Friday, March 29, 2024

A Rainy Day for Murder

Rainy DayWhen the wind howls and the rain beats against your window, curl up with one of our rainy day murder mysteries.

Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs: A Dixie Hemingway Mystery – by Blaize Clement
Cozy Mystery. While picking up an African gray parrot at the vet’s, pet sitter and former Sarasota County sheriff’s deputy Dixie Hemingway befriends Jaz, a distraught young teenager who’s brought in an injured wild rabbit. When some unsavory folks interested in Jaz show up later, and then the girl disappears, Dixie’s worried. To add to her troubles, Dixie’s concerned for her brother’s partner, a cop who’s been working undercover longer than scheduled, and for an old friend who claims her husband has been kidnapped. Despite the efforts of Dixie’s sometime boyfriend, Lieutenant Guidry, Dixie investigates. Fans of lighthearted mysteries with plenty of animals will want to check out this fun, Florida-based series.

Blood Rain: An Aurelio Zen Mystery – by Michael Dibdin
Police Procedural. Assigned to a job in Sicily, cynical Italian cop Aurelio Zen faces one of his most difficult cases. Not only does he have to spy on the State Police’s anti-Mafia group, he has to deal with a strange murder when a rotting corpse is discovered in a railroad car. At least his adopted daughter, a computer expert, is working on the island, too…or maybe that’s not such a good thing. Blood Rain , which Kirkus Reviews calls “cunning, bloody, and irresistible,” is the 7th in a series of 11 books. Fans of author Michael Dibdin, who died at age 60 in 2007, might want to try Andrea Camilleri’s Sicily-set Inspector Montalbano series.

The Right Attitude to Rain – by Alexander McCall Smith
Cozy Mystery. When a cousin from across the pond visits her in Edinburgh, well-to-do Scottish philosopher Isabel Dalhousie finds herself spending time with quite a few Americans, including Texas tycoon Tom Bruce. Before long, the always curious Isabel wonders if Tom’s beautiful, young fiancée is more interested in his money than him, and finds herself investigating the couple, even as her own friendship with a man 14 years her junior deepens. This is the charming 3rd in a popular series that often features murder-less tales. If you like gentle mysteries that may or may not feature dead bodies and don’t mind a hint of the supernatural, try Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity series.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning: A Novel – by Nancy Pickard
Mystery. What really happened in Rose, Kansas, 23 years ago on the night that Hugh-Jay Linder was killed and his young wife disappeared, leaving their three-year-old daughter, Jody, without parents? Ne’er-do-well Billy Crosby was convicted of Linder’s murder on circumstantial evidence — but his son, Collin, who was seven years old at the time, has always believed that his father was innocent. Now a lawyer, Collin has gotten Billy released and a new trial ordered. When the pair return to town, Jody is forced to reexamine