Books come and go, and mysteries are prolific in the fiction category—but some stand out above the others. There’s nothing quite like a suspenseful tale well told.

Stephen Gallagher’s The Bedlam Detective is his second book to feature Sebastian Becker (after The Kingdom of Bones), an investigator for the Crown who is charged with discovering who among the affluent population may be deemed insane and therefore unable to manage their own affairs. It is 1912 in England, and Becker arrives in the village of Arnmouth to visit Sir Owain Lancaster’s estate and determine whether the once-rich landowner may be responsible for the murder of two young girls who were found dead on his estate grounds.

Sir Owain is the number-one suspect, possibly guilty of both madness and murder. His personal journals tell a creepy tale that winds throughout the story, describing dragons and monsters that he claims pursued him during an adventure into the Amazon some years back, when nearly everyone in his party was murdered, including his own wife and son. He still sees beasts no one else can see and says they have committed the recent murders.

For those who love a tale of phantoms, this engrossing book has it all. One can sense terror hiding in a derelict country cottage in Arnmouth or lurking on the mist-shrouded streets of London. Each character is vividly drawn here, including Evangeline, an energetic young suffragette, and her childhood friend, Lucy. Both girls were past victims of the mysterious killer, who left them both for dead—although they are still very much alive. Becker, too, is beset by demons of his own. He must survive a personal tragedy that leaves him to cope with straitened financial circumstances as well as the future of his troubled but brilliant young son.

Throughout The Bedlam Detective, sanity and madness are intertwined and the line between truth and fantasy is paper-thin. Near the book’s end, readers are treated to a hair-raising hallucinatory trip in which butterfly specimens come alive in glass cases; the eyes of a stone carving move; and ghosts speak. Filled with precise yet haunting prose, The Bedlam Detective will shock and sustain readers, keeping them on the edge of their seats.

Author Tessa Harris is sure to garner a host of followers for her new mystery series featuring Dr. Thomas Silkstone, anatomist and forensic detective. The Anatomist’s Apprentice opens at a time in late 18th-century England when many scientists pioneering in the new fields of dissection and anatomy have become fascinated by the field’s forensic possibilities and are increasingly being called to crime scenes to help determine cause of death in possible cases of murder.

Against this historical backdrop, Dr. Silkstone finds himself drawn away from his laboratory and classroom to assist in exhuming and examining a corpse at the request of the victim’s sister Lydia, who fears that Lord Edward Crick may have been murdered. Even more shockingly, she secretly fears the perpetrator may have been her own husband. Silkstone must isolate and identify the substances present in the victim’s body. He also must identify the people who had the means and motive to ensure that Edward would breathe his last breath at their secret behest.

When Silkstone falls in love with Lydia, he finds no solace when her husband, Captain Farrell, is arrested for the murder: He believes the man to be innocent. He must carefully investigate all those with close connections to the murdered man, including Lady Crick, Lydia’s weak-minded mother; the maidservant, Hannah Lovelock, whose own daughter has recently died tragically; Lord Edward’s cousin, Francis Crick, once a suitor to Lydia; and Captain Farrell’s own lawyer, James Lavington, a longtime tenant on the estate with an agenda of his own.

The descriptions in The Anatomist’s Apprentice will boggle readers’ minds: There are shelves of flasks, flagons, bottles, jars and other containers of herbs, leaves, oils, creams, lotions, plants, fungi and odd-smelling roots. These tools are the sort cultivated and understood not only by doctors and scientists, but by farmers and plainspoken folk who use them routinely—and sometimes not so routinely—in their daily lives.

Difficult as it is to imagine that men were attracted to women as seemingly useless and docile as Lady Crick, this is a novel of its time, and Dr. Silkstone must work through his own horrible suspicions as he seeks to protect Lydia while proving her husband’s innocence. Tricks, twists and turns prevail throughout the story. The author’s detailed research on the historical era pays off handsomely in this engrossing, lively and satisfying series debut.

Mystery fans will be delighted to learn that Margaret Maron has penned a new book in her long-running Deborah Knott series. Three-Day Town is unique because Knott meets up for the first time with Lt. Sigrid Harald, who has crossed over from another of Maron’s popular series for a double delight.

Judge Deborah Knott and hubby Dwight have been married a year, and they’re finally getting to leave North Carolina and take their honeymoon—a week in New York City, in an apartment loaned to them by an in-law. They arrive on the eve of a winter snowstorm and anticipate a week of walking, museums, theater and other honeymoon activities. Dwight soon discovers New York’s famous Fairway Market, and the pair settle in with grocery bags of delicious goodies for some overdue time together.

But soon a small glitch introduces big trouble. Deborah has brought a mysterious wrapped package to deliver at the request of a distant relative. The intended receiver, Anne Harald, is on a trip, so her daughter, Lt. Sigrid herself, phones to inquire about the item. She asks Deborah to open the package, which turns out to be an intricate bronze statuette depicting male bodies intertwined in Kama Sutra-like positions. This surprise brings Sigrid calling to retrieve the strange object, but she arrives on the heels of a murder in the couple’s loaner apartment: The building’s “super” is dead and the statuette has gone missing. An assortment of apartment residents with stories to tell; a gaggle of elevator men and building staff; and a second death add to the fast-thickening plot.

Three-Day Town is number 17 in the series, but Maron writes with such skill that new readers can open the book and fly, right from page one. Related characters slide in easily, with earlier occurrences woven throughout the story—so newcomers to the series won’t be lost. Maron’s loyal fans will love this new pairing of the outgoing, garrulous Deborah with the slim, grey-eyed and serious-minded Sigrid.

Author Maron’s strong suit, as always, is her impeccable sense of place. She beautifully evokes the scenes and sounds of the Big Apple, from the bustle of Times Square and glitter of Broadway to the mountains of trash bags piled high on the streets after a big storm. This enjoyable entry is a great walk in the park—make that Central, of course, with snowflakes.