Looking for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing the week of October 11 – 17 with four debut series. I hope a few of these books take you on a reading adventure!
OCTOBER 12
Mystery at the Lantern Theatre by Clare Chase (Cozy Mystery)
The Saxford Players are on tour, performing Cinderella at a nationwide competition. But the drama isn’t only on stage. There’s conflict at the dress rehearsal, peacock feathers hidden in the scenery and a good luck card sent to the theatre – to the superstitious actors, it’s clear someone’s cursing the play. And when director Cally Walcott breaks more than a leg, it’s time for Eve Mallow to swap amateur dramatics for detection… Format: Digital, Print, Audio
OCTOBER 13
A Murder at Midnight by Elle Alexander (Cozy Mystery)
To add to the excitement, a popular ghost hunter has set his sights on the old English estate to feature on his hit TV show—Sleeping with the Spirits—and is going to record an episode overnight at the bookstore. It seems like a great idea for publicity and a fun way to generate more revenue. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Killer Headline by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson (Thriller)
Reporter Layla Rowe made enemies by asking the wrong questions in the right places. Now she’s dead, her laptop is missing, and someone in Hamby, Georgia wants her final story buried with her. Detective Rachel Ryder thought she knew every secret in her tight-knit community. But what Layla uncovered reveals a conspiracy that runs deeper than anyone imagined—forged documents, illegal land grabs, and a network of payoffs that reaches into the darkest corners of city hall. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder by Ally Carter (Cozy Mystery)
If she had, she certainly wouldn’t have done it outside his family’s mansion during the Christmas party of the year. She definitely wouldn’t have loaded his body into the trunk of her car. And she absolutely would not have announced to the town that the boy who ruined her life ten years ago was “so dead to her.” Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Truth to Power by S.A. Cosby (Thriller)
With advanced cybernetics showing up in the possession of low-level criminals, Luke Cage is hired to investigate a factory manufacturing medical devices in rural Virginia. Leaving Jessica Jones during a delicate moment in their relationship, he makes plans to travel south but is devastated to learn that a cousin who scoped out the plant for him has been found dead. The police report states it was an accident. But Luke has long known that official words are just that: words. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Home for the Homicides by Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey (Mystery Romance) *first book in a new series*
Welcome to Christmas, a town so cozy and charming it could be the backdrop of a Hallmark movie, where crime is never in season and it’s the holidays all year round. So when a tourist is found stabbed to death by an icicle ornament in the middle of the town nativity scene, the local police are out of their depth—after all, how do you find a criminal in a town where crime doesn’t exist? Format: Digital, Print
1955 by Matt Cost (Historical Mystery 1950s) *first book in a new series*
Jazz Jones is a gumshoe in 1955 Raleigh, North Carolina, who is hired by a representative of the NAACP, January Queen, to track down the people who lynched a young Black man. Their investigation leads them to corruption in the prison, a secret society of the Twelve Horsemen, and a city torn asunder by the battle for racial equality. The deeper they dig, the more vileness they uncover, and soon it becomes a quest to root out the underbelly of hatred as well as a race for survival. Format: Digital, Print
Bad Like Me by Louise Griffin (Domestic Thriller)
When Sam, the hottest dad in the neighborhood, is stabbed to death in a leafy local playground, no one in tony Larchwood can imagine who would want him dead. No one except the mom he snubbed, the dad he laughed at, the outsider he humiliated. Oh, and don’t forget his lover. Or his wife. This page-turning story is told by four women—each distinct, and not all reliable. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Mother May I by Harry Hunsicker (Domestic Thriller)
When former CIA operative Meg Dalton finds a shocking clue that suggests her long-missing daughter might still be alive, she’s forced into a desperate, high-stakes search for the truth. Fifteen years after little Ivy vanished without a trace at a Texas fair, Meg has built a career as a covert “operator”—a soldier-for-hire who takes on dangerous black ops missions for the government. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
Grace & Jo Have Never Solved a Murder by Jess Mey (Amateur Sleuth Mystery)
After discovering her boss, Garrett’s, dead body, Grace is ready to pack up her things and move back home. Until his widow, Jo, shows up and offers Grace a job as her assistant. The catch? Jo only wants assistance with one thing: solving her husband’s murder. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
The Way You Say My Name by M.E. Proctor (Private Investigator Mystery)
While digging up shreds of info from Amanda’s parents and friends, Declan meets Sam Chandler. She’s the kind of woman who stops him in his tracks. Sexy, smart, and complicated. And skilled at keeping secrets. So skilled Declan questions his abilities as a detective. What began as an intriguing missing person case soon shifts into a cross-country pursuit with Sam’s life in the balance. Format: Digital, Print
Close-up to Murder by Patricia Rice (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Rio Cruze has spent her life searching for answers—first about her past, now about a missing genius who has erased himself. When a reclusive CGI technician can’t be found, security chief Rio Cruze is sent to track him down before an historic film studio goes under. Her only lead takes her to Xanadu: a century-old mansion hidden deep in a California coastal canyon, where time seems to stand still. Format: Digital, Print
Bark Humbug by David Rosenfelt (Cozy Mystery)
This time, Andy is serious about retiring. Besides, he can’t hear the sound of his phone ringing over the football game. But when the local newspaper asks him to participate in their Christmas spread of local celebrities and their dogs, he pauses the game and brings Tara along for the ride. Format: Digital, Print, Audio
French Toast a la Santa Fe by Suzanne Stauffer (Traditional Mystery)
Aspiring Courier Prudence Bates joins ten other tourists in 1929 for a three-day Indian Detour from Las Vegas, New Mexico to Albuquerque, in hopes that their Courier will become her advocate with the Detours. She expects to explore ancient Indian ruins, stay in luxurious Harvey hotels, and observe exotic Pueblo dances. She doesn’t expect theft, attempted murder, ghosts, and mysterious strangers. Format: Digital, Print
Mancini Blue by Maggie Toussaint (Paranormal Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
After his wife, famous artist Sophie Mancini, allegedly commits suicide in Savannah, wealthy financial advisor Robert Calloway makes a fresh start on St James Island. To honor Sophie, Bob creates the Island Art Gallery. He lives above the shop with his niece, her ten-year-old daughter, and Sophie’s cairn terrier. Format: Digital, Print
OCTOBER 14
Murder on Flesher Pass by K.L. Borges (Cozy Mystery)
RogerDog Rescue of Helena, Montana, is operated solely for the benefit of Montana dogs, no transported outsiders allowed. When a fellow rescuer dies while completing a transport for an infamous Butte operation, Betty Mills, Kelly Boyd and Cici Vargas don’t believe it was an accident. They infilter the Butte group, just in time to partake in a rescue flight from Mexico. Plans go awry and they unwittingly wind up with something that multiple suspicious characters want to get their hands on. Format: Digital, Print
OCTOBER 15
Much Ado About Cursing by Lorna Blair (Paranormal Cozy Mystery)
Dr Cass Winters finally feels at home in Kilmaraig. She’s mastered the basics of her sea-magic, she’s forged a true partnership with the town’s fiercely protective lighthouse keeper, and she’s ready for her first quiet Scottish winter. Format: Digital, Print
The Crossword Murders by Helena Dixon (Historical Cozy Mystery 1940s)
Jane Treen is hot-footing it to Devon, having received an urgent message from her colleague and fellow sleuth, Arthur Cilento. He had been deeply worried for his mentor, crossword writer Professor Watkins. And the invitation he’s sent Jane is to the Professor’s funeral… he’s dead. Arthur suspects foul play, but before they have time to fill in the blanks, their clues lead them into a secret vault nearby. Format: Digital, Print
Flood Waters Rising by Kathleen Ernst (Historical Mystery)
When a flood threatens vulnerable collections at Villa Louis State Historic Site, Chloe travels to southwest Wisconsin to help site staff haul endangered artifacts to higher ground. The elegant Villa Louis is not in danger, but a nearby museum dedicated to the region’s fur trade history will certainly be submerged. Before the work can begin, the discovery of a body in the Fur Trade Museum jeopardizes the artifact rescue plan. Chloe’s worried husband, police sergeant Roelke McKenna, soon arrives to assist. Format: Print
Note: in some cases, print releases for digital titles will be forthcoming.
Publication date subject to change