Murder. Espionage. Intrigue. Secrets. Redemption. These attributes make mystery books impossible to put down. Add in exotic destinations around the globe, and they’re even more irresistible.
May is National Mystery Month so it’s the perfect time to join the ranks of Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes and solve an international mystery with these page-turning plots.
“International Mystery” is one of the categories in this year’s Amazing Book Challenge, which encourages adult and teen readers to broaden their reading interests by discovering new subjects, series or authors.
Here are a few examples of books available at the Naperville Public Library. For the full list of recommendations and to see the rest of this year’s challenge themes, go to www.naperville-lib.org/ABC.
“The Guest List” by Lucy Foley (Set in Ireland)
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more importantly, why?
“Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone” by Benjamin Stevenson (Set in Australia)
Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad and some just unfortunate. I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.
Have I killed someone? Yes, I have. Who was it? Let’s get started.
“My Sister, the Serial Killer” by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Set in Nigeria)
When Korede’s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This’ll be the third boyfriend Ayoola’s dispatched in “self-defense.” She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor whom Korede works with as a nurse. Korede’s long been in love with him, and isn’t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other…
“The Patient Assassin” by Anita Anand (Set in India)
In April 1919, Punja’s Lt. Gov. Sir Michael O’Dwyer ordered soldiers into the walled garden of Jallianwallah Bagh, blocking the only exit. Then, without issuing any order to disperse, he instructed his men to open fire, turning their guns on the thickest parts of the crowd, filled with over a thousand unarmed men, women and children. According to legend, 18-year-old Sikh orphan Udham Singh was injured in the attack and remained surrounded by the dead and dying until he was able to move the next morning. Then, he supposedly picked up a handful of blood-soaked earth, smeared it across his forehead and vowed to kill the men responsible.
The truth, as the author discovers, is more complex — but no less dramatic. Award-winning journalist Anita Anand traces Singh’s journey through Africa, the United States and across Europe until, in March 1940, he finally arrives in front of O’Dwyer himself in a London hall ready to shoot him down.
“The Bones of Birka” by C. M. Surrisi (Set in Sweden)
How many female Viking warriors does it take to make a fact? When archaeologist Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson discovers the bones contained in the most significant Viking warrior grave ever opened are, in fact, female, she and her team upend centuries of historically accepted conclusions and ignite a furious debate around the reality of female Viking warriors and the role of gender in both ancient and modern times. This is the inside account of the Birka warrior grave Bj 581 archaeological endeavor, including all the dreams, setbacks, frustrations, excitement, politics and personalities that went into this history-changing discovery.
“The Adventurer’s Son” by Roman Dial (Set in Costa Rica)
“I’m planning on doing four days in the jungle… It should be difficult to get lost forever.” These were the haunting last words legendary adventurer Roman Dial received from his son before the 27-year-old disappeared into the jungles of Costa Rica. This is Dial’s intensely gripping and deeply moving account of his two-year quest to unravel the mystery of his son’s fate. As he trekked through the dense jungle, interviewing locals and searching for clues — the authorities suspected murder — the desperate father was forced to confront the deepest questions about his own life. Roman had raised his son to be fearless, to seek out adventure amid earth’s wildest places. Was he ultimately responsible for his son’s fate?
Ashlee Conour is the marketing specialist at Naperville Public Library.
