December ended on a slow note, and January 20234 isn’t starting out much better, if the Treasures in My Closet are any indication. I’ve actually read more April releases already than I have January ones. And, only one of the January books stands out for me. I hope you have something to add! Let us know if you have a treasure or two waiting in the wings.
Blurbs mention Gillian Flynn and A.J. Finn in discussing Matthew Blake’s debut thriller, Anna O. Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive—and hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by the tabloids, Anna’s condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as “resignation syndrome.”Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous “Anna O’”case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect—he’s got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own.As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes. (Release date is Jan. 2.)
Tara Isabella Burton’s Here in Avalon is a “modern-day fairy tale about two sisters who fall under the spell of an underworld cabaret troup that might be a dangerous cult.” Cecilia gets involved with the Avalon: a cultish-sounding cabaret troupe—one that appears only at night, on a mysterious red boat that travels New York’s waterways—and soon vanishes: one of a growing number of suspicious disappearances among the city’s lost and loneliest souls. The only way Rose can find Cecilia is by tracking down the Avalon herself.But as Rose gets closer to solving the mystery of what happened to her sister, the Avalon works its magic on her, too. And the deeper she goes into the Avalon’s underworld, she more she begins to question everything she knows about her own life, and whether she’s willing to leave the real world behind. (Release date is Jan. 2.)
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan has an unusual setting and premise. It’s the story of a Malayan motehr who becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during World War II – and the shocking consequences that rain upon her community and family. Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them. (Release date is Jan. 2.)
Radiant Heat is Sarah-Jane Collins’ debut novel. It’s the story of Alison KIng, who survives an Australian bush fire, only to discover she’s still in danger. The wildfire that devastated the Victoria countryside Alison calls home sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to obliterate the carefully constructed life she is living. When Alison emerges from her sheltering place, she spots a soot-covered cherry red car in her driveway, and in it, a dead woman. Alison has never met Simone Arnold in her life . . . or so she thinks. So what is she doing here? (Release date is Jan. 23.)
Eve Ronin is back in Lee Goldberg’s enjoyable Dream Town. Hidden Hills is a private celebrity enclave of white picket fences and horse trails that seems to exist in a dreamworld. But when reality superstar Kitty Winslow is killed within their gates and corpses are found in the vast state park outside them, LASD detective Eve Ronin realizes there is a deadly, razor-thin line between what’s real and what’s imagined. Eve discovers that Kitty’s surreal on- and off-camera life, a blur of fact and fantasy, shockingly mirrors her own as she struggles to investigate the killings, wade into a music industry war, and battle a vicious Chilean gang—all while her life is being turned into a fictional cop show directed by her estranged father. (Release date is Jan. 16.)
I haven’t read Derek B. MIller’s The Curse of Pietro Houdini yet, but this premise has possibilities. The blurb says, “a vivid, thrilling and moving World War II tale where enemies becomes heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult. August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving the American bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and brings him up the mountain to serve as his assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls. But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo execute a plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a nurse concealing a nefarious past, a café owner turned murderer, a wounded but chipper German soldier, and a pair of lovers along with their injured mule, Ferrari. Together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans. (Release date is Jan. 16.)
Nishita Parekh’s The Night of the Storm is a debut. It’s a locked-room thriller about a multigenerational Indian American family marooned in a house with a murderer during Hurricane Harvey in Houston. Single mom Jia Shah is already having a rough week: her twelve-year-old son, Ishaan, has just been suspended from school for getting in a fight. Still reeling from the fallout of her divorce—their move to Houston, her family’s disapproval, the struggle to make ends meet on her own—now Jia is worried about Ishaan’s future, too. Now, their apartment complex is under a mandatory evacuation order. She heads to her sister’s house, supposedly safer, on higher ground. When other relatives show up at the house, it’s a recipe for disaster. As the storm escalates, tensions rise quickly, and soon someone’s dead. Was it a horrible accident or is there a murderer in their midst? With no help available until the floodwaters recede in the morning, Jia must protect her son and identify the culprit before she goes down for a crime she didn’t commit—or becomes the next victim. . . . (Release date is Jan. 16.)
Thomas Perry introduces a new character in Hero. Justine Poole takes her job seriously providing security for wealthy and high-profile Hollywood stars. When she prevents a brazen robbery at the Beverly Hills home of two of her clients―killing two of the five armed robbers in the process―she is initially lauded in the media as a local hero. But the spotlight soon puts her in the crosshairs of the crime kingpin behind the burglaries. Unable to stand the embarrassment of his lackeys having been defeated by a lone woman, Mr. Conger puts in a call to the one man who can make his problems disappear. Known for his swiftness and subtlety, Leo Sealy will kill anyone for a price. But Sealy isn’t prepared for just how quick and resourceful Justine can be. So begins a cat and mouse game between two people who know more about how to take down one’s enemies than anyone else in the business. Justine finds herself up against both a hardened killer and a fickle media landscape that can just as soon turn on her as celebrate her in this high-stakes thriller. (Release date is Jan. 16.)
Lee Goldberg’s Dream Town is the standout in this list for me. What about you? Are there titles that resonate with you? Or, do you have something else to recommend for January?
The Lee Goldberg is the obvious one for me too, though I have read and enjoyed a number of Thomas Perry’s books in the past. A couple of others sound possible.
More January releases:
2 Barbara Hambly, The Nubian’s Curse (Benjamin January)
8 James Patterson & Brian Sitts, Holmes, Marple & Poe
23 James Lee Burke, Harbor Lights (short stories)
23 Stephen Hunter, Front Sights (Swagger novellas)
30 Michael Robotham, Before You Found Me (Cyrus Haven; this is #1 for me)
A pretty quiet month overall.
It is a pretty quiet month, however I’m glad you included your list. Thank you, Jeff.
I have so many books that I want to try in upcoming days and I’m also trying to get acquainted with a new-to-me library. One book I am looking forward to in January is Stacy Willingham’s new one, ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY. I have read her two previous books and liked them. Thrillers or domestic thrillers or whatever the ‘type’ is these days. I keep telling people that the mystery genre encompasses a lot and one can usually find something to suit your mood. I will say that I am getting a little weary of the ‘And Then There Were None’-type books. Do you feel sometimes that certain tropes get used over and over in a short while and then we get ‘done with that’? I kind of feel that way. The unlikable protagonist was a theme that I was glad to see used a bit less. Anyway, off my soapbox. Have a good weekend, Lesa!
Thank you, Kay. And, I’m reading one of the “And Then There Were None” books for LJ, thinking all along, who would be so stupid as to accept that invitation? Yes. And, I’m getting tired of this trope. I was glad to see the unlikable protagonist go away, too.
I enjoy your soapbox. And, I hope you enjoy your new library!
Thank you! Enjoy your weekend, Kay!
I am glad that December & January offerings are a bit sparse since I have a lot of catching up too do in my ARC reads.
But here are some upcoming January titles in my ARC pile:
The Expectant Detectives, Kat Ailes (debut), January 9
Death at a Scottish Wedding, Lucy Connelly, January 9
The Sign of Four Spirits, Vicki Delany, January 9
Easter Basket Murder, Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis & Barbara Ross, Jan 23
Who to Believe, Edwin Hill, Jan 23
I have The Sign of Four Spirits on my list, too, Grace. I’m glad you reminded me! Thank you. Yes. I have a lot of catch-up to do as well.
Natasha Lester has a new book out at the end of the month, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ASTRID BRICARD.
I’ll read anything by Derek B. Miller. The first I read (Norwegian by Night) sold me and I’ve not been disappointed in any others.
BTW – I can’t believe you don’t like Ann Patchett. Did you read Bel Canto. Loved it. Also Run.
I have the January books The Heiress, Everyone on This Train is a Suspect, and Who to Believe on my Kindle, along with The Son’s Secret, by my longtime friend and former critique partner Daryl Wood Gerber. Daryl is also known as cozy writer Avery Ames. This book is suspense.
Now that you mention them, what has become of Flynn and Finn? Finn published one enormous bestseller and dropped out of sight. Flynn wrote a string of excellent psychological suspense novels, but since her big hit Gone Girl, she hasn’t published a book that I’m aware of. I would buy and read anything she might bring out.
Here’s the January releases on my list so far:
Murder at the Blarney Bash by Darci Hannah
Murder, She Wrote: Fit for Murder by Terrie Farley Moran
The Sign of Four Spirits by Vicki Delany
The Son’s Secret by Daryl Wood Gerber
I’m also curious to check out Deadly to the Core by Joyce Tremel (loved her short-lived Brewing Trouble series) and
Death at a Scottish Wedding by Lucy Connelly (I need to read #1 first but I’ve heard a lot of good about it, so hoping it lives up to the hype).
Thank you Lesa for the very kind words – and for the great review in LJ! And thank you to Jeff Meyerson as well!
Ooooh, The Curse of Pietro Houdini sounds good to me. Thank you, Lesa!