Who are you going to believe, the rumor mill, a teenager who could be protecting someone, or a kid with a propensity for fibbing? Real-life mysteries can be messy. The witnesses are rarely unbiased, and everyone’s got dirt in their past—even the squeaky clean. Trust me, I’ve seen the dust bunnies hiding in their closets and under their beds!
That’s also what makes people intriguing - flaws and all. A fictional mystery that can bring those elements of reality into a story puts them in the very satisfying read pile on my bookshelf. I found that to be the case with both books I’m featuring this month—two entirely different types of mysteries with the same outcome—me happy.
Katie Gayle has created an interesting new series with her first Julia Bird Mystery, An English Garden Murder. I’m pretty sure we’ve all had a few misgivings about what could be underneath the soil when we start digging, I know I wondered about it when we dug a pool:). It’s even worse when your new to town and you start to wonder what the heck you got yourself into. What our former social worker and newly divorcee finds however, is a great community who may know all her business but is willing to back her up when she needs it most. Especially when more than one body shows up dead.
At that point I’d be wondering if I was the jinx when the only crime the town saw before her arrival was a misguided teen stealing a library book. The red herrings start popping out of the ground like a budding garden and that is what makes this mystery grow on readers. Mislead and intrigue, I love a writer who can do it effortlessly, and Ms. Gayle has done it beautifully.
In my second feature, What She Said, A Detective Karen Hart Mystery by D.S. Butler, you can expect a darker kind of story, one just as satisfying with a lot more at stake. There is a method to the madness and it’s up to a grieving detective to figure it out. What’s great about this story is how very human Detective Hart is. A lot of her skill for investigations lies in her own life-experiences and her determination to discover the truth.
For me, the story development was reminiscent of Iris Johansen’s Eve Duncan mysteries. No, Detective Hart is not a forensic scientist reconstructing skulls, but she does see her own daughter in ways that Eve did. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, yet so real the reader can relate to Karen Hart on another level. D.S. Butler has engaged readers in the story in a manner few authors can.
Whatever your mood, you can’t go wrong with one of these mysteries.
An English Garden Murder
Julia Bird Mysteries
by Katie Gayle
5/5/22
Julia Bird’s picturesque Cotswolds cottage has everything she could want. Rustic charm, cozy fireplaces and, it turns out, a dead body in the garden…
Recently divorced and reluctantly retired, Julia Bird has fled London to enjoy idyllic rural life in the Cotswolds. Determined to have the perfect English garden, her first job is to tear down the old shed, where she unearths much more than she’d bargained for… A body apparently buried for decades. But who could it be, and who killed them? The police draw a blank, and even the gossip-fest that is the local book club can’t remember anyone going missing in the village.
Unable to get on with her garden until the mystery is resolved, Julia decides to conduct her own clandestine investigations. So, together with her wayward chocolate Labrador puppy Jake, Julia begins a whirlwind tour of the residents. And everyone, it seems, has something to hide in this village. As she gets closer to the truth, Julia uncovers something even more shocking… Another body, this time of someone she actually knows.
Determined to unmask the killer and find out what connects the two dead bodies, Julia – newly nicknamed the Grim Reaper – ups the stakes and hones in on the most likely suspect. But if she doesn’t deduce correctly, then there is someone else in the village who has killed twice already. Will they be prepared to make it third time lucky to keep their secret safe?
What She Said
Detective Karen Hart Series
by D.S. Butler
5/24/22
Can DS Karen Hart rely on the word of a little girl to save the life of a woman in grave danger?
When a woman is abducted from a quiet suburban street and bundled into the back of a white van, the only witness to the crime is a child with a reputation for telling tall tales.
The police doubt the girl’s story, except for Detective Karen Hart, who is determined to follow her instincts—perhaps because the shy little girl reminds her of the daughter she’s still grieving.
When a playing card is found at the scene, Karen finds her first clue. And when a second card is found at the home of a missing woman, Tamara, Karen finds her victim. But before the team can catch their breath, another woman linked to Tamara is snatched. And then a body turns up in a farmer’s field.
With the crimes having escalated from kidnap to murder, Karen must unlock the killer’s calling-card code before any more victims are taken. But getting to the truth isn’t going to be easy when Tamara’s family has so much to hide…
Until next month, get cozy and read on!
Kym Roberts writes by day and is a pro-surfer in her dreams by night. Her humor is often raunchy, her jokes are often bad, but her hunger for a story keeps the adventures coming fast. Experience the thrill & catch the wave of passion, mystery, and suspense with her at kymroberts.com, on Facebook @KymRobertsAuthor911, and on Twitter @kymroberts911.
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