Ah, December. The month when even the publishers realize many of us won’t have much reading time. Some of the books in my small pile of ten books are a little strange. However, there are two anthologies that might interest Jeff. Happy reading!
Celia Aaron’s Falling for Evil is called “darkly comedic”. A woman born without powers accepts a job as the maid to a supervillain in this dark and spicy paranormal romance. Born without a Gift, Clementine Holt spends every waking hour bouncing between odd jobs, desperately hiding her Pleb status from Emperion City’s superpowered populace. It’s why she finds herself working as a cleaner at the offices of the notorious Orcus, Inc. On the outside, a shining beacon of industry. On the inside? Well, let’s just say that Clementine’s contract is quite clear—whether she cleans up shredded documents or mangled body parts—she’s not to say a word to anyone about it, lest she become the next pile of entrails. Grave Valmont, head of Orcus, Inc., is a ruthless businessman by day and a vicious supervillain by night. His name alone inspires both awe and fear. His greatest desire: to have total control over Emperion City. But when he meets Clementine, he discovers something he desires even more than unchecked power: a wily little vixen caught in his claws. (Release date is Dec. 8)
In Christopher Goffard’s The Windowman, an accused LA serial killer disappears after being released on appeal, triggering a nationwide manhunt and descent into obsession that will thrill fans of Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy. With a series of occult slayings, a killer known as “the Windowman” terrorizes Southern California and sends the media into overdrive. Damon Midnight goes down for the crimes, but a botched prosecution sets him free. As he starts a new life in an idyllic suburb, he vanishes—and three intertwining narratives explore his public and private faces. (Release date is Dec. 8.)
Edgar Award winner Otto Penzler selects stories that highlight the greatest American authors of the Golden Age mystery in Golden Age Masters of Mystery. The American Mystery Classics series was founded in 2018 with the goal of reissuing the very best detective novels from the genre’s Golden Age (loosely, the years between the two World Wars). For the 100th title in the series, Otto Penzler has compiled an anthology that features the greatest authors in the series to date, including such names as Ellery Queen, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Cornell Woolrich, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, and many more. (Release date is Dec. 1.)
In Vanessa McCausland’s The Heart Note, A whispered confession leads one woman to Grasse, France, the perfume capital of the world, where she begins to uncover a mystery that reaches across generations. 2022: Eva is adrift; her sense of smell has vanished after illness, her marriage is fraying, and her mother, Lily, is slipping deeper into dementia. But when Lily, in a moment of fractured clarity, speaks of something she did in Grasse twenty years earlier, her daughter is compelled to follow the trail. 2001: Lily and Eva couldn’t be more different as they venture around France. One is fiercely independent and imagines a big, creative life ahead, one is stuck in the role of “parent” and “wife.” After a tense argument, the two are separated, leading Eva to explore the country on her own, and Lily to meet a handsome widower. 1532: Heli is the daughter of the most renowned glove maker in Grasse. She has an affinity for flowers, but washing leather in the canals leaves her ashamed of her stained hands and the stink of her skin. She longs to learn her mother’s craft, concocting intoxicating vapors and tinctures. When her mother falls ill, she decides to create mixtures of her own, stumbling upon an invention that will change the town, the history of perfume, and have echoes far into the future. (Release date is Dec. 1.)
From New York Times bestselling author Michael Northrop comes the cozy mystery, The Birder Murder: A Figman Files Mystery. Figman’s life has taken a much-needed one-eighty since he retired from the spy business. He now spends his days at his B&B in the Berkshires, grilling on the deck with his faithful dog, Rufus, and warning bird-watchers off the pristine lawn. But his newfound peace goes up in smoke when he discovers the former president of the local birders’ club floating facedown in the lake. With flocks of bird-watchers arriving in the area, on the hunt for the elusive bluecrested hop-and-go, Figman knows the murderer may strike again. Together with his neighbor, Detective Niko Hondo, Figman is on the killer’s trail. But when internet sleuths catch wind of the case and go sniffing into his history, Figman has no choice but to remind everyone of the pecking order. (Release date is Dec. 1.)
Award-winning private investigator Vandy Myrick returns in Delia Pitts’s Revenge in a Small Town, where Vandy must solve a case in the past to find out what killed someone in the present. As the only Black woman private investigator in Queenstown, New Jersey, Vandy Myrick knows she can’t be choosy when it comes to new cases. She’s still building her business after returning to her hometown to start over after losing her daughter. When it comes to Q-Town, Vandy never knows who might hire her. The Bartlett twins want Vandy to save their mother. Merna Bartlett has been bedridden for decades, after falling down the stairs in the mansion where she worked as a maid for Q-Town’s most powerful family. But recently, Merna’s talking about stories she could tell and scores she could settle–and the twins are worried she will be murdered to end her revenge campaign. Though Vandy isn’t a bodyguard and she’s never going to make money on this case, she wants to ease their minds. (Release date is Dec. 1.)
Sherlock: Short Story Anthology: Ten new cases. Ten master storytellers. One immortal detective. In this thrilling new collection, the world’s greatest detective is reimagined by some of the finest writers today. From the gaslit streets of London to cases that test even Sherlock Holmes’s legendary powers of deduction, these brand-new stories honor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal creation while bringing fresh ingenuity, atmosphere, and suspense to his world. Featuring original stories by Anthony Horowitz, Kate Mosse, Joe Hill, Sarah Perry, Janice Hallett, S. A. Cosby, Steve Cavanagh, Vaseem Khan, Abir Mukherjee, and G. T. Karber, and with an introduction by Stephen Fry, this is Sherlock Holmes as you’ve never read him before—and everything you have always loved him for. (Release date is Dec. 31.)
Rabbit Rabbit is a heartwarming novel about what it means to chase the life—and love—of your dreams, from the bestselling author of The Unsinkable Greta James, Jennifer E. Smith. A life-changing year. One month at a time. As the clock counts down to midnight on New Year’s Eve, Billie—thirty-nine, single, an American film editor on a girls’ trip to Florence—makes a decision: This is the year she’s going to have a baby on her own. Less than an hour later, she meets Arthur—forty-four, single, a Scottish conservationist celebrating a friend’s stag party—who seems perfect, except for his conviction that kids are not for him. Over the next year, Billie finds herself pursuing both versions of her life, moving back and forth between visits to fertility clinics and romantic getaways around the world as she tries to figure out what she wants most. But as she approaches the inevitable fork in the road, she’ll discover that it’s not so easy to follow your heart when it’s pulling you in two very different directions.
Full of Jennifer E. Smith’s signature heart and warmth, Rabbit Rabbit is a powerful romantic novel about paths not taken . . . and what happens when you meet the right person at the wrong time. (Release date is Dec. 15.)
Iris Voss’ sinister psychological thriller where three women bound by blood must take their secrets to the grave or risk shattering the illusion of a perfect life is Blood is Thicker. Claire Walters has curated an enviable life. On camera, she is the face of Silverton’s morning news. Off camera, she seemingly has it all: a handsome husband, a promising teenage daughter, an adorable young son. After a trying childhood and her sister’s endless run-ins with the law, Claire’s life is finally stable. Until one fateful night changes everything. It was an accident! It was dark…Claire shouldn’t have taken a sedative before bed, shouldn’t have been driving with her inebriated sister, Viola, and daughter, Molly, in the car. If only she’d backed into her driveway more slowly. If only that poor person wasn’t dead, under her car… Come daylight, the scandal would destroy them. So the trio hatches a plan to cover up the crime—literally—and bury the body deep in the woods. It’s a decision that will forever bind them in secrecy and guilt. (Release date is Dec. 1.)
Heather Webber is brewing magic in The Magic of Chamomile Cottage. A storyteller in search of a story. A healer in need of hope. A town looking for a fresh start. And the magic that binds them together. Popular storyteller Sunny Callaway is known for writing captivating human-interest stories, but lately she’s having trouble writing anything after a devastating diagnosis and a painful breakup. When a surprise discovery leads her to a small town fighting for survival after the closing of its tea factory, she finds family she hadn’t known and a story that will change her life forever. Tea shop owner Nova Frances Clark has an old soul, a healer’s heart, and a big secret. Although her special chamomile tea blends can heal minor ailments, she’s at a loss on how to help save her hometown. When her long-lost cousin Sunny arrives for a visit, it sets into motion a dramatic revitalization plan, finally giving Nova hope for the future. (Release date is Dec. 1.)
So, is there anything here that jumps out at you? Or, is December a month to catch up with books from your TBR pile? Do you have December books to add?
