Mystery and Historical fiction ...

Switching between time periods seems to be a favorite vehicle of several recent mysteries, including:

HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER by Kristen Perrin is the top pick on the LibraryReads list for March and author Perrin’s adult fiction debut offers a diverting mystery set in an English country village. The events toggle between two time periods: mid 1960s and present day. In the past, teenager Francis and friends Emily and Rose receive a disturbing fortune about a death – it takes 60 years for the prophecy to be realized and Frances’ great niece, Annie Adams, sets out to solve the puzzle and inherit the estate. Both story lines are suspenseful with multiple complex characters and troubling occurrences. Despite the many suspects, though, there were abundant clues and the murderer was telegraphed fairly early. HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER also received a starred review from Booklist and indications are that cozy mystery fans will have more of Annie’s adventures to look forward to in the future.

THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE by Jo Piazza contrasts events in the 1920s and today in the Sicilian countryside. Serafina Marsala is an independently minded woman who learns to be a healer after her husband heads to America in the early part of the last century. On her own, Serafina was treated with suspicion and ultimately seen as a brutalized murder victim; her descendant and namesake, Sara Marsala, arrives to claim a property inheritance and to try to set her own troubled life back on track. There is much Sara does not understand about local customs and her innkeeper, Giusy, is often an unreliable source. Readers will empathize with Serafina’s long ago efforts to use her medical skills and to help the villagers despite many prejudices. A much weaker character who yearns to be more of a role model for her young daughter, Sara, too, faces grave physical danger. Filled with vivid descriptions of Sicilian life and culture, THE SICILIAN INHERITANCE received a starred review from Booklist.