Looking for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing during the week of October 13 – 19, 2024. I hope a few of these books take you to an exciting place. Have fun reading!

OCTOBER 14
Hot Cars and Homicide by S.C. Merritt (Cozy Mystery)
When small-town charm meets high-octane drama, anything can happen. In Sweetwater Springs, the annual Smith Lake Classic Car Show draws enthusiasts from far and wide, but this year, the show isn’t the only event revving up tension. With the town’s mayoral election just weeks away, a formerly uncontested race turns into a heated campaign when Momma decides to throw her hat in the ring—railroading a reluctant Glory into the job as campaign manager. She gets a rude awakening when it quickly becomes evident that all is fair in love and politics. Let the mudslinging begin. Format: Digital (Print to follow)

OCTOBER 15
Rockin’ Around the Chickadee by Donna Andrews (Cozy Mystery)
Meg’s sister-in-law, Delaney, is pregnant. Since her due date is on or around Christmas Day, this is putting a bit of a damper on the usual holiday festivities. Meg and Michael are NOT hosting the usual house full of relatives and parties. Instead, Meg, along with her mother, her grandmother, her cousin Rose Noire, and her good friend Caroline, are militantly doing everything they can think of to keep Delaney quiet and healthy. All the relatives are farmed out to friends and neighbors; all the parties are being held somewhere else; and while Delaney is bored and mutinous, she’s doing well, and they’re managing to maintain a serene, peaceful environment for her . . . until a body is found in Meg and Michael’s yard. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Death at a Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly (Cozy Mystery)
Sea Isle, Scotland, is magical during the holiday season, and Dr. Emilia McRoy can’t wait to enjoy everything her village has to offer. But when the lead singer of a famous band is murdered in the village, just as they were about to launch a world tour, her holiday instantly comes to a halt. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

The Waiting by Michael Connelly (Police Procedural)
Renée Ballard and the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago. The arrested man is only twenty-four, so the genetic link must be familial: His father was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the city of angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Staged by Elle Cosimano (Busybodies Short Story Collection)
A million problems arise when trying to flip a crumbling old Victorian. But Lyda, a newbie seller, and Dani, a TikTok-trained home stager, are fixated on one: the dead landscaper in the bedroom. The notorious lothario was one of many last-minute contractors swarming around, and now every jilted lover and business competitor is a suspect. It’s up to Lyda and Dani to close the case before the open house. Format: Digital, Audio

The Suspension Bridge by Anna Dowdall (Traditional Mystery)
In this irreverent and immersive pilgrim’s progress narrative set in a midcentury North American river city, Sister Harriet of Bingham plunges into new teaching duties at a boarding school where girls ominously begin to disappear. Between sleuthing and teaching, Harriet hardly has time for her secret identity crisis. But it’s 1962, and the whole world is restless. Hellbent on glory, Bothonville (pronounced Buttonville) is building a gigantic bridge, unaware everyone is falling victim to its destructive influence. Amid the dreams and double lives, the monsters and mayhem, who will make it out alive? Format: Print, Digital, Audio

One Lucky Subscriber by Kellye Garrett (Busybodies Short Story Collection)
With sole custody of her brother, Kennedy has more to worry about than the antics of his favorite YouTube creators. But when one called Kidd launches an absurd challenge—with a large payday—to celebrate ten million subscribers, she winds up playing high-stakes hide-and-seek in the mall. After the game gets dangerous, she has to wonder: Is someone really out for the ultimate unsubscribe? Format: Digital, Audio

The Man in Black: And Other Stories by Elly Griffiths (Short Story Collection)
Elly Griffiths has always written short stories to experiment with different voices and genres as well as to explore what some of her fictional creations such as Ruth Galloway, Harbinder Kaur, and Max Mephisto might have done outside of the novels. The Man in Black gathers these bite-sized tales all together in one splendid volume. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Blue Christmas Bones by Carolyn Haines (Cozy Mystery)
Sarah Booth Delaney and her friends can’t help falling in love with Christmas this year, which they plan to spend celebrating the King of Rock n’ Roll at the annual Elvis Festival in Tupelo. The main attraction is an Elvis impersonator competition, drawing impersonators from all over the world to honor the king. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Beyond The Veil by Lawrence Kelter (Traditional Mystery)
On a glorious sunlit afternoon in New York City, Gwen Winter prepares for her wedding, exuberant with the promise of her future with Nas Zia, the man of her dreams. Her heart races unbridled, outpaced only by the overwhelming emotions slicing through her. Flickering images of times spent with Nas spool past her mind’s eye like frames of celluloid movie film. Outside, a church bell clangs, hammering away at Gwen’s veneer until it shatters and all the warnings she’d refused to accept come crashing down around her. Nas is everything she’s ever wanted and at the same time everything she’s been told she can never have. A final knell rips through her proclaiming that she’s been forsaken and what was supposed to be the best day of her life is no more than a ghastly farce. Format: Digital (Print to follow)

Cadieux Murders by Richard Koreto (Cozy Mystery)
The ink is still wet on the contract, but Wren Fontaine is already running into trouble as she renovates Cadieux House, a modernist masterpiece on Long Island’s exclusive Gold Coast. The home’s architect was the brilliant and eccentric Marius Cadieux, her father’s mentor, and Ezra doesn’t want Wren to change as much as a doorknob. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Cracks Beneath the Surface by Mary Ann Miller (Thriller)
Spring has sprung, and Easter festivities are underway in Field’ s Crossing, Indiana. The annual egg hunt is a huge success, thanks in no small part to Lisa DuVal, the owner of Big Al’ s Diner who dyed all of the eggs. But when Sheriff Jhonni Laurent discovers Lisa’ s body in her catering van later that day, the happy holiday quickly sours, and Laurent begins a murder investigation. Format: Print, Digital

Mandatory Reporting by Jenny Wilson O’Raghallaigh (Psychological Thriller)
Jonah is in way over his head. His study abroad year in Dublin isn’t going as planned: instead of the engineering program he requested, the only option available to him is a course in psychology. Rather than the predictable world of numbers, he is forced into the complicated and unpredictable world of human emotions and actions—exactly where he doesn’t want to be. Format: Print, Digital

This Ends Now by T.M. Payne (Police Procedural)
In Liverpool, a woman inexplicably leaps to her death. The following morning, two bodies are found on nearby Crosby Beach: a woman tied to a statue, and a man buried up to his neck and left to drown. When a nine-month-old murder case is reopened, DI Sheridan Holler is shocked to uncover family connections between the victim, Daniel Parks, and the three unexplained deaths. With Daniel’s body still missing and the number-one suspect cleared of the crime, Holler’s cold case suddenly becomes a major murder investigation. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

The Nosy Neighbor by Nita Prose (Busybodies Short Story Collection)
For decades, Marge has been spying on her neighbors Doris and Bob, reporting every sordid thing she sees to her husband, Harold. Flamboyant Doris and boring Bob are an odd couple, but as Marge watches their comings and goings, she starts to wonder if there’s more than meets the eye. Is Doris’s latest hobby—flamenco dancing, of all things—an attempt to spice things up, or is there something more sinister going on in the house across the street? Soon enough, Marge learns that digging into her suspicions means digging herself into a very deep hole. Format: Digital, Audio

Crime of Fashion by Emma Rosenblum (Busybodies Short Story Collection)
When a $3 million Bulgari diamond necklace disappears into thin air during a locked photo shoot, the suspects are all on set. There’s the magazine’s new editor-in-chief with much to prove, the tarnished photographer she’s indebted to, the fallen star who swooped in when her young rival got sick, and the grandiose stylist. But it’s the lowly assistant who must solve the case—and find the gems before taking the blame. Format: Digital, Audio

The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt (Cozy Mystery)
Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is relieved to be headed back to Paterson, New Jersey, after a week-long family vacation in the Adirondacks. He’s ready to put the holly jolly season way behind him and settle in at home with his three dogs. But when they finally arrive, there is an extra dog eagerly awaiting them, as well as one anxious dog sitter. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Brooklyn Kills Me by Emily Schultz (Traditional Mystery)
Book editor Agnes Nielsen never anticipated the viral celebrity that would come after solving the attempted murder of her best friend. Suddenly swept up in a world of luxury, she finds herself mingling with New York’s movers, shakers, and moneymakers—among them the enigmatic heiress Charlotte Bond, who takes Agnes under her wing. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith (Cozy Mystery)
In the rolling hills just outside Gaborone, surrounded by a grove of acacia trees, lies The Great Hippopotamus Hotel. With spacious rooms overlooking the Botswanan countryside and a fine and loyal staff, the hotel has served as a refuge to weary travelers for many years. But a sudden string of misfortunes threatens to ruin the hotel’s reputation. Food poisoning befalls an unlucky diner, laundry mysteriously disappears from the drying line, and a scorpion stings one of the guests. Mishap after mishap, until it seems these incidents are more than simple coincidences—something foul is afoot. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

The Reunion Dinner by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Busybodies Short Story Collection)
Josephine Ying longs to overthrow Big Uncle as the best host, and after his roast duck incident, she’s finally getting her chance this Chinese New Year. Even better, her son is bringing a surprise. Unfortunately, the surprise turns out to be a gold-digging fiancée—who dies at the dinner table. Her problems just got a lot bigger than hosting the perfect meal. Certain there’s a killer at the table, Josephine sharpens her questions to find them out. Format: Digital, Audio

A Classic Case by Alicia Thompson (Busybodies Short Story Collection)
Time rewinds at the video store—the clerk is always hot and grumpy, and kindly retiree Mr. Hoffman rents the same thing every week. Audrey hangs around for both these reasons. But when her fellow film buff fails to appear, she goes to his house over the protests of her flannelly video store crush, who knows more than he lets on. It’s just like a movie. And she’s worried about the twist. Format: Digital, Audio

Deadlines and Valentines by Heather Weidner (Cozy Mystery)
Fern Valley, nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is ground zero for all things romance. The town has pulled out all the stops for the first Valentine’s Day “Love is in the Air” Book Festival with events like Death by Chocolate, author speed-dating, a character masquerade, and a male cover model fashion show. Format: Digital (Print to follow)

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