Gone Missing: Mystery Previews, June 2022, Pt. 1 | Prepub Alert

Starting the summer with a big mystery list. 

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Barton, Fiona. Local Gone Missing. Berkley. Jun. 2022. 384p. ISBN 9781984803047. $27. CD. MYSTERY

On medical leave in her coastal English village, Det. Elise King ponders her future even as locals increasingly resent how wealthy weekenders have encroached on their way of life. She’s back in action when two teenagers overdose at a big, splashy music festival sponsored by a newcomer and a townsman subsequently disappears. Following the LJ-starred The Widow.

Burton, Jeffrey B. The Lost. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Mace Reid K-9 Mystery, Bk. 3). Jun. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9781250808622. $26.99. MYSTERY

In this follow-up to The Finders and The Keepers, both LJ starred, Mason “Mace” Reid and his cadaver dog, Vira, investigate a particularly violent home invasion. Billionaire financier Kenneth J. Druckman was assaulted and his wife and daughter kidnapped, but after Vira locates the wife’s body, her unerring nose leads her back to Druckman. With a 30,00-copy first printing.

Byron, Ellen. Bayou Book Thief. Berkley. (Vintage Cookbook Mystery, Bk. 1). Jun. 2022. 304p. ISBN 978059343761. pap. $8.99. Downloadable. MYSTERY

After waving good-bye to her Agatha- and Lefty-winning “Cajun Country Mysteries,” Byron starts afresh by sending young widow Ricki James to New Orleans, where she opens a gift shop at the Garden District home–turned–museum of a legendary New Orleans restaurateur. It’s a great job for vintage cookbook lover Ricki, except that a big box of recently donated cookbooks also contains the body of a former, much-unloved museum employee.

Colt, Peter. Death at Fort Devens. Severn House. (Andy Roark Mystery, Bk, 3). Jun. 2022. 224p. ISBN 9781448307661. $28.99. MYSTERY

In this third in a well-received series, 1980s Boston private eye Andy Roark follows wayward teenager Judy into the city’s infamous Combat Zone at the behest of her distraught father, an old army buddy. Andy quickly learns that Judy’s new boyfriend is a drug dealer, but Judy’s disappearance is a game changer.

Crombie, Deborah. A Killing of Innocents. Morrow. (Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James Mystery, Bk. 19). Jun. 2022. 384p. ISBN 9780062993397. $27.99. lrg. prnt. MYSTERY

A young Black medical student is stabbed to death as she walks through London’s Russell Square, and Scotland Yard detective Duncan Kincaid is on the scene. Finding no motive, he calls in his detective wife, Gemma James, who’s currently on a task force concerning knife crime, and together they find an uncomfortable connection to some Notting Hill friends. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Doherty, Paul. The Hanging Tree. Severn House. (Brother Athelstan, Bk. 21). Jun. 2022. 224p. ISBN 9781780291390. $28.99. MYSTERY

In the next 11th century–set mystery featuring Brother Athelstan, the Crown’s treasury has been robbed and its five guards bloodily dispatched. Brother Athelstan is asked to investigate, but he’s tripped up by a corpse in his parish church—it’s the craftsman who forged the treasury’s challenging locks. From the OBE-winning historical mystery author.

Doiron, Paul. Hatchet Island. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Mike Bowditch Mysteries, Bk. 13). Jun. 2022. 320p. ISBN 9781250235138. $27.99. CD. MYSTERY

When a sea-kayaking venture takes Maine game warden Mike Bowditch and girlfriend Stacey Stevens to an archipelago serving as a research center and sanctuary for endangered seabirds, they encounter two murdered researchers, and a third is missing. The multiplying suspects include the sanctuary’s conveniently absent owner and an arrogant artist who rules over his own island kingdom. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Gentill, Sulari. The Woman in the Library. Poisoned Pen: Sourcebooks. Jun. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9781728261942. $26.99; pap. 9781464215872. $16.99. MYSTERY

A woman’s scream pierces the quiet of the Boston Public Library’s elegant reading room, and patrons are asked to remain in place as security guards investigate. At one table, pleasant conversation prevails among four strangers, one of whom happens to be a murderer. From Ned Kelly Award–winning Gentill, following 2021’s Shanghai Secrets and January 2022’s Where There’s a Will.

Griffiths, Elly. The Locked Room. Mariner: HarperCollins. (Ruth Galloway Mysteries, Bk. 14). Jun. 2022. 368p. ISBN 9780358671398. $27.99. MYSTERY

Puzzling over a photograph found among her late mother’s belongings, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway travels to Norfolk with daughter Kate and winds up in COVID-19 lockdown. She forges a socially distanced friendship with neighborly Zoe, but when DCI Nelson (also Kate’s father) breaks quarantine to pursue a crime spree extending to Norfolk, he learns that Ruth, Kate, and Zoe are missing. From Edgar Award winner Griffiths; with a 40,000-copy first printing.

Hallinan, Timothy. Rock of Ages. Soho Crime. (Junior Bender Mystery, Bk. 8). Jun. 2022. 336p. ISBN 9781641292184. $ 27.95. MYSTERY

Los Angeles burglar and private eye to the criminal fringe, Junior Bender is asked by aging mobster Irwin Dressler to discover who is using the Rock of Ages tour of once great bands to steal his money. Now Junior is facing a weekend of so-so music while shepherding teenage daughter Rina, whom he’s trying not to introduce to a life of crime. From a nominee for Edgar, Nero, Shamus, Macavity, and Silver Dagger honors.

Mina, Denise. Confidence. Mulholland: Little, Brown. Jun. 2022. 336p. ISBN 9780316242721. $28. Downloadable. MYSTERY

In this follow-up to the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick Conviction, YouTube star Lisa Lee goes missing after inadvertently revealing a secret about a deserted chateau she’s visiting, which she busily hyped to her fans. True-crime podcaster Anna McDonald leaps to track events with fellow podcaster Fin Cohen, which allows her to escape a damp, miserable vacation that oddly includes her ex-husband and his obnoxious new partner. With a 35,000-copy first printing.

Montclair, Allison. The Unkept Woman: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery, Bk. 4). Jun. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9781250750341. $26.99. MYSTERY

Founded in 1946 by war widow Gwendolyn Bainbridge and Iris Sparks, who once worked in intelligence, the flourishing Right Sort Marriage Bureau hits a road bump. Even as a young woman rather suspiciously claims a connection to an old flame of Iris, Gwendolyn struggles to get back her life—and her son. With a 40,000-copy first printing.

Moss, Tara. The Ghosts of Paris. Dutton. (Billie Walker Novel, Bk. 2). Jun. 2022. 336p. ISBN 9780593182680. $27. MYSTERY

Following up the LJ-starred series starter The War Widow, an international best seller, this new work again features war correspondent–turned–private investigator Billie Walker. It’s 1947, and Billie is hired to track down a missing husband, following a trail through London and Paris that reminds her painfully of her own husband, gone missing in the fighting.

Nicieza, Fabian. The Self-Made Widow. Putnam. Jun. 2022. 400p. ISBN 9780593191293. $27. MYSTERY

Marvel comic books creator and editor Nicieza, whom fans must thank especially for Deadpool, returns after making his mystery debut with the acclaimed Suburban Dicks. Despite the objections of her husband and the West Windsor, NJ, police, FBI profiler–turned–suburban mom Andie Stern again wrestles with a murder case. This time, the victim is the husband of a best friend from a mom’s group Andie affectionally dubs the Cellulitists.

Schellman, Katharine. Last Call at the Nightingale. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jun. 2022. 320p. ISBN 9781250831828. $27.99. MYSTERY

This latest from the author of the LJ-starred Silence in the Library features Vivian Kelly, who trudges and drudges through a seamstress’s job in 1924 New York, escaping nightly to a club called the Nightingale, where the Charleston spills forth and the liquor flows illegally. Discovering a dead body behind the club reminds her that the lives of unflashy poeple like her can be regarded as disposable. With a 40,000-copy first printing.

Taylor, Sarah Stewart. The Drowning Sea: A Mystery. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. (Maggie D'arcy Mysteries, Bk. 3). Jun. 2022. 352p. ISBN 9781250826657. $27.99. MYSTERY

In this latest in the absorbing new Maggie D'arcy mystery series from Agatha finalist Taylor, the former Long Island homicide detective is enjoying life on Ireland's West Cork peninsula with new boyfriend Conor, plus Conor’s son and her own teenage daughter, Lilly. Then the remains of Polish construction worker Lukas Adamik wash ashore, and the peninsula’s shady history persuades Maggie that this was no accident. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

White, Kate. The Second Husband. Harper. Jun. 2022. 368p. ISBN 9780063246195. $26.99; pap. ISBN 9780062945457. pap. $16.99. MYSTERY

Finally getting over her first husband Derrick’s unsolved murder, thirtyish Emma Hawke marries handsome, devoted widower Tom, and all’s well until the police show up questioning when she met him. It turns out that they attended the same business meeting two months before Derrick’s death, and Emma starts to wonder whether Tom had something to do with Derrick’s murder. With a 60,000-copy paperback and 20,000-copy hardcover first printing.

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Barbara Hoffert

Barbara Hoffert (bhoffert@mediasourceinc.com, @BarbaraHoffert on Twitter) is Editor, LJ Prepub Alert; winner of ALA's Louis Shores Award for reviewing; and past president, awards chair, and treasurer of the National Book Critics Circle, which awarded her its inaugural Service Award in 2023.

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