Here are six new books on my list releasing this week for your reading enjoyment. Debut series from Clea Simon.

Batter Off Dead by Maymee Bell ~ Sophia Cummings may be unlucky in love, but she knows that the way to a man’s heart is through his sweet tooth. This evening, she plans to use that knowledge—and her skills as a New York City-trained pastry chef—to open the hearts and wallets of Rumford, Kentucky’s richest men. Sophia, proprietress of For Goodness Cakes, has been commissioned to cater the Heart of the Town Library charity fundraiser at Grape Valley Winery. She’s spent all her dough to make this a successful event, raise her profile, and win more plum catering jobs.

Zero Sum Game by Stefani Deoul ~ Zero Sum Game finds our high-flying lesbionic brainiac Sid Rubin and her unlikely posse of friends grounded, with wings clipped from their live-action-role playing misadventures. To break out of parental jail, Sid, Jimmy, Imani, Ari and Vikram enter a school robotics competition. But just as things get interesting, Vik learns that his super-star status and hard-won trophies from the frantic online game Contagion have been stolen.

Do No Harm by Dawn Eastman ~ Small-town doctor Katie LeClair is drawn back into an old murder investigation, a mysterious disappearance, and a dark undercurrent of violence. The idyllic town of Baxter, Michigan, seemed like the perfect place for Dr. Katie LeClair to settle down after years toiling in medical school―until the murder of a patient shattered the peace she had found. Now on the mend and balancing the responsibilities of a new house and the joys of a new romance, Katie is finally ready to start enjoying life. But danger arrives just as the town is gearing up for its annual Halloween festival―and once again, this doctor-turned-sleuth will have to unmask a killer in their midst.

Schooled in Death by Kate Flora ~ When a Mysterious Birth and Murder Occur at a Posh New England Prep School, Thea Kozak Finds Answers in Schooled In Death by Kate Flora. For school campus crisis counselor, Thea Kozak, Mondays are the worst day of the week. So when the phone rings early in the morning, she expects bad news. What she doesn’t expect is the pain laden voice of the headmaster of the highly-respected Simmons School pouring forth his dire situation.

Hooks Can Be Deceiving by Betty Hechtman ~ The Tarzana Hookers crochet club is ready for its close-up! But Molly Pink may be getting too close to a case that will land her on the cutting-room floor. Molly Pink’s excitement level is off the hook: The Craftee Channel’s new cable talk show “Creating with Crochet” has scheduled an upcoming taping at the bookstore. While she’s there, TV host Rory Graham is to work with the Tarzana Hookers on a Make and Take bracelet project to draw bookstore customers to the yarn section. It’s a win-win…or so it “seams.”

A Spell of Murder by Clea Simon ~ “It’s Harriet’s fault. It’s always her fault, not that she’ll ever admit it.” So begins A Spell of Murder: A Witch Cats of Cambridge mystery, the first in a new cozy series that mixes feline fiction with a touch of the paranormal, and a little romance as well. Becca, newly single and newly unemployed, wants to believe she has psychic powers. With nothing but time – and a desire for empowerment – she’s studying to become a witch. What she doesn’t know is that her three cats – Harriet, Laurel, and Clara – are the ones with the real power. *new series*