A twinned manuscript is found in the rubble of a bombed out Berlin at the end of World War II. One half of the manuscript is the journal of former Abwehr agent Adrian de Groot, recounting the daily life of a German citizen forced to work for the Nazi regime. The other is a fantastical…

The post Book Review: <i> The Torqued Man </i> by Peter Mann appeared first on Criminal Element.

The tenth installment of the Rowland Sinclair Mystery series finds our quartet of detecting friends summoned from a sultry Singapore to a far colder Boston, and for less than pleasant reasons. Daniel Cartwright, Rowland’s good friend from their college days in Oxford, has unexpectedly passed away. Even more unexpectedly, he appointed Rowland the executor of…

The post Book Review: <em>Where There’s A Will</em> by Sulari Gentill appeared first on Criminal Element.

The 50th book in Robert B. Parker’s iconic Spenser series is also, alas, Ace Atkins’ last time at the helm. Fortunately for us readers, he goes out with a bang, presenting us with an absorbing tale that has Spenser and co grappling with issues ripped straight from the headlines. Congresswoman Carolina Garcia-Ramirez, or CGR for…

The post Book Review: <i> Robert B. Parker’s Bye Bye Baby </i> by Ace Atkins appeared first on Criminal Element.

With this latest cozy novel, Barbara Ross cements her status as my favorite living mystery writer. In less than three hundred pages, she delivers yet another taut, intelligent tale full of empathy and sensitivity, written with both economy and verve. Her style hearkens back to the Golden Age detective novels that presented real intellectual puzzles…

The post Book Review: <em>Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door</em> by Barbara Ross appeared first on Criminal Element.

Regan Merritt is done with working in law enforcement despite her stellar career in the U.S. Marshals Service. Now she’s back in Flagstaff, Arizona, licking her wounds while staying with her dad in her childhood home. When her former mentor at Northern Arizona University (NAU), hearing that she’s in town, asks for her to be…

The post Book Review: <em>The Sorority Murder</em> by Allison Brennan appeared first on Criminal Element.

I’ve always been fascinated by cold cases. I’ve often thought about why—is it because I love mysteries? Is it about human nature and the need for answers? Is it a bit darker than that…a fascination with the unknown or the unknowable, or an interest in the murder of strangers? Whatever the reason, I’m not the…

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4 Pamela enjoys the loose ice crystals that form when the snow starts to melt on the slopes. They make the skis’ grip almost frighteningly sharp. She and her daughter, Alice, have been using sunscreen, but they still both have a bit of color on their cheeks. Martin, on the other hand, burned his nose…

The post <i>The Mirror Man</i> by Lars Kepler: Featured Excerpt appeared first on Criminal Element.

Introduction by Author: For a long time, I have been deeply fascinated by female friendships. Not least, I suppose, because of my own. The peculiar emphasis that little girls have on finding their ‘best friend’ is, at times, as intense as the pursuit of a romantic relationship in teenage years. The desire for someone to…

The post <i>The Best Friend</i> by Jessica Fellowes: Cover Reveal and Excerpt appeared first on Criminal Element.

A Note from Author Wendy Church I wrote Murder on the Spanish Seas during the first year of the pandemic lockdown—like everyone else, we were pretty isolated, and I was thinking about places I’d been, and places I wished I could go. The Basque Country has been on my travel list for a while, and the more…

The post <i>Murder on the Spanish Seas</i> by Wendy Church: Cover Reveal appeared first on Criminal Element.

I love Tarot, and I love tea, and I love Kirsten Weiss’s witty, whip-smart writing. All these aspects are delightfully combined in her Tea and Tarot Mystery series, beginning with this novel, Steeped in Murder. Our heroine, Abigail Beanblossom, has worked hard to save enough money to be able to open the teashop of her…

The post Cooking the Books: <i>Steeped in Murder</i> by Kirsten Weiss appeared first on Criminal Element.

Girlfriends Sam, Diana, and Margaret have arranged the perfect escape from the daily grind and their individual troubled romantic relationships. It’s going to be a weekend of peace and mutual support. Sam is determined to forget about her recent divorce for a few days. Diana is freeing herself from an abusive ex. And Margaret is…

The post Book Review: <i>The Perfect Escape</i> by Leah Konen appeared first on Criminal Element.

Alafair Burke is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels, including recent standalones such as the Edgar Award-nominated The Ex, The Wife, and The Better Sister as well as the Ellie Hatcher and Samantha Kincaid series. She also collaborated with Mary Higgins Clark on the five-book Under Suspicion saga. A former prosecutor, Burke…

The post Book Review: <em>Find Me</em> by Alafair Burke appeared first on Criminal Element.

Dentophobia—the fear of going to the dentist. Studies indicate that as many as one in five people suffer from the malady. Because sufferers experience anything from slight anxiety to full-blown panic attacks, many forgo their dental care rather than visit their dentist. The phobia is irrational, as most are. After all, there’s nothing sinister about…

The post The Southside Dentist: License to Drill, Contract to Kill appeared first on Criminal Element.

Ashland, Oregon is all aflutter with the upcoming debut of a long-lost Shakespeare manuscript, set to be unveiled at a gala held by the local Southern Oregon Museum of Art. Director Javier de la Garza has contacted our heroine, Juliet Montague Capshaw (Jules, for short) to see whether her bakery-cafe Torte will cater the festivities…

The post Book Review: <em>Bake, Borrow, and Steal</em> by Ellie Alexander appeared first on Criminal Element.

Win Crewse is super excited about the new food truck she bought to expand the operations of her family’s ice cream store, Crewse Creamery. With summer festivities well underway in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the ice cream truck is proving a wise investment, especially since it’s allowing the creamery to essentially have two locations open. One…

The post Book Review: <em>A Killer Sundae</em> by Abby Collette appeared first on Criminal Element.

Molly Gray is a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel in addition to being quite an unusual young person, and not just in how much she loves her job. She gains a deep satisfaction from making things tidy and bringing order back to chaos. While seemingly bland and simple on the surface, she has a…

The post Book Review: <i> The Maid </i> by Nita Prose appeared first on Criminal Element.

Pieshop owner Val Harris is in for a big surprise when her sprightly octogenarian piecrust maker and landlady, Charlene McCree, forgets to tell her that the bluff her minihouse rental stands on is also the site of an annual Goddess Girls gathering. As a giant yurt and other amenities are thrown up right outside Val’s…

The post Cooking the Books: <i>Pie Hard</i> by Kirsten Weiss appeared first on Criminal Element.

The Teddy Creque mystery series is set on the tropical island of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands. Anegada was initially chosen because I was familiar with the island and its people; I’d had the pleasure of visiting it more than a dozen times. But when I dug deeper into my surface acquaintance with Anegada,…

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GEORGIA THE STORY OF ME The first story of me was written by my mother when I was four years old. (Before I had any idea that it was possible to have a story of me, or an agent representing my interests.) The book is called I Am Little and You Are Big. It is…

The post <i>Cold</i> by Mariko Tamaki: New Excerpt appeared first on Criminal Element.

With the reputation of Val Harris’s Pie Town bakery restored after the events of the first book in the series, our heroine is looking to expand operations somewhat, especially after hiring more staff. She’s thrilled when Ewan Frith, the wealthy owner of the nearby Bar X, contacts her about supplying pies for an event that…

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