After Tony Hillerman's daughter, Anne, inherited the Leaphorn-Chee franchise, she managed an impressive feat: She brought female characters to the forefront while keeping the stories true to Tony's vision of Navajo-influenced mysteries steeped in the lore of the Old West. As her latest novel, Cave of Bones, opens, tribal police officer Bernadette (Bernie) Manuelito is supposed to give a speech to a group of troubled girls. Upon arriving at the site, however, she becomes drawn into a search-and-rescue operation for a missing girl and a male counselor. When the girl turns up, she is visibly traumatized, so Bernie goes on a walkabout in the desert to see what's what. She discovers a cave containing a human skeleton and tribal artifacts, exactly as the girl said. What Bernie could not anticipate is the connection between this ancient burial site and a modern-day series of crimes, including murder. Cave of Bones has a terrific storyline that's suspenseful and atmospheric, with strands of Navajo folklore woven into every page. I grow more impressed with each installment of this series.

SCANDI COMES STATESIDE
American by Day, Derek B. Miller's follow-up (but not in any sense a sequel) to his bestselling Norwegian by Night, is the story of Oslo police inspector Sigrid Ødegård, who was involved in the questionable shooting of a suspect, something that happens less often in Norway than, for example, in America. Acquitted of all wrongdoing, she is still uneasy about her actions and decides to take a leave of absence. This dovetails neatly with her father's plan: He has booked her a flight to America to launch a search for her brother, who has apparently gone missing. Upon her arrival, she is dismayed to discover that her brother is a prime suspect in the slaying of a prominent African-American professor. The American cops have a different way of handling investigations than Norwegians, and Sigrid quickly finds herself at odds with many aspects of American life, particularly race relations with regard to police work. A canny and often wry look at the differences between Europe an and American perceptions, American by Day should be on your short list for entertaining reading.

JURY'S IRREGULARS
The title of Martha Grimes' latest Richard Jury novel, The Knowledge, refers to two separate but connected entities: The first "knowledge" is the commitment to memory of every London address and landmark, some 30,000 of them, in order to pass the test to become one of London's famous black taxicab drivers; the second is a pub of the same name, known only to London taxi drivers, its location so secret it rivals Camelot. As the book opens, Scotland Yard detective Jury learns of the murders of a married couple, the husband of which he had quite liked. Jury takes the killings personally and enlists the help of his street urchin contacts, a sort of updated version of the Baker Street Irregulars. The killer makes good his escape to East Africa, but not as cleanly as he thinks, for one of the "irregulars" is in his company. By turns witty, irreverent and intriguing, The Knowledge—number 24 in the series—is sure to entertain new fans and those of long standing as well.

TOP PICK IN MYSTERY
Picture Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe's wisecracking and nose-thumbing sidekick, plucked from his New York brownstone and transplanted to 1920s Calcutta, and you'll have a pretty good image of Captain Sam Wyndham, a former Scotland Yard officer whose first-person perspective offers a noir voiceover to Abir Mukherjee's brilliant new novel, A Necessary Evil. At the sunset of the Raj, the many small kingdoms of post-British India are vying for dominance. Intrigues abound, and Wyndham is on hand for one of the most egregious—the murder of the crown prince of Sambalpore, the first in a series of slayings that threaten to tear the small kingdom apart. The key to the solution lies within the zenana, the area where the king's wives and concubines live and gossip, and where the only men allowed are eunuchs (a sacrifice Wyndham is not prepared to make to solve the case, at least not yet). Riddled with jealousy and a regular user of opium, Wyndham is an intriguing protagonist, offering crisp narration that's sometimes slightly arrogant, sometimes amusingly self-effacing. Add in clever dialogue that's laden with double entendre, and what more can a hardcore whodunit fan ask for?

 

This article was originally published in the April 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

This latest from Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Grimes opens in a London cab whose driver knows every winding byway (the title references not just a pub only black cabbies can find but the famously onerous test London cabbies must take). The passenger has just committed a crime and is planning his escape to Nairobi. Enter D.S. Richard Jury.

Grimes's latest "Richard Jury" mystery (after Vertigo 42) is a salute to those who drive the famous black cabs of London after passing the rigorous training course known as the Knowledge. The story begins with a glamorous couple, having emerged from the back of a black taxi, being gunned down in front of an exclusive London casino/art gallery. The shooter then gets in the cab and demands to be driven to several sites around London. He is followed by a clutch of cabbies and a gaggle of children who keep tabs on him, including the redoubtable ten-year-old Patty Haigh, who cajoles her way aboard a flight to Africa in pursuit of the killer. Before it's all resolved, readers are introduced to the erratic streets of London, astrophysics, the blue gemstone tanzanite, and the comfort of first-class travel on Emirates Airlines. VERDICT Fans of Richard Jury should enjoy this new entry. Others will find a convoluted plot enlivened by fetching bit players, especially Patty, who comes equipped with a backpack overflowing with wigs, glitter, multiple pairs of glasses, and enough chutzpah to make even Baby Rose Marie look sedate. [Library marketing; five-city tour.]—Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO

The shooting death of American physicist David Moffitt and his wife, Rebecca, outside the Artemis Club, an exclusive London casino and art gallery, propels MWA Grand Master Grimes's solid 24th mystery featuring Scotland Yard's Det. Supt. Richard Jury (after 2014's Vertigo 42). Jury reads about the crime in the newspaper the next day. Meanwhile, a gritty version of the Baker Street Irregulars, children who hang out at train stations and Heathrow and act as informants, have the shooter in their sights; 10-year-old Patty Haigh befriends the killer and accompanies him to Nairobi, Kenya, where Melrose Plant, one of Jury's team, soon follows. Jury's investigation centers on gem smuggling, tax dodging, and greed. The real mystery is how to find a cab drivers' pub, the Knowledge, so secret that even Scotland Yard can't force its patrons to reveal its location. Though the plot gets a bit muddled midway through, readers will appreciate the elements that have made this a long-running bestselling series, notably a complicated case and distinctive characters. Agent: Steve Sheppard, Cowen Debaets Abrahams & Sheppard. (Apr.)