If you dropped in for the Friday contest, there isn’t one this week. Come back next Friday, Oct. 8. The first of the month is set aside for forthcoming books. We’re chatting about November book releases. If there’s something you’re anticipating, let me know. These are just the November titles I already have, the Treasures in My Closet.

I love to start with a debut novel. Her Name is Knight is by Yasmin Angoe, winner of the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for emerging writers of color from Sisters of Crime. Stolen from her Ghanaian village as a child, Nena Knight has plenty of motives to kill. Now an elite assassin for a powerful business syndicate called the Tribe, she gets plenty of chances. But while on assignment in Miami, Nena ends up saving a life, not taking one, and emerges from the experience a changed woman. She may have changed, but when she learns a new Tribe council member is the same man who razed her village, murdered her family, and sold her into captivity, she can’t resist the temptation of vengeance. (Release date is Nov. 1.)

Who can resist the cover of Winnie Archer’s latest Bread Shop Mystery, A Murder Yule Regret? Freelance photographer and Yeast of Eden bakery assistant Ivy Culpepper has just scored the job of a lifetime shooting the Dickensian dress-up Christmas party thrown by It Girl film actress Eliza Fox. The party is a Victorian fantasy come to life. But what begins as the best of times turns out to the the very worst for one of the party guests when a tabloid journalist with more enemies than Scrooge himself ends up dead. (Release date is Nov. 30.)

Let’s go from a Dickens Christmas mystery to the Wild West with John Boessenecker’s Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, The Wild West’s Most Notorious Woman Bandit. On May 30, 1899, history was made when Pearl Hart, disguised as a man, held up a stagecoach in Arizona and robbed the passengers at gunpoint. A manhunt ensued as word of her heist spread, and Pearl Hart went on to become a media sensation and the most notorious female outlaw on the Western frontier. Her fate after her later release from prison has long remained a mystery to scholars and historians – until now. (Release date is Nov. 2.)

I’m a fan of V. M. Burns’ Mystery Bookshop mysteries, so I’m anticipating Killer Words. In this seventh book in the series, bookstore owner, mystery writer, and amateur sleuth Samantha Washington and her Nana Jo confront their own relationship with law enforcement when a local cop who unjustly persecuted their family is accused of killing a person in his custody. But, Nana Jo knows her former elementary school math student would never commit murder – it doesn’t add up. I love this series that combines a contemporary crime with the parallel story as Samantha writes a historical mystery. (Release date is Nov. 30.)

Richard Chiappone’s The Hunger of Crows is another debut novel. In a chilling chase through the Alaskan wilderness, a woman running from her past must outwit the deadly assassins on her trail. It wasn’t Carla Merino’s one-night stand that forced her to hide and go on the run. She took a memento from the evening, a photograph from the man’s wallet of a younger version of him and some very important military men. When she realizes who the men in the photo are, including a billionaire military security and technologies contractor with a secretive personal army and eyes on the presidency, she knows she’s a target. When she flees in a boat, she’s unprepared for the dangerous weather. Scott Crockett, a stand-up guy finds his life more dangerous when he rescues a nearly-drowned woman. Now, they must outwit professional killers sent to retrieve that photo. (Release date is Nov. 9.)

Historian Nicola Cornick turns to fiction to tell a story of two time periods and a fifteenth-century mystery set in England on the brink of Tudor rule in The Last Daughter of York. In 1483, Francis Lovell is Richard III’s Lord Chamberlain and confidant, but the threat of Henry Tudor’s rebels has the king entrusting to Francis and his wife, Anne, his most crucial mission, protecting the young Richard of York, his brother’s surviving son and a threat to Henry’s claim to the throne. Two years later, Richard III is dead, and Anne is running out of options to keep her husband and Richard safe. She uses the power of an ancient family relic to send them away, knowing she’ll never see Francis again. In the present day, Serena Warren’s twin sister, Caitlin, disappeared. But when Caitlin’s bones are discovered interred in a church vault that hasn’t been opened since the eighteenth century, police are baffled. It’s up to Serena to uncover an impossible secret that her grandfather has kept hidden, one that connects the family to the past. (Release date is Nov. 16.)

I know some of the readers here are fans of Sara Driscoll’s FBI K-9 mysteries. In Under Pressure, Meg Jennings and her search-and-rescue Labrador, Hawk, have a case with an unusual twist. A Philadelphia syndicate is importing diamonds fro war-torn African nations and selling them with fake certificates. Agent Finn Pierce of the Organized Crime Program is embedded with the syndicate, but being caught with a wire or tracking deice would mean instant execution. If Meg, her partner Brian Foster, and their dogs can track Pierce to a deal location, they can break the smuggling chain while maintaining Pierce’s cover. It’s a risky operation with more players than Meg and Brian first assumed – on both sides of the law. (Release date is Nov. 30.)

Melanie Golding’s newest folkloric suspense, The Hidden, is a twist on Celtic mythology. One dark December night, in a small seaside town, a little girl is found abandoned. When her mother finally arrives, authorities release the pair, believing it to be an innocent case of a toddler running off. Gregor, a seemingly single man, is found bludgeoned and left for dead in his apartment, but the discovery of children’s toys raises questions. Every night, Ruby gazes into Gregor’s apartment, leading to the discovery of his secret family: his unusually silent daughter and his mentally unstable wife, Constance, who insists she is descended from the mythological Selkies. She begs Ruby to aid in finding the sealskin that Gregor has hidden from her, making it impossible to return to her people. Then, there is DS Joanna Harper whose investigation leads her to recognize her estranged daughter, Ruby on CCTV. The suspense novel is stepped in local legend, exploring the depths of what it means to be a mother. (Release date is Nov. 9.)

I’m up for a historical romance described as “exuberant, funny and romantic”. In Virginia Heath’s Never Fall for Your Fiancee, Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham invents a fake fiancee to keep his mother’s matchmaking ways at bay. Because Minerva Merriwell has struggled to support herself and her two younger sisters ever since their father abandoned them, she agrees to pose as Hugh’s fiancee while his mother is visiting. But once Minerva and her sisters arrive at Hugh’s estate, nothing goes according to his meticulous plans. As hilarity and miscommunication ensue, Hugh and Minerva’s fake engagement starts to turn into a real romance. But can they trust each other when their relationship started with a lie? (Release date is Nov. 9.)

I suspect Ethan Joella’s debut novel, A Little Hope, might be a tearjerker. In the small city of Wharton, Connecticut, lives are beginning to unravel. A husband betrays his wife. A son struggles with addiction. A widow mourns her late spouse. At the heart of these interlinking stories is one couple: Freddie and Greg Tyler. Greg has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a brutal form of cancer. He intends to handle this with grit and determination. Can Greg overcome his illness? How will Freddie and their daughter cope if he doesn’t? how do others in Wharton learn to live with loss and find happiness again? (Release date is Nov. 2.)

Claire Kells’ Vanishing Edge is the first in a new series featuring a partnership between an Investigative Services Bureau agent and a park ranger who solve mysteries set in the national park system. When a park ranger discovers an abandoned exclusive campsite in Sequoia National Park, Felcity Harland is brought in as chief investigator. She’s a former FBI agent who now tackles crime that occur on national parks lands. The private company that set up the exclusive camp won’t reveal their client list, so Felicity has no clue who left an empty tent and high-end technical gear scattered in the campground. When she meets Ferdinand Huxley, a Navy SEAL turned park ranger, she begins to value working with a partner she can trust. (Release date is Nov. 9.)

The Family is Naomi Krupitsky’s debut novel, the story of the tangled fates of two best friends and daughters of the Italian mafia, and a coming-of-age story of twentieth-century Brooklyn itself. Sofia Colicchio is a free spirit, loud and untamed. Antonia Russo is thoughtful, ever observing the world around her. Best friends since birth, they live in the shadow of their fathers’ unspoken community: the Family. But the disappearance of Antonia’s father drives a wedge between the girls as they grow into women wives, mothers, and leaders. They push against the boundaries of society’s expectations and fight to preserve their complex but life-sustaining friendship. One fateful night their loyalty to each other and the Family will be tested. (Release date is Nov. 2.)

If Midnight Hour didn’t have a November release date, I would have asked to review this for Library Journal. Unfortunately, we’re reviewing for the December issue now. Abby L. Vandiver is the editor of Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color. You’ll recognize names of some of the authors: Tracy Clark David Heska Wambli Weiden, Frankie Y. Bailey, V.M. Burns, Gigi Pandian. I’m sure you’ll recognize other names as well. If you don’t now, you will once you’ve read their stories. As a fan of story collections, I”m looking forward to this new one. (Release date is Nov.. 9.)

Wanda M. Morris’ debut thriller, All Her Little Secrets, is the lead read for publisher HarperCollins. That means it’s the book every department is pushing this season. Full disclosure – I moderated a panel that Morris was on for the Library Journal Day of Dialog, and I interviewed her for that journal. All Her Little Secrets introduces Ellice Littlejohn, the only Black attorney in an all-white Atlanta law firm, and the one who finds the body of her boss and lover dead in his office one morning, and walks away. Ellice has secrets, but so does the law firm. As she uncovers their secrets, she’s in a race to protect her own. (Release date is Nov. 2.)

In Down a Dark River, Karen Odden introduces Inspector Michael Corravan as he investigates a string of vicious murders that has rocked Victorian London’s upper crust. One April morning in 1878, a small boat bearing a young woman’s corpse floats down the murky waters of the Thames. When the victim is identified as the daughter of a prominent judge, the case is assigned to Michael Corravan of Scotland Yard, one of the only senior inspectors remaining after a corruption scandal that left the division in ruins. He turns his ongoing search for the missing wife of a shipping magnate over to a young colleague, Mr. Stiles. Corravan, an Irish former bare-knuckles boxer and dockworker, has good street sense and an inspector’s knack for digging up clues, but he’s confounded when a second woman is found dead in a rowboat, and then a third. After Stiles learns the missing woman, Mrs. Beckford, may not have fled her house because she was insane, the two officers realize the river murders and the case of Mrs. Beckford may be linked. Corravan must dredge up the truth before London devolves into panic and the killer strikes again. (Release date is Nov. 9.)

As a reader of crime fiction, I view Westerns as crime fiction set in the West. Perilous Frontier is subtitled “A Quartet of Crime in the Old West”. Hazel Rumney edited this collection featuring stories by award-winning authors Larry D. Sweazy, John D. Nesbitt, Jim Jones and Phil Mills, Jr. I’m a fan of Sweazy’s writing. He’s an Indiana author who writes dark, atmospheric mysteries. I’m looking forward to “Wind in His Face” by Sweazy, and anticipating the stories by the others. (Release date is Nov. 17.)

While I’ll mention Jodi Picoult’s Wish You Were Here, it’s not for me. As proven with my review of Louise Penny’s The Madness of Crowds, I’m not ready for pandemic books because they make me angry. Wish You Were Here is the story of Diana O’Toole who has her life mapped out. She knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galapagos Islands. But, then a virus felt worlds away appears in the city, and Finn breaks the news he has to remain at the hospital. He insists that she go on the trip because it’s nonrefundable. She goes, only to find herself stranded on an island when borders shut down. There, in the place where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds her outlook, and the plans she had for her life, changing. And she wonders. When she gets home, will she, too, become someone completely different? (Release date is Nov. 30.)

Although Sarah Strohmeyer is the author of eighteen novels, I remember the Bubbles Yablonsky mysteries. Her latest book, Do I Know You? is a psychological thriller. Jane Ellison is a “super recognizer,” able to identify strangers by the slightest details – the curve of a head, the arch of an eyebrow. When she spies human rights activist and heiress Bella Valencia in an airport, Jane is convinced she’s found the person responsible for her sister Kit’s disappearance eleven years earlier. Her attempt to detain the suspect ends with Jane herself fired and humiliated. As Bella prepares to marry the son of a wealthy, influential and ruthless family on their private island, she grows anxious that her dire secret will be revealed and used against her. She has reason to fear. Jane is ready to risk everything for the chance to publicly expose Bella’s crimes at her upcoming celebrity wedding. But the more she digs into what happened that night, the more she questions her own assumptions. (Release date is Nov. 30.)

I can’t summarize every book. I’m sure there are treasures on this list. Check them out!

Byrne, M.V. – Isabel Puddles Investigates (11/30)
Collins, Flora – Nanny Dearest (11/30)
Collins, Kate – Big Trouble in Little Greektown (11/30)
Day, Maddie – Murder at the Lobstah Shack (11/30)
Flower, Amanda – Marriage Can Be Mischief (11/30)
Fox, Sarah – Claret and Present Danger (11/30)
Hansman, Heather – Powder Days (11/9)
Macy, Meg – Bear a Wee Grudge (11/30)
Marske, Freya – Marvelous Light (11/2)
Meyer, Nicholas – The Return of the Pharaoh (11/9)
Nielsen, Helen – Sing Me a Murder/False Witness (11/29)
Reeves, Lynne – The Dangers of an Ordinary Night (11/9)
Ross, Rosemarie – Christmas Candy Corpse (11/30)
Scott, Kieran – Wish You Were Gone (11/2)
Shteyngart, Gary – Our Country Friends (11/2)
Simpson, Rosemary – The Dead Cry Justice (11/30)
Weiss, Elizabeth – The Sisters Sweet (11/30)
Wilde, Darcie – A Counterfeit Suitor (11/30)
Winawer, Melodie – Anticipation (11/2)