What's the Mystery? Recommendations from Cozy to Gritty

Although I read across a wide range of genres, one of my all-time favorites is mystery. From cozies to hard-core police procedurals, I'm willing to read them all. So many great titles have been published recently, I've had a hard time keeping up. Here are just a handful that I'm excited about; some I've already read, and the others are at the top of my list.

Getting That Cozy Feeling

Sugar and Iced (Berkley Prime Crime, ISBN: 9780425258927) is the sixth installment in the Cupcake Bakery series by Jenn McKinlay. While master bakers Mel and Angie are catering a beauty pageant, sweet threatens to turn sour after a body is found beneath their cupcake display. When their friend is suspected of the murder, the two women work to clear her name. Don't miss the included recipes. In the latest entry in M. C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth mysteries, Death of a Policeman (Grand Central Publishing, ISBN: 9781455504732), murder hits close to home for Hamish, who is suddenly the prime suspect in a high-profile crime. Will the lovable village copper be able to prove his innocence? Perfect for springtime, Beverly Allen's Bloom and Doom (Berkley Prime Crime, ISBN: 9780425264973) is the first in a new series featuring wedding florist Audrey Bloom. When a murder disrupts her best friend's wedding, Audrey's determined to save the bride's reputation and find the real killer. Learn the meaning of flowers while trying to solve the mystery.

Heading to the Police Station

In Second Watch, by J. A. Jance (William Morrow, ISBN: 9780062134677), Seattle criminal investigator J. P. Beaumont is facing the effects of his many years on the job by taking time off for knee-replacement surgery. Instead of recuperating, however, Beau is haunted by events in his past that seem to have bearing on current unsolved murders. Fans will love this look into the detective's youth. Author Elizabeth Haynes drew on her experience as a police intelligence analyst when crafting her latest novel, Under a Silent Moon (Harper, ISBN: 9780062276025), which is the first in a new series. When the investigations of two seemingly unrelated murders start to converge, DCI Louisa Smith is forced to tease the truth out of a complex tangle of evidence and testimony. Recommend to fans of suspenseful British crime. Peter Robinson's newest Inspector Banks novel, Children of the Revolution (William Morrow, ISBN: 9780062240507), takes us to back to school with the death of a college lecturer. The deeper DCI Banks probes into the victim's past, the more complicated the case becomes, and it soon involves politics, sexual misconduct, and revenge. A strong entry in the series.

Indulging in Small Doses

Fans of Scandinavian crime novels will love A Darker Shade of Sweden (Mysterious Press, ISBN: 9780802122438), edited by John-Henry Holmberg. The collection includes seventeen newly translated original short stories by a variety of well-known Swedish authors plus an early story by Stieg Larsson. The twelve tales in Jeffery Deaver's latest collection, Trouble in Mind (Grand Central Publishing, ISBN: 9781455526796), not only give us short takes on his familiar characters (such as Lincoln Rhyme) but introduce us to new ones. A great way to get to know Deaver's range of writing. Jeffery Deaver teamed up with Raymond Benson and the Mystery Writers of America to compile Ice Cold (Grand Central Publishing, ISBN: 9781455520732), a terrific collection of twenty short stories with a cold war theme. Step back to the last century with some of your favorite authors, such as Joseph Wallace, Sara Paretsky, and Laura Lippman, and don't forget to take note of the nearest fallout shelter.