The Murder of Halland

The Murder of Halland
Author: Pia Juul
Publisher: Coach House Books
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2015-10-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1770564322

When Halland is found murdered almost right outside his door, his widow, Bess, is of course the prime suspect. She isn't worried about that, though, but about the daughter she abandoned years ago. As the police investigate, the slightly cantankerous Bess instead follows a trail of her own regrets and misapprehensions. Atmospheric and haunted by the uncanny, The Murder of Halland is anything but your typical whodunnit. It won Denmark's most important literary prize, Den Danske Banks Litteraturpris, and its English translation was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Prize. Pia Juul has published five books of poetry, two short story collections and two novels. Martin Aitken is a translator living in rural Denmark.

The Saint Zita Society

The Saint Zita Society
Author: Ruth Rendell
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2012-08-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0385671660

Life in the well-manicured London locale of Hexam Place is not as placid and orderly as it appears. Behind the tranquil gardens and polished entryways, relationships between servants and their employers are set to combust. Henry, the handsome valet to Lord Studley, is sleeping with both the Lord's wife and his university-age daughter. Montserrate, the Still family's lazy au pair, is helping to hide Mrs. Still's illicit affair with a television actor--for a small fee. June, the haughty housekeeper to a princess of dubious origin, is hard at work forming a "society" for servants to address complaints about their employers. Meanwhile, a disturbed gardener, Dex, believes a voice in his cellphone is giving him godlike instructions--that could endanger the lives of all who reside in Hexam Place. A deeply observed and suspenseful update to the upstairs/downstairs genre, The St. Zita Society is Ruth Rendell at her incisive best.

A Mind to Murder

A Mind to Murder
Author: P.D. James
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2001-06-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0743219589

Adam Dalgluish is called to the elegant Steen Psychiatric Clinic to investigate why the head of the clinic, Enid Bolan was found with a chisel through her heart.

Blaze Me a Sun

Blaze Me a Sun
Author: Christoffer Carlsson
Publisher: Hogarth
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2023-01-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593449355

One of the New York Times’s Best Crime Novels of the Year • A Good Morning America Buzz Pick #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A serial killer in a small Swedish town commits his first murder the same night the prime minister is assassinated—a “thrilling and profoundly poignant” (Angie Kim) novel by one of the country’s top criminologists, hailed as “the finest crime writer we have in Sweden” (David Lagercrantz, author of The Girl in the Spider’s Web and other novels in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series) “Christoffer Carlsson is to the police procedural what Cormac McCarthy is to the Western.”—Anthony Marra, author of Mercury Pictures Presents and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena A CRIMEREADS AND KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR In February 1986, the Halland police receive a call from a man who claims to have attacked his first victim. I’m going to do it again, he says before the line cuts off. By the time police officer Sven Jörgensson reaches the crime scene, the woman is taking her last breath. For Sven, this will prove a decisive moment. On the same night, Sweden plunges into a state of shock after the murder of the prime minister. Could there possibly be a connection? As Sven becomes obsessed with the case, two more fall victim. For years, Sven remains haunted by the murders he cannot solve, fearing the killer will strike again. Having failed to catch him, Sven retires from the police, passing his obsession to his son, who has joined the force to be closer to his father. Decades later, the case unexpectedly resurfaces when a novelist returns home to Halland amid a failed marriage and a sputtering career. The writer befriends the retired police officer, who helps the novelist—our narrator—unspool the many strands of this engrossing tale about a community confronting its shames and legacies. A #1 bestseller in Sweden, Blaze Me a Sun marks the American debut of the youngest winner of the Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year award, the top prize for Swedish crime writers whose past winners include Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell.

The Murder of Helen Jewett

The Murder of Helen Jewett
Author: Patricia Cline Cohen
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 514
Release: 1999-06-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 0679740759

In 1836, the murder of a young prostitute made headlines in New York City and around the country, inaugurating a sex-and-death sensationalism in news reporting that haunts us today. Patricia Cline Cohen goes behind these first lurid accounts to reconstruct the story of the mysterious victim, Helen Jewett. From her beginnings as a servant girl in Maine, Helen Jewett refashioned herself, using four successive aliases, into a highly paid courtesan. She invented life stories for herself that helped her build a sympathetic clientele among New York City's elite, and she further captivated her customers through her seductive letters, which mixed elements of traditional feminine demureness with sexual boldness. But she was to meet her match--and her nemesis--in a youth called Richard Robinson. He was one of an unprecedented number of young men who flooded into America's burgeoning cities in the 1830s to satisfy the new business society's seemingly infinite need for clerks. The son of an established Connecticut family, he was intense, arrogant, and given to posturing. He became Helen Jewett's lover in a tempestuous affair and ten months later was arrested for her murder. He stood trial in a five-day courtroom drama that ended with his acquittal amid the cheers of hundreds of fellow clerks and other spectators. With no conviction for murder, nor closure of any sort, the case continued to tantalize the public, even though Richard Robinson disappeared from view. Through the Erie Canal, down the Ohio and the Mississippi, and by way of New Orleans, he reached the wilds of Texas and a new life under a new name. Through her meticulous and ingenious research, Patricia Cline Cohen traces his life there and the many twists and turns of the lingering mystery of the murder. Her stunning portrayals of Helen Jewett, Robinson, and their raffish, colorful nineteenth-century world make vivid a frenetic city life and sexual morality whose complexities, contradictions, and concerns resonate with those of our own time.

The Minister and the Choir Singer

The Minister and the Choir Singer
Author: William Moses Kunstler
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 1964
Genre: Law
ISBN:

Factual account, based in part on new evidence, of the still unsolved murder case of Rev. Edward Hall and Mrs. Eleanor Mills which occurred in New Jersey in 1922.

Murder in the Locked Library

Murder in the Locked Library
Author: Ellery Adams
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2018-04-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496715640

The New York Times–bestselling cozy mystery series continues at a Virginia book-themed getaway where there are multiple murders to solve. With her twins, Fitzgerald and Hemingway, back in school, Jane Steward can finally focus on her work again—managing Storyton Hall, and breaking ground on the resort’s latest attraction: a luxurious, relaxing spa named in honor of Walt Whitman. But when the earth is dug up to start laying the spa’s foundation, something else comes to the surface—a collection of unusual bones and the ragged remnants of a very old book. The attendees of the Rare Book Conference are eager to assist Jane with this unexpected historical mystery—until a visitor meets an untimely end in the Henry James Library. As the questions—and suspects—start stacking up, Jane will have to uncover a killer before more unhappy endings ensue . . . “This group of intriguing characters and suspects will keep readers riveted until the last page. Ellery Adams has proven, yet again, that this series will go on for a long time to come.”—Suspense Magazine “This enchanting blend of mystery and fantasy succeeds in feeling timely and grounded…Book and mystery lovers alike will rejoice in this extraordinarily unique, exuberantly fun series.”—Kings River Life

Murder in the Cookbook Nook

Murder in the Cookbook Nook
Author: Ellery Adams
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2021-04-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496729471

The witty new story from the bestselling author of The Secret Book & Scone Society series is perfect for bibliophiles who love a A Bookish Cook-Off with a little murder on the side… “Love Chopped and mysteries? This delightful character-driven cozy is just the treat for you.” —Kirkus Reviews Six chefs are preparing to compete in an outdoor tent at Storyton Hall in Virginia for prizes that will boost their careers—but is there someone who can’t stand the heat? It looks that way when one of the contestants is found dead in a pantry packed with two centuries’ worth of cookbooks, among other treasures and rarities. Could there be a connection to other recent events in town, like tampering with the costume of a local mascot? Jane isn’t sure, but after someone serves a second course of murder, the kitchen must be closed and the killer must be found . . . “Readers will find themselves wanting to live in Storyton, no matter how many people end up dead there.” —Suspense Magazine on Murder in the Locked Library

Lovers' Lane

Lovers' Lane
Author: Rick Geary
Publisher: NBM Publishing
Total Pages: 81
Release: 2012-07-01
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1561636282

The perfect ingredients for a juicy scandal and fascinating investigation are presented in this masterful graphic novel retelling of an unsolved murder from the 1920s. On the evening of September 14, 1922, Reverend Edward Hall and Mrs. Eleanor Mills take a stroll in the New Brunswick town park. Shots are heard and two days later their bodies are found lying neatly next to each other, love letters strewn around them, and a scarf obscures the fact that Mrs. Mills’ throat has been slit. The two had been involved in an affair and the press hungrily devours the story. No evidence is sufficient to lead to an indictment, so the mystery intensifies with conjecture: Was this a dual suicide? Was this perpetrated by a jealous rival? Four years later the case reopens due to new evidence indicting the reverend’s wife, but she is an upstanding member of the community who vehemently denies that her husband ever had an affair. This is a tragic story told with beguiling relish and expert illustration in a distinctive style fitting of the era.

Murder in the Mystery Suite

Murder in the Mystery Suite
Author: Ellery Adams
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2014-08-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101612878

Someone resorts to murder and mayhem in the first mystery in the New York Times bestselling Book Retreat series... Tucked away in the rolling hills of rural western Virginia is the storybook resort of Storyton Hall, catering to book lovers who want to get away from it all. To increase her number of bookings, resort manager Jane Steward has decided to host a Murder and Mayhem week so that fans of the mystery genre can gather together for some role-playing and fantasy crime solving. But when the winner of the scavenger hunt, Felix Hampden, is found dead in the Mystery Suite, and the valuable book he won as his prize is missing, Jane realizes one of her guests is an actual murderer. Amid a resort full of fake detectives, Jane is bound and determined to find a real-life killer. There’s no room for error as Jane tries to unlock this mystery before another vacancy opens up…