Jennifer Jackson – Literary Agent

A Spider on the Stairs by Cassandra Chan

Christmas in Yorkshire is a nasty combination of pouring rain and murder.

Amateur sleuth Phillip Bethancourt, who’s just broken up with his girlfriend Marla, is spending Christmas at his family manor house. His pal, Scotland Yard Detective Jack Gibbons, who’s just returned to duty after sick leave, has been sent to York to check out a murder that might be the work of a serial killer known as Ashdon. Both friends are cheered by the prospect of a juicy murder. Gibbons, certain that the corpse found in a shop is Ashdon’s work, sends for DS Brumby, who is surprised to find an Ashdon case so far from the killer’s usual haunts in southern England. Then Jody Farraday’s body is found in Mittlesdon’s bookshop in York. Though the murder this time doesn’t fit Ashdon’s style, Gibbons and Bethancourt take up residence in the Bethancourt family’s York townhouse and investigate. Bethancourt knows Mittlesdon’s, where free-spirited Farraday used to work, and has an old flame working there now. But his inside knowledge is of little avail. So many people could have possessed a key that the suspect list is large, and Jody’s unusual background and wandering ways make it more difficult to pinpoint a motive until the sleuths learn more, much more, about the victim.

Chan (Village Affairs, 2006, etc.) beefs up the mystery while retaining the Golden Age feel to produce her best work to date. –Booklist

Running with the Pack, edited by Ekaterina Sedia

Sedia (Paper Cities) collects 22 tales that look at werewolves from a multitude of different angles. Steve Duffy’s chilling dental thriller “Side-Effects May Include” examines how far a man will go to end his pain. A damaged alpha gains the trust of a homeless woman in Maria V. Snyder’s “Mongrel.” Murderous soccer moms eat cheaters in Samantha Henderson’s “Skin in the Game.” A woman accidentally turned wolf struggles against her dual nature before learning to accept it in Erzebet YellowBoy’s powerful “Inside Out.” The origin of T.J. from Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series is told in “Wild Ride,” and Mike Resnick’s preacher/con-artist Lucifer Jones makes an appearance in the hilarious “Royal Bloodlines.” The stories veer from comedy to horror and from tragic love story to coming-of-age tale, showing the richness inherent in the idea of shifting shapes and animal strength. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Clementine by Cherie Priest

Piracy meets politics head-on in this steampunk thriller, loosely linked to Priest’s much-lauded Boneshaker (2009). Maria Isabella Boyd, a notorious former actress and Confederate spy, is on her first mission for the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. The airship Clementine must deliver its cargo unimpeded, but its former owner, escaped slave­-turned­-air pirate Croggon Hainey, is determined to recover the ship he stole fair and square. A simple pursuit quickly evolves, and soon Maria and Croggon are forced to fight on the same side. Explosive battle scenes, riveting action, and a sharp-eyed examination of the mistrust between Croggon’s all-black crew and very white, very Southern Maria play out in a desperate race against the clock. Though the unflinching portrayal of complex race relations is aimed at adult readers, Priest’s swashbuckling tale is also quite accessible for older teens. –Publishers Weekly

Hard Magic by Laura Anne Gilman

This is a strong start to a new series. Bonnie is an interesting narrator — more naïve than some of Gilman’s other protagonists, but just as capable and intelligent. The supporting cast is also fascinating. The plot is engaging and compelling, but remains a smidge unresolved, perhaps purposefully. Fans of Gilman’s other novels in this setting will definitely enjoy this volume, while new readers may find some of the worldbuilding confusing, though not overly so. Using the same setting as her Retrievers novels, Gilman looks at the world of Talent from a different perspective, this time through the eyes of Bonnie Torres, an investigator with the fledgling PUPI — Private, Unaffiliated, Private Investigators — organization. Bonnie and the team are new to the world of forensic investigation involving Talent, and their first case will stretch them and their Talents to their limits. After an apparent double suicide, the victims’ daughter hires PUPI to find the truth — no matter what it may be. –Romantic Times, 4 Stars

Shalador’s Lady by Anne Bishop

A sequel to last year’s The Shadow Queen, this book shares many of the same themes of trauma, survival and the importance of doing what is right. Bishop handles these difficult subjects with a good deal of grace and sensitivity and, as always, with compelling characterization. Cassidy’s struggle to believe in herself is particularly resonant, and Gray’s mastery of his inner demons is triumphant. –Romantic Times, 4 1/2 Stars