Looking for a mystery this fall? These whodunits will charm.
Karen Norris/Staff
Ever since four friends grabbed a Great Dane and a box of Scooby Snacks, and took off in a green van, part of the fun of mysteries has been solving them together.
No one says 鈥淛inkies!鈥� or wears an ascot, but the Thursday Murder Club did adopt a dog named Alan. The club of retirees 鈥� 鈥渁 former nurse, a former spy, a former trades union official and an occasionally still-practising psychiatrist鈥� 鈥� has totally charmed readers over four books now. When an officer scoffs that real policing is not like Netflix, Elizabeth, the former spy, replies, 鈥淥h, I鈥檝e lived a life that would make Netflix blush.鈥�
In 鈥�,鈥� Richard Osman鈥檚 fourth in the 鈥淭hursday Murder Club鈥� series, it is just after Christmas. (The retired nurse, Joyce, received the gift of a flask from her daughter, engraved with the words, 鈥淢erry Christmas, Mum! Here鈥檚 to no murders next year.鈥�) Alas, the antiques dealer who helped them with their last case has been shot, and a box with heroin worth $100,000 is missing.聽
Why We Wrote This
Why are mysteries so compelling? The novels in this roundup suggest that detective work is about much more than just the crime 鈥� especially when done in teams.
鈥淔irst rule of the antiques game,鈥� a professor tells them. 鈥淣ever fall in love with things.鈥�
鈥淪ound advice for life,鈥� says Ibrahim, the psychiatrist.
The officer in charge appears far more concerned about the missing heroin than about their murdered friend, and so Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim are on the case to ensure that justice will be done. The cause of justice also requires saving another resident of Cooper鈥檚 Chase retirement community from an online romance fraud, even though the gentleman in question very much does not wish to be saved.聽
While crimes can be solved, some life situations are beyond easy resolution. Elizabeth and her husband, who鈥檚 been diagnosed with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, are traveling the path of his diminished memories side by side. I cannot think of another series with a more moving exploration of love after a lifetime together, and 鈥淭he Last Devil To Die鈥� reduced me to tears at more than one point. 鈥淥ur memories are no less real than whatever moment in which we happen to be living,鈥� one character observes.
Two other series that also keep getting stronger with every book are the Perveen Mistry series by Sujata Massey and the Sparks & Bainbridge mysteries by Allison Montclair. Both authors delve into women鈥檚 rights in two different eras: India in the 1920s and Britain after World War II.
Oxford-educated Perveen Mistry is based on India鈥檚 first female solicitor. As a woman, she cannot legally appear before a judge in court. However, she has built a career helping other women whose faith or circumstances keep them in isolation. In 鈥�,鈥� Perveen finds herself championing two women: a nanny, who has been jailed for drinking tea someone claims is an abortifacient, and India鈥檚 first female obstetrician-gynecologist, both of whom find themselves suspected of poisoning a rich man. Perveen鈥檚 parents have been her stalwart support, but as she grows in independence, she finds herself at odds with her beloved father and sister-in-law. While the book is rich in historical detail, it also has immense resonance in a post-Dobbs United States.聽
Gwen Bainbridge, meanwhile, has traveled a lonely road since her husband was killed in World War II and her upper-class in-laws had the grieving widow declared insane. She and Iris Sparks, a former spy grappling with her wartime role, have worked to build their matchmaking service. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all a little bit lost,鈥� Gwen tells someone. 鈥淲e help people find each other again.鈥澛�
When 鈥溾�� opens, Gwen鈥檚 case before the Court of Lunacy is a week away 鈥� the one that will allow her to regain control of her finances and custody of her cherished son. Her lawyer, meanwhile, is acting peculiarly, and the duo鈥檚 sideline in solving murders appears to harm Gwen鈥檚 sanity in the eyes of the Master of Lunacy. 鈥淲ho could be afraid of me? Other than me?鈥� Gwen thinks when a legal secretary eyes her in horror and leaves.聽
鈥淭he Lady From Burma鈥� is so tied to Gwen鈥檚 fate and events from previous books that I would not recommend starting the series here. However, that gives readers the pleasure of several books鈥� worth of witty banter between two stalwart women working to repair their lives after war took so much from them.
Appealing crime-solvers come in all shapes and guises. Author Ann Cleeves already created two indelible detectives with Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez, and two unforgettable settings in Northumberland and the Shetland Islands. To that, she adds a third, Matthew Venn and the North Devon coast. The prematurely gray and usually besuited Matthew notes that 鈥渙ne of his annual appraisals had said he lacked charisma. He鈥檇 seen that as a compliment, almost a badge of honor. ... He thought that policing was about intellectual rigour and honesty, not personality.鈥澛�
Jeremy Rosco, on the other hand, made a point of charming everyone 鈥� until he ended up stabbed in the bottom of a boat. 鈥淗e was a hero. Well, almost,鈥� Matthew says of the dead sailor and adventurer in 鈥淭he Raging Storm.鈥� As with 鈥淭he Long Call,鈥� the detective鈥檚 first outing, the case brings Matthew back in contact with the religious sect that cast him out, and the mother who repudiated him for being gay.
Gary Thorn in 鈥�,鈥� by Bob Mortimer, is also aware that he is not the life of the party. 鈥淚 often think it must be nice to believe that your company entrances people. Must be a great confidence builder,鈥� the shy legal assistant tells readers. Gary, whose closest friend is Grace, a retiree who is even lonelier than he is, avoids social media. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see the point of it; I鈥檝e got enough strangers in my life as it is.鈥澛�
He also doesn鈥檛 see the point of books 鈥� although he makes an exception for the novel left behind in a pub by a young woman with impressive bangs. The book鈥檚 title is 鈥淭he Clementine Complex,鈥� and it features a squirrel riding a bike with tangerine segments for wheels. Squirrels and ducks are occasional motifs in the comedic noir in which Gary is trapped. While the animals don鈥檛 talk, Gary does occasionally give himself sage advice 鈥� 鈥淚 would think around that decision a bit deeper than you obviously have鈥� 鈥� through a squirrel living near his apartment. Clever, if occasionally self-consciously so, 鈥淭he Clementine Complex鈥� allows Gary鈥檚 good heart to win us over.
The heist novel may be almost as difficult to plot successfully as to pull off in real life. 鈥�,鈥� by Alex Hay, gives the genre a delicious twist: In 1905, a fired housekeeper and her female confederates plan to rob the richest house in Mayfair in the middle of a costume ball. 鈥淚magine it, ladies: the grandest house in London, licked clean on the biggest night of the season.鈥� Among the rules: Everyone will be equals, and there will be no violence.
The women have their own reasons for seeking revenge on the estate of Wilhelm DeVries, and as the story unspools, those reasons get ever more heartbreaking. 鈥淟adies,鈥� Mrs. Dinah King said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for us to get what we deserve.鈥�
The heist itself involves royalty, camels, trapeze artists, fabulous gowns, and an organized crime boss going undercover as a charwoman. I personally find it impossible to resist a character whose battle cry is, 鈥淵ou, put your apron on. We鈥檝e got housekeeping to do.鈥�