Let me talk about Treasures in My Closet for a moment. This piece started when I was working as a public librarian, and our books were ordered far in advance. If readers waited too late to place holds, they would be quite far down on the list, so I wrote Treasures two months in advance so they might be able to get on the list a little early. I know some libraries don’t order their books as far in advance as I was, so sometimes you might be frustrated that you can’t place holds on some of the books I mention. My sister, Christie, came up with a solution. She does read the current post, but on publication day for Treasures, she goes back to the previous month to see what she might have missed. So, before I kick off the August Treasures, here’s the link to July. https://bit.ly/3Ti4xPy. Thanks, Christie!

Stig Abell’s third Jake Jackson mystery, The Burial Place, caught my eye, so I went back and placed a hold on his first one, Death Under a Little Sky. Here’s the summary of The Burial Place. Former London detective Jake Jackson finds his new life in the country threatened when an old case from the past buried deep within an archeological dig site resurfaces in this beautifully written and deeply immersive mystery that will challenge your deductive skills. A beautiful landscape . . .It began as the project of a lifetime—a group of archaeologists, uncovering the remains of a Roman settlement on a picturesque hill in the glorious English countryside. A looming threat . . .But, the idyll is shattered when they begin receiving threatening letters. Former city detective Jake Jackson, now enjoying a quieter life in the local village, is pulled in to investigate. A killer closing in . . . (Release date is Aug. 26.(

A Lonesome Place for Murder is the second Ethan Brand mystery by Nolan Chase. In this dark mystery, perfect for fans of C. J. Box, one wrong step leads Ethan Brand to the most dangerous case of his career…and the most personal. Hoping to surprise his sons, Ethan Brand, the chief of police of a small town in northern Washington state, is contemplating buying a horse. But when the horse literally stumbles upon an abandoned smuggling tunnel, Ethan and his lead investigator Brenda Lee Page discover a dead body connected to a decade-old mystery. Ten years ago, Tyler Rash, a troubled friend of Ethan’s, vanished without a trace. The body in the tunnel has Tyler’s ID and personal effects. As Ethan and Brenda Lee investigate Tyler’s disappearance, they follow a trail that leads them to a cross-border smuggling operation connected to the town’s notorious family of smugglers. And when a bomb is sent to Ethan’s own house, the case takes a deadly and personal turn. A killer is stalking Ethan Brand–a killer he’ll have to face if he wants to see his family again. (Release date is Aug. 26.)

Emmy-Award winning reporter Christina Estes brings back her TV reporter, Jolene Garcia in The Story That Wouldn’t Die. Phoenix, Arizona TV reporter Jolene Garcia is fresh off winning her first Emmy and committed to covering stories that matter to her community. But Jolene’s managers want stories that grab immediate attention and generate clicks, not ones that take time to develop. When a beloved small business owner dies in a car crash, Jolene isn’t convinced it was an accident. He’d been raising questions about who keeps getting lucrative deals at city hall―questions that powerful people don’t want answered. The deeper Jolene digs, the more suspicious things she uncovers. Exposing greed, ambition, and deception could become the biggest story of Jolene’s career. Her bosses tell her to drop it. But there’s a story here, and Jolene’s going to find it. (Release date is Aug. 19.)

For fans of The Ministry of Time and The Midnight Library, Hayley Gelfuso’s The Book of Lost Hours is a sweeping, unforgettable novel following two remarkable women moving between postwar and Cold War-era America and the mysterious time space, a library filled with books containing the memories of those who bore witness to history. Enter the time space, a soaring library filled with books containing the memories of those have passed and accessed only by specially made watches once passed from father to son—but mostly now in government hands. This is where eleven-year-old Lisavet Levy finds herself trapped in 1938, waiting for her watchmaker father to return for her. When he doesn’t, she grows up among the books and specters, able to see the world only by sifting through the memories of those who came before her. As she realizes that government agents are entering the time space to destroy books and maintain their preferred version of history, she sets about saving these scraps in her own volume of memories. Until the appearance of an American spy named Ernest Duquesne in 1949 offers her a glimpse of the world she left behind, setting her on a course to change history and possibly the time space itself. In 1965, sixteen-year-old Amelia Duquesne is mourning the disappearance of her uncle Ernest when an enigmatic CIA agent approaches her to enlist her help in tracking down a book of memories her uncle had once sought. But when Amelia visits the time space for the first time, she realizes that the past—and the truth—might not be as linear as she’d like to believe. (Release date is Aug. 26.)

Sulari Gentill returns with Five Found Dead. On a train, there are only so many places to hide… Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe’s muse awake, and he’ll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just what the doctor ordered… And then some. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene, bathed in blood but with no body in sight. The pair soon find themselves caught up in an Agatha Christie-esque murder investigation. Without any help from the authorities, and with the victim still not found, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a group of fellow passengers with law enforcement backgrounds to look into the mysterious disappearance of the man in Cabin16G. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree which leaves five found dead—and one still missing. Now Joe and Meredith must fight once again to preserve their newfound future and to catch a cunning killer before they reach the end of the line. (Release date is Aug. 19.)

I know a number of readers are waiting for William Kent Krueger’s twentieth Cork O’Connor book, Spirit Crossing. The disappearance of a local politician’s teenage daughter is major news in Minnesota. As a huge manhunt is launched to find her, Cork O’Connor’s grandson stumbles across the shallow grave of a young Ojibwe woman—but nobody seems that interested. Nobody, that is, except Cork and the newly formed Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police. As Cork and the tribal officers dig into the circumstances of this mysterious and grim discovery, they uncover a connection to the missing teenager. And soon, it’s clear that Cork’s grandson is in danger of being the killer’s next victim in this white-knuckled mystery. (Release date is Aug. 20.)

This month’s nonfiction release is Children of the Book: A Memoir of Reading Together by Ilana Kurshan. In Children of the Book, Ilana Kurshan reveals how literature weaves an invisible thread through the tapestry of family life. Kurshan, a mother of five living in Jerusalem, struggles to balance her passion for books with her responsibilities as a parent. Gradually she learns how to relate to reading not as a solitary pursuit and an escape from the messiness of life, but rather as a way of forging connection and teaching independence. Introducing her children to sacred and secular literature―including the beloved classics of her childhood―she becomes both a better mother and a more compassionate reader. Chief among the books Kurshan reads with her children is the Torah, whose ancient wisdom illuminates her family’s path. Structured in five parts corresponding to the first five books of the Bible, this memoir traces the profound parallels between the biblical narrative and the daily rhythms of parenthood – from the first picture books that create the world through language for little babies, to the bittersweet moment our children begin reading on their own, leaving us behind, atop the mountain, as they enter new lands without us. A luminous meditation on how shared stories become the foundation for family bonds, Children of the Book celebrates a life richly lived through literature. (Release date is Aug. 26.)

I’m a fan of Madeline Martin’s historical novels about books and book lovers. I hope The Secret Book Society lives up to my expectations. You are cordially invited to the Secret Book Society…London, 1885: Trapped by oppressive marriages and societal expectations, three women receive a mysterious invitation to an afternoon tea at the home of the reclusive Lady Duxbury. Beneath the genteel facade of the gathering lies a secret book club—a sanctuary where they can discover freedom, sisterhood and the courage to rewrite their stories. Eleanor Clarke, a devoted mother suffocating under the tyranny of her husband. Rose Wharton, a transplanted American dollar princess struggling to fit the mold of an aristocratic wife. Lavinia Cavendish, an artistic young woman haunted by a dangerous family secret. All are drawn to the enigmatic Lady Duxbury, a thrice-widowed countess whose husbands’ untimely deaths have sparked whispers of murder. As the women form deep, heartwarming friendships, they uncover secrets about their marriages, their pasts and the risks they face. Their courage is their only weapon in the oppressive world that has kept them silent, but when secrets are deadly, one misstep could cost them everything. (Release date is Aug. 26.)

Here’s one that could be fun, Jo Nichols’ The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective. Mrs. B, the landlady of The Marigold Cottages is a stubborn idealist who only rents to people she cares about: Sophie, an anxious young playwright with a dark past; Hamilton, an agoraphobe who likes to overshare; Ocean, a queer sculptor raising two kids alone; the perfectionist Lily-Ann; and Nicholas, a finance bro who’s hiding secrets. The tenants live contentedly in their doll-house bungalows in Santa Barbara, just minutes from the beach, until their peace is shattered when Anthony, a quiet, hulking, but potentially violent ex-con moves in. Three weeks later, a dead body is discovered on the streets of the peaceful neighborhood. Anthony is arrested, and the tenants heave sighs of relief. Until Mrs. B, convinced that he’s innocent, marches down to the police station and confesses to the crime herself. The tenants band together and form “The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective” to save their beloved landlady. As clues are unearthed and secrets are revealed, the community of misfits only grows more tight-knit…until a second body is found. (Release date is Aug. 19.)

Gone in the Night is Joanna Schaffhausen’s fifth Detective Annalisa Vega novel. Detective Annalisa Vega hasn’t forgiven her brother for his role in a murder, and he hasn’t forgiven her for turning him in, so she’s surprised when he asks her to visit him in prison. Turns out, he has a possible case for her: one of his fellow inmates, Joe Green, may be innocent of the murder that landed him behind bars. Joe is doing hard time for killing his ex-wife’s lawyer, but an anonymous letter sent to the prison warns that the eyewitness in Joe’s trial made up her story. With her private investigation business foundering, Annalisa is desperate enough to start poking around into Joe’s meager case. She immediately finds two problems: One, the eyewitness definitely lied about what she saw the night of the murder, and two, Annalisa’s husband Nick was the cop who arrested Joe in the first place. (Release date is Aug. 12.)

I’m looking forward to Sarah Stewart Taylor’s second Bethany, Vermont mystery, Hunter’s Heart Ridge. In this sequel to Taylor’s lyrical series debut, Agony Hill, Detective Frank Warren and his formerly CIA-connected neighbor Alice Bellows return to investigate the death of a diplomat. It’s November of 1965 and the second weekend of Vermont’s regular deer season when Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is called out to what looks like an accidental shooting at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men’s hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of industry: a former ambassador has been shot while out hunting. With the war in Vietnam picking up speed on the other side of the world, Warren quickly realizes that many of the club’s members are powerful men who may have ulterior motives and connections in high places. While Warren’s suspicions about the club members build, his neighbor Alice Bellows is throwing a dinner party, preparing for Thanksgiving, and worrying about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber, whose due date is coming up. When Alice’s old handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, unexpectedly shows up in Bethany, Alice begins to wonder whether his presence has anything to do with the death at the hunting club. (Release date is Aug. 5.)

Those are my August treasures. What books with August release dates are you anticipating?