The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of December 2012 hardcover mysteries as well as shelved new December 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 December.
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Title: Dukkha: The Suffering
Author: Loren W. Christensen
Series Character: Sam Reeves
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Sam Reeves is a Portland (Oregon) police officer and martial arts instructor.
His first case: In the course of a single week, everything Sam Reeves believed in, everything he knew, everyone he trusted, all would be put on the line. For a family he never knew he had.
Detective Sam Reeves, a 34-year-old martial arts instructor, has a solid fifteen-year record as a good police officer with the Portland Police Department. For the first time, Sam is forced to take a life in the line of duty and despite the findings of “good shoot” he struggles to recuperate psychologically from the killing. Facing up to his fears Sam returns to work and then within days is forced to fire his weapon again — killing two more people.
With his spirit almost broken, Sam meets a stranger … a man who claims to be his father. "Impossible," Sam reasons — his father died in a North Vietnamese prison camp … a long time ago.
This odd man, named Samuel, is as convincing as he is quirky and is revealed to be a phenomenal martial artist, the likes of which Detective Sam Reeves has never encountered. This "Samuel" comes out of nowhere, equipped with a family in Vietnam and a daughter named Mai who is about to graduate from Portland State University.
With a series of interlocked events of violence: a revenge-seeking uncle, the destruction of his martial arts school, his new father's connection to some lethal Vietnamese outlaws, Sam's life spirals into a dreadful new direction.
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Title: I Will Have Vengeance
Author: Maurizio de Giovanni
Series Character: Commissario Ricciardi
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Commissario Ricciardi is a police detective in Naples. (He was first introduced in 2007 in the Italian crime novel Il senso del dolore.)
His first case: Naples, March 1931: A bitter wind stalks the city streets, and murder lies at its chilled heart. As one of the world s greatest tenors, Maestro Vezzi, is found brutally murdered in his dressing room at Naples famous San Carlo Theatre, the enigmatic and aloof Commissario Ricciardi is called in to investigate.
Arrogant and bad-tempered, Vezzi was hated by many, but with the livelihoods of the opera at stake, who would have committed this callous act? Ricciardi, along with his loyal colleague, Maione, is determined to discover the truth. But Ricciardi carries his own secret: will it help him solve this murder?
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Title: My First Murder
Author: Leena Lehtolainen
Series Character: Maria Kallio
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Maria Kallio is a police officer in Finland. (She was first introduced in 1993 in the Finnish crime novel Ensimmäinen murhani.)
Her first case: Maria Kallio has just been assigned her first murder investigation. To prove to herself and her squad that she has what it takes to be a detective, she'll have to solve the death of Tommi Peltonen. Found floating facedown at the water's edge of his Helsinki villa, Tommi had invited his choir group to spend a weekend at his retreat. But beneath the choir's seemingly tight-knit bonds seethed bitter passion and jealousy.
As Maria sets out to determine the difference between friends and foes, she uncovers the victim's unsavory past — and motives for all seven suspects. Now it's up to her to untangle a complex set of clues before the killer strikes again.
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Title: The Opening Night Murder
Author: Anne Rutherford
Series Character: Suzanne Thornton, Restoration
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Suzanne Thornton is an actress at the dawn of the Restoration Period.
Her first case: The triumphant return of King Charles II in 1660 is occasion for much celebration in London. The Merry Monarch's unquenchable thirst for entertainment creates opportunities for everyone from tavern keepers to brothel owners to actors.
One of these is Suzanne Thornton. No longer a kept woman since her man has fled, she sees an opportunity to reopen a theater and stage the classics—Shakespeare, Marlowe, and the like. And now, thanks to Royal decree, Juliet can be played by a woman. Suzanne secures financing from an old lover, assembles a troupe, and restores the venue—none other than the historic Globe Theater.
Tragically, during the opening night performance, a dead body lands on the stage.
After the curtain comes down, Suzanne finds herself a suspect. But she also finds that murder is good for business — the next night's performance is sold out. Wishing to live to enjoy her success, Suzanne undertakes her own investigation to find a killer who may try to close her down for good …
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Title: The Ebay Plot
Author: Charles A. Salter
Series Character: Brad Stout, Ebay Detective
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Brad Stout is a US Army major assigned to monitor sales of government goods on eBay. (Editor's note: To be fair, though subtitled "Book One" we're not entirely sure this will be the recurring character of this series.)
His first case: Louella shivered again. Lots more to sell on eBay. But never again like this. Never before darting to work in the morning. Next time she'd choose a crowded place in the middle of the day. She didn't even know what the buyer looked like, only that he would meet her at six a.m. and would arrive in a white Lincoln Continental. Speak of the devil …
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Title: Emerald Eyes
Author: C. M. Swilley
Series Character: Jake Spencer
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Jake Spencer is a retired law-enforcement officer, Mossad operative, and private detective.
His first case: Samantha and Amanda made their way from the beach and toward the street, laughing quietly at some of the tourists with new sunburns. Suddenly, a van pulled up alongside them. Two Hispanic males bolted from the doors; one roughly pushed Amanda to the ground while the other grabbed Samantha and placed a chloroform-soaked rag over her nose and mouth. Samantha was startled and breathed deeper, causing her to inhale the chloroform. The reaction of the drug was almost immediate; she felt the prick of a hypodermic needle into her right arm and then nothing at all.
Three years after Samantha's Stanbrook's abduction, Jake Spencer, a retired law-enforcement officer, Mossad operative, and private detective, is hired by Samantha's mother, Amy Stanbrook, in a last-ditch effort after years of fruitless investigation to find where her daughter was taken and whom she was taken by.
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Title: Frozen
Author: Kate Watterson
Series Character: Ellie MacIntosh
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Ellie MacIntosh is a police detective in Wisconsin.
Her first case: Bryce Grantham wants a quiet vacation at his family's cabin. On his first night in town, he meets a lovely girl at a bar and gives her a ride home. The next day, he finds her cell phone in his car. When he tries to return it, Bryce discovers that the young woman has vanished, leaving behind only a bloody shoe.
Suddenly Bryce Grantham is the primary suspect in a murder investigation.
Detective Ellie MacIntosch has a serial killer on her hands, but without a body, she has few leads and the stalled investigation has her on edge. Bryce Grantham seems to be the perfect suspect.
Eighteen months have gone by without a clue, and yet Grantham starts reporting stumbling across the bodies of the missing women with unbelievable frequency. The evidence against him is almost irrefutable … but Ellie's gut tells her the case is not so cut and dry.
Before Ellie compromises the investigation, her career, and possibly her life in order to prove Bryce's innocence, she must determine whether he is a manipulative, cold-blooded killer … or the victim of a madman playing a sickening game.
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For a list of more hardcover mysteries scheduled for publication during December, 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 December 2012 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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