The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of December 2013 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: Once Upon a Lie
Author: Maggie Barbieri
Series Character: Maeve Conlon
Formats: Hardcover and ebook
What we know about the character: Maeve Conlon is the divorced mother of teen daughters, who also owns a bakery.
Her first case: Maeve Conlon's life is coming apart at the seams. Her bakery is barely making ends meet, and one of her daughters spends as much time grounded as the other does studying. Her ex-husband has a new wife, a new baby, and a look of pity for Maeve that's absolutely infuriating. Her father insists he's still independent, but he's slowly and obviously succumbing to Alzheimer's. And now, her cousin Sean Donovan has been found dead, sitting in his car in a public park, shot through the head.
There was never much love lost between Maeve and Sean and she's not exactly devastated by his death, but suddenly the police are poking around asking the family questions. It's just one more hassle Maeve doesn't have time for, until she realizes that her father, whose memory and judgment are unreliable at best, is a suspect in the murder. Maeve is determined to clear his name, but is she prepared to cope with the dark memories and long-hidden secrets that doing so might dredge up?
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Title: Lending a Paw
Author: Laurie Cass
Series Character: Minne Hamilton, Bookmobile Cat
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Minne Hamilton is a librarian in the resort town of Chilson, Michigan; her rescue cat is named Eddie.
Her first case: Eddie followed Minnie home one day, and now she can't seem to shake the furry little shadow. But in spite of her efforts to contain her new pal, the tabby sneaks out and trails her all the way to the bookmobile on its maiden voyage. Before she knows it, her slinky stowaway becomes her cat co-pilot!
Minnie and Eddie's first day visiting readers around the county seems to pass without trouble — until Eddie darts outside at the last stop and leads her to the body of a local man who's reached his final chapter.
Initially, Minnie is ready to let the police handle this case, but Eddie seems to smell a rat. Together, they'll work to find the killer — because a good librarian always knows when justice is overdue.
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Title: Marathon
Author: Genie Davis
Series Character: Lynn Bryant
Formats: Hardcover and ebook
What we know about the character: Lynn Bryant is an ex-cop, now private investigator in Houston, Texas.
Her first case: Lynn Bryant finds her life in danger as she investigates the murder of troubled psychic Karen Shaw, uncovering a web of death and destruction involving Karen's artist boyfriend Johnny; the abusive home life of a teenage girl; and the girl's lying, womanizing father. Lynn's former Houston P.D. boss and current boyfriend, Frank, advises stepping back.
But Lynn's bound for Karen's high desert hometown, and discoveries about Karen's life that surprisingly and intimately affect her own. Marathon is a page-turning, high-powered mystery thriller that moves from the high rises of Houston to the desert ranches of Big Bend Country, exposing the terrifying consequences of love, death, and family ties so twisted it takes all of Lynn's investigative skills to unravel them.
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Title: Murder, She Barked
Author: Krista Davis
Series Character: Holly Miller, Paws and Claws
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Holly Miller is an amateur sleuth in this "Paws and Claws" mystery series.
Her first case: Holly Miller's life has gone to the dogs. She has no job, her boyfriend's former flame is sniffing around, and a scruffy but loveable Jack Russell Terrier is scattering crumbs all over her borrowed car. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, a troubling phone call about her grandmother sends her rushing home to the family inn on Wagtail Mountain.
The staff — and a frisky Calico kitten named Twinkletoes — adopts Holly and her new dog on arrival. But someone in this friendly town is bad to the bone. One of the employees at the inn has been killed in a hit-and-run accident — which is looking anything but accidental. Now Holly and her furry companions will have to nose out the murderer before someone else gets muzzled.
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Title: Rosarito Beach
Author: M. A. Lawson
Series Character: Kay Hamilton
Formats: Hardcover and ebook
What we know about the character: Kay Hamilton is a DEA Agent in San Diego.
Her first case: Bold, brash, and beautiful, Kay Hamilton is not your average DEA agent — she's as infuriating as she is irresistible. Having recently been transferred to San Diego after a case in Miami brought her more notoriety than medals, Kay once again finds herself embroiled in an international bust. Tito Olivera, younger brother of drug czar Caesar Olivera, is within her grasp. If she takes down Tito, Kay is positive that Caesar will follow — and when Caesar falls, so does the largest and most vicious cartel in Mexico.
But when a mysterious stranger shows up on her doorstep, all of Kay's carefully laid plans are thrown out the window. The Olivera case suddenly becomes far more personal — not to mention dangerous — and Kay must be willing to sacrifice everything to get her man.
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Title: Murder and Moonshine
Author: Carol Miller
Series Character: Daisy Hale McGovern
Formats: Hardcover and ebook
What we know about the character: Daisy Hale McGovern is a waitress at H & P's Diner in sleepy southwestern Virginia.
Her first case: All small towns have secrets — and plenty of them — as every small-town waitress knows. Daisy is no different. A young, recently separated waitress, she hears more than her fair share of neighborhood gossip while serving plates of hash and peach cobbler. But when a reclusive old man shows up at the diner one day, only to drop dead a few minutes later, Daisy quickly learns that some secrets are more dangerous to keep than others — especially when there are money and moonshine involved.
The man's death was suspicious, and no longer sure who she can trust, Daisy turns sleuth while also seeking to protect her sick mother and keeping a handle on Aunt Emily, her goading, trigger-happy landlord. Caught between whiskey and guns, a handsome ATF agent and a moonshine-brewing sweet talker, and a painful past and a dangerous present, Daisy has her work cut out for her. There's trouble brewing in her small town, and before it passes, many secrets will come to light.
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Title: Rosemary and Crime
Author: Gail Oust
Series Character: Piper Prescott
Formats: Hardcover and ebook
What we know about the character: Piper Prescott, a transplanted Yankee living in the South, owns Spice it Up!, a spice shop in her adopted hometown, Brandywine Creek, Georgia.
Her first case: Piper Prescott has got her sass back. She might be down, but don't count her out. "Change of life?" she asks. Bring it on. Recently divorced, Piper decides to pursue a dream she's secretly harbored: owning her own business.
But Piper's grand opening goes awry when the local chef who's agreed to do a cooking demo is found stabbed. Not only did Piper find the body, she handled the murder weapon and doesn't have a witness to her alibi, making the case look like a slam dunk to brand new police Chief Wyatt McBride. Desperate to uncover the truth — and prove her innocence — Piper enlists the help of her outspoken BFF Reba Mae Johnson to help track down the real culprit. The pair compile a lengthy list of suspects and work to eliminate them using their own creative brand of sleuthing techniques including stakeouts, breaking and entering, and one very unorthodox chocolate pie.
When Piper narrowly avoids being a victim of a hit-and-run, she knows she's getting closer to the truth, but can she catch the killer and clear her name before she becomes the next victim?
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Title: The Vanishing Thief
Author: Kate Parker
Series Character: Victorian Bookshop
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Georgia Fenchurch owns a bookshop in Victorian London.
Her first case: When a frantic woman comes to Georgia claiming that her neighbor, Nicholas Drake, has been abducted by the notorious Duke of Blackford, Georgia and the Archivist Society agree to take the case. But Drake is no innocent — he is a thief who has been blackmailing many of the leading members of London society. To find Drake and discover who is behind his abduction, Georgia and her beautiful assistant, Emma, will have to leave the cozy confines of their bookshop and infiltrate the inner circles of the upper crust — with the help of the dashing but dubious Duke of Blackford himself.
But the missing thief and his abductor are not the only ones to elude Georgia Fenchurch. When she spies the man who killed her parents years ago, she vows to bring him to justice once and for all … at any cost.
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Title: The Norfolk Mystery
Author: Ian Sansom
Series Character: County Guides
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook
What we know about the characters: Professor Swanton Morley, an omnivorous intellect, and his assistant, Stephen Sefton, hope to produce a guide to every county in England.
Their first case: It is 1937, and disillusioned Spanish Civil War veteran Stephen Sefton is broke. So when he sees a mysterious advertisement for a job where "intelligence is essential," he eagerly applies.
Thus begins Sefton's association with Professor Swanton Morley, whose latest project is a history of traditional England, with a guide to every county.
They start in Norfolk, but when the vicar of Blakeney is found hanging from his church's bell rope, Morley and Sefton find themselves drawn into a rather more fiendish plot. Did the reverend really take his own life, or is there something darker afoot?
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Title: Murder in the Rockies
Author: Eldon G. Smith
Series Character: Andrew Coyle
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Andrew Coyle is a lawyer in late 19th century Denver.
His first case: As his first case after graduating from an east coast law school, Andrew Coyle travels west to defend a rancher accused of murdering a miner. Public opinion and all the circumstantial evidence are against the accused and his tenderfoot lawyer. Coyle determines that he must find the real killer in order to prove his client's innocence.
But the task proves daunting and he is shot at on two different occasions, nearly burnt up in a cabin fire, and beat up in a barroom brawl. Along the way, Coyle meets the haberdasher's daughter, and a rocky romance ensues. Sensing that he is loosing the case in the courtroom, Coyle has an inspiration — using technology that is new in the 1890s. It is a gamble, but Coyle's only chance, and the only way he can save his client from hanging.
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Title: Staged to Death
Author: Karen Rose Smith
Series Character: Caprice De Luca, Home Stager
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook
What we know about the character: Caprice De Luca has successfully parlayed her skills as an interior designer into a thriving home staging business.
Her first case: Caprice DeLuca stages houses for high-end clients. When she discovers a body in the castle-mansion she staged to sell and starts asking questions, she finds herself in danger.
On the way to solving the murder, Caprice's large Italian family helps and hinders. She also finds romance with Dr. Seth Randolph. But does her brother's partner, attorney Grant Weatherford, care about her, too? Or is he just worried she'll get herself killed and her family will blame him?
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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 2013 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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