New Mysteries
Endless river by Elizabeth Fackler.
The last refuge by Chris Knopf.
Salt City blues by Barbara Block.
Three weeks before Christmas, times are even harder than usual in Syracuse, New York. The sensible thing would be to declare bankruptcy and close down her exotic-pet store. Instead, Robin is working in a bar two nights a week, which is where she meets Freddy Sanchez. When Freddy turns up dead in a burnt-out house two days later, Freddy's mother, Bea, wants Robin's boss, Ian Yates, to look into it. Ian owes Bea one, and Robin owes Ian one, so guess which amateur detective ends up investigating the local gangs . . .The thing is, she's not so sure they have anything to do with it. And not only that there's also the question of how Freddy came to acquire a rare breed of dog, of which, according to the local breeder, there are only two in the area. Neither of them are registered to Freddy. But why would either of the respected local businessmen who own a labradoodle have anything to do with Freddy's death?
Scratch the surface by Susan Conant.
Felicity Pride, author of a series of popular cat mysteries, has just entered the vestibule of her apartment and discovered a very dead gentleman - looking like something the cat dragged in. And indeed, snuggled against the body is a gorgeous - and contented - gray Chartreux. With a cat and a corpse on her doorstep, Felicity's determined to solve the crime - just like her own fictional sleuth would do." "Who was he? Who killed him? Why was he left there? And what publicity value could it all have? The answers could lie with Felicity's neighbor, an avid pet-hater; or with a highbrow professor who's collected every cat mystery ever written; or perhaps with Felicity's own number-one rival in the field, a bestselling recluse living in the shadows of a nom de mystere. Right now, she's just scratching the surface, but with a burly, kilt-wearing detective named Dave Valentine on her side, Felicity intends to identify both victim and killer - and sort out a case more puzzling than any she's ever plotted on paper.