Mysterious Women

Track of the Cat  by Nevada Barr
Anna Pigeon, Park Ranger
As a park ranger in western Texas, Anna Pigeon stumbles upon the body of another female anger in an isolated canyon. Suspicious of “official'' evidence pointing to a cougar as killer, Anna looks instead for a human murderer. - Library Journal

The Miracle Strip by Nancy Bartholomew
Sierra Lavotini, Exotic Dancer in Florida
Assertive and gutsy, Sierra and her dog Fluffy, help bartender friend Denise when someone holds Denise's dog for ransom; that is, until they find a body in Denise's apartment and Denise herself disappears. - Library Journal

Slow Burn by Eleanor Taylor Bland
Marti Macalister, Chicago Homicide Cop
Lincoln Prairie, Illinois, may be small in size, but it's big in crime, as four homicides--two arson victims, one hit-and-run casualty, and one death by beating--occupy the time of Marti and her partner Jessenovik. Eyewitnesses are in short supply, although the right-to-life pickets outside the women's-health clinic where the arson occurred provide an ample number of possible, albeit unlikely, suspects. - Booklist

Grime and Punishment by Jill Churchill
Jane Jeffry, Chicago Housewife
Ramona wasn't much of a cleaning woman--some say she wouldn't know a dust bunny from a Doberman--but that's no reason to bump the old girl off, is it? Someone must think so: poor Ramona is found strangled to death with a vacuum chord. Jane Jeffry--mother of three, chairperson of more committees than you can shake a stick at, and part-time sleuth--sets out to find the killer and tie up the loose ends in this irresistible mystery. Grime and Punishment, winner of both Agatha and Macavity Awards for best first mystery book and nominated for an Anthony Award for the same honor, is the first in a series of seven books featuring Jane Jeffry. - Amazon.com

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
Kay Scarpetta, Virginia Medical Examiner
Young women with little in common are being tortured and strangled in Richmond, Virginia. Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta is at the center of the perplexing case, struggling to find the killer, recover vital information stolen from her office computer, and deal with the cops' growing conviction that her lover might just be the murderer.—Booklist

Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson
Goldy Bear, Caterer in Colorado
Fleeing her abusive ex-spouse, Goldy and her teenage son Arch find refuge in the mansion of quirky Gen. Bo Farquhar, a retired munitions and terrorist pro who breezily detonates bombs while gardening and bird-watching. As the general's live-in cook, Goldly still has time to run Goldilocks' Catering and juggle two suitors--psychiatrist Philip Miller and cop Tom Schultz. Philip's shocking death--he careens off a cliff in a BMW after munching her brunch--casts suspicion on Goldy. Which of her foes might want to frame her? - Publisher’s Weekly

Mama Stalks the Past by Nora DeLoach
Candi & Simone Covington, Mother/Daughter Sleuths
Candi is a social worker, a great cook, and a person with more energy and intuition than most; it is refreshing to see that she and her daughter have a relationship unclouded by much mother-daughter angst. A bitter and silent neighbor leaves her substantial property to mama, then it is discovered that the neighbor was poisoned. Soon her ne'er-do-well son is dead, too, after threatening Mama for being named in his mother's will. - Booklist

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter
Stephanie Plum, a New Jersey native, is a laid-off discount lingerie buyer. Desperate for bucks, she decides to pursue a career as an "apprehension agent," tracking down scofflaws for her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie. Her first mission: to bring in Joe Morelli, a cop accused of murder. - Booklist

A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
Kinsey Millhone, California PI
When Laurence Fife was murdered, few mourned his passing. Plenty of people had a reason to want him dead, including, thought the cops, his young and beautiful wife, Nikki. With motive, access, and opportunity, Nikki was their number one suspect. The jury thought so too. Eight years later and out on parole, Nikki Fife hires Kinsey Millhone to find out who really killed her late husband.

Wicked Fix by Sarah Graves
Jacobia Tiptree, Mother in Maine
Everyone in the island town of Eastport, Maine, is cursing the return of Reuben Tate, a bad boy who terrorized half the town in his youth. So no one is too upset when Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree, a transplant from Manhattan, and her friend Ellie White discover Reuben's dead body hanging from the cemetery gate.  Jake had been busy getting her rambling old house ready for winter and working with her ex-husband, Victor, to open a trauma center, but their plans are jeopardized when Victor's scalpel turns out to be the murder weapon, and he's arrested. Victor and Jake have had their trouble in the past, but she knows he's no murderer.—Publisher’s Weekly

Desert Heat by J.A. Jance
Joanna Brady, Arizona sheriff
Joanna Brady finds her husband, Andy, shot in the Arizona desert on the night of their tenth wedding anniversary. But this, and Andy's subsequent suspicious death in the hospital, is only the beginning of the destruction of the comfortable world of Joanna and her nine-year-old daughter, Jenny. The police decide that Andy, a sheriff's deputy, tried to commit suicide. He is further implicated as the hit man in a mob rub-out and fingered as a crooked cop with drug-cartel connections. –Publisher’s Weekly

Edwin of the Iron Shoes by Marcia Muller
Sharon McCone, San Francisco PI
When an elderly antiques dealer is murdered, P.I. Sharon McCone follows a killer's trail to a museum where San Francisco's most elegant socialites gather.—Book jacket

Legwork by Katy Munger
Casey Jones, unlicensed PI in Raleigh, NC
Casey Jones isn't a great beauty. Nor is she a licensed P.I.--a criminal record prohibits that. But she is smart, tough and tenacious. All of which comes in handy because the influential Senate hopeful she's been guarding has just been arrested for murder. As Jones dodges the official investigation, she stumbles upon some nasty secrets shared by her client and the killer. - Publisher’s Weekly

Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky
V.I. Warshawsky, Chicago PI
Hired by a man who calls himself John Thayer, V.I.'s assignment is to find Thayer’s son Peter’s missing girlfriend. But when V.I. finds young Peter's dead body instead, her client disappears. Her efforts to track down her client and learn his true identity take her deep into a labyrinth of fraud and violence.

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow
Kate Shugak, Aleut investigator in Alaska
Detective Kate Shugak became the top investigator for the Anchorage District Attorney's Office. But after getting her throat cut while apprehending a child abuser, she has retired to the Park, 20 million acres of Alaskan wilderness, snow and eccentrics. When a park ranger--a congressman's son--disappears, as does the investigator sent after him, the FBI and Shugak's old boss ask for her help. - Publisher’s Weekly

Bubbles Unbound by Sarah Strohmeyer
Bubbles Yablonsky, hairdresser and budding journalist in Lehigh, PA
Bubbles Yablonsky, a 34-year-old hairdresser/divorcee, may dress and look like a blonde Barbie-doll bimbo, but she aspires to a more brain-intensive job as an investigative journalist. She grabs her main chance when she and a hunky but elusive photographer named Stiletto discover a dead body--along with the apparent perpetrator, who is drunk and just happens to be the antidrug-crusading wife of a local steel magnate. Suffice to say, Bubbles's revelatory story causes endless repercussions. A sexy, irrepressible heroine, riotous supporting characters, continual action, ubiquitous humor, and even a makeup tip or two make this a highly recommended series debut. - Library Journal