Imagine that Sherlock Holmes had a daughter. I know, it is hard to picture that. Here we have the daughter of Sherlock Holmes investigating a young actress who has vanished. Twenty-eight years after Jack the Ripper terrorized Whitechapel is a Ripper imitator now on the loose?
“The Keepers” by Jeffrey B. Burton (Minotaur, 275 pages, $26.99, June 29)
Mace Reid has an unusual job. He detects human remains. Or, I should say his cadaver dogs do. His newest star pupil is a golden retriever named Vira. He calls his dogs the “Finders” and in this thriller, set in Chicago, they’ll sniff out the “Keepers” of the title.
“Dead by Dawn” by Paul Doiron (Minotaur, 320 pages, $27.99, June 29)
A long-running series set in Maine which features Mike Bowditch, state game investigator. Mike gets trapped beneath the ice. Mysterious bad guys pursue him on snowmobiles. He investigates a suspicious drowning. Thrills aplenty in this series.
“One Half Truth” by Eva Dolan (Raven Books, 418 pages, $27, July 6)
Finally, another book in the DI Zigic/DS Ferriera detective series. A young journalist delves into a story then quickly turns up dead. Then someone steals his notes. Somebody really wants this story to die. Eva Dolan writes concise, tightly plotted novels.
“Falling” by T.J. Newman (Avid Reader, 290 pages, $28, July 6)
Get the buzz book of the summer. This fiction debut written by a former flight attendant opens as the pilot on a commercial flight from Los Angeles to New York learns his family is being held hostage. Film rights have already been sold. Don’t read this one on a plane.
“M. King’s Bodyguard” by Nial Leonard (Pantheon, 272 pages, $26.95, July 13)
Set in 1901 during the days leading up to Queen Victoria’s funeral, this detective novel features William Melville, head of Scotland Yard’s Special Branch. Based on a true story, Melville is trying to apprehend anarchists plotting to kill Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.
“The Bitter Taste of Murder” by Camilla Trinchieri (Soho Crime, 336 pages, $27.95, Aug. 10)
Former NYPD homicide detective Nico Doyle was in Tuscany savoring the food and wine when a prominent, controversial wine critic was poisoned. Doyle gets quickly recruited to try to find out who killed this man who suffered from no shortage of enemies.
“Dog Island” by Philippe Claudel (Little, Brown, 199 pages, Aug. 10)
One day on remote Dog Island three bodies wash up on the beach. The locals feel conflicted; do they report their grisly findings to the authorities who will then disrupt their peaceful lives, or should they hush it up? They decide to keep quiet then pay dearly for doing so.
“The Darkness Knows” by Arnaldur Indridson (Minotaur, 352 pages, $27.99, Aug. 17)
Thirty years ago a businessman vanished. His body has just been found frozen within a melting glacier. Konrad, the original investigator, now retired, gets brought back to look into this very cold case. Indridson is yet another gifted Icelandic crime writer.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For moreinformation, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him atvick@vickmickunas.com
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