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Mind-Blowing Murder Mysteries by Romance Authors: Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder and Murder By Memory

19 Mar

Check out these two new mysteries whose author makes the jump from solving the mysteries of the heart to writing intriguing murder mysteries. Of course they couldn’t resist including a little romance in there too!

Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder
by Bellamy Rose
In Pomona Afton Can Solve a Murder, Pomona, a New York hotel heiress, is frozen out of all her accounts when her grandmother dies under suspicious circumstances. In order to get back the lifestyle she has grown accustomed to she will have to figure out what really happened to her grandmother. The son of her former Nanny, Gabe, gives her a place to crash and a helping hand; his mom’s retirement is also on hold till the killer is found. Though Pomona wonders if the money might be worth less than having Gabe’s love in the long run. I enjoyed the many twists and turns the mystery took and the romance between Gabe and Pomona was sweet, but I thought the novel also had interesting things to say about friendships, familial relationships and the pressure that money can put on even the best people to make not so ethical decisions. This reminded me a bit of the funny sitcom Two Broke Girls if they had to solve a mystery. Rose writes romances under the name, Amanda Elliot, including Love You a Latke and Best Served Hot.

Murder by Memory
by Olivia Waite
Murder by Memory is a novella that packs a lot into its short length with a mystery set on a generational ship, the Fairweather, where death doesn’t have to be the end as long as a person’s memories are properly backed up. During an electric storm, Dorothy awakens from a long rest after her previous lifetime, but not in her own body. She is one of the ship’s detectives and this case is particularly important since someone is not only killing bodies which can be replaced, but also deleting minds from the storage library. I enjoyed the cozy mystery aspect of the story and also the interesting science fiction world building of the story which includes drinks which can bring to life memories like summer thunderstorms. I hope we see more of Dorothy and the Fairweather in the future. Fan’s of Waite’s Feminine Pursuits series of historical lesbian romances, The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics, The Hellion’s Waltz, and The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows will enjoy the bit of romance that Waite also infuses into her Murder by Memory plot.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Fantastic New Fantasies: A Harvest of Hearts and Installment Immortality

5 Mar

A Harvest of Hearts
by Andrea Eames
Out now is the newly published novel, A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames. Foss is the butcher’s daughter. In her mind she is oversized and unattractive. Nothing compared to the beautiful sorceresses from the city whose infrequent visits fill the town with envy, lust, and fear. The sorceresses are said to gain power by stealing bits of people’s hearts. When one day a male sorcerer turns up, Foss believes he has stolen part of her heart. In trying to get it back she journey’s far away to an moody black castle made of magic where a talking cat and the sorcerer who fills her dreams live. In order to restore her heart she takes up working there as a housekeeper and must unravel the mystery of the magic makers, who she learns are as much victims as the people’s whose hearts they steal. This story very much had the feel of a modern take on a classic fairy tale. It had the magic of the stories I read as a child, but Foss is able to save herself and her love. I also liked the closeness between her and her father since so often is classic stories the fathers become distant when the mother of the heroine has passed away.

Installment Immortality
by Seanan McGuire
I am a long time fan of McGuire’s InCryptid series that follows an extended family of conservationist who focus on animals of myth and legends, which in the universe of this Urban Fantasy, are real. In general I would recommend like with most series reading the books in order, but I feel that Installment Immortality which will be available starting next Tuesday, would make a decent jumping in point even if you aren’t familiar with the previous books. Perhaps it is the move to a new publisher or it might just be the nature of this story but there is quite of bit of recaping of past events as well as moving the larger story forward. This like the previous novel focuses on one of the more interesting adopted or found family members of the clan, Mary, who is a ghost and has acted as a baby sitter since early in the family’s history. This gives her a unique perspective which is both motherly towards even the more senior members of the clan and yet still retaining some snark as a perennial teen. Also most of the novels in the series have love stories attached, but Mary’s ghostly nature leaves her seeming both asexual and aromantic; she feels love towards her friends and family in a caregiving way, but seems uninterested in having a romantic relationship, at least not with anyone she has encountered so far in her many years of unlife. I can see this be appealing for those who are looking for a story where a character can have a life filled with significant close bonds without having “one true love” as so many stories do. Also it allows McGuire to focus more on the variety of ghosts including the white ladies, faceless ghosts from Japan, and many others as well as some new InCryptids such as Hockomock Swamp Beasties and Clurichaun. Complimentary to this tale of the adopted mom of the clan is an included novella of another very pregnant family member in a spin on the blob horror story.

If you enjoy speculative fiction consider joining our Hoboken Public Library Science Fiction and Fantasy Discussion Group!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

Tags: ,

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