What does it mean to be a bestselling author? It seems to depend. For the “New York Times” how books make it on their list is a trade secret. It seems reasonable to think that bookstores and publishers would keep records of book sales and be able to compile lists. But somehow when you try to find a definitive way that books are categorized as bestsellers it doesn’t seem to be that straight forward. Despite the mysterious nature of what a bestseller is we seem to know one when we see one. We also know that once an author has one bestseller, all the books that follow are written by a “bestselling” author and once you get that distinction no one can take it away. Let’s talk about the current bestselling authors with books coming out in February.

Reading right now:

Jonathan Kellerman’s “The Museum of Desire” is his 35^th book in the Psychologist Alex Delaware series. This is a terrific series that hasn’t lost its edge. In the current installment, Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis work to unravel the mystery behind an inexplicable massacre of four people killed in a stretch limo by a Bel Air mansion. The dead have no connection to each other, were killed in a variety of ways, and have been displayed bizarrely. Definitely a case for a Psychologist.

On hold right now:
James Patterson’s “Blindside” is the 12^th book in the Michael Bennett series written in conjunction with James O. Born. Detective Bennett agrees to help the mayor of New York find his missing 21-year-old daughter. Bennett finds ties to the Mayor’s daughter and a homicide in the Bronx that leads back to an hacking operation. The homicide is part of a killing spree with national security implications.

C. J. Box’s “Long Range” which is the 20^th book in his Joe Pickett series. Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett investigates an attempted murder of a local judge’s wife. To top it off there is a grizzly bear attack. Plus a threat to his best friend who is suspected of being the assassin.

J. D. Robb’s latest is “Golden in Death” the 50^th book in her In Death series. Homicide detective Eve Dallas finds herself investigating a murder where the motive is unclear and the weapon is terrifying. When an airborne toxin is released in a gift to Pediatrician Kent Abner, Dallas can find no possible suspects. After another person dies in the same way, she must look for connections that might lead to a killer.


I love Agent Pendergast. Such an unusual yet familiar investigator. “Crooked River” is the 19^th in this FBI agent series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child which now finds Pendergast trying to uncover the mystery of the severed feet found floating in the ocean. Not two feet mind you but many feet. This is bound to be great!

Other Mysterious Things:

Many bestselling mystery authors write series books, but not all. Sophie Hannah’s new book “Perfect Little Children” is a standalone novel. Mary Kubica’s latest “The Other Mrs.” is also a standalone. Lisa Jackson’s latest (“Last Girl Standing”) is not only a standalone, but she is writing it with Nancy Bush. Sarah Pinborough’s “Dead to Her” is a standalone. Lots of great mysteries to look forward to.

The main character in a mystery can be in just about any walk of life. Many mystery books revolve around professional detectives which we usually consider a police detective or criminal investigator who is a sworn law enforcement professional. Plus there are Private Investigators whom we consider licensed professionals who can be hired to investigate. Sometimes PIs are retired police officers. Sherlock Holmes called himself a consulting detective. Journalists are often the main character in a mystery since they can get themselves into situations which requires sleuthing. Jessica Fletcher and Father Brown have solved many mysteries proving that anyone can do it. The following new sleuths range from a Child Protective Officer to a medical examiner.

Reading right now:

Phillip Depoy’s latest is the fourth book (“Sidewalk Saint”) in the Foggy Moskowitz series. Foggy is a Child Protective Officer who finds himself searching for a missing eleven-year-old girl named Etta whose father has broken out of jail in order to help save her life. While Foggy searches for her so does Canadian mobsters, New York Irishmen, the FBI, and the Seminole elite. Most of these people want Etta to keep quiet about something she knows that could harm them. It’s up to Foggy to find her, help her reveal the truth, and keep her alive.

On hold right now:

Chad Dundas’ “The Blaze” centers around army veteran Matthew Rose who returns to Montana after his father’s death to settle his affairs. Matthew lost much of his memory from a brain injury he received in Iraq, but when he sees a house burn down it triggers a memory of another fire. This memory leads him down a road that may not only solve a murder from long ago, but help him to resolve his own past.

Lee Goldberg’s new novel is the first in a new series with Los Angeles County Sheriff Deputy Eve Ronin (called “Lost Hills”). As the youngest female homicide detective in the department’s history, Eve faces resentment and hostility. When her arrest of a movie star is captured on video and goes viral, she becomes the new face of the LA County Sheriff’s department. When she and her burned out partner catch what looks like the murder of a mother and her two kids, she must work to prove herself and find out what happened to the family.

Andrew Grant’s second book in his Paul McGrath series is called “Too Close to Home.” This unusual series centers around Paul McGrath, ex-military intelligence, who goes undercover on his own as a courthouse janitor to find justice first for his father and also for those who have been wronged by a corrupt system. 

Other Mysterious Things:

Dr. Judy Melinek teams up with her husband T.J. Mitchell to write what may well become the next hot medical examiner series. “First Cut” takes place in San Francisco and centers around medical examiner Dr. Jessie Teska. Judy Melinek is a forensics expert in real life so has the background to make the book realistic and gritty. It’s exciting to think that this may be the start of a series that could become as famous as Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles, Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta, or Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan.

Cozy mysteries are a mystery subgenre where the hero is usually an amateur who is placed in a situation which leads them to try to solve the mystery. Putting an amateur in the place of a professional detective helps us believe that anyone can be a hero and anyone can make a difference. Cozies can be and often are fun and light. Often cozies have less sex and violence than a regular mystery or the sex and violence is treated more lightly. Lots of cozies take place in small towns or in a very specific setting (examples would be where the head chef at the White House solves mysteries, or where the local antique dealer seems to always be involved in solving crimes). Cozies opened up the Mystery genre to readers who couldn’t deal with the violence of many mysteries. There are many cozy mystery authors and every month sees new additions come out. The next two months are no exception.

Reading right now:

Ellie Alexander’s latest is the third book in her Sloan Krause series (“Beyond a Reasonable Stout”). When a city councilman running for mayor on a platform to close the local breweries is found killed, brew master Sloan Krause agrees to help her friend who is suspected of the murder and soon discovers that the victim was blackmailing townspeople to get their votes. In the first book in this series, we found Sloan Krause leaving her husband over his infidelity and finding a new place in life. By this third novel, she has settled into her job as brew master and into the life of Leavenworth, Washington.

On hold right now:

Rita Mae Brown has been writing since the 1970s. “Scarlet Fever” is the 12^th book in her Jane Arnold series. Sister Jane Arnold is master of the hunt club and finds herself investigating when one of the more dashing members of the Hunt is found dead in an antique store with a stolen ring in his pocket.

Anne Canadeo’s “Hounds of the Basket Stitch” is the third book in the Black Sheep & Co. mystery series. When two sisters living in a remote area of Plum Harbor are attacked and neither has any recollection of what happened, the Black Sheep knitters decide to investigate.

Laura Childs writing with Terry Farley Moran presents the 16^th book in the Scrapbooking series (“Mumbo Gumbo Murder”). New Orleans scrapbooking shop-owner Carmella investigates when she finds a friend’s body in his antique shop.

Joanne Fluke’s “The Chocolate Shark Shenanigans” isn’t just a great title, but also the 17^th book in her Chocoholic mystery series. Chocolatier Lee and her husband Joe are looking over an old house they plan to buy, fix up, and sell when they come across the body of a small-time developer who was also interested in buying the house in a case that goes back to Joe’s schooldays when he was part of a gang of five boys who hung out in the basement of the house.

G.A. McKevitt’s second book in her Granny Reid mystery series is called “Murder in the Corn Maze.” Savannah Reid’s case begins when she is taken to a corn maze at the antebellum mansion of a local judge, and she and her grandmother find a long-dead corpse still in its Sunday best in a mystery with distinctive characters and an insightful look at Southern culture.

Other Mysterious Things:

Cozy mysteries aren’t just popular books, but can also appear on television. “Murder She Wrote” was a very long running television program and the books are still being written. The first “Murder She Wrote” novels were written by James Anderson. By 1989 the series was being written by Donald Bain who wrote 47 books in the series until his death when Jon Land took over the series. Now Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land’s Murder She Wrote series continues with “A Time for Murder” which is the 51^st book in the series. In the latest novel, Jessica returns to the high school where she taught for a former colleague’s retirement party, but the colleague is murdered in a way that hearkens back to the very first murder Jessica investigated when she was a young teacher, the death of the school’s principal.