Debut novels are always fascinating because we are all waiting for the next big bestselling author and read them in the hope that this is the one. It is also interesting to see if the novel is following modern trends or maybe breaking through with something original. Right now publishers seem to be willing to put more money into new authors in the hope that they will have the next break-out book. There are times when a first book gets so much money behind it that it does take off, but without great word of mouth it can run out of popularity quickly. Many times it isn’t an author’s first book that really takes off but maybe the second or third book that suddenly makes that author join the ranks of bestselling authors. Every month sees new authors trying to make an impact and here are just a few recent debuts.

Reading right now:

“The Monsters We Make” by Kali White takes place in the 1980s in suburbia where young boys are being molested and killed. This novel looks back on a time in America where allegations against a daycare center had Americans in the grip of hysteria regarding sex abuse crimes against children. This novel is based on a real life case of abductions of paperboys in Des Moines, Iowa. If the book had been written in the 1980s, the police would probably save the day. Since it has been written in 2020 in a time when police procedural books are not as popular as they once were, the police are useless and every other adult fails the young boys who are being molested and disappeared. I don’t want to say too much more about this book because I don’t want to give away too much of the plot. Let’s just say that this book is really well-written, surprising, and suspenseful. (Need help: see CDC website https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/childsexualabuse.html)

 

On hold right now:

The new debut novel from Avery Bishop “Girl Gone Mad” is a twisty thriller about the horrors of bullying. The Harpies, a middle school clique of six popular girls, bullied a classmate and swore never to tell the truth about their part in Grace’s tragic story. Fourteen years later, the bullies have grown up and one-by-one are dying under mysterious circumstances. Either Grace is back for revenge or someone in their group is getting even for her.

“Murder at Hotel 1911” by Audrey Keown is not only a debut novel but the first in a new series. Ivy Nicholas is an hotel clerk with a tendency to have panic attacks. She is an unlikely hero until one of the guests drops dead from a shellfish allergy and her friend who happens to be the hotel’s chef is accused of being careless and giving the guest something he knew she was allergic to. Ivy steps in to try to find out what really happened because she knows George would never make such a mistake.

Once again “For Whom the Book Tolls” by Laura Gail Black is a debut novel and the first in a new series. This Antique Bookshop mystery series centers around Jenna Quinn who finds her uncle murdered in his antique book store and finds herself his primary beneficiary. The million dollars he leaves her seems like a prime motive to local police so Jenna must try to find who really killed her uncle before she ends up in jail forever.

Maggie Blackburn’s first novel is also the first in her new Beach Reads mystery series called “Little Bookshop of Murder.” As Summer Merriweather’s career goes under she inherits a beach-side bookshop from her Mother who dies unexpectedly. As Summer tries to settle the estate, she discovers threatening notes that were left for her Mother and suspects murder. Obviously she cannot leave without finding out what really happened to her Mother.

Other Mysterious Things:

I have found myself reading more cozies since the pandemic, but this month sees some very dark debut novels coming out filled with revenge, child abuse, family drama, and even racist cults. Since I just finished “The Monsters We Make” and really enjoyed it, I am going to toss in a few of these more hardcore debut mysteries just in case you want a little more thrills in your life. Stephanie Buelens “An Inconvenient Woman” which centers around Claire Fontaine’s discovery that her ex-husband is getting married again to a woman with a teenage daughter. Claire suspects that her ex abused her daughter and attempts to stop the marriage.  “Sins of the Bees” by Annie Lampman follows the lives of two women who are involved in a doomsday cult. “The Stepdaughter” by Georgina Cross is not surprisingly about a stepmother who is suspected in the death of her stepdaughter, but she suspects that her husband is involved.