While it is almost the end of the year, here are a few more December arrivals not to miss. 

Reading right now:

“My Darling” by Amanda Robson is a domestic thriller about the couple next door. That couple that moves in and you think you are going to be best friends, until everything goes wrong and you find out that perhaps at least one of the new neighbors is completely crazy.

On hold right now:

Rookie detective Natalie Lockhart tackles her second big case (as in the second in the series) in “The Wicked Hour” by Alice Blanchard. Halloween gets out of hand in Burning Lake, New York, and Detective Lockhart must investigate the body of the unknown woman found in the dumpster the next morning. Her investigation leads her to the belief that the body is just the latest in a series of disappearances of women.

Peter Moreira’s “Hitman on Haight” is the second in his Haight Crime series which takes place in San Francisco in the 1960s. San Francisco Detective Jimmy Spracklin must find who killed and dismembered a hippie who happens to be the daughter of a rich industrialist.

Harriet Tyce’s second book is “The Lies You Told” which finds a recently divorced attorney moving to London with her daughter. At first, they have a hard time settling into their new life but soon friendships develop and they start to settle into their new environment. Unfortunately, those new friends may actually be enemies.

Other Mysterious Things:

Other books of interest coming out this month include Victoria Gilbert’s latest “A Deadly Edition” which is the fifth in the Blue Ridge Library mystery series. Molly MacRae’s fourth book in the Highland Bookshop mystery series is "Heather and Homicide.” Sam Carrington’s unusual “The Open House” centers around Nick and Amber Miller who hold an open house to try to sell their house only to have thirteen people enter their house and have only twelve leave.

 

Let’s Stay Home and Read a Book!

 

It is usually the most wonderful time of the year, but right now it’s pretty dangerous out there. The best thing to do right now is stay home and read a book. Here are some of my suggestions. If you haven’t read these yet, you really should. Stay safe, stay home, and have a wonderful Holiday Season in a whole new way.

You might want to start with any Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you are a mystery lover and haven’t read these – you must! And if you have teens or even pre-teens introduce them to Sherlock and see what happens. If you want to go back in time but not as far as Sherlock Holmes take a look at the early Ed McBain and John D. MacDonald mysteries. “The Beast Must Die” by Nicholas Blake is part of a series written in the 1930s that you may have missed. Go back and revisit the classics. They never disappoint and can become old friends that you visit over and over again when you need them.

If you want a good laugh, you must try Carl Hiaasen’s mystery novels. If you get English humor try the 2020 humorous “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman. Other funny mystery authors include Jana DeLeon, Lilian Jackson Braun, Kinky Friedman, Chris Grabenstein, Kellye Garrett, and Tim Dorsey. Humor is something really needed right now so definitely try one of these and you can always fall back on Janet Evanovich.

We live in a time when there are so many amazing books to read that you just cannot get around to them all and 2020 has not disappointed in this area. All of the following are must read mysteries that came out this year. For a dark, creepy domestic thriller do not miss “Magpie Lane” by Lucy Atkins.  Helen Fields “Perfect Kill” is the sixth book in Helen Fields’ DI Callanach series (the first was “Perfect Remains).  “Good Girl, Bad Girl” was the first in a new series by Michael Robotham and he followed it up this year with “When She was Good.” This legal thriller series started off with “Summary Justice” and now the third in the series is“Forced Confessions” by John Fairfax.  Walter Mosley has had a long career with many awards and many amazing books. He newest is “Trouble is What I Do” which is the first book in a series that started with “The Long Fall.” Lisa Jewel’s most recent stand-alone is “Invisible Girl," Simone St. James’ latest is a bit of a horror book which is alright with me because it is amazing and you can always go back and read the rest of her mystery books (“The Sun Down Motel”). “The Night Swim” by Megan Goldin is another great mystery from this timely author. Austrian author Christian White has written two amazing mysteries with the latest being “The Wife and the Widow.”

All of these mysteries will make your hours at home go by quickly and make them much more fun.

 

If you have extra time to read this Christmas, there are lots of new mysteries that take place or revolve around Christmas available to help you fill up that time.

Reading right now:

Wes Markin’s sixth book in his DCI Michael Yorke series is “Christmas with the Conduit.” This book starts out on Christmas day and is a standard police procedural whereas most of the books mentioned here are cozies.

On hold right now:

Ava Zuma’s fifth book in the Sunshine Cove Cozy mystery series is “Christmas Carols and Lipstick Perils.”

Donna Muse has a novella series called Mrs. Pomolo Investigates and her 15^th and 16^th books in the series are “Merry Christmas & Murder” and “Christmas Trees & Trickery.”

“A Corpse for Christmas” is the fifth book in the Izzy Palmer mystery series by Benedict Brown. This is a pretty funny series and Izzy is a Private Investigator.

Jenna St. James presents the eighth book in her Sullivan Sisters mystery series called “Christmas Alley Murder.”

Vicki Delany is bringing her Year Round Christmas mystery series to an end with her fifth and final book in the series called “Dying in a Winter Wonderland.”

The 26^th book in Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen series is the “Christmas Cupcake Murder.”

Anne Perry adds “A Christmas Resolution” to her Christmas series. This is the 18^th book in this historical series.

Carlene O’Connor’s sixth book in the Irish Village mystery series is “Murder at an Irish Christmas.”

Amy Boyles “Witcher Upper Christmas” is her fourth book in the Magical Renovation Mystery. This book is a paranormal mystery where getting ready for Christmas involves solving a murder.

Other Mysterious Things:

There are any number of omnibus collections of Christmas mysteries and/or short story collections available this year. Addison Moore and Bellamy Bloom have “A Christmas to Dismember” which is an omnibus collection of Country Cottage mysteries. Another omnibus collection is “Christmas Crackers” by Christine Bernard, et al. “Christmas Cookie Cozies” is a collection of mysteries by Gretchen Allen, et al. Peggy Ehrhart, et al presents a Christmas omnibus called “Christmas Card Murder.” “Afraid of the Christmas Lights” is a new collection by Mark Billingham, Sophie Hannah and Val McDermid.

Others:

 

Plenty of hot new releases are coming out in December and here are some new additions to some well-known mystery series to add to your list of must reads.

Reading right now:

Jeff Lindsay’s “Fool Me Twice” is the second in the Riley Wolfe series. Once upon a time Lindsay wrote the Dexter series and probably could have retired after the television deals, but instead he is writing a new series about another bad guy who is a master thief. Wolfe is a modern day Robin Hood who gets kidnapped by an arms dealer who wants a fresco stolen from the Vatican. His message to Riley is “do it or die.” Unfortunately, another arms deader wants a double cross or he will kill the woman Riley loves.

On hold right now:

Tami Hoag’s third book in the Broussard and Fourcade series is “Bad Liar.” In their latest case, Broussard and Fourcade find that the disappearance of a successful business man with a loving family is no simple hunting accident. Instead his life was full of secrets that start to unravel as the detectives looks closely at his life.

“Leave No Trace” is the fifth book in the FBI K-9 series by Sara Driscoll. FBI handler Meg Jennings and her K-9 partner head to George to investigate the death of two different victims of an arrow through the heart. While investigating the deaths, more victims are being killed and the motive seems to lie a past that needs to be uncovered.

J.D. Kirk’s ninth book in the DCI Logan series is “A Snowball’s Chance in Hell.” After DCI Jack Logan discovers that a young man who was found on a snowy street frozen to death was actually tortured and killed, he finds that the killer is “The Iceman” who has embarked on a second wave of vigilante justice.

“Wrong Alibi” is the first in a new series by Christina Dodd. The series actually opened with a novella called “Right Motive” which came out last month. Set in Rockin, Alaska the book introduced new police officer Gabriella Donatti. In “Wrong Alibi” Evelyn Jones gets hired by Donald White and when he disappears she is accused and convicted for his murder. She escapes and goes into hiding under an alias until one day Donald White returns and Evelyn becomes a hunter.

Other Mysterious Things:

No one wants to miss the latest addition to a series that they love so I don’t want to forget to mention the following books. Thomas Perry’s latest is his fourth book in the Butcher’s Boy series which is called “Eddie’s Boy.” Nick Oldham adds the 27^th book to his Henry Christie series called “Bad Timing.” “Under the Alaskan Ice” by Karen Harper is the second book in her Alaska Wild series.