Looking for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing during the week of August 18 – 24, 2024 with four debut series. I hope a few of these books take you to an exciting place. Have fun reading!

AUGUST 19
All Money Ain’t Good Money by Tracey Lampley (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
As a novice private investigator, Jinx Curry could f*ck up a wet dream. But as an experienced PI, she hates her job. The single mom spends her days spying on cheating wives and husbands, but she aches for more importance. Format: Digital

AUGUST 20
Sticks and Scones by Ellie Alexander (Cozy Mystery)
It’s late spring in Juliet’s charming hamlet of Ashland. Spotted deer are nibbling on lush green grasses in Lithia Park, the Japanese maples are blooming, and Torte is baking a bevy of spring delights—lemon curd cupcakes, mini coconut cream pies, grapefruit tartlets, and chocolate dipped almond Tuiles. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Quilty as Charged by Maggie Bailey (Cozy Mystery)
Lydia Barnes has made the picturesque town of Peridot, Georgia her home. But as the new owner of the Measure Twice fabric store, all financial burdens fall on her. In an effort to unspool herself from this tangle of thread and boost the store’s income, she invites her regular customers to a sewing retreat at her friend Fran’s Cherry Log mountain home. In between sewing lessons and quick lunches, a severe winter storm approaches. When Fran’s body is discovered murder is the only explanation, and the remaining six attendants are all suspects. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Pumpkin Spice Puppy by Laurien Berenson (Cozy Mystery)
Between taking care of her family and assorted Standard Poodles, Melanie is also working as a special needs tutor for Howard Academy, a private school in Greenwich, where her younger son attends kindergarten. This year, the headmaster has come up with an idea for a school fundraiser. All students will participate in a town-wide treasure hunt, with grades competing against each other. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Berry Suspicious Death by Peg Cochran (Cozy Mystery)
The cranberry bogs at Sassamanash Farms have never looked more festive than when Monica’s half-brother celebrates his wedding there. It’s a genuinely joyous occasion, and even greeting a strange assortment of guests and witnessing a heated argument can’t spoil Monica’s mood. But that all changes when one of the guests is found murdered at the reception—and then one of Monica’s employees is accused of doing the deed to get his hands on the dead woman’s money. Format: Print, Digital

Shock and Paw by Cate Conte (Cozy Mystery)
It’s the holiday season on Daybreak Island, and Maddie James is looking forward to stepping out of the limelight, watching the island’s Christmas decoration competition from afar, spending time with her boyfriend and family, running tours for visitors as part of the festivities and spreading holiday cheer through cute cats in jingle bell collars. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

A Dark and Stormy Knit by Peggy Ehrhart (Cozy Mystery)
With the houses of Arborville, New Jersey, decked out in festively frightening decorations, it’s easy to mistake a real dead body for a fake. But Pamela and Bettina are alerted by the screams of teenage trick-or-treaters to the corpse next door. Their neighbor Adrienne’s sister, visiting from New York City, is slumped on the porch, fatally stabbed. And with countless people traipsing around in costume, the killer might be as elusive as an apple in a bucket of water. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Zero Sum by John Gilstrap (Thriller)
Jonathan Grave long ago lost faith with the so-called war on drugs, a futile campaign that enables cartels to make billions under the protection of corrupt officials on both sides of the border. But when a twelve-year-old dies after consuming fentanyl disguised as candy inside the dormitory at Resurrection House, the school he created for the children of incarcerated parents, Jonathan knows it’s time to use his special talents to change the game. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. Format: Print, Digital

Spirit Crossing by William Kent Krueger (Private Investigator Mystery)
The disappearance of a local politician’s teenaged daughter is major news in Minnesota. As a huge manhunt is launched to find her, Cork O’Connor’s grandson stumbles across the shallow grave of a young Ojibwe woman—but nobody seems that interested. Nobody, that is, except Cork and the newly formed Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police. As Cork and the tribal officers dig into the circumstances of this mysterious and grim discovery, they uncover a connection to the missing teenager. And soon, it’s clear that Cork’s grandson is in danger of being the killer’s next victim. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

In the Event of Murder by Cynthia Kuhn (Cozy Mystery)
Nestled on the banks of a breathtaking Rocky Mountain river and dotted with delightful boutiques and galleries, Silvercrest, Colorado, is a book lover’s paradise. Bookseller and literary event planner Emma Starrs is looking forward to attending the annual Silvercrest Library Gala, a glamorous evening with celebrities including the legendary Whitney Willton, currently on the hit crime show Chasers, and her niece, party-planner-to-the-stars Lyra Willton. Gala Week is full of exciting activities honoring both page and screen, and library board president Tabitha Baxter is basking in the glow of her successful launch—until Lyra is found dead. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

A Deck Stacked for Murder by Aliza Levine (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Ava Goldberg’s life in suburban Chicago was perfect-until it wasn’t. Eager to leave her cheating ex-husband behind and reclaim her independence, Ava opens a tarot cafe in the tiny, cornfield-laced town of Shiloh. Although finding her place in Shiloh as a tarot reader-and the only Jewish person-brings more tsuris than Ava bargained for, she hopes that with the support of her childhood friend, Rose, she can pull through. But when a body winds up in the Main Street fountain and Rose’s husband, Joel, is the primary suspect, the whole town is thrown into chaos. Format: Print, Digital

Miss Morton And The Deadly Inheritance by Catherine Lloyd (Historical Mystery)
Miss Caroline has doubts when she receives an urgent invitation from a London law firm to discuss her late father’s estate. After all, the dishonored Earl of Morton died without a pound sterling to pass on to his two daughters. But while immersing herself in helping Mrs. Frogerton’s capricious daughter navigate the high social season, Caroline meets with a cagey lawyer, Mr. Smith, who shares life-altering news—the earl composed a second will, leaving behind an undisclosed fortune. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Swamp Princess by Tara Lush (Cozy Mystery)
Maggie Andrews is swamped—literally—as she tries to balance running her family’s gator trapping business, “defining the relationship” with tattooed professor Jack Bianchi, and helping her twin sister Vera with her bookstore. Format: Digital

The Jig is Up by Lisa Q. Mathews (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Single-mom and police chief’s daughter Kate Buckley is all about family. After she receives an urgent text from her younger sister Colleen, she puts her life on hold and rushes to her Irish-themed hometown of Shamrock, Massachusetts, where her family owns and operates a bed and breakfast. With her two daughters in tow, she’s ready to fight if it means she can help her charming but hapless sibling.

Murder at Vinland by Alyssa Maxwell (Historical Mystery 1900s)
A fundraiser for a new Rhode Island Audubon Society brings Emma to Vinland, the Viking-themed seaside home of her relative, Florence Vanderbilt Twombly, where the guest of honor is Edith Roosevelt, wife of Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. Listening to the speakers and observing the ladies in attendance, Emma is struck by the contrast of the Viking warrior–inspired elements in the house and the admirable but admittedly genteel cause of bird protection. Vinland bears the name of the Vikings’ first landfall in North America, but in this room today there is most assuredly no one to fear. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Death Scene by Carol J. Perry (Cozy Mystery)
Between documenting the progress of the movie, corralling starstruck autograph seekers and fans, and managing unmanageable traffic on Salem’s narrow streets, Lee and her police detective husband, Pete Mondello, are beyond busy. Even Lee’s best friend, River North, tarot card reader and practicing witch, gets in on the action, landing a job as a stand-in and body double. But it only takes one interview for Lee to realize that the male and female leads—whose roles include torrid love scenes—despise each other. Yet the problem is short-lived, literally . . .Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Haunted To Death by Frank Anthony Polito (Cozy Mystery)
Kicking off season three of their hit reality TV show Domestic Partners is a home renovation project with an irresistible hook. Woods Hall is a lavish 1913 manor home in the Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods, once belonging to the town’s founding family. It also comes with its own ghost. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Death And The Visitors by Heather Redmond (Historical Mystery 1810s)
Foreign diplomats are descending on London in advance of the Congress of Vienna meetings to formulate a new peace plan for Europe following Napoleon’s downfall. Mary and Jane’s father, political philosopher William Godwin, is hosting a gathering with an advance party of Russian royal staff. The Russians are enthusiastic followers of Mary’s late mother, philosopher and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft, which leads to a lively dinner discussion. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

This Is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter (Police Procedural)
For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Sports Page by Sheryl Steines (Cozy Mystery)
Two decades ago, mother and daughter, Sabrina and Melanie Crew disappeared without a trace. Now a dying father-in-law and grandfather is desperate to find the women before he dies. He enlists the help of Will Mann, Nikki Page’s longtime friend and temporary boss, who passes the task on to Nikki. Format: Digital, Print

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Psychological Thriller)
Influencer Meredith Lee didn’t teach Aspen Palmer how to blossom on social media just to be ditched as soon as Aspen became big. So can anyone really blame Mer for doing a little stalking? Nothing serious, more like Stalking Lite. Then, Mer gets lucky; she finds one of Aspen’s kids’ iPads and swipes it. Now, she has access to everything: the family calendar and Aspen’s social media accounts. Would anyone else be able to resist tweaking things a little here and there, showing up in Aspen’s place for meetings with potential sponsors? Mer’s only taking back what she deserves—what should have been hers. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

City of Secrets by P. J. Tracy (Police Procedural)
Los Angeles Police Detective Margaret Nolan and her partner have worked a lot of different cases, ones where things aren’t always as they appear. And it’s Nolan’s job to find the truth in the darkness around her. When they’re called to the scene of what looks like a fatal car-jacking, Nolan soon realizes her victim was a founder of a company about to sell for millions, and within a day of his death, his partner’s wife is abducted. As Nolan learns more about the victim and his life, she gets pulled into a disturbing world of sex, violence, and big business; and an even darker world, where whispers of an “Angel of Death” are beginning to surface. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

AUGUST 24
A Corpse in Christmas Close by Michelle Salter (Historical Mystery 1920s)
When reporter Iris Woodmore is sent to cover the Prince of Wales’ visit to historic Winchester, she discovers more than just royal gossip. The leading lady in Winchester Cathedral’s charity pantomime is found dead in mysterious circumstances. And the chief suspect is Cinderella’s handsome prince, played by Percy Baverstock’s younger brother, Freddie. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Note: in some cases, print releases for digital titles will be forthcoming.