December 2018/ January 2019

New and Forthcoming in Hardcover

Adams, Ellery. The Whispered Word (Ken, 26.00) Dec. When Nora and her friends from the Secret, Book, and Scone Society befriend a young woman covered with bruises, they know she needs help, but when a customer is found dead allegedly a suicide, they find a connection to the young woman, who may be a suspect—or the next victim.

Adams, Taylor. No Exit (HC, 26.99) Jan. A woman trying to reach her seriously-ill mother is forced by a Colorado blizzard to stop at a roadside visitor’s center where she finds four other stranded travelers and a young girl in a dog crate locked inside a van, and she must save the child without knowing which of the travelers is the kidnapper.

Barry, Jessica. Freefall (HC, 27.99) Jan. When a woman learns that her estranged daughter is missing and presumed dead following the crash of a private plane owned by a powerful pharmaceutical company in the Colorado Rockies, she becomes obsessed with retracing her daughter’s last two years only to discover that she didn’t know her daughter very well at all.

Barton, Fiona. The Suspect (Brk, 26.00) Jan. A journalist is pleased to be assigned the story of two British teenagers who went missing after a fire in a Bangkok hostel, because she wants to reunite with her estranged son who is working in Thailand, but she is horrified to discover that he is the main suspect in the investigation.

Balzo, Sandra. Murder á la Mocha (SH, 28.99) Jan. Driving home one night, coffee-shop owner Maggie finds a bedraggled Chihuahua on the road and discovers that the dog sitter is her business partner’s niece, but when she goes to check on the dog and its sitter later, she finds a dead body and no sign of the other two.

Bell, Maymee. Batter Off Dead (Per, 26.99) Dec. Pastry-chef Sophie has been hired to provide desserts for a library fundraiser, but the host is iced before he can pay her for her services, and she finds that she must find the killer or face the loss of her business.

Burke, James Lee. The New Iberia Blues (SS, 27.99) Jan. Dave Robicheaux and his deputy investigate the crucifixion of a young woman found near the estate of a Hollywood director in a case that leads them to Hollywood secrets, the mafia, and the Louisiana backwoods.

Chaney, JoAnn. As Long as We Both Shall Live (STM, 27.99) Jan. When his wife falls to her death into a raging river, it at first appears a tragic accident, but then the police discover that the first wife of the grieving husband also died in an accident, so they begin to investigate further.

Childs, Laura. Eggs on Ice (Brk, 26.00) Dec. When the crusty attorney playing Scrooge in the local production of A Christmas Carol is stabbed by the Ghost of Christmas Past during the first rehearsal, Suzanne and the ladies of the Cackleberry Club vow to find a killer before someone else find himself on the killer’s Christmas list.

Connolly, Sheila. The Lost Traveller (Per, 26.99) Jan. With the discovery of an unidentified body behind her pub in County Cork, Maura investigates to find out who the victim was, who murdered him, and why his body was left behind her pub.

Cook, Robin. Pandemic (Put, 27.00) Dec. When a seemingly healthy young woman collapses and dies on a New York subway, a medical examiner fears a virus, but in investigating the woman’s body he comes across evidence of gene-editing biotechnology and the unethical executives of a cutting-edge company that specializes in it.

Copperman, E.J. Bones Behind the Wheel (Per, 26.99) Jan. Alison Kerby, the owner of the Haunted Guesthouse is tired of sleuthing, but when a 1977 Lincoln is found with a body still strapped in to the seat, she is forced into investigating by her husband and the resident ghost detective.

Corry, Jane. The Dead Ex (Png, 26.00) Jan. Four women, who have in common a past relationship with a man who has disappeared, find that the connection among them may explain the puzzle of what happened to him or destroy them all in a suspenseful psychological thriller.

Cross, A.J. Cold, Cold Heart (SH, 28.99) Dec. Forensic psychologist Kate Hanson is called in when the conviction of a man for murder is overturned on appeal and she is tasked with re-interviewing witnesses and re-examining the evidence to see who else could have done it.

Dorsey, Tim. No Sunscreen for the Dead (HC, 26.99) Jan. Serge and Coleman are on the road to visit one of the largest retirement communities in the world located in Florida, where they plan to observe the locals in their natural habitat and sample the local cuisine, only to find themselves helping the residents recover their swindled funds. Dorsey is a comic genius.

Driscoll, Sara. Storm Rising (Ken, 26.00) Dec. While working on search-and-rescue during a hurricane in Virginia, agent Meg Jennings and her K9 helper find a young runaway who had been held captive by a sex-trafficking ring, and her investigation draws the criminals to focus their attention on Meg.

Eastman, Dawn. Do No Harm (Per, 26.99) Dec. Small-town doctor Katie LeClair is drawn into an old murder, a mysterious disappearance, and a possible miscarriage of justice in the second in the series.

Finder, Joseph. Judgment (Dut, 28.00) Jan. A Massachusetts judge finds herself at the mercy of a blackmailer after a meaningless fling at a conference, a blackmailer who wants her to rule in a high-profile sex-discrimination or risk losing her family and her career, but he doesn’t count on her being smarter and tougher than he thought. I loved this for the kick-ass protagonist.

Forbes, Elena. A Bad, Bad Thing (SH, 28.99) Dec. In the first of a new British police procedural series, a senior detective suspended after the fatal shooting of her partner receives an offer of help from a convicted murderer who will give her information to clear herself in exchange for investigating the case of a man who may have been wrongly convicted of murdering an employee of a prestigious racing stable.

Fowler, Christopher. Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors (RH, 27.00) Dec. A prequel featuring the crusty detectives of the Peculiar Crimes Unit as young men in 1969, assigned to protect a witness in the trial of a fraudulent property development, who insists on attending a country-house party where a murder occurs amid falling gryphons, secret passages, and rumors of a supernatural beast—in other words everything you want from Bryant and May.

Fox, Sarah. Wine and Punishment (Ken, 26.00) Dec. In the first of a new cozy series set in Vermont, where a Boston woman resettles after losing her job to a corporate merger, establishing a literary pub with drinks and book clubs for tourists and locals, but when her ex shows up looking to reunite and then gets murdered, she and her friends must leave behind literature for mysteries to find the killer.

Furlong, Susan. Fractured Truth (Ken, 26.00) Dec. Newly-created deputy Brynn Callahan is assigned to the murder of a mutilated young woman, whom she recognizes as a Traveller, and when her K9 search-and-rescue partner digs up human bones, she must investigate in the insular community in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee.

Gailey, Samuel W. The Guilt We Carry (Per, 26.95) Jan. A woman whose life was destroyed after her younger brother died through her negligence has been drowning in alcohol, but when she finds a duffle bag of cash beside a dead drug dealer, she decides to change her life for the better, only to become the target of the drug dealer’s supplier who wants his money back.

Gentry, Amy. Last Woman Standing (HMH, 25.00) Jan. Two women who meet at a comedy club in Texas decide that they are tired of the humiliation and harassment they face as women, and decide to teach their aggressors a lesson, but when a man is killed, the stakes change.

Goldenbaum, Sally. How to Knit a Murder (Ken, 26.00) Dec. When an enigmatic newcomer moves to town, the Seaside Knitters welcome her, but when a controversial entrepreneur is murdered, she becomes the chief suspect.

Grant, Andrew. Invisible (Ball, 27.00) Jan. A former Army intelligence officer returns home to find that his estranged father has been murdered and that the killer’s trial ended in a hung jury, so he takes a job as a janitor in the courthouse to investigate corruption and witness tampering.

Greene, Thomas Christopher. The Perfect Liar (STM, 26.99) Jan. A widow with a child who marries a popular university professor who takes her to Vermont, but a series of anonymous notes causes her to question herself, her husband, and their marriage, especially after a neighbor dies in a mysterious accident while on a run with her husband.

Gruley, Bryan. Bleak Harbor (T&M, 24.95 hc, 15.95 tp) Dec. A standalone about a couple whose teenaged son is kidnapped, and the amount demanded for the ransom appears to be related to the step-father’s involvement in medical marijuana that has forced him to deal with some unsavory characters.

Hannah, Mari. The Death Messenger (STM, 28.99) Jan. When the newly-formed special unit of the Northumbrian police department begins receiving a series of gruesome DVDs that are later sent to police stations all over Britain, they must track a killer who delights in confounding them.

Harrison, Mette Ivie. Not of this Fold (Soho, 26.95) Dec. Linda Wallheim, wife of a Mormon bishop, joins forces with a friend who has been working with undocumented immigrants when a young undocumented woman is found murdered in what is known as the “Spanish Ward.”

Hechtman, Betty. Hooks Can Be Deceiving (Per, 26.99) Dec. Molly Pink and the Tarzana Hookers investigate when the live-in companion to one of their newest members dies in a mysterious accident and the woman is curiously silent about what happened.

Hendricks, Greer and Sarah Pekkanen. An Anonymous Girl (STM, 27.99) Jan. A young woman who signs up for an experimental study headed by a mysterious psychologist finds herself becoming more and more paranoid about what is real and what is manipulation as they begin a series of increasingly dicey real-life role playing experiments in a creepy novel of psychological suspense.

Hoag, Tami. The Boy (Dut, 28.00) Dec. When a young boy is murdered in front of his terrified mother suspicion quickly turns to her as a convicted felon, but the husband-and-wife team of detectives assigned to the case begin to believe that the disappearance of the boy’s sometime babysitter could be linked to the murder.

Housewright, David. First, Kill all the Lawyers (STM, 27.99) Jan. PI Holland Taylor is hired by a group of attorneys who have had their computers hacked and case files stolen, and to find the culprit he must first discover what the clients and the cases—arson, murder, rape, class action, and bribery--had in common.

Hunt, Tom. One Fatal Mistake (Brk, 26.00) Jan. When her son accidentally kills a man in a hit and run car accident, a woman agrees to help him cover it up, but things begin to go horribly wrong in a twistily-plotted novel of suspense.

Hurwitz, Gregg. Out of the Dark (STM, 27.99) Jan. Evan Smoak escaped from a secret government program designed to create assassins, but now the man who started the program—who has become the President of the United States—has sent another trained assassin to eliminate him.

Jewell, Lisa. Watching You (SS, 26.00) Dec. Set in a well-to-do English village where a local man is beloved by his neighbors—except for a teenaged girl, who knows that something is wrong with him—this is a suspenseful novel of secrets, lies, and murder.

Johnston, Tim. The Current (Algonquin, 27.95) Jan. When the car carrying two college students plunges into an icy Minnesota river, killing one, the local sheriff suspects foul play because the crash echoes the death of another young woman ten years before in a crime novel concentrating on how a community deals with the aftermath of death.

Jones, Darynda. Summoned to Thirteenth Grave (STM, 27.99) Jan. In the final installment of this funny paranormal series, Grim Reaper Charlie Davidson returns to the earthly plane after one hundred years in exile and must investigate her mother’s death as well as answer some burning questions about good and evil.

Jones, Stan and Patricia Watts. The Big Empty (Soho, 26.95) Dec. Police Chief Nathan Active investigates when the crash of a small plane is found to be not an accident but murder, implicating several of the local villagers in the latest in this Alaskan series featuring an Inuit police officer.

Jones, Stephen Mack. Lives Laid Away (Soho, 26.95) Jan. In the second in the Detroit-based series featuring a former cop, he investigates when a young Mexican woman is found dead only to discover that she was the second young woman to disappear after a raid by ICE, and that both girls were the victims of a vicious human trafficking ring that may involve corrupt immigration officers. This is a series well worth checking out with a protagonist who is half black and half Mexican-American.

Knox, Joseph. The Smiling Man (RH, 26.00) Jan. Disgraced Manchester police detective Aidan Waits is assigned to the case of an unidentified man found in a room in an empty downtown hotel, a man with no identification and whose teeth and fingers have been mutilated to leave no clues as to his identity.

Lescroart, John. The Rule of Law (SS, 27.00) Jan. Dismas Hardy investigates when his assistant is charged as accessory to the murder of a coyote who has been smuggling women from Mexico and Central America.

Lodge, Gytha. She Lies in Wait (RH, 27.00) Jan. When the remains of a teenaged girl who went missing during a camping trip in Britain’s New Forest thirty years before, it plunges DCI Jonah Sheens back to one of his first investigations, and the locations suggest that the suspects remain the tight circle of family and friends who were in the woods the night of her disappearance in a debut that is the first of a planned police-procedural series.

MacRae, Molly. Crewel and Unusual (Peg, 25.95) Jan. A 1940s-era embroidered tablecloth is the cause of a feud between two women, and when one of them is found murdered, textile-preservation specialist Kath, with the help of her resident ghost, must find a killer.

McDermid, Val. Broken Ground (Per, 26.00) Dec. DCI Karen Pirie investigates a mysterious corpse found in a Highland peat bog where a woman’s grandfather had buried her inheritance at the end of WWII.

Parra, Nancy J. Seven Deadly Zins (Per, 26.99) Jan. Taylor O’Brian, the leader of small tour groups in the wine country of Sonoma, investigates when her friend, owner of a small winery, is arrested for the murder of an FDA inspector found floating in a wine vat.

Patterson, James and Candice Fox. Liar, Liar (LB, 28.00) Jan. A good cop is forced into a bad situation when a killer comes after her—and finds herself on the run from the law for committing fraud, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer.

Perks, Heidi. Her One Mistake (SS, 26.00) Jan. In a debut novel of psychological suspense, a child goes missing at a school fair, and the mother who was caring for her must tell her best friend that she lost her only child, but despite the emotional trauma, the two woman must find a way to work together in order to find the missing child.

Perry, Thomas. The Burglar (Per, 26.00) Jan. A young woman burglar who specializes in stealing from the Los Angeles super-rich stumbles across a grisly triple murder at the home of a wealthy art dealer and then finds that she must solve the murders in order to save her own life. I love Perry and this is among his best.

Petrie, Nick. Tear it Down (Put, 26.00) Jan. War veteran Peter Ash goes to Memphis to help a war correspondent friend who has been receiving peculiar threats, but when he arrives the threats turn violent--someone has driven a dump truck through the living room. I love this series.

Quirk, Matthew. The Night Agent (HC, 26.99) Jan. An FBI agent who works the night shift at the White House receives a call that two American counterintelligence officers who have evidence of meetings between a highly-placed U.S. government official and Russian intelligence officers, evidence that a Russian operative is prepared to kill to obtain in a fast-moving take on U.S.-Russian relations.

Rankin, Ian. In a House of Lies (LB, 27.00) Jan. Edinburgh Inspector Rebus is called out of retirement when the skeletal remains of a private investigator who went missing a decade before are found outside of the city, in a case tied to a shady land deal, official corruption, and a possible police cover-up.

Schaffhausen, Joanna. No Mercy (STM, 26.99) Jan. Forced to attend group therapy sessions after unrepentantly killing a murderer, police detective Ellery Hathaway stumbles across two cases, one a woman who was raped and who wants her help capturing the attacker and another case of a man who may have helped wrongly convict a man for arson, so she contacts FBI profiler Markham for his help.

Scott, E. G. The Woman Inside (Dut, 27.00) Jan. A debut domestic thriller featuring multiple unreliable narrators about a marriage going wrong, with two partners whose secrets and infidelities create a dangerous situation that could destroy them both.

Shaw, M.B. Murder at the Mill (STM, 27.99) Dec. The first of a cozy new series featuring a woman who rents a cottage in a small Hampshire village to escape a crumbling marriage, and who becomes close to the neighboring family of a famous crime writer, but when a body is found after a tension-filled Christmas Eve party, she plunges into the secrets and lies of the village to investigate.

Simon, Clea. A Spell of Murder (Per, 26.00) Dec. In the first of a new paranormal series set in Cambridge, MA, a woman who has recently lost her job as a historical researcher joins a witches’ coven, but when one of the rather-inept witches is murdered, she becomes a person of interest and must be helped by her talking cats.

Sims, Laura. Looker (SS, 25.00) Jan. A debut novel of psychological suspense about a woman whose life is unraveling and who becomes obsessed with her glamorous actress neighbor. This is really creepy.

Stevens, Taylor. Liar’s Paradox (RH, 26.00) Dec. Twins Jack and Jill were trained from childhood in the art of espionage and survival by their mother, and when she goes missing after her off-the-grid safe house explodes, they go hunting for her, realizing that what they always viewed as paranoia might have been a rational response to someone out to get her in the first of a new thriller series.

Tesh, Jane. Death by Dragonfly (PP, 26.95 hc, 15.95 tp) Dec. PI David Randall agrees to help find some stolen Art Nouveau pieces, but soon discovers that the theft is related to two murders in the Parkland art scene.

Walker, Karen Thompson. The Dreamers (RH, 27.00) Jan. When a plague strikes a college town, with first students, then faculty, and then townspeople falling asleep and not awakening, the town is quarantined as doctors struggle to understand the new illness, and society descends into chaos in a post-apocalyptic thriller.

White, Christian. The Nowhere Child (STM, 26.99) Jan. A debut novel of suspense about an Australian woman who is approached by a stranger who claims that she is in fact a child who was abducted at the age of two from her home in Kentucky by her recently deceased mother, and when she investigates in the US, she finds a viper’s nest of family secrets and religious conspiracy.

Winters, Ben. Golden State (Mull, 28.00) Jan. In a sci-fi thriller set in a future state where everyone must tell the truth, a young government agent discovers that total veracity might be less-than-optimal, especially when those in power have ways to twist the truth.

Woods, Stuart. A Delicate Touch (Put, 28.00) Dec. When a friend asks for Stone Barrington’s help he uncovers a decades-old scandal that many members of New York society would prefer to leave buried.

Young, Hester. The Burning Island (Put, 27.00) Jan. Journalist Charlie Cates goes to the Big Island of Hawaii where a series of haunting dreams force her to become involved in investigating the disappearance of a teenaged girl. This is a nicely paranormal series with an interesting protagonist.

New and Forthcoming in Paperback Reprint

Berry, Steve. The Bishop’s Pawn (STM, 9.99) Jan.

Burnell, Mark. The Rhythm Section (STM, 9.99) Jan.

Carr, Jack. The Terminal List (Pkt, 9.99) Dec.

Cavanagh, Steve. The Plea (STM, 9.99) Dec.

Cornick, Nicola. House of Shadows (HC, 7.99) Jan.

Crais, Robert. The Wanted (Put, 9.99) Dec.

Furlong, Susan. Splintered Silence (Ken, 7.99) Dec.

Grafton, Sue. Y is for Yesterday (Put, 9.99) Dec.

Greaney, Mark. Agent in Place (Brk, 9.99) Dec.

Hart, John. Redemption Road (STM, 9.99) Jan.

Hillerman, Anne. Cave of Bones (HC, 9.99) Dec.

Hurwitz, Gregg. Hellbent (STM, 9.99) Dec.

Johansen, Iris. The Shattered Mirror (STM, 9.99) Dec.

Kellerman, Jonathan. Night Moves (RH, 9.99) Jan.

Kubica, Mary. Don’t You Cry (HC, 9.99) Jan.

Preston, Douglas and Lincoln Child. City of Endless Night (LB, 9.99) Dec.

Robb, J.D. Leverage in Death (STM, 8.99) Jan.

Shelton, Paige. Lost Books and Old Bones (STM, 7.99) Jan.

Truman, Margaret and Donald Bain. Margaret Truman’s Allied in Danger (STM, 8.99) Jan.

New and Forthcoming in Paperback Original

Alexander, Ellie. Live and Let Pie (STM, 7.99) Jan. When an elderly man decides to sell the vacant lot near her bakeshop, Jules is surprised that he seems to be playing potential buyers against each other, and when he is found murdered she investigates to see who was mad enough to murder him.

Blackmoore, Stephanie. Gown with the Wind (Ken, 7.99) Dec. Wedding planner Mallory must find a killer when a woman is found dead in her ex’s fiancée’s swimming pool after an altercation over a replica Scarlett O’Hara wedding gown.

Blake, Bethany. A Midwinter’s Tail (Ken, 7.99) Dec. Pet sitter Daphne investigates when her best friend is suspected in the death of the founder and CEO of a pet-care franchises, a woman who had returned to Sylvan Creek for the annual Bark the Halls Ball.

Blum, Christine E. Name of the Rosé (Ken, 7.99) Dec. When a small plane crashes near the Santa Monica airport and the police find a package of drugs with her best friend’s name and address on it, Halsey and the ladies of the wine club vow to get the investigation off the ground—especially after a mechanic at the airport is found murdered.

Cahoon, Lynn. Slay in Character (Ken, 7.99) Dec. Cat and the members of her writers’ retreat head for a Colorado ghost town, developed as a tourist attraction with actors as famous historical characters, but when a college woman playing one of the characters is murdered, Cat and her group must find a killer before someone else becomes a ghost.

Cummins, Fiona. The Collector (Ken, 9.99) Dec. In the second in the series, British DS Etta Fitzroy is hunting for the serial killer who held her captive and escaped with a young girl he had abducted, and as she follows the clues he is leaving she realizes that he is hiding in plain sight.

Dyer-Seeley, Kate. Violet Tendencies (Ken, 7.99) Dec. In the second in this cozy series that includes flower arranging tips, Britta and her aunt must find a killer when the leader of a group of protesters who disrupt the local flower festival is found strangled.

Eaton, J.C. Botched 4 Murder (Ken, 7.99) Dec. Sophie Kimball must investigate when a committee member at her mother’s Arizona retirement community is found murdered after advocating the highly unpopular view of closing 2 golf courses to create an eco-friendly green space and her mother’s book-club friend becomes the main suspect.

Goldstein, Debra H. One Taste Too Many (Ken, 7.99) Dec. In the first of a new series, a recently divorced woman who is seriously challenged in the kitchen must save her twin sister who runs a catering business when her ex is killed after eating a rhubarb crisp.

Herbert, A.L. Murder with Macaroni and Cheese (Ken, 7.99) Dec. Restaurateur Mahalia agrees to cater her high-school reunion, but when one of her classmates, a mean girl who has blossomed into a really awful woman, is found dead she must find a killer before she becomes the next alum most likely to be found murdered.

Pressey, Rose. Fashions Fade, Haunted is Eternal (Ken, 7.99) Dec. Vintage clothing shop owner Cookie Chanel has been hired to dress the models in a fashion shoot at a cemetery, but when a photographer is shot, she and her ghostly friends must find a flesh-and-blood killer.

Ross, Barbara. Steamed Open (Ken, 7.99) Dec. When a wealthy new neighbor blocks access to the Maine beach where locals get their clams is found stabbed with a clam rake, Julia must find a killer amid a long list of suspects who have all clammed up.

Simon, Misty. Deceased and Desist (Ken, 7.99) Dec. While washing the windows of a new B&B getting ready for its grand opening, Tallie sees a body in one of the rooms, and when she discovers that someone has murdered a sleazy building inspector, she vows to find the killer.

Smith, Karen Rose. Cut to the Chaise (Ken, 7.99) Dec. When her friend, who is co-owner of the winery where she plans to have her wedding, is accused of the murder of her ex-husband, Caprice investigates to find a killer before her dream wedding turns into a nightmare.

New and Forthcoming in Quality Paperback

Balzo, Sandra. The Importance of Being Urnest (SH, 17.95) Dec. A shoot-out with police at a local assisted living center is followed by the suspicious deaths of two residents, so coffeehouse-owner Maggy Thorsen investigates a case with a slew of eccentric suspects and juicy motives.

Baxter, Cynthia. Murder with a Cherry on Top (Ken, 12.95) Dec. A woman leaves behind her high-powered career in Manhattan to run an ice-cream shop in the Hudson Valley, but the murder of a business rival forces her to churn up the suspects before her business is frozen out in the first of a new series.

Bell, Natasha. His Perfect Wife (RH, 16.00) Dec. When a London wife and mother goes missing, her frantic husband investigates on his own, finding in his immersion into the art world that so fascinated her that he really didn’t know his wife in a debut novel of psychological suspense.

Bohjalian, Chris. The Flight Attendant (Doubleday, 16.00) Jan. A flight attendant wakes up in a hotel in Dubai after a night of too much drinking, but she doesn’t realize at first that the man she spent the night with is dead, stabbed, and when she does, she can’t remember what happened. I really liked this.

Box, C.J. The Disappeared (Put, 16.00) Jan. Joe Pickett is asked to look into the disappearance of a British female executive who went missing during a stay at a dude ranch, but he discovers that the case may be related to problems that falconers are having—even though their permits are in order.

Burns, V.M. The Novel Art of Murder (Ken, 15.95) Dec. When her grandmother loses the leading-lady role for the Senior Follies to a rival, who later is shot to death, bookstore owner and mystery writer Sam must find a killer before her grandmother’s next costume is an orange jumpsuit.

Callanan, Liam. Paris by the Book (Dut, 16.00) Jan. When her novelist husband disappears, leaving behind a half-finished manuscript set in Paris, his wife takes her two daughters and goes off to find him, becoming the owner of a struggling English-language bookstore while following the clues left by him and other writers of books set in the City of Light.

Chaney, JoAnn. What You Don’t Know (STM, 16.99) Dec. The two police detectives who caught a serial killer who kept the bodies of his victims in the crawl space of his home and the journalist who followed the case have seen their lives and careers destroyed even as the killer is on death row, but when someone begins using the same MO and the victims are all related to the convicted killer, it appears that the three may have a chance at redemption.

Connolly, Sheila. Many a Twist (Per, 15.99) Dec. Pub owner Maura is surprised when her estranged mother appears in County Cork, but before they can reestablish their relationship, she must investigate the murder of her mother’s hotelier employer.

Copperman, E.J. The Hostess with the Ghostess (Per, 15.99) Dec. In the latest in the Haunted Guesthouse series Alison agrees to help a murdered attorney whose case of a woman accused of murdered her stepfather led him to someone who’d do anything to keep him—and Alison—from finding the truth.

Corry, Jane. Blood Sisters (Png, 16.00) Dec. Two young women who survived after the death of their friend fifteen years before are targeted by someone who wants revenge for what happened in a scary novel of psychological suspense.

Coyle, Matt. Wrong Light (Per, 16.00) Dec. PI Rick Cahill is hired to protect a radio host from a stalker, but secrets from her past—secrets she doesn’t want to reveal—may be the key to finding him.

Crispin, Edmund. Beware of Trains (STM, 16.00) and Fen Country (STM, 16.00) Jan. Two collections of short stories featuring Oxford don and sleuth, Gervaise Fen. These well deserve to be called classics.

Dalton, Annie. A Study in Gold (SH, 17.95) Dec. A murder at a murder mystery weekend at a country house impels Oxford administrator Anna Hopkins to revisit the family auction house to come to terms with the murder of her own family sixteen years before, in a case involving Nazis, stolen paintings, and born-again Christians.

Davis, Krista. The Coloring Crook (Ken, 15.95) Dec. When a member of her bookstore’s coloring group finds a copy of the very first coloring book published in 1760, Florrie knows that the book is worth a fortune, and when the woman is murdered and the book stolen, Florrie knows that someone is an expert in the fine art of murder.

Dolnick, Ben. The Ghost Notebooks (Vin, 16.00) Jan. When a young NYC couple move to a small upstate village where the woman has taken a job as caretaker and docent for a historic house, they are originally charmed, but soon the wife finds herself unable to sleep and taking inexplicable walks that she can’t remember in a spooky story of love, ghosts, and madness.

Dorsey, Tim. The Pope of Palm Beach (HC, 15.99) Dec. Serge decides to revisit Riviera Beach where he and Coleman grew up in order to investigate the legends of his youth, a surf god and a hermit, bringing with him inadvertently a cast of villains that only Florida could produce.

Duncan, Elizabeth J. Much Ado about Murder (Per, 15.99) Dec. When the replacement director for the production of Much Ado About Nothing is found shot to death, costume director for the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company Charlotte decides to investigate in the third theatrical cozy.

Forna, Aminatta. Happiness (Per, 16.00) Jan. A timely story of love and loss set in London where an American naturalist and a Ghanaian psychiatrist meet and join forces to find the missing child of a young woman who was swept up in an immigration raid.

Frances, Michelle. The Girlfriend (Ken, 15.95) Dec. A novel of psychological suspense centered on a mother, her son, and the daughter-in-law she dislikes and who dislikes her—and a lie that changes all of their lives.

Gardner, Lisa. Look for Me (Dut, 16.00) Jan. Detective D.D. Warren and victim-turned-avenger Flora Dane search for a missing girl who disappeared after the grisly murder of her family, who could be a victim or a suspect.

Gilbert, Victoria. Shelved Under Murder (Per, 15.99) Jan. After librarian Amy Webber stumbles across the body of a renowned painter, she is recruited by the local sheriff when a cache of forged paintings is uncovered in the artist’s studio in the second of this cozy series.

Glynn, Alan. Receptor (STM, 18.00) Jan. When the grandson of a man who had died sixty years before while part of a CIA experiment in mind-control drugs meets an elderly man who had worked for the CIA during that time, he begins to investigate his grandfather’s death in a sequel to Glyn’s first novel The Dark Fields.

Gribble, Leonard. The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (PP, 12.95) Dec. The murder of a soccer player on a high-powered amateur team thrusts Inspector Slade into the world of professional football in a classic that features the 1939 Arsenal team players as part of the cast.

Griffin, H. Terrell. Vindication (Per, 16.00) Jan. Lawyer-turned-Florida-beach-bum Matt Royal agrees to return to the courtroom to defend a friend’s elderly aunt who is accused of murdering an author at a book-signing at a retirement community.

Hart, Rob. Takeout (Per, 16.00) Jan. A tasty collection of crime short stories with a culinary bent.

Henshaw, Mark. The Last Man in Tehran (SS, 16.00) Dec. CIA analyst Kyra Stryker is working to save the agency from a number of moles at the highest echelon in the latest thriller by an author who was a CIA analyst himself.

Herron, Mick. This is What Happened (Soho, 15.95) Dec. A very ordinary young woman, living in London without friends or family, is given the chance to work undercover to save Britain from an international conspiracy—if she can survive. I really liked this.

Hunt, Margot. For Better and Worse (HC, 16.99) Dec. When a Florida criminal defense attorney learns that the principal of her son’s school has been accused of molesting students—perhaps even her own son—she decides to mete out her own form of murderous justice.

Hunter, Maddy. Catch me if Yukon (MidInk, 15.99) Jan. While shepherding a group of senior citizens on a tour of Alaska, tour operator Emily and her husband must solve a murder while keeping in line the obstreperous group.

Jacobs, Nova. The Last Equation of Isaac Severy (SS, 16.00) Dec. A struggling Seattle bookseller receives a letter from her mathematician grandfather written shortly before his death asking her to deliver his final discovery to a friend and leaving her a series of clues to solve in order to find it, but she realizes that she is not the only one searching when eccentric family members, shady entrepreneurs, and devious professors appear.

Jensen, Louise. The Surrogate (GC, 12.99) Dec. When a childless wife meets an old friend, it looks as if she will be able to have the child she so desires, but her friend is hiding dark secrets from their shared childhood.

Knox, Joseph. Sirens (RH, 16.00) Feb. In a suspenseful debut, an undercover detective infiltrates the inner circle of a Gatsby-esque drug lord in Manchester and discovers that that one of the young women working as a drug courier is the runaway daughter of a prominent politician, whom he must rescue without blowing his cover.

Koryta, Michael. How It Happened (LB, 16.99) Jan. An FBI agent is willing to accept an unsubstantiated confession in a murder case even though the woman confessing is known as a liar and gives incorrect details about what happened because the case brings back memories of the inexplicable death of his own mother when he was a child.

Lelic, Simon. The Liar’s Room (Brk, 16.00) Jan. A suspenseful novel that takes place over the course of a therapy session where neither the therapist nor the patient are who they say they are and each are trying to discover the other’s secrets.

Lillard, Amy. Kappy King and the Pie Kaper (Ken, 12.95) Dec. Kappy investigates when the wife of the Amish bishop is fatally attacked and suspicion falls on her rival in pie-baking contests in the third in this cozy series set in a Pennsylvania Amish community.

Luna, Louisa. Two Girls Down (DD, 16.00) Jan. When two young girls disappear from a car parked outside a Pennsylvania mall, their mother hires a California bounty hunter who teams up with a disgraced former cop who knows the area to hunt for them in a nail-biting novel of suspense.

MacBride, Stuart. Now We Are Dead (HC, 15.99) Jan. Scottish DS Steele is in disgrace for fitting up a suspect who has been assaulting women, but when his sentence is quashed and he’s back on the streets, she knows that more women are in danger—but what can she do?

Meier, Leslie. Valentine Candy Murder (Ken, 12.95) Dec. A reissue of two early Lucy Stone mysteries with a Valentine’s Day theme.

Millar, Margaret. The Listening Walls (Soho, 14.95) Jan. the reissue of a classic mystery about a husband who falls under suspicion when his wife doesn’t return home after the suicide of a close friend in Mexico.

Molloy, Aimee. The Perfect Mother (HC, 16.99) Jan. When a group of young mothers go out for a drink together, one of the babies goes missing, and the subsequent hunt for him uncovers secrets and lies, leading to destroyed friendships and marriages.

Moore, Jonathan. The Night Market (HMH, 14.99) Jan. A genre-bending thriller set in the near future that presents a society in which people confound desire with shopping and mercantilism, and a conspiracy that may destroy human society must be stopped by a SFPD homicide detective and the neighbor.

Olson, Neil. The Black Painting (HC, 15.99) Jan. Four very different cousins are summoned by their estranged grandfather to his mansion years after a famous painting by Goya was stolen, but they arrive to find the man dead, and the youngest of the cousins decides to uncover the family secrets leading to the theft of the painting.

Parra, Nancy J. A Case of Syrah, Syrah (Per, 15.99) Dec. In the first of a new series set in Sonoma’s wine country, a woman with a fledgling tour business must find a killer when one of her group is found with a corkscrew in her neck.

Perry, Thomas. The Bomb Maker (Per, 16.00) Jan. A former LAPD bomb squad member who now runs his own security company is called in when a bomber appears to be targeting the bomb squad itself in a brilliant novel of suspense.

Post, Steph. Walk in the Fire (Per, 16.00) Jan. A backwoods noir complete with drug dealers, murder, and tyrannical Pentecostal preachers.

Quinn, Anthony. Trespass (Peg, 15.95) Jan. A police detective in Northern Ireland’s border area is investigating the abduction of a boy by a group of Travelers and discovers a link to an unsolved crime from the time of the Troubles—the disappearance of a young woman and her baby.

Rayne, Sarah. Chord of Evil (SH, 17.95) Dec. London music researcher Phineas Fox agrees to help his neighbor whose cousin has gone missing, but the case soon involves a puzzle about music missing since WWII.

Rous, Emma. The Au Pair (Brk, 16.00) Jan. After the death of her father, a woman discovers a photograph of the day she and her twin brother were born on the family estate, but there is only one child in the photograph, raising questions about the tragedy of her childhood when her mother committed suicide and the nanny disappeared shortly after the birth of the children.

Ryan, Hank. Phillippi. Trust Me (STM, 14.99) Dec. A journalist still grieving the death of her family in a car crash is assigned to write a true-crime book about a two-year-old child whose body was dumped in the Boston harbor, allegedly by the mother, but when the mother is found not guilty, she begins to realize that she will be writing a book about redemption, both the mother’s and her own.

Schaffhausen, Joanna. The Vanishing Season (STM, 16.99) Jan. A debut police procedural, featuring a detective who is convinced that the baffling disappearances from a small Massachusetts town are connected to each other and to a sadistic imprisoned serial killer, so she reaches out to an FBI profiler for help.

Shames, Terry. A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary (Prom, 15.95) Jan. Chief Samuel Craddock becomes alarmed when Loretta goes missing after having been using an online dating site to meet men, but when another woman who used the same online site is found dead, he knows he must find her fast. If you like a small-town cozy with interesting characters, please try this charming series.

Shepard, Sara. The Elizas (SS, 16.00) Jan. When a debut novelist is rescued from the bottom of a pool, her family insists that it was another suicide attempt, but the woman insists that she was pushed, despite the fact that she has no memory of the incident in a twisty novel of memory, lies, and ratcheting suspense. I liked this.

Smith, J.P. The Drowning (Source, 15.99) Jan. A man who years before as an arrogant camp counselor left a timid child on a raft in the middle of a lake, a child who disappeared, finds that two decades later someone is seeking revenge and wants him to feel the same level of panic as the child in a creepy thriller.

Staub, Wendy Corsi. Dead of Winter (Per, 15.99) Dec. An innkeeper sees a man dumping a corpse on the shore of a lake in upstate New York, and connects it to the disappearance of a young boy during a blizzard in the third of this series set in a real-life spiritualist community.

Swinson, David. Crime Song (Mull, 15.99) Jan. DC-area private investigator Frank Marr agrees to help out his aunt who’s worried about her son, a low-level drug dealer, but the case leads to a burglary of his home and the discovery of his cousin’s body on the kitchen floor. I love this series for its morally-compromised hero and gritty edge.

Sykes, Set. Faces in the Dark (Per, 12.95) Dec. A collection of truly creepy horror stories—after all, sometimes nothing satisfies like a good scary story.

Symons, Julian. The Belting Inheritance (PP, 12.95) Jan. A classic from 1964 about a man who returns to his home claiming to be the son who was thought to have died in WWII, ready to claim his inheritance on the death of his elderly mother. Highly recommended.

Tudor, C.J. The Chalk Man (RH, 16.00) Jan. A group of pre-adolescent boys in a small English village communicate using little chalk figures until one of the chalk men leads them to a dismembered body—then, thirty years later all of them receive chalk men and one of them is found dead, leading them to the realization that they must discover what happened years ago in a debut novel of suspense.

Weiss, Martin Jay. Flamingo Coast (Per, 16.95) Jan. A former IRS agent pursues a financial felon who has escaped to an island with no extradition treaties that shelters a community of white-collar fugitives.

Wiebe, Sam. Cut You Down (Quer, 18.99) Jan. Vancouver PI Dave Wakeland takes on two difficult cases: that of a former university student who may have been embezzling funds and a crooked cop, parallel cases that send him to the city’s ugliest streets.

Wiley, Michael. Monument Road (SH, 17.95) Jan. In a debut novel a man who was on death row for murdering two young boys goes to work for the nonprofit that exonerated him, and his first case involves the cop who arrested him, now accused of shooting the son of a prominent judge.

Wilkinson, Ellen. The Division Bell Mystery (PP, 12.95) Dec. When a financier is found shot dead, a parliamentary private secretary investigates in a classic mystery from 1932.

Yates, Christopher J. Grist Mill Road (STM, 18.00) Jan. A Roshomon-style mystery with multiple narrators that begins in 1982 in a small town in upstate New York where three friends are bound by a senseless crime and when they meet again, 26 years later, the sexual tension, resentments, and violence erupt anew.

New and Forthcoming in International Mysteries

Ahnhem, Stefan. Eighteen Below (STM, 29.99) Dec. Swedish police detective Fabian Risk is assigned to a bizarre case where a wealthy man appears to have been killed in a car crash, but it becomes clear that he died two months earlier and that serial killers are preying on wealthy people and stealing their identities.

Bailey, Sarah. Into the Night (GC, 26.00) Dec. Having transferred to Melbourne, DS Gemma Woodstock must find a way to work with her unfriendly new partner when they investigate the high-profile murder of an actor, shot while filming on a closed street in the second in this Australian police procedural series.

Brabazon, James. The Break Line (Brk, 27.00) Jan. A debut thriller set in Sierra Leone, where a British intelligence operative is sent to hunt for a terrorist leader, but what he finds is someone who is slaughtering innocent villagers, and it just may be the British ally.

Gussin, Patricia. Come Home (Per, 16.00) Dec. An Egyptian-born plastic surgeon is asked to return home, leaving Philadelphia with his young son, when his family needs his help in relocating themselves and their wealth after the fall of Mubarack, but he finds himself torn between obeying his father or maintaining his practice and his wife in America.

Hamilton, Ian. The Goddess of Yantai (Per, 15.95) Dec. Ava Lee must infiltrate the Syndicate, a cabal of senior officials in the Chinese film industry, who blackmail young stars for money and sex.

Hammer, Chris. Scrublands (SS, 26.99) Jan. In a debut mystery, a journalist recovering from the trauma of his war-time reporting is sent to a small drought-plagued Australian town to report on the aftermath of a brutal crime where the local priest killed five parishioners before being killed himself, but the discovery of the bodies of two German backpackers who disappeared at the time of the shooting could mean that the accepted view of the crime may be completely wrong.

Harper, Jane. Force of Nature (STM, 16.99) Jan. Australian federal agents Falk and Cooper must go the rugged Gitalang Ranges to hunt for an accountant who disappeared during a wilderness expedition for her respected Melbourne firm, and the agents fear that someone discovered that she was helping them with their investigation into an elaborate money laundering scheme until they discover that she was universally disliked by her colleagues for her cruelty.

Jonasson, Ragnar. Rupture (STM, 28.99 hc, 16.99 tp) Jan. Young Icelandic police detective Ari Thor tries to solve a 50-year-old murder after new evidence surfaces, but he also must deal with the abduction of a child in a town where everyone prefers to keep secrets.

Kepler, Lars. The Sandman (RH, 16.95) Jan. When it becomes chillingly apparent that a serial killer now imprisoned in a maximum security psychiatric hospital has an accomplice on the outside who has kidnapped a teenaged girl, Swedish police agents Linna and Bauer must find a way to get the killer to talk.

Kim, Un-Su. The Plotters (DD, 26.95) Jan. The U.S. debut of a Korean thriller writer, whose political thriller features a young boy who is groomed to become an assassin for hire by those in power who control the corruption and intrigue with little or no accountability.

Mangan, Christine. Tangerine (Ecco, 16.99) Jan. A debut novel of psychological suspense set in 1956 in Tangier, where two college friends reconnect after the husband of one is transferred for his job, and flashbacks reveal that a tragedy that occurred during their college days may be playing out yet again after one of the women begins a dalliance with the other’s husband.

Nesbø, Jo. Macbeth (Hogarth, 16.00) Dec. A retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy set in 1970s Scotland battling a serious and persistent drug problem where the head of the Emergency Response Unit is told by Hekete, the head of the drug trade, that she will make him chief of the police if he follows her orders. We all know how this will end.

Obregón, Nicholás. Sin as Scarlet (STM, 27.99) Dec. Former police officer Kosuke Iwata moves from Yokohama to Los Angeles where he becomes a PI and discovers a far-reaching international conspiracy that preys on vulnerable immigrants.

Pryor, Mark. The Book Artist (Prom, 15.95) Jan. When a murder takes place at an art gallery where Hugo Marston is attending an opening, he offers his help to the Paris police, but when they refuse and arrest an innocent man, he becomes involved in an investigation.

Pujol, Pascale. Little Culinary Triumphs (Eur, 17.00) Dec. A delightful soufflé of a novel about a Parisian civil servant who dreams of opening her own restaurant, and finds that all’s fair in the world of cuisine. Highly recommended.

Röstlund, Britta. Waiting for Monsieur Bellivier (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 26.99) Jan. A charming debut about a journalist who receives a lucrative and mysterious job offer while sitting in a Paris café, and who crosses paths with a grocer turned PI who is shocked at what he learns about the people in his life in a novel of secret lives and second chances.

Senécal, Patrick. Seven Days (SS, 16.00) Jan. After his young daughter is killed, a man decides to kidnap the man responsible and avenge her death, but he doesn’t count on a police detective who is determined to track him down and let justice run its course.

Sigurdardottir, Yrsa. The Legacy (STM, 17.99) Jan. A powerful tale of revenge as grim as an Icelandic saga, the murder of a young housewife is being investigated by a rookie police detective and a psychologist who try to gather clues from the woman’s daughter who was found hiding under the bed.

Simenon, Georges. Maigret’s Secret (Png, 13.00) Dec and Maigret in Court (Png, 13.00) Jan. Reprints of two of the classic French police procedurals.

Vijay, Madhuri. The Far Field (Per, 27.00) Jan. A debut novel set in India, traveling from the south to Kashmir, featuring a wealthy young woman who after her mother’s death decides to investigate the decade-old disappearance of a charming Kashmiri salesman who used to frequent her parents’ house.

Winkler, Mark. My Name is Nathan Lucius (Soho, 15.95) Jan. A disaffected ad salesman for a Cape Town newspaper is asked for help by his friend who is diagnosed with cancer and wants to die, but this request sets off a shocking string of events in an intense noir debut.

New and Forthcoming in Historical Mysteries

Adams, Jane A. Kith and Kin (SH, 28.99) Dec. In this police procedural set in 1928, the discovery of two bodies found in the Kentish marshes, and the fact that one of them has a strange round wound, causes Scotland Yard DCI Henry Johnstone to concentrate on the local area where similar wounds have been found, despite the fact that one of the men worked for a London crime boss.

Allen, Amanda. A Moment in Crime (Per, 26.99) Dec. In the second in this series set in Santa Fé in the early 1920s, Madeline must investigate when her cousin is implicated in the murder of a Hollywood film director in town to film a cowboy movies.

Bradley, Alan. The Golden Tresses of the Dead (RH, 26.00) Jan. Flavia de Luce and Dogger decide to turn professional sleuths, but little did they expect that their first case would involve a severed finger in the wedding cake of Flavia’s sister Ophelia’s nuptials.

Chisholm, P.F. A Suspicion of Silver (PP, 26.95 hc, 15.95 tp) Dec. Robert Carey goes from Edinburgh to Keswick in England in 1593 hunting a would-be assassin of King James, a German whose family runs a mining operation there.

Daniels, Casey. Smoke and Mirrors (SH, 17.95) Jan. In the first of a new series, the sister of P.T. Barnum must clear the name of the Lizard Man of Borneo when a family friend is found murdered near the mermaid exhibit in Barnum’s American Museum.

Edwards-Jones, Imogen. The Witches of Saint Petersburg (HC, 16.99) Jan. Two daughters of the King of Montenegro who married members of the Romanov Court spend their time with the occult—séances, spells, and black magic—and eventually entice the Tsarina to join them—and their latest shaman, the mad monk Rasputin—in a novel based on real personages in pre-Revolutionary Russia.

Faye, Lyndsay. The Paragon Hotel (Put, 26.00) Jan. In 1921, young woman on the run from a drug and liquor deal gone wrong, flees New York City for Oregon, where she settles in at an all-black hotel whose residents are terrified by the arrival of the KKK in their city and the disappearance of a mulatto child in a satisfying mystery that takes up racism, mental illness, and gender identity

Finch, Charles. The Woman in the Water (STM, 17.99) Jan. In a prequel to the Charles Lennox series, Lennox recounts his first serious enquiry when he investigated the death of a woman after having read an anonymous letter in the newspaper by someone boasting of having committed the perfect crime.

Gillham, David R. Anneliese (Vik, 26.00) Jan. A novel about Anne Frank that imagines that she survived the concentration camp with her father, and returned to Amsterdam to become the writer that she had wanted to be, moving past the guilt, the rage, and the desire for revenge to realize that she can use her gift to honor the dead.

Goldstone, Lawrence. Deadly Cure (Peg, 15.95) Jan. The death of the young son of a wealthy family in Brooklyn in 1899 plunges a doctor into an investigation into a cabal that is manufacturing a patent medicines and puts his life in jeopardy.

Ifkovic, Ed. Run Cold (PP, 26.95 hc, 15.95 tp) Jan. Edna Ferber investigates the murder of a man known for his tall tales of Alaska’s frontier days, an investigation that becomes more pressing when a young Athabascan lawyer becomes the main suspect.

Jecks, Michael. A Missed Murder (SH, 28.99) Dec. In the third in this Tudor series featuring a thief and reluctant assassin, Jack Blackjack is hired by John Blount to murder a man, but the murder goes awry and he finds himself on the run from a variety of enemies.

Kelly, Julia. The Light over London (SS, 26.00) Jan. A woman who works for a London antiques dealer specializing in liquidating large family estates comes across a WWII-era diary and photograph of a young woman in uniform, and as she digs into the young woman’s history and that of the time, she learns of the sacrifices of wartime.

King, Laurie R. and Leslie S. Klinger, eds. For the Sake of the Game (Peg, 25.95) Dec. A Holmes-based collection of short work—including a poem—ranging from comic to cozy to horror.

Lloyd, Catherine. Death Comes to Bath (Ken, 26.00) Dec. While in Bath, so that her husband can take the waters to cure a wound from the Battle of Waterloo, Lady Sarah Kurland investigates when a wealthy elderly man is found dead—and his will has gone missing.

Loftis, Larry. Code Name: Lise (SS, 27.00) Jan. The true story of the British spy Odette Sansom who worked in occupied France against the Nazis, who was later captured and tortured along with her lover and commanding officer by the Gestapo, and afterwards sent to a German concentration camp.

Loigman, Lynda Cohen. The Wartime Sisters (STM, 27.99) Jan. Two estranged sisters are reunited while working at an armory during the early days of WWII, although they are not reconciled because each has a shocking secret that is revealed when a mysterious figure from their past reappears.

Maxwell, Alyssa. A Devious Death (Ken, 15.95) Dec. Lady Phoebe and her sister are pleased to receive an invitation to their cousin’s new country estate, but tensions among the house party erupt in the murder of their hostess in the most recent of this series set in post-WWI England.

Montgomery, Jess. The Widows (STM, 26.99) Jan. Set in Ohio in 1924, the widow of a sheriff killed while transporting a prisoner is shocked when a woman arrives at her door seeking her help after her daughter has gone missing—an encounter that shows both women that the sheriff was not the man they thought they knew and that his death may have been more complex.

Quick, Amanda. The Other Lady Vanishes (Brk, 16.00) Jan. In 1930s Southern California a woman who has escaped from a private sanitarium in a herbal shop in a seaside resort town where she becomes involved in the investigation of the murder of a Hollywood psychic.

Postorino, Rosella. At the Wolf’s Table (STM, 26.99) Jan. A young woman who leaves Berlin for a small village in 1943 is conscripted to be one of ten women who go to Hitler’s secret headquarters to taste his food in case it has been poisoned, but soon she finds herself questioning her allegiance to Nazism after becoming attracted to a disaffected SS officer.

Pronzini, Bill. The Flimflam Affair (STM, 25.99) Jan. In the latest in this series set in San Francisco at the turn of the twentieth century, enquiry agents Carpenter and Quincannon vow to take down a phony spirit medium and his assistant who have been fleecing the bereaved, but a murder interrupts their exposé.

Rhys, Rachel. Dangerous Crossing (SS, 17.00) Jan. A young British woman is fleeing her past on an ocean liner in 1939 en route to a new life in Australia, but it soon becomes apparent that her fellow passengers are fleeing secrets of their own, secrets that lead to the deaths of two passengers.

Robb, Candace. A Murdered Peace (Peg, 15.95) Dec. When an old friend asks for her help, innkeeper Kate Clifford takes her in, exposing herself to the political tensions and intrigue in York in 1400.

Rowland, Laura Joh. The Hangman’s Secret (Per, 26.99) Jan. Victorian photographer Sarah Bain is asked by the newspaper that has been buying her crime photos to investigate the grisly death of a pub-owner who worked as a hangman for many years and who was involved in the execution of the murderess of hundreds of infants.

_____. A Mortal Likeness (Per, 15.99) Dec. Victorian photographer-turned-enquiry-agent Sarah Bain and her ragtag crew of investigators are hired by a wealthy banker to find his kidnapped infant son and an eerie photograph causes them to focus on the man’s family.

Setterfield, Diane. Once Upon a River (SS, 28.00) Dec. A magical novel set in a village on the Thames where the appearance of the body of a young girl who mysteriously revives during the night at the local bar is laid claim by three families which leads to a revelation of secrets. I loved this.

Simpson, Rosemary. Let the Dead Keep their Secrets (Ken, 26.00) Dec. Heiress Prudence Mackenzie and a former Pinkerton agent investigate when a friend is convinced that her twin sister who died in childbirth was actually murdered by the widower—who very quickly remarried and whose new wife is now pregnant.

Taylor, Andrew. The American Boy (HC, 16.99) Jan. Set in Regency England in 1819, a master at a school outside of London hired to tutor a young Edgar Allan Poe and his English friend finds himself drawn to the friend’s mother, and when a murder occurs in a dingy backstreet, he realizes that all the clues lead back to the friend’s family. Taylor is great.

_____. The Fire Court (HC, 26.99) Jan. In the second set in Restoration London in the aftermath of the Great Fire, the son of a traitor investigates when his father claims to have found the body of a murdered woman and then is himself run down and dies.

Thomson, E.S. The Blood (Peg, 25.95) Dec. London apothecary Jem Flockhart receives a mysterious note from a doctor friend, but when she goes to see him at the Seaman’s Floating Hospital anchored in the Thames, he has disappeared, and what she does find is the body of a murdered prostitute in the third Victorian mystery.

Of Special Interest

These are only a few of the wonderful mysteries and thrillers that came out in the year, so you have hours of great reading ahead of you!

Atkinson, Kate. Transcription (LB, 28.00). A young woman is recruited into MI5 during WWII and finds herself slipping into the role of an undercover agent which she continues during the Cold War, and in the 1970s she becomes a double agent in a powerful historical novel.

Barron, Laird. Blood Standard (Put, 26.00). A mob enforcer from Alaska resettles in upstate New York, but he is unable to leave his past behind when a teenaged girl disappears and he delves back into the underworld in the first of a new series.

Berney, Lou. November Road (HC, 26.99). An Oklahoma housewife takes off with her two young daughters to find a new life in California the week of the assassination of JFK only to run across a New Orleans mobster on the run because he knows too much about what happened in a crime novel that is enriched by the characters’ search for connection and a better life. This tops my list of best of 2018.

Berry, Flynn. A Double Life (Vik, 26.00). A London doctor is obsessed with finding answers decades after the murder of her nanny and attack on her mother, according to police committed by her titled father who disappeared without a trace, so she begins tailing some of his posh friends and befriends the daughter of one of them in her search for clues.

Hill, Edwin. Little Comfort (Ken, 26.00) Sept. A debut set among Boston’s elite featuring a Harvard librarian with a side business as a finder of the lost, who is hired to find a missing con man who has used his charming good looks to prey on lonely wealthy women.

Kidd, Jess. Mr. Flood’s Last Resort (SS, 27.00). A magical novel about an Irish woman working as a caretaker in London, who takes over the care of an irascible and reclusive man living in a gothic mansion, a man who may have killed his wife whose body was found years before at the foot of the staircase.

Massey, Sujata. The Widows of Malabar Hill (Soho, 16.95). Set in Bombay in the 1920s, this series debut features the first female solicitor in the city, hired to execute the will of a wealthy Muslim mill owner, who left three widows all of whom signed over their inheritance to a charity, leaving them with nothing to live on. Perfect for those of us who love The Raj Quartet.

Owens, Lauren Doyle. The other Side of Everything (SS, 15.99). In a suburban Florida neighborhood three generations of neighbors deal with a murder—an octogenarian still mourning a past love, an artist fighting the aftermath of a cancer diagnosis, and a teenaged girl trying to come to terms with the unexplained disappearance of her mother.

Pelecanos, George. The Man who Came Uptown (Mull, 27.00). An inmate awaiting trial begins reading to pass the time, inspired by the jail librarian, and finds a world of possibility that he never knew existed, so when he is released and is blackmailed by the man who effected his release, he is caught in a moral dilemma. An “unforgettable novel of crime, redemption, and the transformative power of the written word” says PW in a starred review.

Ware, Ruth. The Death of Mrs. Westaway (SS, 26.99). A wonderful gothic mystery that begins when a young tarot reader in Brighton receives a letter notifying her that she has been named in the will of her grandmother, a grandmother she never knew existed, and goes to Cornwall figuring to take financial advantage of what must be a mistake.

We will be changing our hours to close at 4:00. Bosco hates walking in the dark. Our holiday hours are as follows: We will be open the week before Christmas, December 17-23, 10-4:00, closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and open December 26 for our super after-Christmas sale, which will last until December 29. Then Clues will be closed until January 3. Remember, your gift certificates will be worth 20% more during the sale.

We wish you a happy—and mysterious--holiday season.

Chris and Bosco