Gone To Dust, Matt Goldman

Twin cities private eye Nils Shapiro's newest client is Edina PD. They have a murdered divorcee and a calculating killer who 'dusted' up the victim's house and contaminated their crime scene. CSI won't be solving this one.

Nils and his old police academy graduates buddies might though. Shap is an interesting character, hope we see more of this new-fashioned gumshoe.

Bedlam Stacks, Natasha Pulley

Smuggling for the East India company nearly cost Merrick Tremayne his leg. Stuck back in England in a crumbling ruin that his brother refuses to even try and repair, Merrick spends most of his waking hours in the greenhouse where his great grandfather, explorer Harry Tremayne planted the exotic plants he found in Peru, Merrick can keep anything alive except the strange tree that Harry planted in the garden which has just blown up the house! Merrick convinced he is going mad, the other thing Harry brought back was a statue and it appears to be moving of its own accord.

Before he completely loses his marbles Merrick is recruited into another smuggling operation, this one destined to fail, his attempt to obtain cuttings from the cinchona trees that sit just above the tiny settlement Harry visited known as New Bethlehem or Bedlam for short is liable to get him killed by the people controlling the quinine trade. That will be grounds to bring in the army. What Merrick and his companions find is a place caught in time, protected by ancient beings and more of the moving stone statues and a link back to his great grandfather, a priest named Raphael.

Nine Tailed Fox, Martin Limón

Another entry in the excellent Sueño/Bascom military investigators series. GI’s are going missing, three so far, in different towns all over South Korea. The army brass have congress breathing down their necks and want Sueño and Bascom to find the missing men, pronto. 

GI’s are no angels but the missing trio had been up on assault charges against local women. Some locals think the triads are to blame, some quote legends of the gumiho a centuries old nine tailed fox disguised as a woman. The truth probably lies somewhere in between and the only way Sueño can see to solve the case is to set a trap; with himself as bait. 

Fox Hunter, Zoë Sharp

Close protection specialist Charlotte (Charlie) Fox is on the trail of her boss, Sean Meyer; who appears to have gone rogue and killed one of a group of men who got away with assaulting Charlie in her squaddie days. Parker Armstrong sends her to the Middle East with instructions to deal with Meyer, fast and by any means necessary.

Charlie's arrival in Iraq coincides with a vicious attack on the convoy she's travelling in but was she the target? Charlie doesn't like being warned off it only makes her more determined to find out the truth. In amidst the groups of local arms dealers, smugglers, black ops teams from both superpowers lies a path to Sean and she's determined to follow it, to the end.

The Mapmaker’s Daughter, Katherine Nouri Hughes

A fascinating blend of historical fiction and fact. This is the story of Nurbanu; born Cecilia Baffo Veniero, she’s not even a teenager when the Ottoman Empire sweeps across her tiny island capturing her and hundreds of other young children.

Cecilia’s education brings her to the attention of the Sultan and starts her rise to becoming one of the most powerful and influential women of her age. Nurbanu, quarantined with a mystery illness uses her time to document her story and explain some of the hard choices she had to make to preserve her Sultan’s dynasty.

Bibliomysteries, Edited by Otto Penzler

This collection of short stories all involve books, bookstores, booksellers, libraries and book collectors. Mystery authors like Max Allen Collins, Mickey Spillane, Anne Perry, Jeffrey Deaver, Laura Lippman and many more.

Discover tales like the Mexican drug lord with a fatal weakness for rare books. A character library deep in the English countryside, a bookseller detective, Columbo hunting down the killer of a rare book dealer and a mythical book that turns out to be all too real. Like a box of fine chocolates there is something for every bibliophile.

The Amber Shadows, Lucy Ribchester

Bletchley Park, 1941. The place is chock-full of secrets, some more dangerous than others. Honey Deschamps, one of the Park's decryption administration team has been receiving some very odd mail, postmarked Leningrad. It stirs childhood memories of her real father. Could he still be alive and trying to make contact with her, or is this some bizarre test of her loyalty to queen and country? An atmospheric little psychological thriller with insights (good and bad) into life on the home front during WWII.