Mass Murder

Mysteries & Crime novels set in Massachusetts (1996-1998)

Barnes, Linda Cold Case. Delacorte, 1997. The mother of a long-dead teenage literary genius hires Carlotta to locate the author of a manuscript written in her daughter’s style. Boston, Cambridge, Marblehead Fic M

Conant, Susan. Animal Appetite. Doubleday, 1997. Dog columnist Holly Winters researches Haverhill’s Indian captive, Hannah Duston, as well as the murder a decade ago of a local publisher. Cambridge Fic M

Conant, Susan. Barker Street Regulars. Doubleday, 1998. Visiting a nursing home with her newly-qualified therapy dog, Rowdy, Holly Winters becomes involved in fraud and murder. Cambridge Fic M

Craig, Philip. A Deadly Vineyard Holiday. Scribner, 1997. Ex-policeman and parttime investigator J. W. Jackson befriends and later protects the teenage daughter of the vacationing president after she receives threats. Martha’s Vineyard Fic M

Craig, Philip. A Shoot on Martha’s Vineyard. Scribner, 1998. Detective-fisherman J. W, Jackson, obsessed with being a new father, is suspect when a state biologist with whom he had past disagreements is murdered. Martha’s Vineyard Fic M

Dobson, Joanne. Quieter than sleep. Doubleday, 1997. After English professor Karen Pelletier discovers the body of a fellow professor at a college Christmas party, police ask her to look into his research to find a motive for murder. Western Massachusetts Fic M

Goldstone, Nancy. Mommy and the Money. Harper Collins, 1997. Still suspect by the police of her ex-husband’s murder, Elizabeth Halperin becomes involved with a real estate developer and several other odd characters intent on recovering millions of dollars of stolen investment money. The Berkshires Fic M

Gunning, Sally. Muddy water. Pocket Books, 1997. Peter Bartholomew and his ex-wife investigate when a bride and groom are missing on their wedding day. The groom is found dazed and bloody and the bride is found at the bottom of a well. Cape Cod PB/A

Healy, Jeremiah. The only good lawyer. Pocket Books, 1998. P.I. John Cuddy reluctantly agrees to look into the case of a racist accused of murdering his estranged wife’s Afro-American lawyer. Boston Fic M

Kemprecos, Paul. Bluefin Blues. St. Martin’s, 1997. A Japanese fishing tycoon hires "Soc" Socarides to investigate his grandson’s harpoon death in the midst of a competitive bluefish tuna fishing rivalry. Cape Cod Fic M

Kilmer, Nicholas. O Sacred Head. Holt, 1997. Fred Taylor is summoned by police to identify a painting found at the site of a grizzly murder in a Cambridge condo. Arlington, Cambridge, Boston Fic M

Langton, Jane. The Face on the Wall. Home and Mary Kelly’s niece, Annie Swann, a children’s book illustrator, becomes involved in magic, mayhem, and murder, as she paints a mural depicting her favorite children’s authors and some of their characters. Western suburbs Fic M

Lee, Marie. The Mysterious Cape Cod Manuscript. Avalon Books, 1997. Retired school teacher Marguerite Smith is implicated in her ex-husband’s murder after he threatened her ownership in her house. Cape Cod Fic M

Lehane, Dennis. Sacred. A terminally ill billionaire hires PIs Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro to find his missing daughter; the first private investigator he hired to locate her has also disappeared. Boston, Marblehead Fic M

Luber, Philip. Deliver Us from Evil. Fawcett, 1996. Trouble stalks psychiatrist Harry Kline when his patient and his lover are both suspects in a suspicious hit-and-run death. Concord PB/A

Luber, Philip. Pray for us sinners. Fawcett, 1998. The FBI Special Agent girlfriend of psychiatrist Harry Kline decides to look into the twenty-five year old unsolved murder of her mother, a murder she witnessed as a child. Boston area PB/A

Maness, Larry. Strangler. Lyford Books, 1998. Hired by a reporter to look into the murder of a Harvard researcher, detective Jake Eaton finds similarities to other recent murders, as well as cases attributed to the Boston Strangler many years earlier. Boston/Cambridge Fic M

Mathews, Francine Death in a Cold Hard Light. Bantam, 1998. The island police chief assigns his daughter, Detective Merry Folger, the case of a fisherman’s drowning death, possibly brought on by a drug overdose. Nantucket Fic M

Mathews, Francine. Death in a Mood Indigo, Bantam, 1997. Detective Merry Folger is busy with two cases: human bones unearthed by children on a beach and the murder of an elementary school teacher. Nantucket Fic M

Minichino, Camille. The Helium Murder. Avalon Books, 1998. Retired physicist Gloria Lamerino, an advisor to the police on science matters, investigates the hit-and-run murder of a congresswoman involved in the disposition of America’s helium supplies. Revere Fic M

Neely, Barbara. Blanche Cleans Up. Viking, 1998. Cook-housekeeper Blanche White investigates several murders and becomes involved in scandals in her employer’s household, as well as her own community. Roxbury/Brookline/Boston Fic M

Parker, Robert B. Night Passage. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1997. Parker introduces Jesse Stone, an ex-LA policeman who moves to Massachusetts as the new police chief in a coastal town troubled by mob ties, militiamen, and murder. North Shore Fic M

Parker, Robert B. Small Vices. A black criminal has been found guilty of murdering a white college student. His public defender and the former prosecutor, believing he may not have committed the crime, hire Spenser to investigate. Boston area/some Andover scenes Fic M

Parker, Robert B. Sudden Mischief. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1998. Spenser’s girlfiend, Susan, asks for his help when her ex-husband is accused of sexual harassment. Boston/Cambridge Fic M

This is just a sampling. For more mysteries set in Massachusetts, go to the NoveList database and do a natural language search for "mysteries and Massachusetts."

This latest booklist in the Mass Murder series was produced by Nancy E. Richards, with assistance from Florence Feldman-Wood in October, 1998