This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

This week’s column features serial mysteries from our New Large Print collection.

Between a Flock and a Hard Place is the latest Meg Langslow mystery by Donna Andrews. Meg’s neighbors, the Smetkamps’, have won a makeover for their old home from Marvelous Mansions, a gregarious, and completely suspicious company, focused on making historic homes more “modern.” Tensions are running high–not only between the officious, demanding Mrs. Smetkamp and her neighbors, but also between her and the renovation crew. Meg, who is trying to keep the peace and prevent the makeover crew from trampling on every one of the county’s building codes, arrives to find that Caerphilly’s resident flock of feral turkeys has moved into their yard–or been relocated there by someone who wanted to cause them trouble. The turkeys are huge, territorial, cranky and aggressive and absolutely impossible to move! Meg does what she can to calm down the irate neighbors and help the makeover crew make progress despite the turkeys. But when Meg’s group of improvised turkey wranglers arrive, they find the body of Mrs. Smetkamp in her backyard. Someone stabbed her, and then tried to make it look as if she was attacked by one of the turkeys, but Meg, the Chief and the Sheriff are not fooled.

The third Record Shop Mystery by Olivia Blacke is called Rhythm and Clues. It’s been five whole months since the last murder in Cedar River, Texas, and Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie have been be-bopping along when disaster once again rears its ugly head. Their struggling vinyl records shop/coffee nook, Sip & Spin Records, is under pressure from predatory investors, though the Jessup sisters aren’t ready to face the music and admit defeat. The night after their meeting, the sketchy financier is murdered outside their shop during a torrential Texas thunderstorm that takes out all the roads in and out of town. Now the sisters find themselves trapped in Cedar River with a killer, and Juni is determined to solve the case. When the river throws out an unexpected surprise, Detective Beau Russell asks for Juni’s help. Up until now, the Jessup sisters have been playing it by ear, but with the whole town watching, can they catch a killer before he strikes again?

The first title in Wanda Brunstetter’s new mystery series is called The Protector. In book one of A Mifflin County Mystery series, an Amish family’s faith is tested. After a night out with her boyfriend, Rosa Petersheim has disappeared from the Big Valley without a trace. Norman Petersheim always considered himself his sister’s protector, and he can’t believe she would have left home of her own accord. Clearly, he must have failed her. He throws all he has into helping the authorities search for Rosa, while trying to support his parents and siblings–who are struggling both mentally and physically. Salina Swarey loves Norman and hopes they are headed toward marriage, but his obsession with Rosa’s whereabouts is driving them apart. Can Norman find peace and contentment, even if he never learns where Rosa has gone?

The 28th entry in Laura Childs’s Tea Shop Mysteries is titled Peach Tea Smash. Murder at an Alice in Wonderland–themed event threatens to send Theodosia Browning through the looking glass. During the Mad Hatter Masquerade, a fundraiser hosted by the Friends of the Opera on the grounds of the old Pendleton Grist Mill, Harlan Sadler, husband of Cricket Sadler, the chairwoman, is killed. He’s been hit in the head with a croquet mallet, and his body hung on the chains and paddles of the grist mill. Nobody can figure out why considering Harlan was much beloved by everyone. It’s only after Cricket and Delaine beg Theodosia to investigate that she realizes the killer might have mistaken Harlan for his crazy son, Duke. After all, Duke is a slum landlord and recently injured a woman in a boating accident.

Dating Can Be Deadly is the fifth entry in Amanda Flower’s Amish Matchmaker mysteries. It’s August in Holmes County, and that means it’s time for the Holmes County Fair. It’s the county’s biggest annual event, drawing tourists and locals alike to see livestock, eat too much fried food, and watch the rodeo and speed racing contests. This year, Millie has entered the quilting competition—while her very English best friend, Lois Henry, is distracted by her new dating app and her search for husband number five. In a place where quilting is a way of life, the competition is fierce—especially this year, when an anonymous donor doubles the winning cash prize. Amish and English women are up against each other, and some will do anything to win—even murder. When someone attacks the quilt barn by slashing the quilt display, it’s unsettling enough. When a quilting judge is found murdered, Millie knows it’s time for Lois to get off her app and help her hunt for a killer instead—before the competition is wiped out for good.

A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality is the newest entry in Kate Khavari’s Saffron Everleigh mysteries. 1920’s London isn’t the ideal place for a brilliant woman with lofty ambitions. But research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to beat the odds in a male-dominated field at the University College of London. Saffron embarks on her first research study alongside the insufferably charming Dr. Michael Lee, traveling the countryside with him in response to reports of poisonings. When Detective Inspector Green is given a case with a set of unusual clues, he asks for Saffron’s assistance. The victims, all women, received bouquets filled with poisonous flowers. Saffron discovers that the bouquets may be more than just unpleasant flowers— there may be a hidden message within them, revealed using the old Victorian practice of floriography. Alongside Dr. Lee and her best friend, Elizabeth, Saffron trails a group of suspects through a dark jazz club, a lavish country estate, and a glittering theatre, delving deeper into a part of society she thought she’d left behind forever. Will Saffron be able to catch the killer before they send their next bouquet, or will she find herself with fatal flowers of her own?