Summer reading list
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The Shanghai Moon
by S.J. Rozan (Minotaur, 384 pp., $24.95)
If you still rank the Nancy Drew mystery “The Clue in the Jewel Box” as one of the best detective novels you’ve ever read – and you’ve never given up hoping for the adult equivalent – this could be your book. Lydia Chin is a young Chinese-American detective with plenty of charm, an intriguing male sidekick, and lots of interesting crimes to solve. Here she is hired to investigate the mystery of a box of jewelry hidden in Shanghai since World War II.
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The Cavalier of the Apocalypse
by Susanne Alleyn, (Minotaur, 304 pp., $24.95)
A series of detective stories tied to the French Revolution? It may sound odd, but Susanne Alleyn makes it work. She’s already written two earlier books (“Game of Patience” and “A Treasury of Regrets”) starring Aristide Ravel as her star sleuth. This latest book serves as a prequel, telling the story of the 1786 murder in Paris that first turned Ravel from a writer to a crime solver. The plot brings together everyone from the Masons to the duc d’Orléans, and Francophiles will appreciate the historic detail and rich atmospheric elements that abound.
Dog On It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery
by Spencer Quinn (Simon & Schuster, 320 pp., $25)
Who can resist this one? Chet is a K-9 dropout with mismatched ears (one black, one white). Bernie’s his human sidekick – a San Diego detective just a little bit down on his luck. Together they must solve the disappearance of a teen named Madison. You don’t have to be a dog lover to get a kick out of Chet’s hard-boiled narrative style along with his running commentary on human shortcomings. And the mystery will keep you guessing as well.
Don’t forget the CHILDREN’S books. There are twisty
mysteries and touching tales sure to tempt young readers this summer as well.
Hook
by Ed Young (Roaring Brook/Porter, 32 pp., $17.95)
For the youngest of readers (ages 2-6), this lovely illusrated book tells the story of a young native American boy and his hen who raise an orphaned bald eagle. Hook, as the “strange chick” becomes known, must one day learn to fly. Adults and children alike will savor the process.
Highway Robbery
by Kate Thompson, illustrated by Johnny Duddle and Robert Dress (Greenwillow, 128 pp., $15.99)
A young beggar boy accepts the offer of a gold coin from a mysterious stranger who asks him to watch his glorious black horse. Little does the boy know that the man is infamous highwayman Dick Turpin – or is he really? When the man is arrested and the boy must decide what to do with the horse, this story becomes a moral quandary as a well as a mystery intended for readers ages 10 and up.
Mare’s War
by Tanita S. Davis (Knopf, 352 pp., $16.99)
Teens Octavia and Tali don’t think they want to spend their summer vacation on the road with their grandmother Mare, even if she does drive a red sports car. But what they learn about Mare’s past – and her experiences as a soldier during World War II – come as both a surprise and a revelation.
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