Looking for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing during the week of March 3 –  9, 2024 with four debut series. I hope a few of these books take you to an exciting place. Have fun reading!

MARCH 5
A Deadly Endeavor by Jenny Adams (Historical Mystery 1920s) *first book in a new series*
When Edie Shippen returns home after spending years in California recovering from Influenza, she’s shocked to discover that her childhood sweetheart is engaged to her twin sister. Heartbroken and adrift, Edie vows to begin living her life as a modern woman—and to hell with anyone who gets in her way. But as young women start to disappear from the city, her newfound independence begins to feel dangerous. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Murder in a Mayfair Flat by Jenna Bennett (Historical Mystery 1920s)
The last Friday of every month, Christopher Astley, in the guise of his alter ego Kitty Dupree, has attended a covert drag ball somewhere in London. In April, the ball was interrupted by a police raid that Christopher escaped by the skin of his teeth, only because he was yanked out of the nightclub before the raid started by someone who knew that it was going to happen. Format: Print, Digital

Murder at la Villette by Cara Black (Private Investigator Mystery)
Parisian private investigator Aimée Leduc doesn’t know that her life is about to be upended. Her ex, Melac, has been hounding her to move their daughter, Chloé, to Brittany. Aimée is fed up with his threats to take her to court and has stopped answering his calls. Which is why she doesn’t know he’s waiting for her by the Bassin de la Villette as she leaves a client’s office late one night. When she finds him there, bleeding in the canal, he has just been stabbed by an assailant, who knocks Aimée unconscious and plants the bloody knife in her hands. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Murder in the Tea Leaves by Laura Childs (Cozy Mystery)
When Theodosia Browning reads the tea leaves on the set of the movie, Dark Fortunes, things go from spooky to worse. Lights are dimmed, the camera rolls, and red hot sparks fly as the film’s director is murdered in a tricky electrical accident. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Knife Skills by Wendy Church (Traditional Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Sagarine Pfister is a great cook but has been blacklisted by almost every restaurant in Chicago. She gets her chance at Louie’s, a below-average restaurant, the only place that will give her a job. Things change when she finds head chef Louie Ferrar dead in the walk-in freezer of his restaurant. Format: Print, Digital

Twice the Trouble by Ash Clifton (Private Investigator Mystery)
Noland Twice, a star athlete turned private investigator, can find anyone, no matter how far they run or how well they hide. He works the Orlando-Tampa corridor, a bizarre land where theme parks and tourists coexist with drug deals and crooked businessmen. When a shady local executive, Valkenburg, goes missing, Noland is the only man for the job. Format: Print, Digital

Finlay Donovan Rolls The Dice by Elle Cosimano (Humorous Mystery)
Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero are in sore need of a girls’ weekend away. They plan a trip to Atlantic City, but odds are—seeing as it’s actually a cover story to negotiate a deal with a dangerous loan shark, save Vero’s childhood crush Javi, and hunt down a stolen car—it won’t be all fun and games. When Finlay’s ex-husband Steven and her mother insist on tagging along too, Finlay and Vero suddenly have a few too many meddlesome passengers along for the ride. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles by Elizabeth Crowens (Historical Mystery 1930s) *first book in a new series*
Asta, the dog from the popular Thin Man series, has vanished, and production for his next film is pending. MGM Studios offers a huge reward, and that’s exactly what young private detectives Babs Norman and Guy Brandt need for their struggling business to survive. Celebrity dognapping now a growing trend, when the police and city pound ridicule Basil Rathbone and ask, “Sherlock Holmes has lost his dog?” Basil also hires the B. Norman Agency to find his missing Cocker Spaniel. Format: Print, Digital

Lost, Like Me by Ivanka Fear (Traditional Mystery)
Following a horrific event twelve years ago, Cheryl MacGregor disappeared from the city where she grew up and moved to a remote northern town, assuming a new identity with her husband, Jim. She thought she was safe from the danger that led her to flee—until her parents’ deaths last year. Format: Print, Digital

The Lady Dragons of Brookville by Karen Fritz (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
The quaint town of Brookville was just what Trixie Tanner needed for a fresh start. The condominium brochure promised, “Your vacation destination for everyday living,” and so far, it was true. She loved her new condo, the charming town, and her new life. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Perfect Opportunity by Steven F. Havill (Traditional Mystery)
The morning after his eighty-seventh birthday bash, former Posadas County sheriff Bill Gastner drives past a couple of vehicles stopped on the highway shoulder. It’s not an unusual sight: a sheriff’s patrol unit, emergency lights ablaze, pulled in behind a pickup truck. The female deputy hasn’t radioed for backup. But there’s something about the scene that makes him feel uneasy. Format: Print, Digital

Hanging with Hugo by Katherine Bolger Hyde (Traditional Mystery)
Emily and Luke have returned from their honeymoon and are caught in a whirlwind of activity. Emily’s half-brother, Oscar, and his fiancée want to be married at St Bede’s Church in Stony Beach with a reception at Windy Corner. But they’re not the only guests arriving at Emily’s writers’ retreat. Emily finds herself unexpectedly playing host to the family of the artist repairing the church’s stained-glass window as well as Moses Valory and his foster daughter, Charlotte, who are seeking sanctuary after being harassed by social worker Janine Vertue. Format: Print, Digital

Chilled to the Dog Bone by S.A. Kazlo (Cozy Mystery)
It’s Saint Patrick’s Day weekend in chilly upstate New York, and Samantha Davies, children’s picture book author and sometime sleuth, is excited to attend the annual outdoors games put on by the local Wings Falls fire company. It will be a weekend filled with fun activities such as a skillet toss, four-wheeler race, and the ever-popular decorated wooden outhouse race across the ice. Sam is looking forward to dancing the night away with her beau, police detective Hank Johnson at the Firefighter’s Ball. Sam’s rug hooking group, the Loopy Ladies is sponsoring one of the outhouses and their senior member, Gladys O’Malley, will have the honor of riding on the “throne” to the finish line. Format: Print, Digital

Murder at the College Library by Con Lehane (Traditional Mystery)
An invitation from a prestigious liberal arts college to buy their mystery-novel collection comes as a welcome surprise for Raymond Ambler, crime-fiction curator at New York City’s prestigious 42nd Street Library. But his pleasure quickly turns sour when the collection’s curator – Ambler’s friend Sam Abernathy – tells him he plans to fight the acquisition tooth and nail. Format: Print, Digital

Eye Contact by Bethany Maines (Traditional Mystery)
Lexi Byrne, neurodivergent, UW grad student and part-time nanny, is working on cutting edge bionic eye technology. Lexi believes in evidence, facts, and that she might never feel comfortable in yellow. Lexi’s boyfriend, Tanner Driscoll, is the science department’s most eligible bachelor. Lexi’s best friend, Shea Yamaguchi, a volunteer operator on the suicide hotline, is a devastated college drop-out who is still coping with the loss of a caller. And Carter Zheng is the mysterious new arrival in the science department who Lexi thinks might be a plagiarist—an epically good-looking plagiarist. Format: Print, Digital

Cirque Du Slay by Rob Osler (Cozy Mystery)
Pint-sized Seattle middle school teacher and gay dating blogger Hayden McCall and his best friend Hollister are invited to a fundraiser for Bakers Without Borders. The celebrity performer, Kennedy Osaka, is the artistic director of Mysterium, an upscale circus arts show combining magic, acrobatics, and a Michelin-star dinner. But Kennedy is a no-show—until she’s found dead in her hotel suite. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Triple Trouble by Stephanie Rowe (Cozy Mystery)
Mia, Hattie, and Lucy are off to posh island resort for a much-needed girls trip to coastal Maine. Sun, fun, margaritas, and a birthday party are their only plans…until they discover Hattie’s cousin with a corpse in her hot tub and the cops on her deck. Format: Print, Digital

Murder and The Missing Dog by Susan C. Shea (Cozy Mystery)
Ariel Shepard has spent the last year renovating her beautiful French château, while also ingratiating herself into the lives and hearts of the quirky locals of Noyers-sur-Serein. The shocking business of the murder of the local historian is behind her and she is finally feeling at home. Format: Print, Digital

Circles of Death by Marcia Talley (Cozy Mystery)
Hannah Ives and her husband are staying at their idyllic vacation cottage on Maryland’s eastern shore when a young friend, Noel Sinclair, stops by for a visit. As Hannah shows Noel around the property, they notice some bald eagles in a neighboring cornfield who look seriously ill. Format: Print, Digital

The Road to Murder by Camilla Trinchieri (Cozy Mystery)
Though it took some time to settle into his new life in Gravigna, Italy, following the death of his wife, former NYPD detective Nico Doyle has figured out a thing or two. The locals have not only welcomed him, but are giving him rave reviews on his cooking, and his budding relationship with Nelli, a local woman, is healing old wounds. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

The New Couple In 5B by Lisa Unger (Thriller)
Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

MARCH 8
Burned Out and Bled Dry by Meredith Jacobowitz (Traditional Mystery)
Tyler is a stressed out, workaholic young associate at a large law firm whose career goals come into jeopardy when she discovers her boss Kevin’s corpse in the trunk of her car and becomes involved in the subsequent murder investigation. After discovering Kevin’s body, Tyler worries that reporting her discovery and fielding police questions would take too much time away from her work, not to mention that being involved in her boss’ murder investigation would unquestionably damage her reputation at the firm. Format: Print, Digital