Now here’s an unusual hook:  Elvis the basset hound is the reincarnation of Elvis Presley–at least he thinks so.  Author Peggy Webb has written three mysteries about Elvis and his human companions who work at the Eternal Rest Funeral Home in Tupelo, Mississippi.   Callie Jones Valentine is a specialist hairdresser for the deceased, and her oversexed cousin Lovie  is Eternal Rest’s resident funeral caterer.   Together they investigate murders, missing corpses, poisoned peach tea and other catastrophes.  In her latest, Elvis and the Memphis Mambo Murders (Kensington, 10/2010) several contestants in a dance contest die in suspicious accidents.   Webb has written a slew of romance novels and her entrance into the wacky Southern mystery genre is sure to gather fans.

–posted 11/29/2010

P.C. (or Paul) Doherty is a prolific English author of several historical mystery series.  He has written eight series under his own name and many others under various pseudonyms (Paul Harding, Michael Clynes, Ann Dukthas, C.L. Grace and Anna Apostolou).  He is also headmaster of a comprehensive school in Essex and the father of seven children.  Hugh Corbett stars in Doherty’s most popular series of medieval mysteries.  Corbett, Master of Clerks, Keeper of the Secret Seal and master spy for King Edward I (1272-1307), is based on John de Droxford, a historical figure.  Corbett is clever and down-to-earth.  The history is interesting, but not intrusive.  The Waxman Murders (Minotaur, 12/7/2010) is set in October 1300,  when Corbett is sent to negotiate with Wilhelm Von Paulents, a representative of the Hanseatic League, who is rumored to have the Carta Mysteriosa, a collection of valuable maps and sea charts.

–posted 11/21/2010

Now here’s a private eye with an unusual hobby.  Rachel Brady has written two mysteries featuring Emily Locke who is a witty and sophisticated young woman whose hobby is skydiving.  Emily’s  life was devastated when her husband and infant daughter were killed in an accident.   Still trying to recover four years after their deaths,  she and her surviving daughter move to Houston where she gives up her career to work with a friend as a part-time private detective.   In the first book,  Final Approach (Poisoned Pen, 2009) , her special skill helps her infiltrate a sky-diving club that seems to be implicated in a missing child case.   Dead Lift (Poisoned Pen, 12/7/2010)  takes Emily to a classy spa to investigate the death of a plastic surgeon.  These are fast, fun reads.

–posted 11/14/2010

In Plain Sight (ECW,  10/2010) is the third novel by Canadian author Mike Knowles.  His main character Wilson (no first name) is a mystery man who works for the mob in Hamilton ON, carrying out illegal and confidential jobs for boss Paolo Donati.  But mob bosses can be extremely ugly when crossed, or when they think they have been crossed.  So Wilson is sometimes in trouble with both sides of the law, often with crooked cops who have their own agenda.  Who knew that Hamilton was a bed of roiling corruption and violence?  Well, for American readers, it is a refreshingly different locale.  But Knowles tough protagonist and tough prose  have a familiar ring.  If you like to root for the bad guys, Knowles’ action-packed thrillers are for you.

–posted 11/8/2010