July 2024 New Mystery Releases!

 

I decided to get up bright and early (which is saying something since I usually don't go to bed until 3 or 4 AM) to get some chores done. Now that they're done, I decided to move onto blog posts, and what better way to spend a quiet morning than talking about brand-new books to read?

While I'm waiting to get my hair cut, I'm going to share my picks for the best new crime fiction being released throughout the month of July.

I've grouped them according to their release dates, and the covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Let's see if I can add a title or two to your own Need To Read lists!

=== July 1 ===

Title: Mary's Place

Author: Charlotte Hinger

Standalone novel set in 1980s Kansas

330 pages

 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

 

Synopsis: "Iron and Mary Barrett’s farming family is rural royalty, their success symbolized by a magnificent three-story house, Mary’s Place. Years in the building, the house is a testament to Mary’s grit and organizational abilities. But when bank examiners apply new ratings for agricultural loans in the 1980s, the family’s belief that its prosperity is a natural outcome of hard work is sent reeling.

Bank president J.C. Espy had never done anything crooked in his life until the FDIC changed the rules for agricultural loans. After becoming desperate to save his hundred-year-old bank, he worries that his resulting choice will cause his friend Iron to lose his land. Frantically J.C. works to convince Iron he will lose everything if he doesn’t comply with the new standards. In the meantime, both Iron and J.C. must negotiate with sons who have contempt for their fathers’ old-fashioned values. While Iron agonizes, Mary maneuvers to keep the family together and save the farm.

Mary’s Place is an unforgettable tribute to the rural families who weathered one of the worst agricultural disasters in American history." 

=== July 2 ===

Title: Death in a Lonely Place

Author: Stig Abell

Series: #2 in the Jake Jackson (former police officer) series set in rural England. 

352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Former London detective Jake Jackson—introduced in the acclaimed mystery Death Under a Little Sky—finds his new life in the country threatened by an old case from the past in this absorbing mystery that will challenge readers’ detective skills.

In a quiet village, a storm is brewing . . .

Detective Jake Jackson left London for a quiet life in Caelum Parvum. The idyllic country village offers the peace he craves—tending to his chickens, swimming in his lake, and spending long, lazy evenings with his new love, Livia. It’s the perfect setting for their relationship to blossom.

Then a case from the past re-emerges, shattering the calm and plunging Jake into the shadowy world of No Taboo—a clandestine group which serves the extravagant whims of Britain’s elite. And when Livia accepts a position working for a powerful publishing magnate, suspicions arise about her new employer’s connection to the mysterious group.

As unseen forces manipulate those around him, Jake races to expose the deception that threatens his peaceful world. Amid the desolate beauty and seemingly friendly faces of this small, cozy community, Jake must decide who he can really trust . . . or learn just how far No Taboo will go to protect their secrets."

 

 

Title: The Quiet Woman

Author: Priscilla Masters

Series: #2 in the Nurse Florence Shaw series set in England.

208 pages

 

Synopsis: "Nurse Florence Shaw is baffled when a quiet patient dies in an apparent suicide pact with her husband. Can she uncover the truth behind this mysterious woman?

Richard and Christine Clay have been married for decades. Their relationship has stood the test of time despite Christine appearing passive while her husband is unmistakably dominant - at times bullying and controlling.

Nurse Florence Shaw has seen Christine at the surgery a number of times with minor complaints over the past year, none of which has led to a serious diagnosis. But when Florence hears that the couple appear to have entered into a suicide pact, she is shocked, though not surprised that Richard has survived. Was Christine's death really a suicide, or was there more to this quiet woman than meets the eye?"

 

 

Title: Dog Day Afternoon

Author: David Rosenfelt

Series: #29 in the Andy Carpenter series set in New Jersey.

304 pages

 

Synopsis: "Retired lawyer Andy Carpenter has run the Tara Foundation―the dog rescue organization named after his beloved golden retriever―for years. It's always been his calling, even as Andy's pulled into representing clients in court. His investigator, Marcus Clark, has been at Andy's side for a long time. Even though they've known each other for years, Marcus keeps his personal life a mystery.

So it’s a shock when Marcus arrives at the Tara Foundation with two strangers in tow. Turns out Marcus takes disadvantaged young men under his wing, gets them jobs, a place to live, and a chance at a different life. And they want a dog. Andy’s specialty. One of the young men, Nick Williams, instantly falls in love with one of the dogs, Daisy.

When there’s a mass shooting at Nick’s work, leaving six dead, all signs point to Nick. Marcus, who's never asked Andy for anything, asks Andy for help. Despite Nick's troubled background, Andy trusts his friend and takes the case." 

=== July 9 ===

Title: The Burning

Author: Linda Castillo

Series: #16 in the Kate Burkholder police procedural series set in the Amish country of Ohio.

320 pages

 

Synopsis: "Newlywed Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is awakened by an urgent midnight call summoning her to a suspicious fire in the woods. When she arrives at the scene, she discovers a charred body. According to the coroner, the deceased, an Amish man named Milan Swanz, was chained to a stake and burned alive. It is an appalling and eerily symbolic crime against an upstanding husband and father.

Kate knows all too well that the Amish prefer to handle their problems without interference from the outside world, and no one will speak about the murdered man. From what she’s able to piece together, Swanz led a deeply troubled life and had recently been excommunicated. But if that’s the case, why are the Amish so reluctant to talk about him? Are they protecting the memory of one of their own? Or are they afraid of something they dare not share?

When her own brother is implicated in the case, Kate finds herself not only at odds with the Amish, the world of which she was once a part, but also the English community and her counterparts in law enforcement. The investigation takes a violent turn when Kate’s life is threatened by a mysterious stranger.

To uncover the truth about the death of Milan Swanz, Kate must dive deep into the Anabaptist culture, peering into all the dark corners of its history, only to uncover a secret legacy that shatters everything she thought she knew about the Amish themselves―and her own roots." 

Title: A Refiner's Fire

Author: Donna Leon

Series: #33 in the Commissario Guido Brunetti police procedural series set in Italy.

288 pages

 

Synopsis: "Around one AM on an early spring morning, two teenage gangs are arrested after clashing violently in one of Venice’s squares. Commissario Claudia Griffoni, on duty that night, perhaps ill-advisedly walks the last of the boys home because his father, Dario Monforte, failed to pick him up at the Questura. Coincidentally, Guido Brunetti is asked by a wealthy friend of Vice-Questore Patta to vet Monforte for a job, triggering Brunetti’s memory that twenty years earlier Monforte had been publicly celebrated as the hero of a devastating bombing of the Italian military compound in Iraq. Yet Monforte had never been awarded a medal either by the Carabinieri, his service branch, or by the Italian government.

That seeming contradiction, and the brutal attack on one of Brunetti’s colleagues, Enzo Bocchese, by a possible gang member, concentrate Brunetti’s attentions. Surprisingly empowered by Patta, supported by Signorina Elettra’s extraordinary research abilities and by his wife, Paola’s, empathy, Brunetti, with Griffoni, gradually discovers the sordid hypocrisy surrounding Monforte’s past, culminating in a fiery meeting of two gangs and a final opportunity for redemption.

A Refiner’s Fire is Donna Leon at her very best: an elegant, sophisticated storyteller whose indelible characters become richer with each book, and who constantly explores the ambiguity between moral and legal justice." 

=== July 16 ===

Title: Pentimento Mori

Author: Valeria Corciolani

Series: #1 in the art historian Edna Silvera series set in Italy.

244 pages

 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

 

Synopsis: "Pentimento Mori is the first book in the Edna Silvera series. Renowned art historian Dr. Edna Silvera is not your typical detective. In fact, she's not a detective at all. But when she stumbles across an apparently-impossible medieval painting in the suddenly-deceased Nando Folli's junk shop, her curiosity lands her in trouble with the police and on the trail of a shadowy world no one wants to admit exists.

What transforms Pentimento Mori from a great mystery to a must-read is Corciolani's adept use of solidly-researched and uniformly-fascinating art history, ranging from the significance of colors and pigments in medieval art to why the Pope blesses people with three fingers. If you're interested in art history, you'll want to read this book. If you're not interested in art history, read this book and you will be.

Apart from being surreptitiously educational, Pentimento Mori is a fun read. Corciolani's style hits the sweet spot between cozy mysteries and more gritty fare. While there's a colorful and engaging cast of characters, lots of laughter, and limited violence, there's real tension and solid action that drives the plot. With something for everyone, Pentimento Mori has "book club choice" written all over it." 

=== July 30 ===

Title: Murder at the White Palace

Author: Allison Montclair

Series: #6 n the Sparks & Bainbridge historical series set in England.

320 pages

 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

 

Synopsis: "In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture―The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous―and never discussed―past in British intelligence and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, a genteel war widow with a young son entangled in a complicated aristocratic family. Looking to throw a New Year’s Eve soiree for their clients, Sparks and Bainbridge scout an empty building―only to find a body contained in the walls. What they initially assume is a victim of the recent Blitz is uncovered instead to be a murder victim―stabbed several times.

To make matters worse, the owner of the building is Sparks’ beau, Archie Spelling, who has ties to a variety of enterprises on the right and wrong sides of the law, and the main investigator for the police is her ex-fiancée. Gwen, too, is dealing with her own complicated love life, as she tentatively steps back into the dating pool for the first time since her husband’s death. Murder is not something they want to add to their plates, but the murderer may be closer to home than is comfortable, and they must do all they can to protect their clients, their business and themselves." 

Title: Havoc

Author: Deborah J. Ledford

Series: #2 in the Eva "Lightning Dance" Duran police procedural series set in New Mexico.

347 pages

 

Synopsis: "It’s been over a year since the case that almost broke her, but when Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran is called back to duty, she doesn’t hesitate to answer. A bank robbery has left an officer down and a suspect on the run. Law enforcement is in hot pursuit, and residents are on the lookout―but before anyone can catch the criminal, tragedy strikes.

A member of the Taos Pueblo tribe has been shot and killed. The culprit? An untraceable 3D printed gun. With the support of fellow tribal cops, Eva breaks the news to the victim’s family and swears to find justice.

More violence follows, feeding the rising racial tensions between the Taos Pueblo people and the Hispanic community. New evidence forces Eva to consider the possibility that the bank robbery and 3D guns are related, but until she figures out how, there’s no telling how deep this crime ring goes…or how far its evasive ringleader will go to protect it." 

 

 

There you go-- my picks for the best new crime fiction being released in July. I'm probably most excited for the books by Allison Montclair and Stig Abell. How about you? Are any of these books already on your lists? Did I tempt you to add any? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!