The gifted authors of the 19 pastiches in this superior MX Sherlock Holmes anthology eschew murder in favor of lesser but still baffling crimes such as blackmail and kidnapping. In one of the standouts, Marcum’s “The Sunderland Tragedies,” a desperate mother fears her young daughter has been abducted by the girl’s birth father; a horrific tragedy that claimed many children’s lives gives the tale the kind of emotional depth Conan Doyle’s emulators often lack. “The Hungarian Doctor,” by the always reliable Denis O. Smith, enables Dr. Watson to play a prominent role after the Baker Street duo is visited by physician Laszlo Kazinczy, who’s been summoned to attend an ill aristocrat under sinister circumstances. Hal Glatzer’s “The God of War” gives Holmes an unusual royal client after a representative of the kingdom of Hawaii asks for help foiling an extortion plot. Stephen Gaspar daringly opens “The Atkinson Brothers of Trincomalee” by noting that Holmes considered the case one of his rare failures, subverting readers’ expectations at the outset. The variety of plots is matched by the contributors’ skills. Once again, those who relish traditional Holmes stories will be delighted. (May)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

Early in Buckley’s atmospheric 19th Tudor mystery (after 2020’s The Scent of Danger), Ursula Blanchard, a prosperous widow and half-sister to Elizabeth I, receives a strange visitor at her Surrey home. Etheldreda Hope has come from the village of Chenston, where her mule giving birth to a foal is arousing her neighbors’ fears that she’s a witch. Even more worrying, Etheldreda reports that secret rites are being committed in the forest outside Chenston, and the group’s unknown leader says they must “bring about the death of an evil queen, to save an honest queen.” Since Ursula works as an agent on Elizabeth’s behalf, off to Chenston she must go. There she finds the villagers in thrall to odd beliefs and pagan practices, but do these have anything to do with a conspiracy to put Mary, Queen of Scots, the queen’s rival, on the throne? The well-defined secondary characters who accompany Ursula add to the intrigue, notably her resourceful manservant, Roger Brockley, who’s determined to protect her from the dangers they encounter, but sometimes fails to do so. Only a flat and abrupt ending disappoints. Buckley makes full use of a fascinating time and place in British history. Agent: David Grossman, David Grossman Literary (U.K.). (June)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

In 2005, 25-year-old Spanish assistant inspector Amaia Salazar, the protagonist of this gripping prequel to Redondo’s Baztán trilogy, is taking a course at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va. During a lecture, Amaia learns of a serial killer, nicknamed the Composer, who’s been targeting families affected by natural disasters. The Composer has fatally shot survivors of tornados in Texas and Oklahoma, where a witness saw him “waving his arms like someone directing an orchestra.” Now, as Hurricane Katrina heads toward New Orleans, the FBI wants Amaia, an expert on serial killer psychology, to assist with their investigation. In New Orleans, the suspense builds as Amaia, FBI agents, and local detectives work tirelessly to try to find the Composer before the killer can strike again. Amaia’s distinctive backstory, which includes a traumatic childhood, adoption at age 12 by an elderly American couple, and an outstanding school career in the U.S. before returning to Spain to join the police, lends weight to the dramatic action. This crime thriller is a good starting place for readers new to Redondo. Agent: Maria Cardona, Pontas Agency (Spain). (June)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

Set in 2008, Stein’s searing second outing for Det. Chief Insp. Axel Steen (after 2018’s Unrest) finds the workaholic Danish homicide cop still obsessed with the unsolved rape and murder case of 18-year-old Marie Schmidt, whose naked body was fished out of a lake in a Copenhagen park in 2004. The strain of the investigation wrecked his marriage. Four years later, Steen, who battles a near-addiction to hash and a hopeless yearning for his ex-wife, Cecilie, has a series of rapes in Copenhagen’s seedy Nørrebro district on his hands. Steen likes to work alone, but he has to keep his not always supportive team happy and endure the company of his ex-wife’s lover, Deputy Commissioner Jens Jessen, who suspects him of trying to win Cecilie back. DNA evidence Steen uncovers eventually leads to answers about Marie’s fate. Brilliantly plotted and filled with convincing police procedure carried out by realistically fragile characters, this psychological thriller profoundly explores the price that those who pursue truth too often pay. Fans of Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole will want to check this one out. (June)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

A former American president turns action hero in Clinton and Patterson’s disappointing follow-up to their bestselling The President Is Missing. President Matt Keating, who was vice president when his predecessor died from natural causes, orders an operation targeting an Islamic terrorist, Asim Al-Asheed, at his Libyan compound. Al-Asheed survives the attack, but his wife and three daughters are killed. During the next election cycle, Keating’s vice president, Pamela Barnes, successfully challenges him and is elected president. After Keating leaves the White House, Al-Asheed abducts Keating’s 19-year-old daughter, Melanie, while she’s hiking in New Hampshire. Al-Asheed announces three conditions for Melanie’s safe return: freeing three of his comrades, a full pardon for crimes he may or may not have committed against Americans, and $100 million in bitcoin. Melanie’s mother, Samantha, distrusts President Barnes’s promises to do everything possible to rescue the teen, and ultimately Keating, a former Navy SEAL, must take action himself. The authors don’t sweat the details (when Melanie’s kidnapped, Keating and Samantha, who are in different places, don’t try to contact each other), and too many convenient coincidences propel the plot. Die-hard Patterson fans will best appreciate this one. Agents: Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell, Williams & Connolly. (June)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink