggage claim upon their arrival in Athens, the Pinkerton Travel Group gets off to a rocky start. How far will travel agent Yvonne Suarez go to keep her tourists safe and her tour on track?
David Ludlow needs a vacation from his stressful job, and this itinerary to the land of mythology, Greek philosophers, and early democrats is just the ticket to a leisurely escape, until grumpy passengers, missing museum art, and deathly accidents plague their journey.
Will Yvonne's fear of losing control stand in the way of solving these crimes? Who among her travel companions can she trust? Is David using Yvonne and her tour to solve his own dangerous mystery?
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Title: The Watermen
Author: Patrick Easter
Series Character: Tom Pascoe
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Tom Pascoe is an officer with the marine police in late 18th century London.
His first investigation: In 1798 in the Port of London, a cruel villain holds sway over the underworld. His name is Boylin. His face is scarred by lime and his back by the two hundred lashes he received following a naval court martial. He holds Captain Tom Pascoe responsible for his suffering. They meet again when Pascoe becomes River Surveyor for the newly formed marine police. They've had orders to investigate a sudden fall in government revenue that is affecting the nation's ability to fight the war against Napoleon and stem the rising tide of Irish rebellion. Pascoe knows that Boylin is behind it, but he can't prove anything, yet.
Working alongside Pascoe is Sam Hart, a Jewish immigrant with his own agenda, Pascoe throws the rule-book out the window, scouring East London and the docklands in search of information. But fate takes a cruel twist when the two men find themselves involved with the same woman — there's much more at stake than the fate of the nation.
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Title: Death on Tour
Author: Janice Hamrick
Series Character: Jocelyn Shore
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Jocelyn Shore is a history teacher in Texas.
Her first case: Jocelyn and her cousin Kyla are on a once-in-a-lifetime guided tour of Egypt with a motley crew of fellow travelers when the most odious of the bunch, a nosy, disagreeable woman named Millie Owens, takes a fatal fall off of one of the great pyramids. And that’s only the beginning of their troubles.
From the jovial doctor haggling for trinkets he doesn’t want to the mysterious imposter wearing someone else’s clothing to the attractive stranger traveling alone, this group of tourists is carrying more than one kind of baggage. Add a mistaken identity, a priceless necklace, and another unexpected death, and Jocelyn finds herself reluctantly trying to unravel an intrigue that threatens to end not only her vacation, but her life.
Death on Tour was the winner of the 2010 MWA/Minotaur Books Best First Crime Novel Contest.
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Title: The Sweet Smell of Decay
Author: Paul Lawrence
Series Character: Harry Lytle
Format: Trade Paperback
What we know about the character: Harry Lytle, a former clerk at the Tower of London, is now a member of the King's intelligence service in this series set in the mid-17th century.
His first case: It's London, 1664, and Harry has a big problem. He has just discovered he has a young cousin, Anne Giles, and he has had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time — mutilated and laid out on the slab for an autopsy. His father has tasked him with job of tracking down Anne’s murderer. Harry has some robust assistance from one David Dowling, a resourceful, impressively well-built, yet equally hygiene-deficient, butcher. Together they follow a trail of blood, conspiracy, and corruption that takes them to the dark and murky corners of Restoration London.
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Title: Cookie Dough or Die
Author: Virginia Lowell
Series Character: Olivia Greyson
Format: Mass Market Paperback
What we know about the character: Olivia Greyson owns The Gingerbread House, a quaint shop that specializes in all things cookie.
Her first case: Olivia is the proud owner of The Gingerbread House and her best friend, Maddie, is her sidekick, baking up scrumptious treats for their cookie-themed parties. But now they must take a break from baking and find a killer, or else their reputation — and quite possibly their lives — will be battered for good.
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Title: Death Force
Author: Matt Lynn
Series Character: Steve West
Format: Mass Market Paperback
What we know about the character: Ex-SAS soldier Steve West is a member of the private military unit Death Force.
His first assignment: In Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, the British are fighting an increasingly desperate battle to contain a resurgent Taliban. The British commander knows the Taliban control the heroin trade, which brings in vast amounts of money for weapons. They back a covert mercenary unit to steal the drug lords' money. The deal: they will get intelligence and logistical support from the British Army, and in return they get to keep the money. The unit is put together by DEF's best man, Steve West; vastly experienced and ex-SAS. But the men from Death Inc. find themselves fighting a desperate rearguard action through the lawless badlands of southern Afghanistan, and al-Queda-controlled northern Pakistan.
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Title: Death Amid Gems
Author: Meagan J. Meehan
Series Character: Angelo Zenoni
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Angelo Zenoni is a detective on Long Island (New York).
His first investigation: On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, in a jewelry television studio on Long Island, New York a young woman has been found beaten to death. Zenoni and his partner, Nolan Wildow, have been called in to investigate the murder. It soon becomes clear that this will not be an open and shut case. A tense work situation, a troubled family member, an obsessive ex-boyfriend, a problematic graduate school incident, and annoyed neighbors are just a few of the suspects and scenarios involved in the murder of Tiffany Kehl.
On top of the complicated case is Angelo's home life. Christmas is soon coming, and he is being pushed by his wife to decorate the house while dealing with his wayward nineteen-year-old nephew who cannot stay out of trouble. Detective Angelo Zenoni has got his hands full!
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Title: Killer Routine
Author: Alan Orloff
Series Character: Channing Hayes
Format: Trade Paperback
What we know about the character: Channing Hayes is a former stand-up comic, now owner of the Last Laff Comedy Club in northern Virginia.
His first case: Channing survived a tragic auto accident that claimed the life of his fiancée, Lauren. Physically and emotionally scarred, he’s put his performing career on hold, resigned to getting laughs vicariously as co-owner of The Last Laff Comedy Club. There, he instructs Lauren’s sister Heather in the fine art of stand-up.
When Heather skips out on her set during the club’s comedy showcase, Channing searches for his AWOL protégée. Then Heather’s ex-lovers start turning up dead — and Channing must fight to keep Heather from being the next hit in this deadly line-up.
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Title: Sweet Revenge
Author: Andrea Penrose
Series Character: Lady Arianna Hadley
Format: Mass Market Paperback
What we know about the character: Lady Arianna Hadley is an amateur sleuth in Regency England.
Her first case: England, 1812: Arianna acts the part of a French chef in one of London's aristocratic households to find her father's murderer. But when the Prince Regent falls ill after consuming Arianna's special chocolate dessert, she finds herself at the center of a scandal. It soon becomes clear that someone is looking to plunge England into chaos — and Arianna to the bottom of the Thames ...
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Title: Dogs Don't Lie
Author: Clea Simon
Series Character: Pru Marlowe
Format: Hardcover
What we know about the character: Pru Marlowe is an animal psychic in this series of "Pet Noir" mysteries set in the Berkshires.
Her first investigation: A tough girl on the run from her own gift, Pru left the big city to return to her picturesque hometown looking for a little peace. Too bad that her training as an animal behaviorist got her mixed up with Lily, a rescue dog, and Charles, her person. Now Charles is dead, and Lily looks good for it. After all, Lily is a pitbull, a fighting-ring dropout, and way too traumatized to give Pru a clear picture of what she has witnessed. But Pru knows something about bad girls trying to clean up, and, with a sense of justice strong enough to overcome her dislike of human society, she takes the case.
Listening to the animals, Pru picks up clues — and learns there are secrets in the pretty little town that make murder look simple. Unable to tell anybody about her psychic abilities, uncertain at times about her own sanity, Pru comes to realize that if she clears Lily, she’ll likely become the prime suspect — or the next victim. While the only creature she can totally trust is her crotchety tabby Wallis, Pru’s got to uncover the real killer — and find a way to live with her gift — before the real beasts in the town savage her and those she has come to love.
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For a list of more mysteries scheduled for publication during April, 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 April 2011 releases.
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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