Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird

Art in the Blood:  A Sherlock Holmes Adventure
                                   by Bonnie MacBird. A Collins Crime Club imprint, 2015.
                                   (HarperCollins Publishers).


In his mid-thirties, Holmes is depressed and using cocaine. Watson is married, but Mary has been called away, so when Watson must aid Sherlock, he responds quickly. They soon take on an unexpected case of a missing child, son of a beautiful French singer and the very English Earl of Pellingham . The Earl collects art and a priceless sculpture is missing and rumoured on its way to his collection. Are the boy and the statue connected? What about other missing boys in the Earl's silk mills? Visiting Paris and finding his French detective rival, taking on the identity of a wheelchair bound art expert with Mycroft's research, and facing the appeal of the gorgeous Frenchwoman, Sherlock searches for clues into the mystery and its ultimate solution.




It's London. It's Holmes and Watson together again to solve another crime. In the capable hands of Bonnie MacBird, the two continue to keep the baddies of the world under control.  Although few have done Holmes-a-likes as well as Laurie King in her inspired Mary Russell series, do try this title and lose yourself in the adventure! Hopefully, this will be as successful a new series for MacBird.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. Scout Press, an imprint
                                   of Simon & Schuster, 2015. Adult fiction (mystery).


In this debut novel, a "hen party" (English term for pre-wedding bash) is planned for a remote English estate to celebrate popular girl Clare's upcoming marriage. Six people are invited, but few know each other. (The set-up is straight out of Agatha Christie!) Main character Nora Shaw, a writer, has not kept up with Clare in the preceding ten years, and really doesn't think they were ever close, but agrees to go. As Nora narrates, chapters begin to alternate from the main story to Nora in a hospital, obviously after a huge trauma has taken place. Someone is dead. As readers piece together what has happened, they learn that Clare's fiancé James is Nora's old boyfriend! Nora herself must face her own past in order to live past the woods. If you liked The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl and want another British thriller, try this one.

Ornaments of Death by Jane K. Cleland

Ornaments of Death by Jane K. Cleland.

                          Minotaur Books, 2015.

                          Adult fiction (mystery).

                                      

This, the tenth book in the Josie Prescott mystery series, takes readers to snowy Rocky Point, New Hampshire just in time for holiday happenings. Antique dealer Josie Prescott has plenty of friends, but when Ian Bennington, a long lost and recently discovered cousin, arrives in town, she is pleased. His daughter, Becca, is doing marine life research nearby. Alas, as always in Josie's life, murder soon follows, and Josie is on the trail to find two miniature paintings that could be worth millions as well as Becca!

Cleland is keen on descriptions of people and settings. Readers can easily visualize the characters and places and will enjoy Christmastime in New England. Details about antiques are interesting and do not overwhelm the action. The plot moves along swiftly and keeps up the mystery until the end.