PASSOVER CRIME FICTION

Passover starts tomorrow night and lasts for eight days. That should give you plenty of time to read these mysteries set during the holiday. This is an updated list, but, as always, let me know any missing titles/authors.

Passover Crime Fiction

Passover by Aphrodite Anagnost
Conspirators by Michael Andre Bernstein

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks   
The Passover Commando by Irving R. Cohen

The Passover Protocols by Ellen Frankel

The Passover Murder by Lee Harris 
All Other Nights by Dara Horn
Never Nosh a Matzo Ball by Sharon Kahn
Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by Harry Kemelman 
The Fixer by Bernard Malamud

The Empty Hours by Ed McBain
The Wolf and the Lamb by Frederick Ramsay
The Samaritans' Secret by Matt Beynon Rees
Mrs Kaplan and the Matzo Ball of Death by Mark Reutlinger
Unleavened Dead by Ilene Schneider
The Passover Plot by Hugh J. Schonfield 
The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra

Poisoned Passover: Book 2 Torah Mystery Series by Susan Van Dusen

The Lord is My Shepherd by Debbie Viguie (on my Easter list, too!)
The Big Nap by Ayelet Waldman 

Passover by Frances Williams
The Fifth Servant by Kenneth Wishnia

Passover by Jeff Yocum

Passover Short Stories in the following collections:

Dying for Chametz & Other Mystery Stories for Passover by Libby Astaire

Criminal Kabbalah, edited by Laurie R. King
Murder Is No Mitzvah, edited by Abigail Browning
Mystery Midrash, edited by Rabbi Lawrence Raphael

Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishing

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"Catching Elijah" by Jeri Westerson

There are several Children's and YA Passover Mysteries including:

Sherlock Mendelson and the Missing Afikomen by David Shawn Klein, Illustrated by Bridge Starr Taylor
Jodie's Passover Adventure by Anna Levine

Shira Detective: Chametz Detective by Galia Sabbag, Illustrated by Erin Taylor

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Check out Molly Odintz's 10 Reasons Why Passover is the Noirest Holiday on CrimeReads.

Celebrating the holiday? Check out DyingforChocolate.com for Chocolate Passover Recipes.

ANDREW GROSS: R.I.P.

More sad news today. Thriller writer Andrew Gross passed away today at the age of 72. Andrew wrote 18 novels, his first six with James Patterson. When he struck out on his own, his novels instantly became NYT best sellers. His thrillers were filled with action, and also family relationships and themes of loss and betrayal. His taut writing takes you along on the adventure!

I got to know Andy better when he and Lynn were seated next to me at Larry Gandle's birthday party during Bouchercon in New Orleans in 2016. It was an exceptional evening -- the food, the celebration, and their conversation. We talked about life, writing, thrillers, and so much more. It was so fun and convivial. I felt like I knew Andy all my life. It was great to follow his and Lynn's travels and grandchildren on social media since then. And, of course, I read his latest books. 

In memory of Andy, I will reread some of his books. My heart and sympathy go out to his family and many friends. May his memory be a blessing. He will be missed.

PETER LOVESEY: R.I.P.

Peter Lovesey, an amazing author and Diamond Dagger winner,  passed away this morning. What an extraordinary talent, and what a loss to the mystery community. Peter Lovesey was a wonderful, supportive, warm, intelligent, and talented man. I started reading his books in the early 70s when they first appeared. His books were ones I sought out immediately on publication. Peter was one of the longest subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal. When we had an odd cost, Peter would throw American "cash" in an envelope and say to spend any extra on cat food for my longtime feline companion Dashiell Hammett...that was in the 90s.We shared a love of cats. 

I first met Peter in person at the Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay in 1991. The AC Festival was paired that year with the CWA conference. I took the train down from London. There we were met by Peter Lovesey on the platform, maneuvering  a 'trolley' to gather our bags. All he needed was a hat and a uniform, and we would have been transported back to Victorian England. I was lucky to meet with him at other times over the years. He was always so warm and genuine. 

For me, Peter Lovesey's books were the best of the best. Great characters, wonderful plots, terrific setting, excellent prose, and so much more. Last week my book group re-read and discussed an Inspector Cribb novel to rave reviews, of course. I also just read the monograph he wrote as 'Peter Diamond.'  Such fun!

Peter was so supportive of everyone in the mystery community--other writers, fans, editors, publishers. He was so willing to lend his expertise and help in any way. He was so dedicated to the genre.

My heart and sympathy go out to his family and many friends at this time.

I am reeling from the news of his death, but I will update this post at a later time. In the meantime, read a Peter Lovesey in his memory. I'm particularly fond of his Peter Diamond books. His final book in the series, Against the Grain, just came out in January. The end of an era. Rest in Peace, Peter. 

Read More here:

https://peterlovesey.com/about

His final article in the Mystery Readers Journal (London Mysteries I): 2024. "The Wobble in the Aggie"

"The World's Oldest Working Cop" in Mystery Readers Journal: Senior Sleuths, Fall 2020.

From Meredith Phillips:

What terrible news, which I learned from Janet Rudolph’s Mystery Fanfare: Peter Lovesey’s death, right after Kerry Greenwood’s. They are two of my favorite authors. 

He was a very funny man in addition to being a very good and prolific writer. I remember at a past Bouchercon, during the panel discussions I heard from down the hall several roars of really loud laughter; checking it out, I saw Lovesey regaling the packed crowd. And his contribution to the recent Crippen & Landru collection School of Hard Knox was an epic 7-page poem titled “Knox Vomica” that includes the names of dozens of mystery writers in hilarious couplets.

As Janet noted, Lovesey was a truly special writer, as well as person. I liked his series a lot, but enjoyed his stand-alones even more, especially The Reaper, Rough Cider, and On the Edge. But in addition to mourning Peter Lovesey, we have now lost Peter Diamond, just as we’ve lost Phryne Fisher and Corinna Chapman—at least, their future selves. What a sad week.

Meredith Phillips

Perseverance Editorial Services

Now editing/proofing for Crippen & Landru, 

and freelancing for various authors on request

Cartoon of the Day: Meet the Author

 From the fabulous Tom Gauld:

LIBRARY/LIBRARIAN MYSTERY SERIES: National Library Week

This is National Library Week! 

My most exciting library experience was getting my first library card. I could read by 4, and although I visited our local library on a weekly basis where my mother checked out books for me, I wanted my own library card. The rule was that you had to be able to sign your name to obtain a card. So my sister taught me to sign my name. After that, the world was my oyster! I spent many summers walking the mile from my home to the Cobbs Creek Library in Philadelphia to check out books, get recommendations from the librarians, and participate in the summer reading club (stars for books read). I quickly went from children's to adult books. Books became my best friends. Over the years I continued to visit my local public libraries. I have fond memories of going to the Penn Wynne Library with my Dad where he sought out American hardboiled mysteries. Because of my own love of mysteries, it was a wonderful bonding experience.

So today's list honors National Library Week with a list of Library/Librarian Mysteries series. This is not a complete list, so I welcome any additions. Note this is a list of Library/Librarian series and not stand-alone library books. There are so many of those, including Allen Eskens' The Quiet Librarian, Sulari Gentill's The Woman in the Library, Fiona Davis's The Lions of Fifth Avenue, and so many more. Alas, another post!

Let me know if I've missed any of your favorites library/librarian mystery series. Make a comment or send me a note. Thanks!

LIBRARY/LIBRARIAN MYSTERIES

Jeff Abbott: Jordan Poteet Series

Deborah Adams: Jesus Creek Mysteries 

Lydia Adamson: Lucy Wayles Series

Jenna Bennett: Art Crime Team (ACT) Series (Annika Holst, Librarian)

Claudia Bishop: Hemlock Falls Series 

Lawrence Block: The Burglar in the Library

Lillian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who Series 

Allison Brook: Haunted Library Mystery Series 

Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli: Little Library Mystery Series

B.B. Cantwell: Portland Bookmobile Mystery Series 

Elizabeth Lynn Casey: Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series 

Laurie Cass: Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series

Genevieve Cogman: The Invistible Library

Elizabeth Spann Craig: Village Library Mystery Series

Shirley Damsgaard: Ophelia & Abby Series

Holly Danvers: Lakeside Library Mystery Series

Debbie De Louise: Cobble Cove Mystery Series

Jo Dereske: Miss Zukas mysteries

Laramee Douglas: Death in Culcinea

Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose 

Jasper Fforde: Thursday Next Series

Amanda Flower: India Hayes Mystery Series 

Eva Gates: Lighthouse Library Mystery Series 

Victoria Gilbert: Blue Ridge Library Mystery Series 

Jeanne Glidewell: Lexie Starr Mystery Series 

Charles A. Goodrum: Dr. Edward George Series

Charlaine Harris: Aurora Teagarden Series

Zana Hart: Curious Librarian Cozy Mystery Series

Patricia Harwin: Catherine Penny/Far Wychwood series

Marion Moore Hill: Scrappy Librarian Mystery series

M. E. Hilliard: The Greer Hogan Series

Miranda James: Cat in the Stacks Series

Emma Jameson: Jemima Jago Mystery Series

Sofie Kelly: Magical Cats Mystery Series 

Nicholas Kilmer: Fred Taylor Art Collecting Series (Partner Molly Riley, Librarian)

Mary Lou Kirwin: Killer Librarian Mystery Series

Patricia Kirwin: Far Wychwood Mysteries

Nathan Larson: Dewey Decimal

Con Lehane: The 42nd Street Library Series

Amy Lilly: Ophelia "Phee" Jefferson Series

Ellen Jacobson: The North Dakota Library Series

Jess Lourey: Murder-by-the-Month Series

T.J. MacGregor: Alex Kincaid series

Charlotte MacLeod: Helen Marsh Shandy, Peter Shandy's wife, in the Balaclava series 

Olivia Matthews: Peach Coast Library Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay: Library Lovers Mystery series

D.R. Meredith: Murder by the Yard series

Miriam Grace Monfredo: Seneca Falls Historical Mystery Series

Kate Morgan: Dewey James

Elizabeth Peters: Jacqueline Kirby series

Shirley Rousseau Murphy: Joe Grey Cat Series (Dulcie, the library cat)

Nora Page: Bookmobile Mystery Series

Meg Perry: Jamie Brodie Series

Ralp;h Raab: Biblio Files Trilogy

R.T. Raichev: Antonia Darcy Series

Nanci Rathbun: Angelina Bonaparte Series

Ian Sansom: Mobile Library Mystery Series

Angela Sanders: Witch Way Librarian Series

Sheila Simonson: Latouche County mysteries

J.B. Stanley: The Supper Club Mystery Series

Susan Steiner: Library, No Murder Aloud

Fran Stewart: Biscuit McKee Mysteries

Dorothy St. James: Beloved Bookroom Series

Emily Thomas: Secrets of Blue Hill Library Series

Judith Van Gieson: Claire Reynier Series (University of New Mexico Rare Books Librarian)

Gayle Wigglesworth: Claire Gulliver Mystery Series

Marty Wingate: First Edition Library Mystery Series

Eric Wright: Lucy Trimble Brenner Series

Sally S. Wright: Ben Reese Series

Non-fiction favorite: Susan Orlean's The Library Book

Other Non-Fiction:

Kathy Lee Peiss: Information Hunters; When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II Europe
***

Librarians who write mysteries: Check out Robert Lopresti's article on SleuthSayers. You'll be surprised!

Writing Magic Without Breaking the Spell: Guest Post by Gigi Pandian

During the Golden Age of detective fiction in the 1920s and 30s, fair-play puzzle plots gave readers all the clues they needed to solve the mystery. It was common to see a stage magician as the sleuth or other prominent character. Why? Because magicians use misdirection to create seemingly impossible illusions, so they’re the perfect characters to see through baffling puzzles. 

I adore those classic mysteries, and my favorites were the locked-room mysteries by authors like John Dickson Carr and Clayton Rawson, where the crime looks truly impossible. Their books and stories inspired me to try my hand at writing my own impossible crime puzzles—with a stage magician sleuth, of course.

Tempest Raj is a stage illusionist creating grand illusions on the stage, until her career is sabotaged and she’s forced to move home to work for the family business, Secret Staircase Construction. Now she creates a different type of illusion, building “magic” into people’s homes through sliding bookcases that lead to hidden libraries or sconces that reveal secrets when lifted. The sleight-of-hand methods might be different, but the idea behind the illusions are the same. Misdirection. While your attention is held elsewhere, you miss the mechanism creating magic. 

Just like I love magicians in mystery fiction, I love a well-crafted stage show, and I’ve learned a great deal about stage magic. But when I started writing novels about a magician character, I had to walk a fine line: I wanted to write authentically about magic without revealing trade secrets and I wanted to play fair with the reader, so they’d feel they’d read a satisfying mystery when all was revealed at the end. 

As I learned more about magic, I had my answer: Crimes in mystery fiction that look similar can have many different methods. The same is true of the illusions of a stage magician. When you see a trick performed, there are often multiple methods that could have been used to perform what looks to the audience like the same illusion. Therefore, I could use the methods of an illusionist to think about constructing Tempest’s acts as well as the illusions of the culprits in the Secret Staircase Mysteries—with my own methods I’d worked out for both Tempest’s illusions and the puzzle at the heart of the mystery. 

One more similarity between mystery fiction and magic: As with a novel, a key ingredient of stage magic is to tell a story. If a magician simply walks on stage and makes their assistant vanish, that’s not very interesting. But if there’s a story behind why a that person is vanishing, such as centuries-old curse that’s come to claim a victim, the illusion immediately becomes ten times more captivating. 

In my latest novel, The Library Game, Secret Staircase Construction is converting a charming old house into a community library devoted to classic detective fiction—until there’s a seemingly impossible murder in the library, the body vanishes, and a dead man with a connection to the house is heard calling for help. It’s like something right out of a magic act. It’s a good thing Tempest Raj is there.

 ***

Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling author and locked-room mystery enthusiast who’s been awarded Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Derringer awards, and been a finalist for the Edgar. She writes the Secret Staircase mysteries, the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries. Gigi lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the backyard garden. Her new Secret Staircase mystery, The Library Game, was published in March 2025. Connect with Gigi and sign up for her email newsletter at www.gigipandian.com