Each month I think the list of book releases will be shorter. Happily for readers, that’s not happening. They may be harder to get because of delays in the publication and delivery process, but the books are still coming out. These are only the books I already have. I know there are excellent books you’re waiting to read. Tell us what they are in the comments! In the meantime, you can plan for these books.

I like to include the first book in a series on the list. Bailee Abbott’s first Paint by Murder Mystery is A Brush with Murder. Chloe Abbington moves from fine art painter in New York City to painting-event business owner in Whisper Cove, New York. When poison-pen journalist Fiona Gamble writes a viciously negative review of the Paint Your Shop, Chloe learns that critics are the same everywhere. And when she finds Fiona’s body behind her shop with a painting knife in her neck, Chloe has to learn to investigate because she’s the prime suspect in Fiona’s murder. (Release date is Oct. 12.)

Stark House Press, under the imprint Black Gat Books is bringing back one of the Jake Barrow books, The Girl with No Place to Hide. Marvin Albert used a number of pseudonyms, including Nick Quarry for this series. Originally published in 1959, it tells of PI Jake Barrow who rescues a woman outside of a bar. That rescue involves him in a series of murders that leads him to a dangerous case. (Release date is Oct. 25.)

Last month, I included Christmas releases, so of course there are more in October. Fans of Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow series will want to read The Twelve Jays of Christmas. It’s time for Meg and Michael’s annual holiday celebration, and they have a full house with family and an irascible wildlife artist. Add in Meg’s brother and his fiancee who plan to get married during Meg’s New Year’s bash. Both mothers are unhappy with that plan, but of course it won’t be a Langslow Christmas book without a murder and a disaster with birds. (Release date is Oct. 19.)

I’m looking forward to Jeffrey Archer’s Over My Dead Body. It’s the latest in his William Warwick series, but Archer stresses that anyone can pick up the book without having read the earlier ones. Warwick is now Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick with a new cold case squad, charged by Scotland Yard with solving four unsolvable murders. (Release date is Oct. 19.)

I’ve already read Kate Belli’s second Gilded Gotham Mystery, Betrayal on the Bowery. In summer 1889 in New York City, society young woman turned investigative journalist Genevieve Stewart teams up with wealthy Daniel McCaffrey when a crazed man drops dead after screaming about a demon. Daniel finds a medallion that leads them to a bar, Boyle’s Suicide Tavern. The medallions are given to anyone who spends the night there without dying. Before the pair can investigate too much, another young man, a member of society screams that the demons are coming before jumping from from the twelfth floor of a rooftop restaurant. As they investigate one case, they’re asked to look into the disappearance of a sugar baron’s daughter. All clues eventually lead Genevieve and Daniel to a reputedly haunted mansion, and the truth. (Release date is Oct. 12.)

Maggie Blackburn’s second Beach Reads Mystery, Once Upon a Seaside Murder, is a holiday mystery. Bookseller Summer Merriwether’s Christmas cheer turns to cringing fear when she uncovers a deadly secret about her late mother – a secret someone will kill to keep. When the local library hosts a cozy mystery panel discussion, Summer learns that one of the authors based her book on an actual murder from thirty-five years earlier. Worse, she learns that her dearly missed mother, Hildy, took a disturbingly deep interest in the case even collecting clippings and keeping a journal. Things get worse when Summer learns of her long-lost biological family’s involvement in the crime, and when the life of the author is threatened. The ghost from Christmas past may still be deadly. (Release date is Oct. 12.)

I”ll admit I included Ginger Bolton’s Deck the Donuts just because I love the cover. In the sixth Deputy Donut Mystery, ’tis the season for the delectable desserts Emily Westhill and her cuddly cat serve up at their donut shop. For the annual Ice and Lights Festival in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, Emily commissioned a sculpture with three ice-carved donut shapes to form a holey snowman, Frosty the Donut. When a tour bus on its way to the festival crashes, the shaken passengers are left stranded and shivering. The bus driver is admitted to the hospital for his injuries. But, the following morning, Emily discovers his body – buried beneath Frosty the Donut. (Release date is Oct. 26.)

I missed the debut Jo Wyatt mystery by M.E. Browning. Browning is a retired police captain writing about a police detective in Echo Valley, Colorado. In Mercy Creek, a young girl mysteriously disappears, and long-buried grudges rekindle. Detective Jo Wyatt is convinced the eleven-year-old girl didn’t run away, and that a more sinister reason lurks behind her disappearance. For Jo, the case is personal, reaching far back into her past. As she mines Lena’s fractured family life, she unearths a cache of secrets and half lies that pain a dark picture. (Release date is Oct. 12.)

Colleen Cambridge’s historical mystery, Murder at Mallowan Hall, introduces Phyllida Bright, housekeeper at Mallowan Hall, home to archaeologist Max Mallowan and his famous wife, Agatha Christie. Phyllida is both loyal to and protective of the crime writer. Phyllida is a former Army nurse, and when a dead body is found on the library floor, she reacts with practical common sense, and a great deal of curiosity. It becomes clear the victim arrived at Mallowan Hall under false pretenses during a weekend party. Now, Phyllida has a houseful of demanding guests, a distracted, anxious staff, and hordes of reporters camping outside. When another body is found, Phyllida decides to follow in the footsteps of her fictional hero, Hercule Poirot. With help from the village’s doctor and other household staff, Phyllida Bright assembles the clues, knowing a killer is poised to strike again. (Release date is Oct. 26.)

Susanna Kearsley’s The Vanished Days is a prequel and companion novel to The Winter Sea, with action that overlaps the action of some of that book. The Vanished Days goes back in time to the 1680s and introduces the reader to the Moray and Graeme families. It’s a historical tale of intrigue and revolution in Scotland, where the exile of King James brought plots, machinations, suspicion and untold bravery to light. An investigation of a young widow’s secrets by a man who’s far from objective, leads to a multi-layered tale of adventure, endurance, romance…and the courage to hope. (Release date is Oct. 5.)

How about a holiday romance, Maggie Knox’ The Holiday Swap? When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the set of her reality baking show, she loses her critical ability to taste and smell. Meanwhile, Charlie’s identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their mountain hometown while running the family’s bakery and dealing with the breakup that just won’t end. With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie and Cass do something they haven’t done since they were kids: switch places. But when two men are thrown into the mix, will the twins’ identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track? (Release date is Oct. 5.)

Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Story, now brings us Three Sisters, based on a true story. It’s inspired by the story of three Slovakian sisters who, against all odds, survived Auschwitz, escaped, and settled in Israel. Morris said this new novel began with an email from a reader. It read, “I think my mother and her sisters have a story you might like to hear.” Morris made a phone call to Tel Aviv. There was a ninety-three-year-old woman named Livia on the other end of the line. She told of being taken from Slovakia in April 1942. She and her two sisters survived three long years in hell. Then they moved to Israel after the war to join in the creation of the Jewish state. (Release date is Oct. 5.)

James McGrath Morris’ Tony Hillerman: A Life is the first major biography of the author of eighteen detective novels that simultaneously transformed a traditional genre and unlocked the mysteries of the Navajo culture to an audience of millions. Morris presents a balanced portrait of Hillerman’s personal and professional life, drawing on the untapped collection of the author’s papers, extensive archival research, interviews with friends, colleagues, and family, as well as travel in the Navajo nation. Morris covers the controversy of Hillerman’s novels. There were charges of cultural appropriation leveled at the author toward the end of his life. Yet, for many readers, including many Native Americans, Hillerman deserves critical acclaim for his knowledgeable and sensitive portrayal of Navajo history, culture and identity. (Release date is Oct. 14.)

I loved Raquel V. Reyes’ debut mystery, Mango, Mambo, and Murder. Food anthropologist Miriam Quinones-Smith isn’t happy when her husband accepts a job in Florida, and they move from New York City to the uppity white enclave of Coral Shore in Miami. She puts her academic career on hold to stay at home with her young son. While her husband is too busy with his new job, and Miriam copes with a demanding mother-in-law, she depends on her best friend, Alma. But, after a woman dies following a country club luncheon, and Alma is suspected of murder, Miriam dives in to save her friend. At the same time, she’s juggling a new cooking segment on a Spanish-language TV station. Eventually, she teams up with a police detective who wants her to access places that won’t accept a Black detective. Combing food, Miriam’s home life, and Spanish, this mystery is a fresh debut. (Release date is Oct. 12.)

Here’s the Christmas book I want to read, Anne Marie Ryan’s first novel for adults, Christmas by the Book. Nora and Simon have run the bookshop in their British village for thirty years. But times are tough and the shop is under threat of closure – this Christmas season will really decide their fate. When an elderly man visits the store and buys the one book they’ve never been able to sell, it gives Nora an idea: she and Simon will send out books to those feeling down this Christmas and lift people’s spirits through the power of reading. After gathering nominations, the couple quietly deliver books to residents in need of festive cheer. As the village prepares for a white Christmas, the books begin to give the recipients hope, one by one. But with the future of the bookshop still on the line, Nora and Simon will need a Christmas miracle to find a happy ending of their own. (Release date is Oct. 12.)

My mother and a couple friends will be waiting for the latest book by Viola Shipman, The Secret of Snow. But, I understand how Sonny Dunes feels when she’s forced to move from Southern California to her hometown in northern Michigan. She has an on-air outburst when it’s announced she’ll be replaced by a digital weather girl. The only station willing to give the fifty-year-old another shot as a meteorologist is her hometown station. She has to adjust to the painfully cold, snowy winter while facing her past, a new boss who is a former journalism classmate and mortal frenemy. Even worse, there’s the death of her younger sister, who loved the snow. As she’s forced to report on and participate in the zany outdoor events beloved by local viewers, the magic of winter slowly reignites within Sonny. (Release date is Oct. 26.)

RaeAnne Thayne’s Sleigh Bells Ring is a holiday tale proving sometimes all you need is a little Christmas magic. Angel’s View Ranch was always special to Annelise McCade. It was her family’s land, until her grandfather sold it to billionaire Wallace Sheridan. Now, she’s employed as the live-in caretaker. Her six-year-old niece and nephew recently lost their mother, so Annie tells herself it’s okay to bring them to Angel’s View for Christmas. The Sheridans haven’t visited in years, not since Wallace died, so no one will know. Then Tate Sheridan shows up out of hte blue two weeks before Christmas to sell his grandfather’s property. Mortified that her secret guests were discovered, Annie offers her resignation. But Tate asks them to stay and help him get the house ready for one last family Christmas before it’s put on the market. It’s hard to deny the growing attraction between Annie and Tate, but Annie can’t fall for the man who will put her out of a job and a home. (Release date is Oct. 26.)

Lisa Unger’s latest thriller is Last Girl Ghosted. An online dating match turns into a deadly cat-and-mouse game. She met him through a dating app then met at a downtown bar. What she thought might be just a quick hookup became much more. She fell hard for hm. But then, just as things were getting real, he stood her up. Then he disappeared – profiles deleted, phone disconnected. She was ghosted. But, soon she learns there were others. Girls who thought they were in love, who later went missing. She’s looking for answers. Chasing a digital trail into his dark past – and hers – she finds herself on a dangerous hunt. And she’s not sure if she’s the predator or the prey. (Release date is Oct. 5.)

Other Treasures in My Closet – Books I Didn’t Summarize

Anderson, Lily – The Throwback List (10/5)
Bajaber, Khadija Abdalla – The House of Rust (10/19)
Banville, John – April in Spain (10/5)
Beaton, M.C., with R.W. Green – Down the Hatch (10/26)
Blay, Zeba – Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black Women in Popular Culture (10/19)
Breck, Elizabeth – Double Take (10/12)
Chokshi, Roshani – Once More Upon a Time (10/5)
Crowe, Kitt – Digging Up Trouble (10/12)
Ellicott, Jessica – Murder in an English Glade (10/26)
Elliott, Andrea – Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City (10/5)
Erickson, Alex – Death by Hot Apple Cider (10/26)
Feldman, Suzanne – Sisters of the Great War (10/26)
Flanagan, Ted – Every Hidden Thing (10/12)
Frost, Jacqueline – Slashing Through the Snow (10/12)
Goodall, Jane, and Douglas Abrams – The Book of Hope (10/19)
Grant, Kimi Cunningham – These Silent Woods (10/26)
Griffo, J.D. – Murder at the Mistletoe Ball (10/26)
Hadfield, Chris – The Apollo Murders (10/12)
Hancock, Anne Mette – The Corpse Flower (10/12)
Harrison, Rachel – Cackle (10/5)
Hausmann, Romy – Sleepless (10/5)
Kawaguchi, Toshikazu – Tales from the Cafe (10/12)
Kim, Un-Su, translated by Sean Lin Halbert – The Cabinet (10/12)
Kingsbury, Kate – In Hot Water (10/12)
Laskowski, Tara – The Mother Next Door (10/12)
Mayer, Erin – Fan Club (10/26)
Morgan, Sarah – The Christmas Escape (10/26)
O’Meara, Mallory – Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol (10/19)
Pride, Christine and Jo Piazza – We Are Not Like Them (10/5)
Redmond, Heather – The Pickwick Murders (10/26)
Ruhl, Sarah – Smile: The Story of a Face (10/5)
Schulman, Alex – The Survivors (10/5)
Solomon, Asali – The Days of Afrekete (10/19)
Stine, Alison – Trashlands (10/26)
Watkins, Claire Vaye – I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness (10/5)
White, Elle Brooke – Strawberries and Crime (10/12)
Yancey, Philip – Where the Light Fell (10/5)
Yanique, Tiphanie – Monster in the Middle (10/19)
Yeo-sun, Kwon – Lemon (10/12)