Searching for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing the week of September 21 – 27, 2025 with three debut series. I hope a few of these books take you on a reading adventure!

SEPTEMBER 21
Danger in the Desert by CeeCee James (Cozy Mystery)
When Clara Fitzwater and her quirky crew roll into Cactus Creek in their trusty van, Bread Loaf, they’re expecting a lighthearted escape, cheering on her old theater pal Archie in his starring role in The Desert Deception. But the weathered Cactus Playhouse has other plans. Flickering lights, eerie creaks, and whispers of a ghost tied to the stage’s shadowy past hint at more than just faulty wiring. As opening night looms, Clara’s gut tells her someone, or something, is pulling strings behind the scenes. Format: Digital, Print

SEPTEMBER 22
The Corpse with the Amber Neck by Cathy Ace (Traditional Mystery)
It’s April in Paris, and Cait Morgan’s just completed a stint as a visiting professor of criminal psychology at the Sorbonne. Her husband, retired homicide detective Bud Anderson, has joined her, but – when Cait witnesses what she believes is a murder – their plans to revel in the French capital’s art and architecture, history and food have to take a back seat. Encountering an unexpected ally from Cait’s past, the couple helps the Parisian police to unravel a knotty case, that’s woven around an enigmatic woman who created a world-renowned fashion house. Format: Digital, Print

A Perfect Night for Murder by Robin Jansen (Psychological Thriller) *first book in a new series*
FBI profiler, Antoinette (Toni) Postell is tasked with analyzing the traits of the killer who preys on lone female joggers in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Toni works tandem with brash homicide detective Jack Autrey. Dubbed “Frosty” by the press, a fifth victim turns up during a blizzard on a December night. This case gains heightened attention when a relative of a prominent city official is also found dead, wearing only a nightgown and bathrobe. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Murder at Red Oaks by Kay Pritchett (Cozy Mystery)
What a chilling sight when real estate agent Mosey Frye enters her client’s grand Victorian only to find her strangled and laid out in a coffin. Clued in on the bizarre murder, the new forensic profiler in town raises the intriguing theory of “posing,” suggesting the culprit, plagued by remorse, decided to honor the victim with a grand send-off. Meanwhile, police chief Gus Olivera, sticking to the evidence, makes a breakthrough by identifying the coffin as one that is missing from the mausoleum. Format: Digital, Print

Steeped in Murder by Natalie Saar (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
In the idyllic, moneyed enclave of Shantytown, California, former private investigator Tawny Monroe has traded danger for dumbbells, seeking a quieter life as a fitness instructor after a brutal case left her broken. But peace is a luxury she can’t afford when she attends the exclusive annual tea party of the reclusive and eccentric Elise Huntington-Wilbury, known to all as the “Mad Hatter.” Format: Digital

Cooking Up Murder by Natalie Saar (Cozy Mystery)
Tawny Monroe thought she left her sleuthing days behind, but trouble has a way of finding her — and this time, it hits close to home. When Ferdinand, a charismatic local chef and the ex-lover of Tawny’s best friend (and A-list actress) Jessica Harrington, is found dead in Jessica’s kitchen, all eyes turn to her fiancé, Lloyd. But Lloyd is a man with secrets, and Tawny knows secrets can be deadly in Shantytown. Format: Digital

The Witch Wears Prada by Lisa Siefert (Cozy Mystery)
Welcome to a SPOOKtacular Halloween in Clover Creek! Ava’s long-lost missing cousin, Sakara Decker, is finally back—but is she? After a post-breakup love potion goes completely wrong, Sakara wakes up with total and complete amnesia. Not only has she forgotten that she’s a witch, she also forgot that she has a talking cat. And the super ability to read minds of anyone she touches, including a would-be assassin. Format: Digital, Print

SEPTEMBER 23
The Sisterhood by Tasha Alexander (Historical Mystery 1900s)
When the Season’s most accomplished and elegant debutante, Victoria Goldsborough, collapses and dies at her engagement ball, the great and good of London Society prepare to mourn the tragic loss of an upstanding young woman. But all is not what it seems, and after a toxic beverage is revealed to be the cause of death, the king himself instructs Lady Emily and her husband Colin Hargreaves to unearth the truth. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

A Perilous Plot by Lorna Barrett (Cozy Mystery)
Everything was going great for Tricia Miles, right up until her estranged mother, Sheila, arrives on her front step with an urn she says contains the remains of Tricia’s father. Shocked and saddened, Tricia and her sister, Angelica, attempt to get to the bottom of what happened. But their efforts for clarity are dashed when Shelia disappears the very next day, leaving without a word. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Merry by Susan Breen (Women’s Fiction)
Merry Bingham used to love Christmas—until she started worrying all the time about family, money, and death. The only thing that continues to bring her joy is reading from her heirloom edition of A Christmas Carol, autographed by Charles Dickens himself and passed down through five generations of her family. Now, as she waits for the results of the medical tests that will tell her whether this Christmas season will be her last, Merry prepares to give her book to the next generation. Except none of her three children wants it. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

A Tour to Die For by Michelle Chouinard (Traditional Mystery)
Capri Sanzio knows that when you give serial killer walking tours for a living, unexpected situations are more common than San Francisco’s famous fog. So, when one of her guests claims to see a woman being attacked during a tour, Capri remains unphased. The police search the apartment in question and find no evidence of anything amiss, so they chalk it up to a false report from a true crime fanatic looking to be a part of a case. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Famous by Blake Crouch (Suspense)
Meet Lance. Thirty-eight years old. Works a meaningless job. Still lives above his parents’ garage. By all accounts, a world-class loser. Save for one glaring exception: He has a million-dollar face. Lance has been mistaken eighty-seven times for the Oscar-winning movie star James Jansen, and for the last ten years, he’s saved his money and studied Jansen’s films, his moves, his idiosyncrasies—even the way he speaks. Now, after an unceremonious termination from his job, Lance has decided that the time has come to go after his dream of truly becoming Jansen. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Haunting or Homicide by Kathi Daley (Cozy Mystery)
Sydney Whitmore is already up to her ears in wedding plans, wine tastings, and wendigos when her best friend, Kelly Green, scores them invites to an exclusive Halloween bash at a long-abandoned monastery. Perched above a vineyard and steeped in ghost stories since Syd and Kelly were children, the crumbling estate is the perfect backdrop for a night of high-dollar scares. Format: Digital, Print

Essentials of Death by Kim Davis (Cozy Mystery)
After a scandalous arrest in San Francisco, Carissa Carmichael has moved back to her small Southern California hometown to start over as she opens her Aromatherapy Apothecary shop and reflexology services. A tourist destination, Oak Creek Valley, seems the perfect place to put the past behind her, but it seems no one will let her forget, especially her high school nemesis, Lacie. When Carissa finds her frenemy murdered after having a public altercation at the town’s playwright conference and festival, she becomes the primary suspect. It doesn’t help that the tarot cards she drew earlier in the day foretold the nature of the murder weapon. Despite her father’s position as Oak Creek Valley’s chief of police, the detective assigned to the case assumes she’s guilty. Format: Digital, Print

Dark Horse by Felix Francis (Private Investigator Mystery)
Imogen Duffy is an up-and-coming Irish jump jockey making her mark in steeplechase racing. But not all is well in Imogen’s life. Jealous of her success, Imogen’s controlling boyfriend Liam is stalking her and when she tries to break it off with him, he turns violent. Fleeing to England, Imogen hopes to leave Liam behind. But Liam vehemently refuses to let her go–until he’s found dead, stabbed with a knife bearing Imogen’s fingerprints. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

The Final Chapter Club by Agatha Frost (Cozy Mystery)
Ellie Swan and her gran, Maggie, are eager to breathe new life into their freshly renovated bookshop. And what better way than with a cosy village book club? When the existing Final Chapter Club seeks a new home, Ellie and Maggie welcome them in with open arms, hoping for gentle discussions and perhaps the odd cream scone. Format: Digital, Print

A Slowly Dying Cause by Elizabeth George (Traditional Mystery)
Michael Lobb has just been found dead on the floor of his family’s tin & pewter workshop. It’s suspicious enough that his body was found by a representative of Cornwall EcoMining, a company keen on acquiring his family’s land, and it’s made even worse when he’s revealed to have been the majority owner of the business and the sole obstacle preventing a deal from being made. But it doesn’t take long for Inspector Beatrice Hannaford to unearth the layers of estrangement that surrounded Michael in his final days, pointing suspicions elsewhere. In comes Kayla, a young woman half Michael’s age, who has just been made his widow. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Home Fries and Alibis by Lena Gregory (Cozy Mystery)
When a nasty new neighbor moves into their peaceful community, Gia and everyone else in the neighborhood is ready to blow a fuse. The spiteful woman has quickly made a nuisance of herself, complaining to and about everyone there. Then she makes the grave mistake of falsely claiming Gia’s dog tore up her yard, and Gia goes ballistic, telling the woman to back off . . . or else. It was an impulsive move for Gia, but someone else decides an even more extreme approach is called for, and silences the woman—permanently. Format: Digital, Print

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett (Cozy Mystery)
Sue and Mal Eastwood run an isolated rural pub called The Case is Altered where a weekly trivia game has revived its flagging fortunes—that is, until a body is found in the nearby river. Soon after, a mysterious new team arrives and shakes up the diverse field of regulars by scoring top marks in every round…every week. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Roastly Apparitions by Kristin Helling (Cozy Mystery)
A crisp chill is in the air, and the Cider & Shadows event at the nature preserve in Roastwood Hollow is all in great fall fun… until it’s not. When spooky activity arises in the woods, Roastwood Coffee roaster Clementine Matthews is haunted, and not by the trend of people melting butter in their coffee. Format: Digital, Print

Murder in the Air by Marilyn Levinson (Cozy Mystery
Shortly after the remains of a teenage boy are unearthed on newly acquired Twin Lakes property, Lydia Krause has a worrisome conversation with her elderly neighbor. Daniel hints at having known the dead boy and wonders if, after all this time, he should let sleeping dogs lie. Then Daniel dies under suspicious circumstances, and Lydia suspects his two surviving childhood friends are responsible for both deaths. Or did one of Daniel’s money-hungry relatives decide to end his life? Format: Digital, Print

The Pines Were Watching by Linda Norlander (Thriller)
When Joanie Crea is found strangled on the grounds of the crumbling Grandgeorge estate, Sheriff Red Hammergren faces a chilling mystery as dark as the dense forest surrounding the crime scene. All eyes turn to Derek Grandgeorge, the reclusive heir with a penchant for wearing a green jacket—even in the sweltering Minnesota summer. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

A Killer Wedding by Joan O’Leary (Traditional Mystery)
Christine can’t believe her luck. The iconic Gloria Beaufort, founder of the billion-dollar beauty empire Glo, has personally chosen her to cover her grandson’s wedding for Bespoke, the cult fashion magazine that every A-list bride dreams of being featured in. A career-making scoop and a free trip to a castle turned five-star hotel on the Emerald Isle? It feels too good to be true… Format: Digital, Print, Audio

Murder In Ravello by Ann Rose (Cozy Mystery
When tech mogul Blair Rucker, the world’s fourth richest man, invites my soon-to-be ex-husband Reed and me to his palatial Italian villa, I figure the worst part will be pretending our marriage isn’t falling apart while filming our YouTube food show. I’m wrong. Dead wrong. Format: Digital, Print

Murder in Miniature by Katie Tietjen (Historical Mystery)
In post-WWII Vermont, Maple Bishop has a thriving dollhouse business and a new career as a crime scene consultant for the local sheriff’s office. On the surface, she seems to be doing well, but deep down Maple is still reeling from the death of her husband. When the body of an aspiring firefighter–who was close childhood friends with Kenny, the sheriff’s deputy and Maple’s confidante–is discovered in the charred remains of a burned cabin, Maple is called in to help determine whether the fire was an accident or a case of murder by arson. Format: Digital, Print

Murder at Blackwood Inn by Penny Warner (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Ghostwriter Carissa Blackwood is having the worst year of her life. After leaving her cheating husband, she finally takes up the offer to help her two eccentric aunts manage the Blackwood Bed ’n’ Breakfast Inn in Pelican Point, California–a house they only recently inherited from their deceased father, Bram Blackwood. The old man dabbled in the occult, and his daughters haven’t fallen far from the family tree. Aunt Runa is into crystals and plans to hold séances at the reportedly “haunted” house. Aunt Hazel has an herbary and offers herbal cures for everything from headaches to paranormal visions. But it’s Hazel’s poison garden that really concerns Carissa. Format: Digital, Print, Audio

SEPTEMBER 25
The Unlikely Escape by Gina X. Grant (Cozy Mystery)
Stuck serving her sentence in Unlikely, New York, Agatha Shadewell is giving the straight life a try… for now. So when prison escapee “Big Phyllis” shows up in her kitchen, begging for help to clear her name, Agatha says no. Nicely, because you don’t poke the convicted killer. Phyllis swears she didn’t murder all those men. And now someone’s trying to kill her. Format: Digital, Print

Murder in the Soho Graveyard by Emily Organ (Historical Mystery 1890s)
When the body of a wealthy widow is found in the neglected graveyard of St Anne’s Church, Soho, Emma Langley and Penny Green soon discover her respectable façade concealed a web of bitter enemies. From a disgraced doctor stripped of his livelihood to a governess whose reputation was destroyed by lies, the victim, Mrs Melbourne, left a trail of devastation in her wake. Format: Digital, Print

Murder Most Scenic by Nellie H. Steele (Cozy Mystery)
Still reeling from her sister’s unexpected death, artist Emily Harper isn’t convinced Becky’s fall down the grand staircase was an accident. But when a hidden journal resurfaces—along with cryptic notes and eerie visions—Emily begins to suspect her sister was on the verge of uncovering something dangerous. Format: Digital, Print

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