NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Snow, Ice and. . .Murder?: Winter Themed Mysteries

Winter's here and what better way to pass the time than curling up with a hot mug of cocoa and a great mystery/thriller! Here are some wonderful winter themed mysteries to pass the time until spring.

Bury Your Dead-It is Winter Carnival in Quebec City, bitterly cold and surpassingly beautiful. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has come not to join the revels but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong. But violent death is inescapable, even in the apparent sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society— where an obsessive historian’s quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder. Could a secret buried with Champlain for nearly 400 years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it?
A Spoonful of Murder-When Lucky Jamieson inherits her parents' soup shop, By the Spoonful, she realizes it's time to take stock of her life. Should she sell her parents' house or move in herself? Does she really want to run a restaurant business? And what about her grandfather Jack, who seems to be showing signs of Alzheimer's? But her life decisions are moved to the back burner after an icy blonde tourist is found frozen to death behind the soup shop. and Lucky is bowled over when her soup chef, Sage DuBois, is led out of the kitchen by the police. As suspicion and speculations snowball, Lucky decides that the only way to save her employee and her business is to find out herself who iced the tourist--and landed her chef in the soup...
The Snowman-One night, after the first snowfall of the year, a boy named Jonas wakes up and discovers that his mother has disappeared. Only one trace of her remains: a pink scarf, his Christmas gift to her, now worn by the snowman that inexplicably appeared in their yard earlier that day.  Inspector Harry Hole suspects a link between the missing woman and a suspicious letter he’s received. The case deepens when a pattern emerges: over the past decade, eleven women have vanished—all on the day of the first snow. But this is a killer who makes his own rules . . . and he’ll break his pattern just to keep the game interesting, as he draws Harry ever closer into his twisted web. With brilliantly realized characters and hair-raising suspense, international bestselling author Jo Nesbø presents his most chilling case yet—one that will test Harry Hole to the very limits of his sanity.
Death Comes Silently-Business is slow for Annie Darling's mystery bookstore, Death on Demand, as winter rolls into Broward's Rock, South Carolina. To boost her sales, Annie decides to host a book signing for the island's resident writer. During the signing, Gretchen Burkholt, a fellow volunteer at the local charity shop, Better Tomorrow, leaves Annie multiple voicemails about scandalous news she's dying to share. So, when the event wraps up, Annie heads over to hear the latest scoop...only to find Gretchen dead on the floor, an axe by her side. Annie, with the help of her husband, Max, uncovers a mysterious plot involving an overturned kayak, a stolen motorboat, a troubled love affair, and a reckless teenager. Annie will have to keep her eyes peeled and use every trick in the book to track down a cold-blooded killer in the dead of winter.
The Ice Princess-Returning to her hometown of Fjallbacka after the funeral of her parents, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice-cold bath, it seems that she has taken her own life. Erica conceives a book about the beautiful but remote Alex, one that will answer questions about their own shared past. While her interest grows into an obsession, local detective Patrik Hedstrom is following his own suspicions about the case. But it is only when they start working together that the truth begins to emerge about a small town with a deeply disturbing past. 
Enjoy!
Angela ; )

5 comments:

Anne Marie Becker said...

I don't think I ever thought about looking for winter-themed books, but that's awesome. Everyone talks about "beach books" and summer books, etc., but when it's *hot* out, these would be perfect! Great way to get your *shivers* on several levels. :)

Toni Anderson said...

I am very aware of the different seasons when writing and reading! Henning Mankell does a great job of this in his books too :) I have a winter book planned. I just hope I get to write it at -30 rather than 30C!

Marcelle Dubé said...

"Cool" post, Angela. :-) Thanks for the recommendations (although I had already read Bury your Dead -- it's my favourite Louise Penny book to date).

I have to be careful when I'm writing to keep the season firmly in mind, or I'll have a snow-filled ditch in July!

Rita said...

What a great idea. Thanks for the recommendations.

Shelley Munro said...

I haven't read any of these but somehow cold and winter really fits with murder.

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