Fun! Good summer read - a who-dun-it that keeps you guessing with recurring characters that develop from story to story in this series.

This focuses on a series of murders connected to a private school. Anxieties build as the students apply to college but also become murder victims who the caterer, our hero, keeps finding. Reviewed by: L. Sandburg

A mystery set in Elizabethan time, starring a young woman who doubles as one of the Queen’s ladies and a spy in the Queen’s service. Just not a very interesting read from my perspective…though the plot has several clever twists, and elements that tie it together, I didn’t find myself really drawn to spending time finishing the novel. Perhaps the character development lacks that spark which makes you empathize with them. Reviewed by: B. Sullivan

I thought a mystery with an Irish heroine might be fun, but "Murphy's Law" turns out to be a gripping account of an immigrant woman's difficult passage from the estate of a lecherous landlord to the corruption of Tammany Hall, by way of a hard voyage in steerage across the Atlantic Ocean. I found myself more involved with the difficulties and injustices faced by Molly Murphy along the way than by the murder of a bullying shipmate. Molly's struggles to find a place to live in New York, and her eventual success in finding a job as a maid in the Park Avenue mansion of an influential Irish politician, seemed authentic and harrowing, and the identity of the murderer surprised me. I'll watch for the next mystery in this series.Reviewed by: Francesca B.

A NYT Sunday Book reviewer waxed enthusiastic about this mystery in his July 2 review, but I didn't think it was up to Peter Robinson's usual standard. Robinson has two mysteries going at the same time in this book - a 1969 murder and one in the present, and I found it confusing to keep track of each one. I got tired of Robinson's many allusions to the 60s, which seemed somewhat forced to me. Worst of all, I guessed one of the murderers too soon! I found myself longing for another P.D. James mystery, though we can't expect too many more from that talented author - she's in her eighties! Reviewed by: Francesca B.

This slick mystery did keep my interest despite the many flaws - boring love story, occasionally outlandish characters, and a particularly unpleasant view of New Jersey teenagers. The plot, however, was fairly compelling, with a clever twist at the end. All in all, okay - but not amoung the best mysteries that I've read.

Reviewed by: J. A.

Ann Waldron's Princeton mysteries are fun, and this latest one is no exception. McLeod Dulaney is staying with her friend George in a "murder house" on this Princeton visit, as she continues her occasional teaching at the University. An understandably rare murder takes place in the Rare Book department of the Firestone Library, and of course McLeod investigates. By coincidence, she finds a suspicious treasure in an inauspicious box of costumes, and her room and office are burgled. McLeod's meals are described in detail, and references to familiar Princeton spots abound, from Wild Oats to Lahiere's. Interest sometimes flags as McLeod ponders information about each suspect, but the several mysteries are finally solved in a tidy and even surprising manner. Reviewed by: Francesca B.

There’s something about Kansas these days. First the renewed interest in Truman Capote’s true crime novel In Cold Blood and now Nancy Pickard’s suspense novel The Virgin of Small Plains. The story begins in 1987 when two young lovers and an idyllic Kansas town are changed forever when a mysterious young woman, known later as the Virgin, is found dead during a snowstorm. The crime was never solved and the girl's identity remains unknown. Fast forward to 2004 when this cold case is reopened after apocryphal stories surface proclaiming the girl buried in the local cemetery to be a miraculous healer. This is a captivating mystery about solving a seventeen year old crime. It is also about young love, good people who do bad things, and parents whose good intentions damage their children. It is a great summer read, but beware, once you start this book you may not be able to put it down.

Reviewed by: Reference Librarian Carolyn Barnshaw

Marie Lightfoot, an author is in the court room taking in the trial of a suspected murderer who is in the same league as Hannibal Lecter and Ted Bundy. His name is Raymond Raintree. Marie observes all the evidence against Raymond and it looks like a conviction is a sure thing. Something bothers her though and the story takes on a very unusual twist.

I had never read this author and wanted the Kansas Virgin book reviewed here but it wasn’t available so I picked this one instead. It started out slow but once I got into it it kept me riveted.

Reviewed by: D.C.