Looking for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing during the week of September 17 – 23, 2023 with one debut series. I hope a few of these books take you to an exciting place. Have fun reading!

SEPTEMBER 19
Dead on Target by M.C. Beaton with R.W. Green (Cozy Mystery)
A visit to the local village fete for a spot of fun and relaxation turns into a nightmare for Agatha Raisin when she discovers the body of the local landowner in the woods―with an arrow in his chest and trousers round his ankles. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Death Dive by Kait Carson (Traditional Mystery)
Hayden Kent has more riding on the answer to the mystery than curiosity. She believes the diver faked his death. As a paralegal and newly minted claims investigator, it’s her job to decide if her company pays out the thirty-million-dollar policy. When her trip to Belize uncovers evidence of fraud, she returns to her beloved Florida Keys and digs deeper into the dead man’s affairs. Her boss’s advice to follow the money sends her to the Cayman Islands where privacy is king, and secrets can be deadly. Format: Digital

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas by Vicki Delany (Cozy Mystery)
It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York, America’s Christmas Town, and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and décor shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is intensely preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production. Format: Print, Digital

Blessing of the Lost Girls by J.A. Jance (Police Procedural)
Driven by a compulsion that challenges his self-control, the man calling himself Charles Milton prowls the rodeo circuit, hunting young women. He chooses those he believes are the most vulnerable, wandering alone and distracted, before he strikes. For years, he has been meticulous in his methods, abducting, murdering, and disposing of his victims while leaving no evidence of his crimes—or their identities—behind. Indigenous women have become his target of choice, knowing law enforcement’s history of ignoring their disappearances. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Stemming The Tide by Rebecca K. Jones (Domestic Thriller)
After an attack that left her both physically and emotionally scarred, Tucson prosecutor Mackenzie Wilson is ready to get back to work. Reassigned from prosecuting to public relations, Mack is trying to make the best of her new situation. And though she’s back together with her ex-girlfriend, Dr. Anna Lapin, their reignited relationship has already begun to fray. Format: Digital

Pups, Pumpkins and Murder by S.A. Kazlo (Cozy Mystery)
Autumn has arrived in the small town of Wings Falls in upstate New York, and children’s book author Samantha Davies couldn’t be happier. She’s excited to attend the town’s annual Taste of Wings Falls craft and food festival with her boyfriend Detective Hank Johnson. The fair features several booths, like the one Sam’s rug hooking group, the Loopy Ladies, have set up as a fundraiser to send underprivileged children to summer camps, as well as home-grown vegetables, like the 2,000-pound pumpkin grown by Farmer Scooter that he’s proudly displayed on the back of his truck. Format: Print, Digital

Driftwood Deceptions by Wendy Ledger (Cozy Mystery)
Maggie Romano is ready to embrace the quiet life she’s been building—a fulfilling job, a new boyfriend, and a remarkable talking cat named Pepper. However, when the tranquil haven of Harmony Beach is shattered by yet another murder, Maggie’s sense of security is once again tested. Format: Digital

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey (Domestic Thriller) *first book in a new series*
Summer 1980: Despite the local superstition that the Bendy Man haunts the woods, three girls go into a Minnesota forest. Only one comes out, dead silent, her memory gone. The mystery of the Taken Ones captures the nation. Summer 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide—a woman buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of the vanished girls. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Murder and Mamon by Mia P. Manansala (Cozy Mystery)
Lila Macapagal’s godmothers April, Mae, and June—AKA the Calendar Crew—are celebrating the opening of their latest joint business venture, a new laundromat, to much fanfare (and controversy). However, what should’ve been a joyous occasion quickly turns into a tragedy when they discover the building has been vandalized—and the body of Ninang April’s niece, recently arrived from the Philippines, next to a chilling message painted on the floor. The question is, was the message aimed at the victim or Lila’s gossipy godmothers, who have not-so-squeaky-clean reputations? Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Thicker Than Water by Liz Milliron (Traditional Mystery)
Pennsylvania State Trooper Jim Duncan responds to a call regarding a missing autistic young man. When the boy is quickly found, Jim thinks the case is closed…until the young man insists the police need to help a “sleeping blue lady” and leads them to a dead woman in an abandoned shack, clad in only her underwear. Format: Print, Digital

Prelude To Murder by Erica Miner (Traditional Mystery)
Young, prodigious Metropolitan Opera violinist Julia Kogan, having survived her entanglement in an investigation of her mentor’s murder, and a subsequent violent, life-threatening attack of a ruthless killer, is called upon for a key musical leadership position at the Santa Fe Opera. But at the spectacular outdoor theatre in the shadows of the mysterious New Mexican Sangre de Cristo Mountains, she witnesses yet other operatic murders, both onstage and off. Format: Digital

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (Cozy Mystery)
Shocking news reaches them—an old friend has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing. The gang’s search leads them into the antiques business, where the tricks of the trade are as old as the objects themselves. As they encounter drug dealers, art forgers, and online fraudsters—as well as heartache close to home—Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim have no idea whom to trust. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Reading, Writing, and Murder by Joyce Proell and Brenda Whiteside (Cozy Mystery)
Aspiring mystery author Emma Banefield and travel writer Nicole Earp are excited to attend a writers’ conference during their latest sisters’ getaway. Nic’s birthday should be all about relaxation, writing, and a chocolate martini to toast another trip around the sun, but the climate at the gathering rumbles like a sudden desert thunderstorm. Format: Print, Digital

One Smart Cookie by Maria E. Schneider (Cozy Mystery)
Ivy finally lands a real cooking job, but there’s a catch: she must figure out who kidnapped Magnum, the bloodhound who saved her uncle’s life. Uncle Tom, always at the ready with a favor she’ll pay for later, hinders more than helps when he hires feckless Cousin Fidel to search for the puppy. Format: Digital

SEPTEMBER 22
A Secret Staircase by Eryn Scott (Cozy Mystery)
Meg Dawson and the rest of the Morrisey residents can’t handle any more surprises in their beloved downtown Seattle apartment building. So, when Meg finds a secret staircase leading down to the famous Seattle Underground, she’s tempted to turn back. The area was supposed to be closed off long ago. But turning back isn’t so easy when she stumbles on not one, but two bodies in the hidden space. And even though the two deaths are separated by a century, the victims have more in common than Meg first realizes. Format: Digital