Despite the British origin of this chapbook, most of the paperbacks noted are American, publishers ranging from Ace to Zebra. Carr’s books are arranged alphabetically by US title, with cross-references from British variants, listing paperback editions chronologically, giving publisher, identifying number, year of publication, cover artist where known, and information as alternate titles, authors of introductory material, and cover size variations. Notes call attention to typographical errors, presence or absence of dedications, and other textual differences. Eight pages reproduce covers in color, four to a page. Carr’s books are also listed chronologically, from 1930 (It Walks by Night) to 2008 (To the Gallows, a collection of plays, some written with Val Gielgud). Appendices list Carr’s publications in pamphlet form, appearances of his novels in magazines and newspapers, and paperback editions that Keirans believes exist but has not been able to track down. This is a fine addition to the Carr reference shelf.

(Order from Geoff Bradley, 9 Vicarage Hill, South Benfleet, Essex, SS7 1PA, UK.)

In Albert A. Bell, Jr.’s The Secret of the Bradford House Steve and Kendra, two preteens spending the summer in Kentucky’s Land Between the Lakes, go ghost hunting. A large family has moved into the area, right next to the spooky old Bradford house that is being turned into a bed-and-breakfast by the relatives of the old woman who was the last direct heir of the Bradford family. Rachel, the newcomer, insists she’s seen lights in the supposedly empty building. Kendra is just as sure there’s a rational explanation for the lights, noises and other spectral phenomena. Steve is caught between the feuding females, as the three of them explore local lore at the library and do some hands-on sleuthing at the house. Baseball cards, the First World War, and a very current problem afflicting returning soldiers, all play a part in solving the mystery and recovering a most unusual treasure. Notes at the end of the book explain some of the elements of the story that may be unfamiliar to younger readers, such as vaudeville, the 1918 influenza epidemic, and the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Once again, Bell provides a good mix of history, mystery, and very real relationships between young people.

Jim Krieg’s Griff Carver, Hallway Patrol skewers the tough cop subgenre by bringing it to the suburbs. Rampart Middle School may have the reputation of being the safest school in town, but Griff Carver knows better. He’s been on the job since kindergarten, and he sees beneath the shiny surface to the slimy stuff below, a world where gangs rule and everything is for sale, including test answers, term papers, and fake bathroom passes. Characters include: Griff, the hall-wise cop, who enforces the law on his own terms; the head of the Hallway Patrol, caught between the principal’s office and his own sense of justice; the naive, by-the-book partner, who learns the truth the hard way; the savvy reporter, out to get a story any way she can; and the forensics geeks of the Omicron Science Club, who provide the vital evidence that nails the perps. Alas, even as in the adult world, criminals do not always pay for their misdeeds, but fear not! With Griff Carver on patrol, it’s only a matter of time before justice will be served. Young readers may not get the parody aspects of this revelation of urban evil, but adults will relish the echoes of Wambaugh and McBain as the sixth-grade Serpico fights corruption and nails his man.

In an earlier era, immigrant girl Rebecca Rubin finds mysteries in Secrets at Camp Nokomis by Jacqueline Dembar Greene, when she escapes the polio epidemic raging in the tenements of New York City for a week at summer camp. At first all goes well, but there are strange things happening that spoil the fun. Why does Tina disappear from time to time, and what does she keep in her trunk? Why are the bunk-mates turning against Rebecca, and favoring red-headed Corky? And is there really a Windigo in the woods? Rebecca learns a lot more than woodcraft at summer camp, as all is revealed in a surprising conclusion. “A Peek into the Past” explains how city kids could get away from the city’s heat, smells, and sickness thanks to charitable organizations. The “Peek” also explains the impact of polio, before the general use of the vaccines that make this disease a thing of the past in the United States.

Emily St. John Mandel’s The Singer’s Gun one of the most unique suspense novels to come along. Given its ease in combining post-9/11 anxiety with bucolic acceptance, and criminal cynicism with religious mysticism, it is also one of the most admirable.

This gorgeously-written book opens in New York City, where Alexandra Broden, a US government agent, is searching for Anton Walker, a young New York executive who has disappeared. In one of the novel’s many time/country/point-of-view jumps, we are swept to Ischia, a small island off the coast of Italy, where the before-disappearance Anton and Sophie, his fiancée, are about to marry. But Sophie has cold feet; she’s prone to that. As soon as we realize that this relationship is doomed, we travel farther backwards, returning to Manhattan, where increased security concerns at Anton’s office have revealed troubling blips in his resume. Although not exactly fired, Anton is slowly “nudged” away from his job, and in the process, loses his comfy office and Elena, his trusted secretary. As the book time-jumps and jitters along, we learn that although Anton has tried to distance himself from his family’s overtly criminal activities, he isn’t perfectly honest, either. One of his lapses from the straight and narrow returns to haunt him when his cousin Aria blackmails him into carrying out one last score.

The themes in The Singer’s Gun are complex but never baffling. Here we find a family so steeped in criminality that they turn a blind eye to the safety of their only son, who in turn is a man so indoctrinated in dishonesty that he commits a minor crime—one with fatal consequences—out of sheer laziness. But we also find a forgiving world where redemption is always possible and holiness can be found in a house pet or a woman’s sunhat. Big in concept, flawless in tone, The Singer’s Gun is a tender and astounding tour de force.

The attempt to escape one’s past is the theme of Kaye C. Hill’s The Fall Girl. Masquerading as an amateur investigator, Lexy Lomax is hiding out from her vicious husband in a seaside British cottage and gets sucked into a possible murder case when she’s hired by a local teenage girl. Rowana was trying to bring good luck to her financially-strapped father via a “magic” spell, causing—she believes—a distant family friend to die, leaving her fortune to the guilt-ridden girl. Pooh-poohing any possibility of magic, Lexy sets out to discover what really happened by temporarily moving into the dead woman’s house. Thus ensconced, Lexy learns about the legend of Old Shuck, a black ghost dog who roams the countryside, signaling evil events to come. Even spookier is the family of ex-circus performers who are attempting to take possession of the dead woman’s cottage—no matter the price. Playing pivotal roles in this madcap mystery are Kinky, Lexy’s nasty-tempered Chihuahua, and Milo, Lexy’s policeman friend. Sassy Lexy frequently acts with more guts than sense, but that’s why reading about her is so much fun. Screw-up though Lexy may be, she’s also courageous, good-hearted, and quick to clean up the messes she makes. Fans of British cozies will love Fall Girl, especially if they revel in Chihuahua-toting amateur detectives and evocative, I-want-to-live-there descriptions of the Suffolk sea coast.

At first glance, Nancy Means Wright’s Midnight Fires might come across as just another riff on the Jane Eyre tradition, but if you’re looking for a Gothic historical starring a naive but well-meaning governess threatened by unseen evil, look elsewhere. The governess here is Mary Wollstonecraft, based on the real-life mother of Frankenstein author, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, and the setting is 1786 Ireland, a time when English landlords treated the Irish with horrific brutality. Upon her arrival at a grand Irish estate, Mary discovers that her new employers embody the worst traits of English landlords; Lord Kingsborough even sets the locals’ heads on fire to punish them for being “uppity.” Aghast at this treatment of the Irish, Mary sets out to make friends with them, clamoring to join an underground resistance movement called The Defenders. Meanwhile, back at the castle, she begins to feel affection for some of the Lord’s many children while maintaining her loathing for some others. And no wonder. The mother is a hysterical fool, the sons are skilled at getting local girls pregnant, and various younger siblings behave as if they are as mentally disturbed as they are spoiled. In short, Mary has signed on to be governess in a house of hell, where murder is deemed a common sense solution to any problem. While not a romantic take on the life of an English governess, Midnight Fires serves a different purpose: anyone who doesn’t understand Ireland’s centuries-old loathing for British rule would do well to read it.

To this reader, tattoos are the stuff of horror rather than mystery, but in Pretty in Ink, Karen E. Olson proves that they can be both. Following The Missing Ink, this is Olson’s second Tattoo Shop Mystery featuring Las Vegas tattoo shop owner and artist, Brett Kavanaugh. Having abandoned her native New Jersey for Sin City, Brett puts her degree in fine arts to fine use as she designs original tattoos for her many clients. In Pretty in Ink she doesn’t have much opportunity to exercise her artistry, though, because she is caught up investigating a bizarre scheme involving her employee Charlotte, a gaggle of drag queens, multiple murders, mounds of money and the deadly poison ricin. How does all of this fit together?

Well, let’s just agree that it’s complicated and can only be teased out by reading the book through to its whirlwind conclusion. Let me warn you, though, that there’s so much action here that I wish I’d taken Dramamine as I followed Brett and her rival tattoo shop owner (and, perhaps, future love interest?) Jeff Coleman on their quest to locate Charlotte and halt a deadly killer. Olson’s imagination here defies full description, but you can easily experience it firsthand as you share the adventures of Brett Kavanaugh, an amateur sleuth whose handiwork will be forever emblazoned upon your memory, much like a tattoo. While I’m still not inclined to get a tattoo, I’m now convinced that they can definitely add color to one’s life!