On The Shelf: Mysteries abound this week as we take a look some new titles from our Large Print Collection

This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

This week’s column features titles from our New Large Print collection.

Author Kelley Armstrong begins a new series with two new titles: “Murder at Haven’s
Rock” and “The Boy Who Cried Bear.”

“In Murder at Haven’s Rock,” detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton met in the original town of Rockton, but greed and deception led the couple to finance a new refuge for those in need: Haven’s Rock, Yukon. This time around they are the ones deciding whose application for residency gets approved and there is only one rule: stay out of the forest. As the building begins in the town, two of the construction crew go missing after breaking that rule. A well-hidden female body is discovered with evidence the death was foul play and Casey and Eric are called in early to help track down the still-missing man. It’s possible that the woman stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to see. The longer it takes them to solve the crime, the more everyone else is in danger.

“In The Boy Who Cried Bear,” the well-hidden town of Haven’s Rock is a refuge for those who need to disappear. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton have already settled into their new lives and have learned to navigate the thick forests surrounding the town. Others have not, which is why no one is supposed to wander off alone. The town’s youngest citizen, Max, who Eric taught to track animals, fears a bear is stalking a hiking party and the alarm is raised. Max is also convinced that the bear has human eyes, but Casey and Eric still take the situation seriously. They both know the dangers a bear can present. As odd occurrences begin happening all around them, they find a dead body and begin to question what they are tracking.

Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson continue Clive Cussler’s Jack Ryan series with their latest, “Act of Defiance.” President Jack Ryan’s intelligence services alert him to information that Russia is set to launch a superweapon under the ocean waves. Russia’s land forces have been plagued by corruption and incompetence, but their Navy is pouring money into a mysterious project. Katie Ryan, Jack’s youngest daughter and a Naval intelligence analyst, is the one who seems to be able to work out what is going on. Like her father, Katie can see patterns that others can’t and has worked out that Russia is about to launch a super-missile submarine they have named the Belgorod. The race is on to see if this weapon poses a threat to the continental U.S. but to do that, they’ll have to find it first.

Brett Battles penned the 65th entry in Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington series with, “Smolder.” After finally getting to enjoy some downtime in Santa Fe, Stone Barrington attends an art exhibit with a dear friend. There, he meets an intriguing woman who’s hot on the trail of some art thieves. Always eager to help, Stone agrees to assist the woman. The duo go from Santa Fe to Los Angeles and discover a link to Stone in the process—particularly to rare Matilda Stone art, his mother’s paintings. Stone is forced to reckon with a familiar enemy and settle old grudges once and for all.

“Murder in Rose Hill,” is a Victorian mystery by Victoria Thompson. Midwife Sarah Malloy has just helped deliver a bouncing baby girl at her women’s clinic when she receives a visit from a determined young woman writing an article for New Century Magazine. Louisa Rodgers says that she is researching the dangers of patent remedies and Sarah is all to happy to tell her what she thinks. These so-called medicines have heavy amounts of alcohol and other addictive drugs that hurt much more than they help. A few days later, Louisa’s bereft father visits Sarah and tells her that the young woman was attacked and killed in the lobby of the building where the magazine has its offices. The police are convinced that it is merely a random attack and imply that Louisa got what she deserved for sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Sarah and her private detective husband decide to get justice for the young woman, but as they dig deeper, they find that Louisa is not who she claimed to be. Before they can solve the mystery of who wanted her dead, they will have to find out who Louisa really was.

“Cade McCall: Army Scout,” is the fifth book in the Wester Adventures of Cade McCall series by Robert Vaughan. Cade McCall is just starting another chapter of his life when he volunteers to become an Army Scout with General Miles and Colonel Mackenzie during the Red River War. John German, his wife, his son and two of his daughters are killed when their wagon is attacked by Indians. Four of his daughters are taken captive, but the two youngest, Julia and Addie, are abandoned. It falls on the shoulders of Cade and General Miles’ Calvary to ensure their survival.