We’re talking about March book releases already! As my Mother says, I’m not trying to rush my life, but I’d much rather talk about anything in March than February. There are hints of spring in March.
Let’s see what kind of hints we can find in the Treasures in My Closet. Don’t forget to check the bottom of this post for additional titles. And, if you’re looking forward to some March books, let us know what they are.
Night Flight to Paris is Cara Black’s second Kate Rees WWII novel. October 1942: it’s been two years since Kate Rees was sent to Paris on a British Secret Service mission to assassinate Hitler. Since then, she has left spycraft behind to take a training job as a sharpshooting instructor in the Scottish Highlands. But her quiet life is violently disrupted when Colonel Stepney, her former handler, drags her back into the fray for a risky three-pronged mission in Paris. Each task is more dangerous than the next: Deliver a package of forbidden biological material. Assassinate a high-ranking German operative whose knowledge of invasion plans could turn the tide of the war against the Allies. Rescue a British agent who once saved Kate’s life—and get out. (Release date is March 7.)
Frances Brody’s thirteenth Kate Shackleton mystery is A Mansion for Murder. When Kate Shackleton disembarks at Saltaire station, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, she has no idea what to expect. A stranger, Ronnie Creswell, has written to say that he has urgent information about the past that will interest her, and he persuades her to make the journey to Milner Field, the grand house that is said to be cursed. But moments after Kate arrives at the lodge, a messenger brings devastating news to Ronnie’s parents: he has been found drowned in the mill reservoir. Ronnie’s father suspects that this was no accident, and the post-mortem proves him right. Ronnie was murdered. Terrified and distraught, Mrs. Creswell refuses to stay at the Lodge a moment longer. But events take an even more shocking turn when ten-year-old Nancy Creswell, eyes and ears for her blind Uncle Nick, goes missing. An account of the fateful Saturday of Ronnie’s death arouses Kate’s suspicions, and furhter investigations could prove her right. But truth is never so straightforward at Milner Field. (Release date is March 21.)
I know I have readers who enjoy paranormal mysteries. Four Charming Spells is Lynn Cahoon’s fourth Kitchen Witch cozy. Before Mia Malone can sip tea at Time for a Cuppa, the charming new shop in Magic Springs, Idaho, her life changes course in downright supernatural ways. First her blossoming catering business and cooking school get a boost with the addition of an enchanting cake decorator. Then she catches the attention of the tea shop owner herself, local coven member Mahogany Medford, who’s set on immersing Mia in a twisted mystery that appears all but unsolvable without a special kind of help . . .Still reeling from the recent loss of her mother and believing there was more to the abrupt death, Mahogany urges Mia to cast light on the truth. (Release date is March 28.)
Cate Conte’s Witch Way Out is also a paranormal cozy. When Violet Mooney’s coworker and fellow witch calls to say that their Connecticut crystals shop, The Full Moon, has been selected as a vendor at the Spring Equinox Fair, it’s welcome news. Ever since she learned about her magickal ancestry, Violet has been struggling to learn her craft while staying out of trouble. It’s no easy feat when her family seems to be the target of a power-grab within the realm, putting the entire magickal community on edge—and setting Violet on a mission . . .With her investigation conjuring more questions than answers, Violet tries to focus on the Fair, which is being run by one of her personal heroes. Horatio Hale is a proponent of ethical crystal mining, but apparently not everyone is a fan. Violet is shocked when she goes to attend a meeting and finds Horatio dead—with an axe stuck in his chest. To uncover the motives behind the mayhem in both the mortal and magickal worlds, Violet is going to need more than a crystal ball. (Release date is March 28.)
Even When you Lie is Michelle Cruz’ debut. Reagan Reyes hunts other people’s secrets. A former intelligence officer, she’s currently the in-house investigator for pricey criminal defense attorney, Cade McCarrick…and she’s his lover, despite the law firm’s rules forbidding romantic relationships between partners and staff. But their love—including their agreement never to lie to each other—is the only authenticity they have in a world of subterfuge and betrayal. That agreement is pushed to its limits when a mysterious woman leaves an envelope for Cade and is soon discovered dead. While the envelope’s contents aren’t related to any of Cade’s current cases, Reagan uncovers a connection to a recent murder outside a Deep Ellum nightclub—and an even more ominous link to the dead woman. The police don’t seem to care about either death, but they hit too close to home for Reagan to ignore. As she digs deeper into Dallas’s sordid underbelly, she’s completely on her own except for Cade—and there’s a killer bent on eliminating them both at any cost. (Release date is March 21.)
I added Julie Carrick Dalton’s The Last Beekeeper to this list just because it’s a little different. It’s been more than a decade since the world has come undone, and Sasha Severn has returned to her childhood home with one goal in mind―find the mythic research her father, the infamous Last Beekeeper, hid before he was incarcerated. There, Sasha is confronted with a group of squatters who have claimed the quiet, idyllic farm as a way to escape the horrific conditions of state housing. While she feels threatened by their presence at first, the friends soon become her newfound family, offering what she hasn’t felt since her father was imprisoned: security and hope. Maybe it’s time to forget the family secrets buried on the farm and focus on her future. But just as she settles into her new life, Sasha witnesses the impossible. She sees a honeybee, presumed extinct. People who claim to see bees are ridiculed and silenced for reasons Sasha doesn’t understand, but she can’t shake the feeling that this impossible bee is connected to her father’s missing research. Fighting to uncover the truth could shatter Sasha’s fragile security and threaten the lives of her new-found family―or it could save them all. (Release date is March 7.)
Maria DiRico’s Four Parties and a Funeral is the latest Catering Hall Mystery. Mia Carina is still coming to grips with being back in Astoria, Queens, and running her Italian-American family’s catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor but a TV casting call is about to put murder in the spotlight . . .The June events schedule at Belle View is busting out all over—proms, graduations, and of course, weddings. There are unexpected bookings too, including a casting call for the pilot of Dons of Ditmars Boulevard. But soon, Mia’s fears about the cheesy reality show are confirmed . . .Belle View quickly becomes the site of a sea of wanna-be goombahs and phony girlfriends, and some of Mia’s friends insist on getting in on the action. The production company owner and his executive producer ex-wife—who’s also very minor British royalty—have assembled a motley crew that does as much infighting and backstabbing as the on-screen “talent.” Even so, it’s a shock when a dead body is found in the pool house of a local mansion rented by the show . . .Murder might boost the ratings. But Mia intends to make sure the killer gets jail time, not airtime. (Release date is March 28.)
Ten years after she was exonerated for the slaughter of her family, the girl the tabloids called “Empty Eyes” is the only one looking for the truth in Charlie Donlea’s novel, Those Empty Eyes. Alex Armstrong has changed everything about herself—her name, her appearance, her backstory. She’s no longer the terrified teenager a rapt audience saw on television, emerging in handcuffs from the quiet suburban home the night her family was massacred. That girl, Alexandra Quinlan, nicknamed Empty Eyes by the media, was accused of the killings, fought to clear her name, and later took the stand during her highly publicized defamation lawsuit that captured the attention of the nation. It’s been ten years since, and Alex hasn’t stopped searching for answers about the night her family was killed, even as she continues to hide her real identity from true crime fanatics and grasping reporters still desperate to locate her. As a legal investigator, she works tirelessly to secure justice for others, too. People like Matthew Claymore, who’s under suspicion in the disappearance of his girlfriend, a student journalist named Laura McAllister. Laura was about to break a major story about rape and cover-ups on her college campus. Alex believes Matthew is innocent, and unearths stunning revelations about the university’s faculty, fraternity members, and powerful parents willing to do anything to protect their children. Most shocking of all—as Alex digs into Laura’s disappearance, she realizes there are unexpected connections to the murder of her own family. For as different as the crimes may seem, they each hinge on one sinister truth: no one is quite who they seem to be . . . (Release date is March 28.)
Robert Dugoni introduces Keera Duggan in Her Deadly Game. Keera Duggan was building a solid reputation as a Seattle prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. For the competitive former chess prodigy, returning to her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father is the best shot she has. With the right moves, she hopes to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father, and her career. Keera’s chance to play in the big leagues comes when she’s retained by Vince LaRussa, an investment adviser accused of murdering his wealthy wife. There’s little hard evidence against him, but considering the couple’s impending and potentially nasty divorce, LaRussa faces life in prison. The prosecutor is equally challenging: Miller Ambrose, Keera’s former lover, who’s eager to destroy her in court on her first homicide defense. As Keera and her team follow the evidence, they uncover a complicated and deadly game that’s more than Keera bargained for. When shocking information turns the case upside down, Keera must decide between her duty to her client, her family’s legacy, and her own future. (Release date is March 28.)
Dr. Karen Fine’s The Other Family Doctor is on my TBR pile. You might want to add it as well if you’ve been watching “All Creatures Great and Small”. Karen Fine always knew that she wanted to be a vet and wasn’t going to let anything stop her: not her allergy to cats, and not the fact that in the ’80s veterinary medicine was still a mostly male profession. Inspired by her grandfather, a compassionate doctor who paid house calls to all his (human) patients, Dr. Fine persevered, and brought her Oupa’s principles into her own practice, which emphasizes the need to understand her patients’ stories to provide the best possible care. And in The Other Family Doctor, Dr. Fine shares all these touching, joyful, heartbreaking, and life-affirming tales that make up her career as a vet. (Release date is March 14.)
Set against Nantucket’s Great Fire of 1846, Julie Gerstenblatt’s sweeping, emotional debut novel, Daughters of Nantucket, brings together three courageous women battling to save everything they hold dear… Nantucket in 1846 is an island set apart not just by its geography but by its unique circumstances. With their menfolk away at sea, often for years at a time, women here know a rare independence—and the challenges that go with it. Eliza Macy is struggling to conceal her financial trouble as she waits for her whaling captain husband to return from a voyage. In desperation, she turns against her progressive ideals and targets Meg Wright, a pregnant free Black woman trying to relocate her store to Main Street. Meanwhile, astronomer Maria Mitchell loves running Nantucket’s Atheneum and spending her nights observing the stars, yet she fears revealing the secret wishes of her heart. On a sweltering July night, a massive fire breaks out in town, quickly kindled by the densely packed wooden buildings. With everything they possess now threatened, these three very different women are forced to reevaluate their priorities and decide what to save, what to let go and what kind of life to rebuild from the ashes of the past. (Release date is March 14.)
William Landay, the author of Defending Jacob, now introduces All That Is Mine I Carry With Me. One afternoon in November 1975, ten-year-old Miranda Larkin comes home from school to find her house eerily quiet. Her mother is missing. Nothing else is out of place. There is no sign of struggle. Her mom’s pocketbook remains in the front hall, in its usual spot. So begins a mystery that will span a lifetime. What happened to Jane Larkin? Investigators suspect Jane’s husband. A criminal defense attorney, Dan Larkin would surely be an expert in outfoxing the police. But no evidence is found linking him to a crime, and the case fades from the public’s memory, a simmering, unresolved riddle. Jane’s three children—Alex, Jeff, and Miranda—are left to be raised by the man who may have murdered their mother. Two decades later, the remains of Jane Larkin are found. The investigation is awakened. The children, now grown, are forced to choose sides. With their father or against him? Guilty or innocent? And what happens if they are wrong? (Release date is March 7.)
The Sister Effect is Susan Mallery’s latest novel. Finley McGowan is determined that the niece she’s raising will always feel loved and wanted. Unlike how she felt after her mom left to pursue a dream of stardom, and when the grandfather who was left to raise them abandoned her and her sister, Sloane, when they needed him most. Finley reacted to her chaotic childhood by walking the straight and narrow—nose down, work hard, follow the rules. Sloane went the other way. Now Sloane is back, as beautiful and as damaged as ever…and she wants a relationship with her daughter. She says she’s changed, but Finley’s heart has been burned once too often for her to trust easily. But is her reluctance to forgive really about Sloane or worry over losing what she loves the most? With the help of a man who knows all too well how messy families can be, Finley will learn there’s joy in surrendering and peace in letting go. (Release date is March 7.)
I know some readers are waiting for Margaret Mizushima’s latest Timber Creek K-9 mystery, Standing Dead. Deputy Mattie Cobb and her sister, Julia, travel to Mexico to visit their mother, but when they arrive, they discover that she and her husband have vanished without a trace. Back in Timber Creek, Mattie finds a chilling note on her front door telling her to look for “him” among the standing dead up in the high country. The sheriff’s department springs into action and sends a team to the mountains, where Mattie’s K-9 partner, Robo, makes a grisly discovery—a body tied to a dead pine tree. Mattie is shocked when she realizes she knows the dead man. And then another note arrives, warning that Mattie’s mother is in desperate straits. In a last-ditch gambit, Mattie must go deep undercover into a killer’s lair to save her mother—or die trying. (Release date is March 7.)
Gigi Pandian’s latest Secret Staircase mystery is The Raven Thief. Secret Staircase Construction just finished their first project with Tempest Raj officially a part of the team―a classic mystery novel-themed home interior. Their client is now ready to celebrate her new life without her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a party, and Tempest and Grandpa Ash are invited to the exclusive mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property―for good. It’s all lighthearted fun until Corbin’s dead body crashes the party. The only possible suspects are the eight people around the séance table―a circle of clasped hands that wasn’t broken. Suspicion quickly falls on Grandpa Ash, the only one with actual blood on him. To prove her beloved grandfather’s innocence, Tempest must figure out what really happened―and how―or Ash will be cooking his delectable Indian and Scottish creations nevermore. (Release date is March 21.)
#1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline presents Loyalty, an emotional, action-packed epic of love and justice, set during the rise of the Mafia in Sicily. Franco Fiorvanti is a handsome lemon grower toiling on the estate of a baron. He dreams of owning his own grove, but the rigid class system of Sicily thwarts his ambition. Determined to secure a better future, Franco will do anything to prove his loyalty to the baron. But when the baron asks him to kidnap a little boy named Dante, Franco makes a decision that will change his life—and even the history of Sicily—forever.
Gaetano Catalano is an idealistic young lawyer whose devotion to justice is tantamount to a calling. He’s a member of the Beati Paoli, a real-life secret society of aristocrats who investigate crime in Palermo, a city riddled with graft. Gaetano sets out to find the boy and punish the kidnapper, but his mission leads him to a darker place than he had ever imagined.
Meanwhile, Mafalda Pancari is a new mother rejoicing at the birth of her daughter, Lucia, when disaster strikes. And Alfredo D’Antonio is a reclusive goatherd under constant threat of being discovered as a Jew. How the lives of these unforgettable characters collide makes Loyalty an epic tale of good versus evil, as the story twists and turns to its monumental showdown. (Release date is March 28.)
Ending with this one, Jacqueline Winspear’s standalone, The White Lady. The White Lady introduces yet another extraordinary heroine from Jacqueline Winspear, creator of the best-selling Maisie Dobbs series. This heart-stopping novel, set in Post WWII Britain in 1947, follows the coming of age and maturity of former wartime operative Elinor White—veteran of two wars, trained killer, protective of her anonymity—when she is drawn back into the world of menace she has been desperate to leave behind. (Release date is March 21.)
Check out these titles as well.
Adams, Luci – Not That Kind of Ever After (3/14)
Bond, Gwenda – Mr. & Mrs. Witch (3/7)
Cutrufelli, Maria Rosa (translated by Robin Pickering-Iazzi) – Tina, Mafia Soldier (3/7)
DeStefano, Ren – How I’ll Kill You (3/21)
Di Grado, Viola (translated by Jamie Richards) – Blue Hunger (3/14)
Gehrman, Jody – The Protege (3/7)
Gomez-Jurado, Juan – Red Queen (3/14)
Grey, Amelia – Yours Truly, The Duke: Say I Do (3/28)
Harrison, Cora – The Deadly Weed (3/7)
Hart, Emilia – Weyward (3/7)
Holland, Jacqueline – The God of Endings (3/7)
Holland, Marty – Baby Godiva (3/20)
Jackson, Jenny – Pineapple Street (3/7)
Katwala, Amit – Tremors in the Blood (3/7)
Kincaid, Harper – A Midsummer Night’s Scheme (3/21)
Lavalle, Victor — Lone Women (3/28)
Loesch, Kristen – The Last Russian Doll (3/14)
Mar, Alex – Seventy Times Seven (3/28)
Martin, Clancy – How Not to Kill Yourself (3/28)
Monninger, Joseph – Goodbye to Clocks Ticking (3/14)
Mouton, Deborah D.E.E.P. – Black Chameleon (3/7)
Napolitano, Ann – Hello Beautiful (3/14)
Oates, Nathan – A Flaw in the Design (3/21)
Rosner, Jennifer – Once We Were Home (3/14)
Schweigart, Bill – The Guilty One (3/21)
Spence-Ash, Laura – Beyond that, the Sea (3/21)
Sullivan, Justine – He Said He Would Be Late (3/14)
Walls, Jeannette – Hang the Moon (3/28)
Winters, Mary – Murder in Postscript (3/28)
Burner, Mark Greaney’s next book in the Gray Man series comes out on February 21.
Oh, my brother-in-law will want to read that one, Glen. Thank you!
Thanks. I added The Last Beekeeper and the Other Family Doctor to my library hold list. I already had Standing Dead on it.
You’re welcome, Sandy!
The one that stands out for me is the Mizushima, and I’m sure Jackie will be happy to hear about it too. I have the first Pandian book still to read before I decide on another.
What else has a March release?
14 J.A. Jance, Collateral Damage (Ali Reynolds)
14 Donna Leon, SO SHall You Reap (Guido Brunetti)
14 Harlan Coben, I Will Find You
14 David Rosenfelt, Good Dog, Bad Cop (K Team)
14 Clive Cussler (who died in 2020) and Robin Burcell, The Serpent’s Eye (Fargo)
21 Joe R. Lansdale, The Donut Legion (another must-read for me)
Guilty. I have the first Pandian to read, too, Jeff.
I know. It sounds like something I would like, but yet something else always seems to get ahead of it when I’m ready to start a new book.
I know. Me, too.
Thanks so much for including The Last Beekeeper! I hope your readers enjoy it.
I hope so, too, Julie. Good luck with The Last Beekeeper!
Wow, that month is loaded! A feast of books, I looked for sources for the Daughters of Nantucket and found many books, including one hardback on Amazon, only one copy left, $245! and a few in my price range, and the vet book lead me to a woman who started one of the first schools for deaf children.
That’s an odd lead to the woman who started the deaf school, Carolee. I can understand a number of sources for the Nantucket fire.
What a list! Here are more from my TBR spreadsheet: A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn, Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb, The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis, Community Board by Tara Conklin, A Flicker of a Doubt by Daryl Wood Gerber, The Perfumer of Paris by Alka Joshi, In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune.
At least I recognize the titles on your list, Margie. And, I think I must have the review for A Sinister Revenge in February since it didn’t come up for me in March.
Some goodies listed here, thanks.
I had a hold already on The White Lady, but for some reason I thought it was later in the year. And I’m going to look for Her Deadly Game. One of those coincidences, I just finished The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni (2018?).
Release dates change, MM, so maybe Winspear’s was originally later in the year. I had two books in a box that had been scheduled for March, and are now listed as April.
Love Love Love this peek into your closet!
Oh, I wish that was all you see when you peek into my closet, Kaye!
HA!
So many good books! Robert Dugoni, Lisa Scottoline andJacqueline Winspear are some of my favorite authors. Quite a few of the other books look good too! Happy Reading, Lesa!!
Thank you, Carol! March does have a good selection, doesn’t it? Sending hugs!
Only 28 days until longed-for March, so let’s try to pretend dreadful February is just a figment of our nightmares. Quite a few of these books are enticing, and I must read The Last Beekeeper. My father was a beekeeper, so I grew up around gentle little Italian honeybees and learned to appreciate them and respect their great gifts of navigation and communication.
Sandra, I just love that story of your father. Thank you for sharing it! I hope you enjoy the book.
As the ice grips my part of Ne Dallas and pretty much all of Texas, I would mention that Philanthropists:
Inspector Mislan and the Executioners by Rozlan Mohd Noor comes out on March 7th.
Our library system has been closed for two days thanks to ice, Kevin, but it’s back to work tomorrow. Enjoy Philanthropists!
Ours will be closed tomorrow which will mark three full days. The handful of branches that were open Monday closed way early so they had a little more than half a day then.
The book I’m most looking forward to is non-fiction so I won’t mention it here. On my TBR list and not mentioned -TWO WARS AND A WEDDING by Lauren Willig and THE LOST ENGLISH GIRL by Julia Kelly.
Enjoying historical fiction right now, Cindy? Two excellent authors there.