Pyrex refrigerator dishes in primary colors, McCoy mixing bowls and wooden colanders:  If you know them, you might have a taste for retro kitchens.

So does Jaymie Leighton, the plucky heroine of “A Deadly Grind” (293 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), a series opener by Victoria Hamilton.

When Jaymie successfully bids on a 1920s Hoosier kitchen cabinet at an estate auction, she’s thrilled.  But hardly has she transported the bulky item to the back porch of her home in Queensville, Mich., than an unidentified man is found murdered on the porch. Convinced that there’s a cabinet connection, Jaymie undertakes a bit of amateur sleuthing.

Her investigations lead to a number of suspicious characters, but just when you think the case is cracked, Hamilton pulls a double twist.  An accomplished beginning, “A Deadly Grind” shows great potential – and not only for fans of vintage kitchens.

Cat-themed mysteries have proliferated like, well, feral cats.  But not many are as catcentric as “The Big Kitty” (293 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the first in Claire Donally’s projected series.

Newspaper reporter Sonata “Sunny” Coolidge has taken a leave of absence from her newspaper job in New York City to return to her hometown of Kittery Harbor, Maine, to care for her ailing father.  While there, the paper lays her off, and Sunny takes a low-paying job with the local agency that promotes tourism.

But Sunny is soon caught up in much more than visitors.  Ada Spruance, an elderly neighbor known as the Cat Lady, seeks Sunny’s help in finding her winning Powerball ticket, worth about $6 million and due to expire within days.  When Ada is found dead, Sunny is drawn into the case and is adopted by Shadow, one of Ada’s cats who avoided the local animal shelter’s roundup. Before long, the case is linked to a methamphetamine ring, and Sunny’s only two-legged ally among the local authorities is Constable Will Price. 

With a deft hand at plotting, an appealing small-town setting and a determined protagonist, Donally has created a series opener that aficionados of whodunits and felines will find rubs them exactly the right way.

In a village, everyone knows everyone else’s business, right?

Not necessarily, which gives the four members of Enquire Within, a distinctly unusual detective agency in Barrington, England, plenty to do in “The Wild Wood Enquiry” (294 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the third entry in Ann Purser’s series featuring elderly spinster Ivy Beasley and her cohorts: Ivy’s fiancé, Roy Goodman, a fellow resident of the local old-age home; rich widow and Ivy’s cousin, Dierdre Bloxham; and Augustus “Gus” Halfhide.

The investigation is sparked when Gus’s ex-wife, Katherine, shows up at his cottage.  Believing she’s up to no good, Gus refuses her refuge, so she’s taken in overnight by Gus’ neighbor, Miriam Blake.  But when Katherine is nowhere to be found the next morning, and Miriam and a friend see a human hand in the nearby woods, Enquire Within takes the case.  What they find is a sordid (well, sordid for Barrington) case involving missing jewels, duplicity and death.

Purser, as always, leavens this mystery with light-hearted insights into human nature, with the four members of Enquire Within, of course, taking center stage.  Devotees of crime detection in a picturesque English village will find “The Wild Wood Enquiry” a pleasant diversion and a penetrating look at the ways of small communities.

Many mystery series set in small towns, however entertaining, suffer from stasis.  Characters neither grow nor develop, their circumstances remain the same, and readers can find that familiarity breeds indifference.

But not those of Sally Goldenbaum, whose “A Fatal Fleece” (321 pages, Obsidian, $24.99), the sixth entry in her Seaside Knitters series, which continues the author’s commitment to character development. Exonerated suspects in earlier installments re-enter her fiction, and previously upstanding citizens of Sea Harbor on Massachusetts’ Cape Ann find themselves under scrutiny.

Through it all, though, Goldenbaum maintains the bonds of friendship between the four main characters:  semiretired Nell Endicott, lawyer-turned-knitting-studio owner Isabel “Izzy” Perry, fisherwoman Catherine “Cass” Halloran, and wealthy grande dame Bernadette “Birdie” Favazza.

But a mystery needs a corpse, and in “A Fatal Fleece” it’s that of elderly Francis “Finn” Finnegan, an outspoken but upright and likable curmudgeon.  When he’s found murdered on his overgrown but valuable property, suspects proliferate.  Was the murder the result of a developer’s greed (or a daughter’s), or the work of a vagrant, or the product of a long-held secret?

When Cass becomes a suspect, Nell, Izzy and Birdie rally round her and uncover the surprising identity of the killer. And Goldenbaum scores another success with thoughtful and intricate plotting, wonderful characters and a coastal setting drawn in loving detail.  Conceived in Goldenbaum’s generous heart and executed by her subtle mind, “A Fatal Fleece” stands in the ranks of the first-rate. 

Given the choice between spending time with killers doing life terms or investors trying to open a new restaurant, which would you choose?  And be careful about your selection – at least the lifers aren’t running around loose.

In “Life Without Parole” (275 pages, Plume, $15), the second installment in Clare O’Donohue’s featuring freelance television producer Kate Conway of Chicago, the heroine doesn’t have a choice.  She’s doing shows on both.  When one of the would-be restaurateurs is stabbed to death, suspicion falls on another one, heiress Vera Bingham – the woman with whom Kate’s husband was having an affair before he was murdered in the series opener, “Missing Persons.”

Kate, a good person but hardly a warm and fuzzy one, nevertheless is convinced that Vera is innocent and enlists the help of the two killers she’s profiling to try to understand the workings of a murderer’s mind. But what’s the truth, and what’s a lie?

What results is a far more sinister work than the books in O’Donohue’s quilting series.  But not to worry:  O’Donohue proves with this second novel featuring Kate that she’s equally adept at both forms, infusing each with clever storylines and intriguing characters. 

When a novel is set in England’s Regency era, a reader might, with good reason, turn away, fearing the onslaught of yet another bodice-ripper.

But Anna Dean blasts that misconception away in her series featuring Dido Kent, a 36-year-old spinster with a skill for sleuthing.  And the third entry in her series, “A Woman of Consequence” (383 pages, Minotaur Books, $24.99), is no exception.

This time out, Anna is drawn into a case of murder when she accompanies several friends, including young Penelope Lambe, to the ruins of Madderstone Abbey.  When Penelope falls on a treacherous staircase and momentarily loses consciousness.  Waking, she says, “I saw her.  It was her.”  And her companions believe she must be referring to the Grey Nun, long rumored to haunt the abbey.

Dido, though, is no believer in ghosts.  But when a small pond on the grounds of the nearby Harman-Foote estate is drained, and a woman’s skeleton is found, she is thrust into a complex and chilling case.  The remains are identified as those of Elinor Fenn, a governess who went missing 15 years ago.  But is Penelope’s plunge connected to the cold case?

Endowed with intelligence and common sense, Dido sets out to uncover the truth, despite warnings from her occasional beau, William Lomax, that her pursuits are decidedly unfeminine.  In the end, though, Dido prevails in her search for the facts.

Dean has again scored highly with an imaginative mystery that captures Regency England not only with Austen-like prose but, more importantly, with an accurate portrayal of the customs and challenges of the time, particularly as they involved the suspicion cast upon women with minds of their own.

Almost everyone has experienced a vacation that went wrong, but the one Johannesburg private investigator Jade de Jong takes with her boyfriend, police superintendent David Patel, descends into chaos.

In “The Fallen” (310 pages, Soho, $25), the third installment in Jassy Mackenzie’s series, Jade has planned a trip to coastal South Africa, where she can learn scuba diving and thus accompany enthusiast David on reef dives.  But Jade hasn’t counted on her fear of water, nor on David’s dumping her, nor on her diving instructor, former air traffic controller Amanda Bolton, being stabbed to death.

In aiding the local, inexperienced police, Jade and David find themselves in mortal danger as a ruthless businessman, driven by greed, determines to let nothing – not human life, not environmental catastrophe – stand in his way.  But is he also behind Amanda’s murder?

A tightly and beautifully written story of casual cruelty committed by a pack of villains, “The Fallen” is also a powerful accomplishment in character development and a nuanced look at post-apartheid South Africa.  And its conclusion ranks among the most unnerving in the genre – and one that readers will not soon forget.

A writer of profound talent, Mackenzie surpasses even the superb predecessors in her commanding and addictive series.

Older pets, as well as those with disabilities, too often are ignored when potential adopters visit an animal shelter.  But Bella Frankovick has a mission; she has opened Save Them All, a facility near Los Angeles dedicated to the hard-to-place critters.

And Lauren Vancouver, another L.A.-area rescuer and the head of HotRescues, is delighted.  But things go awry in “Hounds Abound” (291 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the third entry in Linda O. Johnson’s series featuring Lauren and her friends.

Bella and her former husband, cosmetic surgeon and animal-hater Miles Frankovick, are locked in a bitter property dispute, and when Miles is found stabbed to death in his car outside Save Them All, Bella instantly becomes the prime suspect.  But Lauren is convinced of Bella’s innocence and, despite warnings from cops and friends alike, determines to prove it. 

What results is a dandy whodunit filled with amiable characters and wonderful potential pets – dachshunds Ignatz and Durwood are particularly appealing.  Johnston, whose love for animals shines throughout her work, writes for pet-lovers, of course, but also for anyone whose taste runs to a good story.

Someone is sabotaging the first lady’s kitchen garden, and Cassandra “Casey” Calhoun is mightily aggravated.

But that’s not all that’s facing Casey in “The Scarlet Pepper” (312 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the second in Dorothy St. James’ series featuring the assistant White House gardener.  When word reaches the White House that obnoxious reporter Griffon Parker is working on a story that’s likely to bring down Bruce Dearing, the president’s chief of staff, it’s bad enough, particularly given that Bruce’s wife, Francesca, is a powerful Washington socialite in her own right – and one of Casey’s garden volunteers.

When Griffon is found murdered, potential scandal escalates into realized crime, and Casey – despite being warned by her Secret Service boyfriend, Jack Turner – feels compelled to conduct some amateur sleuthing.

A potboiler of homicide, blackmail, journalism, power and sex – but one that St. James handles with taste as well as verve – “The Scarlet Pepper” fulfills the promise of last year’s series debut, “Flowerbed of State,” and then some.

Talk about a purloined letter.

In “The Lost Years” (304 pages, Simon & Schuster, $26.99), the prolific Mary Higgins Clark’s newest novel, biblical scholar and archaeologist Jonathan Lyons believes he has found a parchment written by Jesus Christ days before his crucifixion to Joseph of Arimathea, carried to Rome by the apostle Peter and stolen from the Vatican library in 1474.  If the letter is authentic – and Jonathan is convinced – it could be priceless.

But when Jonathan is shot to death in his Bergen County, N.J., home, the letter can’t be found.  What is discovered, though, is Jonathan’s wife, Kathleen, cowering in a closet holding the murder weapon.  Kathleen is suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s but has recently discovered Jonathan’s longtime affair with Lillian Stewart.  But Jonathan and Kathleen’s daughter, financial adviser Mariah, believes more is at play than jealousy. 

Mariah wonders whether any of Jonathan’s longtime friends – fellow scholars Richard Callahan, Charles Michaelson and Albert West and computer genius Greg Pearson – might be guilty.  And then there’s Lillian, whom Mariah dislikes and resents for the damage she has done to the Lyons family.  Assisting Mariah in her search for the truth are Alvirah and Willy Meehan, Clark’s beloved recurring characters.

Clark, known rightly as the queen of suspense, performs her usual magic in leading the reader on a merry chase of misdirection until the killer is revealed – but not before Mariah finds herself in danger of death in a classic confrontation between good and evil.

An intriguing blend of religious history and contemporary mystery, “The Lost Years” confirms Clark’s status as a writer who is willing and able to bend her formula – and to do so successfully—to address topics not often found in the genre.

The killer’s work has begun, and he (or she) is pleased as Punch.

Literally.

Elderly cops Arthur Bryant and John May and their subordinates find themselves investigating a locked-room mystery in “The Memory of Blood” (333 pages, Bantam, $25), the ninth novel in Christopher Fowler’s inventive and witty series featuring London’s Peculiar Crimes Unit.

This time out, the first murder occurs during an after-play party given by theater owner Robert Kramer for the cast and staff of “The Two Murderers.”  But sometime during the festivities, Robert and trophy wife Judith’s 11-month-old son is thrown from his nursery from an open window to the street several stories below.  Confounding the cops are two inescapable facts:  The nursery door was locked from inside, and no one could have entered or exited via the window.  And then there’s the particularly disquieting find:  a smiling Punch puppet from the famous Punch and Judy show is found lying on the floor near baby Noah’s crib.

Enter the intuitive Bryant and the deductive May, both of whom believe the killings have just begun.  They’re determined to prevent more deaths, but the killer is far from finished.

Like all of Fowler’s work, “The Memory of Blood” incorporates creative new twists to the police procedural and pays homage to its talented author’s predecessors, in this case Agatha Christie for the all-shall-be-revealed conclusion, Ngaio Marsh for the theater setting and John Dickson Carr for the locked-room angle.

But Fowler builds on rather than rests on these giants.  His plotting is clever, he provides plenty of potential perps, and he leavens an essentially horrific homicide with humor, including a less-than-celebratory mention of Simon Cowell and a particularly sly mention of two café-owning sisters named Brenda and Yvonne; followers of the British monarchy will recognize those as sarcastic monikers given by humorists to Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the late Princess Margaret, respectively.  And he provides the seeds for what promises to be Bryant and May’s next case in an intriguing subplot.

Ingenious and droll, “The Memory of Blood” finds Fowler in fine form, ready to seduce his public yet again with a thumping good read.

Barbie never had it this rough.

But the specimens in “Dolled Up for Murder” (247 pages, Minotaur Books, $24.99), the seventh entry in Jane K. Cleland’s series featuring antiques dealer Josie Prescott, lie at the root of murder, kidnapping and destruction.

When Selma Farmington is killed in a car crash, her two daughters sell her doll collection – valuable but not priceless – to Josie, who runs an antiques business in coastal Rocky Point, N.H.  And it’s not long before Alice Michaels, the founder of a financial consultancy, stops by Josie’s business to inquire about the dolls.  But as she’s leaving, Alice – who’s about to be indicted in an alleged Ponzi scheme – is gunned down. 

But that’s not all.  Josie’s facilities manager, Eric, is kidnapped after loading some of the dolls from the Farmington house in the company van – and the kidnapper will ransom him only for the dolls.  So what makes them more precious than their appraisal, and who’s behind the murder and the abduction?

With her usual skill in blending antiquing with mystery, Cleland, the former owner of an antiques and rare-book business in New Hampshire, again spins an intriguing yarn, complete with an amiable heroine in Josie and pain-free education about sought-after objects. And readers will want to acquire her latest novel for their collection of literate whodunits.

The librarian has checked out, and the cops – and a persistent amateur sleuth – have checked in.

So begins “The Probability of Murder” (292 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the second book in Ada Madison’s series featuring Sophie Knowles, a fortysomething math professor at Henley College in Massachusetts.

Sophie is shocked by Charlotte Crocker’s murder and even more stunned when it becomes clear that Charlotte was not what she appeared to be, but rather a con artist with a long rap sheet.  Drawn into the mystery, Charlotte finds herself in danger.  And she’s frantic with worry about boyfriend Bruce Granville, a medevac pilot who has taken an ice-climbing trip to a New Hampshire mountain with two buddies and has been caught in a blizzard.

Madison immediately grips the reader and never lets go, as Sophie focuses on one suspect after another until the surprising truth is revealed.  Along with the dandy plot, Madison peoples the novel with strong, diverse and interesting characters, as well as a spot-on look behind the scenes of academia.  And the probability is high that readers will want to crunch some more numbers – and more homicides – with Sophie and her pals.

When Kaitlyn Clydesdale returns to her hometown of Providence, Ohio, plenty of folks are cheesed off.  But who dispatched the devious businesswoman to a permanent exit?

That’s the question in “Clobbered by Camembert” (323 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the third entry in Avery Aames’ series featuring Charlotte Bessette and her family, who run a cheese shop in Providence, a fictional town in real-life Holmes County. Suspicion first falls on Ipo Ho, a beekeeper and the boyfriend of Charlotte’s assistant, Rebecca Zook.  But as Charlotte investigates, a smorgasbord of suspects takes shape, and Aames surprises the reader with an unforeseen but wholly believable conclusion.

Aames, who has a keen sense of small towns and their peculiarities, again brings Providence to life in this well-conceived and well-written mystery.  She further develops Charlotte and the other residents and, as in real life, continues their stories.

Another fun installment in an appealing series, “Clobbered by Camembert” will have readers eager for the next tasting.

Winter has come to Cape Willington, Maine, a rare white moose is on the loose, an ice sculptor has been found dead with a hatchet in his back, and blueberry farmer Candy Holliday again finds herself in a thicket of thrills.

Welcome to “Town in a Wild Moose Chase” (322 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the third entry in B.B. Haywood’s series featuring the murder-prone Maine town (do Cabot Cove and Jessica Fletcher come to mind?)

When town recluse Solomon Hatch finds the hatchet-accessorized corpse and then vanishes, Candy is worried.  But as she further investigates the case – she reports for the local newspaper in addition to farming – she senses that this murder may be tied to previous ones in the series.  And that puts her further on the trail of a possibly treacherous member of one of Cape Willington’s oldest and most prominent families.

Haywood has written another amusing and absorbing novel in her series, and this installment, like its predecessors, ends with the promise of more.  Will Candy unravel the bigger issue? Only time, and the author, will tell.

Once upon a time, bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright lived quietly in San Francisco, working at her craft, enjoying her friends.

But since she became a magnet for corpses, all that has changed.  And in “One Book in the Grave” (291 pages, Obsidian, $7.99), Kate Carlisle’s fifth novel about Brooklyn’s adventures, the body count grows again.

The fun starts when Brooklyn is given a rare copy of “Beauty and the Beast” to restore.  But no sooner does the first body turn up than she finds herself entangled in a mystery involving an old friend, a jealous rival, a bitter would-be lover and a group of survivalists. And will anyone live happily ever after?

Carlisle, as is her custom, mixes the ingredients carefully to come up with a plot that will have the reader, whether nibbling or devouring, enjoying a satisfying meal of mayhem spiced with more than a bit of romance.

Fun, two words, 11 letters:

P-A-R-N-E-L-L H-A-L-L.

Hall, a master of the comic mystery, brings back Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady of Bakerhaven, Conn., for her 13th adventure in “$10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles” (308 pages, Minotaur Books, $24.99).

As always, Cora faces numerous situations, including blackmail, murder, the return of an ex-husband – and her niece and nephew-in-law’s new baby.  Add Hall’s wit and razor-sharp dialogue, and “10,000 in Small Unmarked Puzzles” is another winner in an amusing series.

Complete with crossword and Sudoku puzzles, Hall’s latest is sure to appeal to anyone who likes brainteasers, whether of the crime or the riddle variety.

White House Executive Chef Olivia “Ollie” Paras often finds herself in hot water in Julie Hyzy’s series.  And the fifth entry, “Affairs of Steak” (293 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99) is no exception:  Ollie is in danger of being sliced, diced and filleted.

Ollie and her nemesis, White House sensitivity director Peter Everett Sargeant, have been assigned to scout potential locations for a party the first lady is giving for the secretary of state.  But when they arrive at a trendy Washington bistro, they find the bodies of the president’s chief of staff and an aide to the first lady in the kitchen.  And there’s more:  They glimpsed what may have been the fleeing killer, and now their lives are in danger.

With gusto and grace—and a generous dash of politics, office and otherwise – Hyzy has again served up a spicy mystery that will appeal to fans of history, food and the nation’s capital.  Capped with a clever plot and a surprising conclusion, “Affairs of Steak” will leave you eager for Hyzy’s next dish.

Only rarely is an inheritance either a blessing or a burden.  In most cases, it’s a maddening combination of the two, and that’s the situation facing Darla Pettistone in “Double Booked for Death” (325 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the first in a projected series by Ali Brandon.

Texan Darla has been left an independent bookstore in New York City by her great-aunt Dee, and Darla has spent several months getting used to the responsibility, the culture shock, and the bookstore cat, Hamlet, who has a pronounced feline attitude.  But the store is profitable, and to bolster it further, Darla agrees to hold a book-signing event for Valerie Baylor, the author of a best-selling supernatural series for teenagers.

But not long into the event, Valerie steps outside for a smoke and is run down in the street.  When photographic evidence shows someone pushing her (and the identity of the killer is unknown, because all the attendees were wearing black capes), the question arises:  Was Valerie sent to her death by fundamentalist protesters, a demonstrator accusing her of plagiarism or someone within her own strange entourage?

Darla and her neighbor, retired police officer Jacqueline “Jake” Martelli, set out to help the cops, and Brandon leads the reader on a merry chase as she shifts attention among the suspects.

Brandon, a pen name for Diane A.S. Stuckart, author of the Leonardo da Vinci mystery series, shifts gears with skill in this clever series opener, complete with amiable characters (even Hamlet has his nice moments, and he’s no dummy).  Bibliophiles, ailurophiles and mystery fans will enjoy “Double Booked for Death.”

Thieves are making the rounds in Long Farnden, England, and Lois Meade is going to put up with it – especially after daughter Josie, who runs the village shop, falls victim.

So Lois, who runs New Brooms, a housecleaning service, sets out to track down the villains in “Foul Play at Four” (312 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $24.99), the 11th installment in Ann Purser’s series featuring the intrepid businesswoman.  Enlisting the help of her family, her employees and even one of her clients, the upper-crust Mrs. Tollervey-Jones, Lois is able to assist Detective Chief Inspector Hunter Cowgill – who has a crush on Lois – in his detecting.

Purser spins an interesting yarn, but the chief attraction of her series, as always, is in tough but tender, common-sensical Lois herself.  An interesting take on the English-village mystery, “Foul Play at Four” – like Purser’s series – is a quick and entertaining read.

When someone calls a food item something to die for, it’s not to be taken literally. But in “Crops and Robbers” (304 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99), the third installment in Paige Shelton’s series featuring Becca Robins and Bailey’s Farmers’ Market in Monson, S.C., you have to wonder.
Becca, who sells jams and preserves at the market, is excited about the upcoming visit from the Central South Carolina Restaurant Owners Association, whose officers will sample the market’s various wares for possible purchase. But association president Joan Ashworth disses Becca’s strawberry preserves, and Joan is soon found stabbed to death in Becca’s barn. Worse, Becca’s mom, Polly Robins, is discovered bloody at the scene, and the murder weapon bears her fingerprints.
Convinced that her mother is innocent, Becca sets out to investigate, a move that wins the approval of her friend Sam Brion, the town’s top police officer. Learning that all might not be kosher with the restaurant organization, Becca soon develops alternative suspects and imperils her own life. Meanwhile, she finds herself growing attracted to Sam, despite her devotion to her artist boyfriend, Ian.
Shelton again concocts a credible whodunit filled with likable characters, and she stirs in enough cuisine content to keep foodies happy. Like its predecessors, “Crops and Robbers” is as scrumptious as homegrown tomatoes.