If you enjoy a good series, August finds some amazingly famous bestselling mystery authors adding books to series that you do not want to miss. I spend a lot of time during the year hoping for another Agent Pendergast book and am thrilled that August is finally here so that I can see where Preston and Child are taking the character. August also finds the latest from James Lee Burke and William Kent Krueger and many others. There is certainly a lot to look forward to this month.

Reading right now:

Ace Atkins’ eleventh book in his Quinn Colson series is “The Heathens.” Sheriff Quinn Colson and his former deputy Lillie Virgil who is now a U.S. Marshal work together to find the truth about a murder where a teen is accused of killing her mother and runs away with family and friends. Virgil goes after the group while Colson stays home to investigate the murder. Colson doesn’t believe that the daughter killed her mother and that she ran-away because she knew no one would believe her.

On hold right now:

Louise Penny adds the 17^th book to her Chief Inspector Gamache series this month which is called “The Madness of Crowds.” While taking a snow vacation, Gamache is asked to provide security for a Professor speaking at the local university. Why a Chief Inspector of Homicide was asked to do the job becomes obvious when Gamache examines the views of the woman he would be protecting. When he tries to get the University to cancel the program, he is accused of censorship. His fear of violence is confirmed when arguments and fights start to break out over Professor Robinson’s views and finally someone is murdered.

Agent Pendergast shows up in the 20^th book in the series called “Bloodless” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. This time around Pendergast faces the challenge of finding who left bloodless bodies all over Savannah. There seems to be a link between the murders and the famous hijacker D.B. Cooper.

“Another Kind of Eden” is James Lee Burke’s latest addition to the Holland Family series. It is the early 1960s and Aaron Holland Broussard is riding the rails to find jobs that will help him survive while writing his book. When he gets off in Denver, he gets romantically involved with a young college student. Unfortunately, she is already involved with one of her professors. Before you know it, Aaron is dealing with a drug-addled cult, a sinister businessman, and grotesque murders.

“Lighning Strike” is William Kent Krueger’s 18^th book in the Cork O’Connor series. In this book about small town life, it is the summer of 1963 and twelve-year-old Cork O’Connor finds the body of a man he knows hanging from a tree in an abandoned logging camp. Cork wants answers as much as his Dad (who happens to be the local sheriff) and finds himself trying to find out what is happening in his home town.