By November, I’ll be feeling settled and at home. In the meantime, I have some November book releases to share with you. Since the list isn’t long because of the move, please share the November titles you’re anticipating! I’m read all but four of these books.

Murder on Tour is V.M. Burns’ ninth Bookshop Mystery. Bookstore owner Samantha Washington is wrapping up the book tour for her first historical cozy mystery by participating in the prestigious book festival in her hometown of North Harbor, Michigan. Not everyone thinks bestselling author Judith Hunter, the guest of honor, deserves all those accolades. Other authors accuse her of plagiarism and sabotage. When Judith’s publicist is poisoned during the festival’s cocktail reception, Sam wonders if the wrong person died. Once again, Sam teams up with Nana Jo and her friends from Shady Acres Retirement Village to find a killer. And, writing her latest historical mystery always provides a hint or two. (Release date is Nov. 28.)

In Jillian Cantor’s The Fiction Writer, author Olivia Fitzgerald’s recent novel – a retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, was a flop, and she’s suffering from writer’s block. So, she’s eager to accept a high-paying ghostwriting opportunity. All she has to do is interview Henry “Ash” Asherwood, a reclusive megabillionaire twice named People‘s Sexiest Man Alive, who wants her to write a book about his late grandmother’s surprising connection to Daphne du Maurier. But nothing is as it seems at Ash’s Malibu estate. The more Olivia digs into the family history, the more questions she has. Before long, she’s caught in a tangled web of obsession, marital secrets and stolen manuscripts. (Release date is Nov. 28.)

The fifth Jersey Girl Legal Mystery is E.J. Copperman’s My Cousin Skinny. Along with her boyfriend and best friend, LA family lawyer Sandy Moss heads to New Jersey for the wedding of her cousin Stephanie, nicknamed Skinny. But, the night before the wedding, the rehearsal event is marred by Skinny’s arrival in the dining room with her dress covered in blood. She’s waving around a bloody knife, used to kill the best man. There are all kinds of stories floating around, but the main one is that Skinny will be arrested, and she insists that Sandy will be her attorney. Sandy is reluctant, especially with a client who says she’s innocent, but seems to do everything in her power to land in jail. (Release date is Nov. 7.)

That Others May Live is Sara Driscoll’s eighth FBI K-9 novel. Meg Jennings and her co-workers are all in Washington, D.C. when a twelve-story condo building collapses. All K-9 handlers and their dogs are needed at the site to try to rescue any survivors. Meg’s firefighter fiance is already onsite inside the damaged building, but Meg has to put aside her worries and work with her dog, Hawk, and other K-9 teams. Every second counts because the building could collapse at any time, bringing more deaths. Evidence indicates this might not be a random attack, and now it’s important to identify the perpetrator and the motivation. (Release date is Nov. 28.

Once again, Emily Dickinson and her maid, Willa Noble, become involved in a murder investigation in Amanda Flower’s second mystery featuring the pair, I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died. Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to town to visit, bringing his secretary, Luther Howard, and staying with Emily’s newly married brother and his wife. Luther’s ingratiates himself with a number of people, including Emily’s sister, but Emily’s fears are squashed when Luther is poisoned. Now, she and Willa team up to find the killer responsible for the murder. (Release date is Nov. 14.)

It’s time for Winterfest in Taylorsford in Victoria Gilbert’s Murder Checks Out. Library director Amy Muir has a lot on her plate while her husband, Richard, choreographs the local production of The Nutcracker. Their five-year-old twins have small parts in the production, she’s dealing with the library, and, now, her mother-in-law is coming to town. But, the murder of the chair of Winterfest lands her in the middle of the investigation because her brother-in-law is missing after an argument with the victim, and scandalized townspeople are whispering that he’s responsible. Amy knows he wouldn’t kill, but now she has to prove it. (Release date is Nov. 14.)

Kevin Tipple and I discussed Lee Goldberg’s Calico because we both have the same problem with it. It’s not easy to discuss the book without spoilers. Barstow, California, a decaying city in the Mojave desert is the only place ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade could get a job. Over a century earlier, a desperate man ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, and he was determined to start over. Now, his fate and Beth’s are linked when she investigates an old skeleton dug up in a shallow grave. At the same time, Beth tries to identify a vagrant run over by a motorhome driver during a thunderstorm. Every clue is disturbing, indicating some truths that Beth just can’t accept. The world might not be ready for the story of Calico. (Release date is Nov. 7.)

Rosemary Hennigan’s The Favorites is called a psychological novel of revenge. From the moment she discovered her sister’s secret relationship with charismatic professor Jay Crane, Jessie Mooney has been convinced that he’s to blame for the events leading to her death. Haunted by their last email exchange—You know what you did—she enrolls in graduate school and competes her way into Crane’s famous “Law and Literature” class, setting into motion a plan to get close to him so she can expose who he really is.
But when she finally earns his trust and the coveted position as one of his “favorites,” the truth becomes darkly twisted. Is it justice Jessie craves, or revenge? And what does she stand to lose if she gets her way? (Release date is Nov. 14.)

I’ve actually read Deus X, Stephen Mack Jones’ fourth August Snow novel, twice. Yes, it’s that good. But, I read it in April, and needed to read it again to review it for my blog. Father Michael Grabowski, a Franciscan priest who has tended the spiritual needs of Detroit’s Mexicantown for forty years, has suddenly retired. August Snow, who has known the priest his whole life, finds the circumstances troubling—especially in light of the recent suspicious suicide of another local priest. What dark history is Father Grabowski hiding? The situation takes a turn for the deadly with the appearance at the Detroit diocese of a mysterious priest and combat vet calling himself Francis Dominioni Petra. The man comes from the Vatican, and as his armored guard circles closer and closer to Father Grabowski and his friends, August wants to know why. A terrible crime has been committed in the name of faith—but who is seeking justice, and who is trying to bury the truth and any of its witnesses. (Release date is Nov. 7.)

It’s been a long time since I read one of Tim Maleeny’s Cape Weathers mysteries. Hanging the Devil was fast-paced, and fun. It was supposed to be a simple job: steal the paintings, leave the forgeries… When a helicopter crashes through the skylight of the Asian Art Museum, an audacious heist turns into a tragedy. The only witness to the crash is eleven-year-old Grace, who watches in horror as her uncle is killed and a priceless statue stolen by two men and a―ghost? At least that’s how the eerie, smoke-like figure with parchment skin and floating hair appears to Grace. Scared almost to death, she flees into the night and seeks refuge in the back alleys of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Grace is found by Sally Mei, self-appointed guardian of Chinatown. While Sally trains Grace in basic survival skills, her erstwhile partner Cape Weathers, private detective and public nuisance, searches for the mysterious crew behind the robbery before they strike the museum a second time. As the clock winds down, Cape enlists aid from some unlikely allies to lay a trap for a ghost who has no intention of being caught―nor of leaving any witnesses alive to tell the tale. If you haven’t yet met Cape Weathers, you might want to try Hanging the Devil. (Release date is Nov. 14.)

I know how popular Jacquelyn Mitchard’s books have been. Her latest is A Very Inconvenient Scandal. Frankie Attleboro returns home to Cape Cod with thrilling news. She’s met the love of her life, and they’re getting married with a baby on the way. That’s the moment her father makes his own jaw-dropping announcement: at sixty, he’s getting married as well, to Frankie’s best friend, Ariel, who is also pregnant, and due soon. As Frankie and Ariel struggle to adjust to their new relationship, Ariel’s estranged mother, Carlotta, returns after a decade-long absence. She claims to be a changed woman—but is she really? And where has she been all these years? Frankie is suspicious, and as Carlotta’s unpredictable behavior intensifies, Frankie must untangle the threads of the past to protect Ariel’s future—and her own. (Release date is Nov. 14.)

Nita Prose’s debut, The Maid, was so popular last year, but I prefer her new one featuring Molly, The Mystery Guest. Molly Gray is not like anyone else. With her flair for cleaning and proper etiquette, she has risen through the ranks of the glorious five-star Regency Grand Hotel to become the esteemed Head Maid. But just as her life reaches a pinnacle state of perfection, her world is turned upside down when J. D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead—very dead—on the hotel’s tearoom floor. When Detective Stark, Molly’s old foe, investigates the author’s unexpected demise, it becomes clear that this death was murder most foul. Suspects abound, and everyone wants to know: Who killed J. D. Grimthorpe? Was it Lily, the new Maid-in-Training? Or was it Serena, the author’s secretary? Could Mr. Preston, the hotel’s beloved doorman, be hiding something? And is Molly really as innocent as she seems? (Release date is Nov. 28.)

I have friends and relatives who are anticipating Viola Shipman’s latest novel, The Wishing Bridge. Once the hottest mergers and acquisitions executive in the company, Henrietta Wegner can see the ambitious and impossibly young up-and-comers gunning for her job. When Henri’s boss makes it clear she’ll be starting the New Year unemployed unless she can close a big deal before the holidays, Henri impulsively tells him that she can convince her aging parents to sell Wegner’s—their iconic Frankenmuth, Michigan, Christmas store—to a massive, soulless corporation. It’s the kind of deal cool, corporate Henri has built her career on. Home for the holidays has typically meant a perfunctory twenty-four-hour visit for Henri, then back to Detroit as fast as her car will drive her. So turning up at the Wegner’s offices in early December raises some eyebrows: from her delighted, if puzzled, parents to her suspicious brother and curious childhood friends. But as Henri fields impatient texts from her boss while reconnecting with the magic of the store and warmth of her hometown, what sounded great in the boardroom begins to lose its luster in real life. (Release date is Nov. 7.)

As much as others try, no one can outdo Agatha Christie. Nalini Singh’s latest thriller is There Should Have Been Eight. Set in a remote area of New Zealand’s Alps, it brings together seven friends for a reunion. Seven friends.
One last weekend.
A mansion half in ruins.
No room for lies.
Someone is going to confess.
Because there should have been eight. . . .

They met when they were teenagers. Now they’re adults, and time has been kind to some and unkind to others—none more so than to Bea, the one they lost nine long years ago. They’ve gathered to reminisce at Bea’s family’s estate, a once-glorious mansion straight out of a gothic novel. Best friends, old flames, secret enemies, and new lovers are all under one roof. But when the weather turns and they’re snowed in at the edge of eternity, there’s nowhere left to hide from their shared history.As the walls close in, the pretense of normality gives way to long-buried grief, bitterness, and rage. Underneath it all, there’s the nagging feeling that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be. And before the weekend is through, the truth will be unleashed—no matter the cost. . .  (Release date is Nov. 21.)

That’s it. All the November Treasures in My Closet. What are you planning for November reading?