A New PI, a Fictional Serial Killer, Plus Mystery News & More!

For fans of PIs and returning home!

Former cop turned PI Vandy Myrick is back in the New Jersey town she grew up in. Her retired cop father is in a care facility with dementia, and she’s trying to prove herself as a PI. She initially takes a case from a relative of the town’s mayor, Leo Hannah. He’s convinced someone is stalking his wife, and he wants Vandy to follow his wife to figure out who the stalker may be. It’s not a simple case, though, when murder and self-defense get added, and suddenly Vandy is being hired by conflicting parties to get to the bottom of what is really happening…

The audiobook is narrated by Bahni Turpin, who is exceptional and one of the first narrators I listened to and why I fell in love with audiobooks. If this is the start of a series, I am down to read the sequel.

(TW parent with dementia/ threat of sexual assault)

For fans of reading about vigilantes, rock bands, and fictional serial killers!

Brea, Jessie, and Flo contain multitudes: they are the members of the rock band Bang-Bang Sisters, and they use their tour to travel around the country, punishing people who have escaped justice! This is how they find themselves in Atlanta after a serial killer, except they just walked into a trap…

This is a trilogy with a recent historical setting that follows the effects of crime, written by an exceptional writer (The Underground Railroad, The Nickel Boys) who has won the Pulitzer Prize twice.

Starting in the early ’70s in New York, Ray Carney and his family are back. Carney once again finds himself in the life of crime: his daughter wants Jackson 5 concert tickets and the only way to not disappoint her is to call an old police contact. But that only opens the door for a favor in return…

If you want to start at the beginning, in 1960s Harlem, pick up Harlem Shuffle.

Here’s the start of a historical mystery series that is set in 1914 Fiji and follows police sergeant Akal Singh — who is new in Fiji, having been relocated from Hong Kong as punishment. An indentured Indian woman has disappeared from a sugar plantation, and Singh is assigned to the investigation while also being told to just make it go away. Even though he’s assured the woman must have just run away, he can’t let it go and finds himself fully investigating, even if many don’t want him to.

It’s a great start to a new series, and fans of Sujata Massey, Abir Mukherjee, and Nev March will surely enjoy it — and vice versa.