Great Mystery Series from Swedish Author - "An Event in Autumn" by Henning Mankell

I love reading mystery books, and thanks to a neighbor who put up a "book swap" wooden box in front of his house, I found "An Event in Autumn" by Henning Mankell, a Swedish author. He wrote a series called Kurt Wallander mysteries, and there are 15 books in the series. This book was the last one and a must-read. Here's my review:

ROB'S REVIEW: This was my introductory read into the Kurt Wallander mystery series and I really enjoyed it. The characters were all interesting, and the story builds and keeps you guessing.  The lead character, Kurt Wallander is a grizzled middle-aged man who is a Swedish detective. His wife passed and he lives with his grown daughter, with whom he has a somewhat strained relationship The mystery centered around a farmhouse he was interested in buying and the discovery of a skeletal hand leads him on a fascinating investigation. The story was fast-paced, never slow, and the chapters were short (which I LOVE in a book). I have now ordered a couple of others in the series. 5 of 5 stars! 

WHO IS HENNING MANKELL?  Henning Georg Mankell was a Swedish crime writer, children's author, and dramatist, best known for a series of mystery novels starring his most noted creation, Inspector Kurt Wallander. He also wrote a number of plays and screenplays for television. He passed away in 2015.  

ABOUT THE BOOK: The eleventh riveting installment in the mystery thriller series that inspired the Netflix crime drama Young Wallander.

Wallander is "one of the most impressive creations in crime fiction today.... An old-fashioned moral force and sense of disquiet of the sort rarely found in contemporary crime fiction." --The Guardian

After nearly thirty years in the same job, Inspector Kurt Wallander is tired, restless, and itching to make a change. He is taken with a certain old farmhouse, perfectly situated in a quiet countryside with a charming, overgrown garden. There he finds the skeletal hand of a corpse in a shallow grave. Wallander’s investigation takes him deep into the history of the house and the land, until finally the shocking truth about a long-buried secret is brought to light.
 
Includes an afterword by the author.

Another Fantastic Mystery in the Book Retreat Mystery Series: Murder in the Reading Room

Murder in the Reading Room by Ellery Adams was fantastic!  There was a lot of drama and mystery in this book, with a great villain that you'll love to hate. I read the previous book, Murder in a Locked Library, and now I see how that book set up for this novel. This really brings threads from that book to a head, and the author provides some shocking surprises. I couldn't put this book down and highly recommend it. I'm definitely going to read the next in the  Book Retreat Mystery series!  5 of 5 stars. Rob 

ABOUT THE BOOK: Storyton Hall, Virginia, is a paradise for book lovers who come from all over for literary getaways. But manager Jane Steward is temporarily leaving for another renowned resort—in hopes of solving a twist-filled mystery . . .

 
Jane’s boyfriend is missing, and she thinks she may find him at North Carolina’s historic Biltmore Estate. Officially, she’s there to learn about luxury hotel management, but she’s also prowling around the breathtaking buildings and grounds looking for secret passageways and clues. One of the staff gardeners promises to be helpful . . . that is, until his body turns up in the reading room of his cottage, a book on his lap.
 
When she finally locates the kidnapped Edwin, his captor insists that she lead him back to Storyton Hall, convinced that it houses Ernest Hemingway’s lost suitcase, stolen from a Paris train station in 1922. But before they can turn up the treasure, the bell may toll for another victim . . .
 
“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

Wonderful Mystery! Murder Take Two by Carol J Perry (Witch City Mysteries) & Great Recipe I Tried

 I recently enjoyed reading my third book in the Witch City Mysteries called "Murder Take Two" by Carol J Perry. I love, love, love this series!!  The main character, Maralee, a reporter on WICH-TV, lives with her aunt (a retired librarian), and a boy friend, Pete, who is a local police detective. Maralee also has an ability to see things in mirrors that help her solve mysteries. There are great supporting characters, too. 

*There is also a recipe for Pizza dough Cinnamon buns that I made, and they were delicious!. 

 What I loved about this story:

There was a murder that parallels one that happened 100 years before, and one particular history teacher is suspected. The story presents twists and turns, and keeps you guessing. It's pretty fast-paced, too, which I enjoy. 5 of 5 Stars

Note: Before this mystery, I tried reading a new series (which I will not name) and read 150 pages before I put it down. In that series, the reader was introduced to an entire neighborhood of characters, and it was overwhelming. This series doesn't have that issue at all. 

Witch City Mysteries have great, consistent characters, that you really want to know more about. I can't wait to read all of them (I think there are 9 or 10). 
BONUS- In the back there are a couple of recipes, and I made one- Pizza Dough Cinnamon Rolls- They were DELICIOUS. 

ABOUT THE BOOK: When a copycat killer has reporter Lee Barrett brushing up on ancient history, it’s a test where failure could be lethal . . .

 
As a Salem, Massachusetts, native, WICH-TV field reporter and amateur sleuth Lee Barrett is well versed in the region’s lore. So when the murder of revered local professor Samuel Bond resembles a killing from almost two centuries ago, everyone is on edge. Especially assistant professor Cody McGinnis . . .
 
Not only did Cody have differences with Bond, he even taught a course on the historic murder. And when his fingerprints and ladder are found at the crime scene, the police are certain of his guilt. Cody’s family, however, believes otherwise and asks Lee for assistance. Now, with the help of her clairvoyant cat, O’Ryan, her tech-savvy librarian aunt and housemate Ibby, and Pete Mondello, her handsome detective beau, Lee will delve deeper than ever into Salem’s past—and into her own psychic gifts—to find the real killer—before someone else is history . . .
 

Fantastic Mystery: Downfall by J.A. Jance (a Brady Novel)

Truly one of the best mystery/suspense series on the market are the Joanna Brady mysteries by J.A. Jance. I just finished the latest book in the series called "Down Fall."  It's the 17th in the series, and it has an extra novella at the end called "Random Acts" that was as great as the main novel. 
   It begins with the deaths of two women who appear to have fallen from a mountain, who seem un-connected, and takes you into the investigation as Joanna and her deputies join with another county sheriff's department to solve the mystery of why these women were killed (yes, they were killed, it wasn't an accident). The story will keep you guessing, and the characters really come to life. 
  
ABOUT THE BOOK: A puzzling new case has just hit Sheriff Joanna Brady’s department, demanding every resource she has at her disposal—as well as help from neighboring law enforcement agencies and the Feds. The bodies of two women have been found at the base of a nearby peak, known to Bisbee locals as Geronimo. Is this a terrible accident, a case of murder/suicide, or a double homicide?

The investigation takes a puzzling twist when Joanna discovers that one victim was a local teacher and minister’s wife, while the other was a brilliant microbiologist working toward her Ph.D.—two vastly different women with seemingly no connections to link them.

Bisbee, Arizona

As Joanna and her team methodically hunt down answers, they begin to uncover a knotty web of sordid secrets and evil lies—clues that take the valiant sheriff down a winding and dangerous road that leads shockingly close to home . . . and close to a desperate and determined killer.

WHO IS SHERIFF JOANNA BRADY?  Joanna Brady is a county Sheriff  who lives in  the small desert town of Bisbee, Arizona.

Joanna starts out as a mother of a nine-year-old Jenny and the wife of Andy Brady, who runs for Sheriff of Cochise County but is killed before the election and is then accused of being dirty. Joanna runs in his stead, clears his name, and wins the election to become Sheriff, even though she does not have much background in law enforcement. On the one hand, many of the community are not used to having a woman be in a position of power, which makes her job as Sheriff somewhat more difficult, but, on the other hand, her relative independence from the old-boy network of local law enforcement makes it easier for her to clean house there as needed.

A Fun Mystery: Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn

The Chet and Bernie Mystery series is one of my favorites and the 7th book in the series "Paw and Order" by Spencer Quinn was wonderful. Chet is a Border Collie and Bernie Little is a detective (and Chet's dog dad) and together they solve complicated mysteries. 
  This mystery reunites them with Suzie Sanchez, Bernie's girlfriend who moved to Washington, D.C. from the west coast (where Bernie and Chet live), so she could be a reporter for the Washington Post. As a reporter, she falls into some serious political trouble and Chet and Bernie have to help her out. This is filled with twists and turns and a great read. - Rob
Follow Chet's blog at:  http://www.chetthedog.com/
and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChetTheDog/

Overview

In the seventh book in the New York Times bestselling mystery series, canine narrator Chet and P.I. Bernie journey to Washington, DC, and the dog-eat-dog world of our nation’s capital.
Stephen King has called Chet “a canine Sam Spade full of joie de vivre.” Robert B. Parker dubbed Spencer Quinn’s writing “major league prose.” Now the beloved team returns in another suspenseful novel that finds Chet sniffing around the capital city and using his street smarts to uncover a devilish plot.
   Chet and Bernie pay a visit to Bernie’s girlfriend, Suzie Sanchez, a crack reporter living in far-off Washington, DC. She’s working on a big story she can’t talk about, but when her source, a mysterious Brit with possible intelligence connections, runs into trouble of the worst kind, Bernie suddenly finds himself under arrest.
   Meanwhile Chet gets to know a powerful DC operative who may or may not have the goods on an ambitious politician. Soon Chet and Bernie are sucked into an international conspiracy, battling unfamiliar forces under the blinking red eyes of a strange bird that Chet notices from the get-go but seems to have slipped by everybody else. Most menacing of all is Barnum, a guinea pig with the fate of the nation in his tiny paws.
   As Harry Truman famously quipped, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” Too bad he didn’t get to meet Chet!

2 Great Mysteries: newest from Mr. Monk and Murder She Wrote!

While on vacation over the last two weeks, I read two great paperback mysteries in my 2 favorite series: Murder She Wrote and Mr. Monk. Both highly recommended!!
 SAD NOTE: The 2nd writer of the Mr. Monk series has called it quits, so this is the final in the Mr Monk series. It's really a sad day because I love them and have read and enjoyed all of them! 

 Here are the summaries of each book:
1) Mr. Monk and the New Lieutenant by Hy Conrad (4.5 STARS) 
(based on the great detective series of the 2000s) 
SUMMARY: Monk and Natalie have finally settled into a new office routine—but the detectives soon have another problem to deal with: Captain Stottlemeyer’s new lieutenant, A. J. Thurman—a man of limited skills whom Monk finds insufferable.
   Despite Thurman’s presence, Monk and Natalie attend the funeral of Judge Oberlin, and it’s a good thing. In typical fashion, Monk examines the body in the casket—and finds evidence of poison. The judge was murdered.
   When Captain Stottlemeyer shows the same symptoms the judge had shown, Monk detects the work of a diabolical killer who wants both men dead. With his friend in danger and an enemy close, Monk will have to put his reservations aside to crack the case in time.

To order on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Monk-New-Lieutenant-Conrad/dp/0451470591
2) Murder She Wrote: Death of Blue Blood by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain (5 STARS!!) 
(based on the TV series that ran for 12 seasons from the 1980s and 90s)
SUMMARY:  In the newest mystery in the USA Today bestselling series, Jessica Fletcher is invited to ring in the New Year with British aristocracy. Too bad someone’s about to end the life of the party....
Jessica Fletcher and her friend Scotland Yard detective inspector George Sutherland are invited to attend a New Year’s Eve Ball at Castorbrook Castle, thanks to her British publisher. Shortly after arriving in the idyllic English countryside, Jessica discovers the body of a lady’s maid in the garden.
  While their host, Lord Norrance, his snobbish third wife, other members of the household, and party guests squabble over the tragic death in tight-lipped, perfectly mannered, thoroughly British style, family relations are strained as old wounds are reopened and cutting remarks are freely handed out. And that’s only during teatime!
  As midnight beckons at the ball the next night, the earl offers a toast, complete with fireworks. But the merriment crashes to a halt when he falls ill and dies, apparently poisoned—and the number of suspects with a grudge against the lord of the manor sprouts like English ivy.
   Now it’s up to Jessica and George to find the killer—or killers—before another corpse welcomes in the New Year....
To order on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Murder-She-Wrote-Death-Blood/dp/0451468252