The Romantic poets provide a rich source of material for Lynn Shepherd’s latest historical mystery, A Fatal Likeness. This is the second outing for Charles Maddox, the discerning detective first introduced as the likely heir to his uncle’s legendary “thief-taking” legacy in Shepherd’s Dickensian mystery The Solitary House. Steeped in well-researched literary lore, A Fatal Likeness proposes an alternative history for Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, her volatile husband and renowned poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and their cohorts. Her multilayered story examines dark turns of mind and mysterious deaths that may be explained by the missing papers Maddox is charged with finding.

Although Maddox tackles the case in 1850, much of A Fatal Likeness takes us back in time to 1816, to the tumultuous summer that brought the Shelleys and Lord Byron together in a writers’ retreat filled with intrigue, infidelities and the ghost stories that gave life to Frankenstein. Shepherd also expands upon the untold story of Claire Clairmont, Mary’s stepsister, going back and forth between the naïve girl entranced by a world of poetry and the practical, self-protective woman Claire has become.

The third-person omniscient narration is at turns engaging and confounding as the past blends with the present. It’s an appropriate confusion, as much of Shepherd’s story hinges on the parallels between then and now. Many characters are mirror images of each other, and their entanglements feed the intrigue, although some complicated relationships will make more sense to Shelley scholars than the average reader.

Shepherd provides an intricate family tree and thorough explanatory notes to help readers discern which parts of the Shelley story are fact and which are fiction. Obviously knowledgeable about the history, Shepherd uses gaps in the record as a jumping-off point for her fiction, while still respecting the writers’ real-life stories. Lovers of literary mysteries and historical fiction will appreciate the balanced approach Shepherd takes in A Fatal Likeness.

A strong, sexy, modern woman is at the helm of Barbara Rogan’s smart new mystery series that kicks off with A Dangerous Fiction. Rogan introduces Jo Donovan, a talented literary agent trying to put her life back together after the death of her larger-than-life husband, esteemed author Hugo Donovan. There’s challenge enough for the grieving widow in running a successful New York literary agency, but Jo faces much more. When a would-be client becomes obsessed with Jo and begins infiltrating her life on a very personal level, she has to figure out the story behind the stalking.

A literary agent turns detective to catch a stalker.

Rogan’s experience as a novelist shows in the way she seamlessly combines a fast-paced mystery with witty literary references, a strong sense of place and an intriguing romance (or two). A New Yorker and a former literary agent herself, Rogan seems equally at ease with casual banter around the slush pile at the agency and the formal show put on at expensive lunches with clients. Readers will feel at ease, too, as though they are part of the literary world’s inner circle.

Adding to the sense of camaraderie is the first-person narration by Jo herself. We’re in her head a lot of the time, and when the stalker’s efforts escalate to include Jo's clients, staff and closest friends, it feels personal. Even though Rogan separates us from the violence a bit by describing the acts after they’ve been committed, the way each blow hits Jo is palpable. She’s shocked by the awful things happening around her but helpless to stop them.

Or is she? As the book progresses, the reader slowly comes to realize that Jo's perspective might be a little skewed. Are there things that her grief has kept her from remembering or understanding? As we come to doubt our narrator, we also have reason to suspect almost every character in the novel, and a great deal of the fun comes from trying to guess who the real culprit is. Is it the handsome detective who appears from Jo’s past? Or maybe the aggressive agent vying for Jo’s position at the agency? It’s not easy to predict, although the clues are there, and Rogan spins out the suspense even after the case seems to be closed.

There’s always another side to the story, and Jo Donovan has to do some deep digging to reveal it. A thoroughly entertaining and engaging mystery, A Dangerous Fiction is not the last we’ll see of Jo Donovan, as Rogan is currently at work on the sequel.

Fans of James Lee Burke’s long-running Dave Robicheaux series (20 books, if you’re counting) will cheer the release of his new novel—it’s the perfect book to sink into and while away a hot, muggy summer evening. In Light of the World, the Louisiana detective is in Montana enjoying a crisp, clear, windblown summer along with wife Molly, daughter Alafair, buddy Clete and Clete’s daughter, Gretchen, recently introduced in the series.

But the breezes and mountain vistas take second shift as the novel progresses. Alafair is convinced someone is watching her, a lurking presence in town and out in the backcountry. She’s certain she recognizes her stalker. But how could it be convicted serial killer Asa Surrette, who supposedly met a recent fiery death when the prison van in which he was riding collided with an oil tanker? If it is Surrette, he’s got a big score to settle with lawyer and novelist Alafair, who heaped literary coals on Surrette’s head at the time of his trial and sentencing. The pristine mountain landscape is suddenly clouded, with every cave and hideaway a potential lair for the evil that seems bent on pursuing the Robicheaux crew.

Burke is at the peak of his formidable descriptive powers here, depicting violence at every turn and terror in the dark places of mind and landscape. He is at his best when he presents a circus of oddments who make their indelible mark in this marvelous hunk of a story—including Wyatt Dixon, a cowboy and self-described rodeo man whose eccentricities—including speaking in tongues—mask a steely readiness for battle. When Wyatt is protecting his newfound girlfriend, Miss Bertha, Burke describes how the cowboy’s “upper body was streaming with sweat and stenciled with nests of veins when he struck the first blow.” There’s a badass detective named Jack Boyd and a creamy-skinned “nocturnal flower” named Felicity. And Dave himself takes a scary turn toward the Scriptural in a battle of his own against the devil he knows or imagines.

Dave and Clete intersperse their meditations on the limits of rationality and the battle between good and evil with episodes of starkly drawn suspense, with Burke’s hard-edged, offbeat humor always at the ready. Everyone’s familiar with buddy flicks, but this variation beats all, in a climactic battle of dads and daughters against the forces of evil.