New (to me anyway) Crime Authors

The New (to me anyway) Meme is sponsored by Kerrie over at Mysteries in Paradise. Here's what she's looking for....

Just write a post about the best new-to-you crime fiction authors (or all) you've read in the period of October to December 2014, put a link to her meme in your post (click above), and even use the logo if you like. The books don't necessarily need to be newly published. After writing your post, then link up over at Kerrie's place and visit the links posted by other participants in the meme to discover even more books to read. 'Cause there are never enough books to hunt down and read.

 

Here are the books by authors I hadn't tried before:

 

Death by Hitchcock by Elissa D. Grodin (10/6/14) 

Murder on Mike by H. Paul Jeffers (10/15/14)

Too Many Doctors by Holly Roth (10/22/14) 

The Mind-Murders by Janwillem van de Wetering (10/30/14) 

Copper Gold by Pauline Glen Winslow (11/1/14)

Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier (11/12/14)

The Dark Ring of Murder by Misa Yamamura (11/19/14) 

Mayhem in B-Flat by Elliot Paul (12/4/14) 

The Secret of the Gondola by David Alan Brown (12/7/14)

 

And as far as new experiences go, there was about an equal amount of good and bad. I can't say that I would recommend Too Many Doctors, The Mind-Murders, Copper Gold or The Secret of the Gondola--a borderline mystery at best.  Death by Hitchcock (brand-new in 2014), Murder on Mike (1984), Trick or Treat Murder (1997) and The Dark Ring of Murder (1998) were all enjoyable and earned in the three-star or just over range. The best of the new authors was Elliot Paul with Mayhem in B-Flat. First published in 1940, it is set in Paris between the two World Wars. It stars Homer Evans, American in Paris, and his pistol packing lady, Miriam Leonard. Miriam is more at home on the prairie, wrestling steers into submission--but adjusts well to the French countryside which seems to be littered with rival gang members. Homer and Miriam have planned an excursion to Normandy to allow Homer to investigate his Gallic roots. But their quiet vacation plans are interrupted when they encounter a gang member known as the Singe--someone they've come across before. Homer doesn't know what skulduggery may be afoot, but that there will be skulduggery he is certain.