It’s hard to believe we’re talking about October book releases already. And, I know it’s a day early, but tomorrow is “What Are You Reading?” on the blog. I hope you see something in this list that you want to read. You might want to clear your calendar for October. There are tons of books coming out on October 4 and 11. I’m sure there are some popular authors that I’m missing since these are the ones I have copies of. Let’s check out the list of October Treasures in My Closet.

Let’s start with a “return-to-home horror story”, Erin E. Adams’ Jackal. Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the couple’s daughter, Caroline, disappears—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood, As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She’s seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz’s high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart removed. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can’t be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town’s history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls. (Release date is Oct. 4.)

Dashing Through the Snowbirds is Donna Andrews’ latest Meg Langslow mystery. Christmas in Caerphilly is wonderful! Unless you’re a Canadian whose inconsiderate boss is forcing you to spend the holiday there, far from family and friends, with only a slim chance of a white Christmas. Meg already has her hands full, trying to make the season festive for the dozen programmers who are staying with her and Michael while working on a rush project with her brother’s software company. At least it’s an interesting project, since the Canadian company is doing forensic genealogy and DNA analysis. When the inconsiderate boss is found murdered, there are too many suspects. Even before their Christmas in exile, his own employees had plenty of motives, and the growing number of people suing the company for faulty DNA analysis and invasion of their genetic privacy include at least one notorious murderer. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

A cold case turns red hot in Alicia Beckman’s Blind Faith. For decades, the unsolved murder of Father Michael Leary has haunted Billings, Montana, the community he served. Who summoned the priest late one autumn night, then left his body in a sandstone gully for the ravens and other wild scavengers? And it’s haunted no one more than Lindsay Keller, who admired and confided in him as a teenager. Compelled by his example to work for justice, she became a prosecutor. But after a devastating case left her shattered, she fled the rough-and-tumble for the safety of a desk, handling real estate deals and historic preservation projects. Good work, but not what she’d dreamed of. Detective Brian Donovan, a hot-shot Boston transplant, would like nothing more than to solve the county’s coldest case. Probing the life and death of Father Leary takes Lindsay and Donovan deep into long-simmering tensions in this seemingly-peaceful place. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

Kate Belli’s latest Gilded Gotham mystery is Treachery on Tenth Street. As a heat wave engulfs New York in the summer of 1889, the city’s top models begin turning up dead, one by one, suggesting the work of a single killer. Society girl turned investigative journalist Genevieve Stewart is drawn into the case when Beatrice Holler, one of her friend Callie’s fellow models, is found with her throat cut. Genevieve and her friend, wealthy Daniel McCaffrey, are joined by Callie to seek out the suspects, which leads them to search for answers from the members of the elite, notorious gangsters, and the city’s most prominent painters. In an era when London’s Jack the Ripper murders have everyone on edge, the police want to keep the killings quiet. But the bodies are piling up as fast as the suspect. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

The Ghost and the Stolen Tears is the latest Haunted Bookshop Mystery by Cleo Coyle. With the help of the ghost of private investigator Jack Shepard, bookstore owner Penelope Thornton-McClure sets out to clear an innocent woman of a shocking crime. Norma is a modern-day nomad. Living out of her van and teardrop trailer, she revels in self-reliance, solitude, and reading in the glorious peace of nature. Jovial, wise, and scrupulously honest, she’s become an uplifting presence in the little town of Quindicott, Rhode Island, where bookseller Pen is thankful to have her part-time help. But it’s Norma’s other job, working as a housekeeper at the Finch Inn, that gets her into terrible trouble. Norma is accused of stealing jewels from a guest’s room: the legendary Valentino Teardrops, an antique necklace and earring set, inherited by a young socialite. Pen doesn’t believe Norma is guilty of the crime—though the evidence is distressingly strong. When Norma disappears before her arrest, Pen turns to Jack for help. (Release date is Oct. 4.)

Meet former FBI agent-turned-boardinghouse landlady Ethel Fiona Crestwater in Mark de Castrique’s Secret Lives. Her age affords her precious invisibility. She can outthink and outshoot most men―and women―half her age. When someone murders one of her boarders, Ethel springs into action―much to the surprise of her double-first-cousin-twice-removed, Jesse, who has recently come to stay with her while he attends university. As he watches her photograph the crime scene, conceal evidence, and speed-dial the Secret Service Director, Jesse realizes that there’s much more to Ethel than appearances suggest. When Jesse is assaulted and the gym bag full of cash Ethel had hidden is stolen from the basement, the pair decides it’s time to launch their own unofficial investigation. With no one to trust but each other, this unlikely duo learns that the only thing truly worth risking your life for is family. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

There seem to be a number of hotel mysteries lately, including S. K. Golden’s The Socialite’s Guide to Murder. It’s 1958 and Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy has not left the Pinnacle Hotel in fourteen months. She suffers from agoraphobia, and what’s more, it’s her father’s hotel, and everything she needs is there. Evelyn’s always been good at finding things, she discovered her mother dead in a Manhattan alleyway fifteen years earlier. Now she’s finding trouble inside her sanctuary. At a party for artist Billie Bell, his newest work is stolen, and Evelyn’s fake boyfriend (and real best friend), movie star Henry Fox, is accused of the theft. But just as Evelyn sets out to prove Henry’s innocence, she finds Billie Bell dead. The murder weapon links the crime to the hotel’s chief of security. But why would he use a knife with his initials on the handle? With her beloved home in disarray, Evelyn joins up with hotel employee (and her secret crush) Mac Cooper to get to the bottom of the case. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

I like to share the holiday titles with readers. Carolyn Haines’ Bones of Holly is the latest Sarah Booth Delaney mystery. Sarah Booth and Tinkie, along with baby Maylin, are in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for Christmas this year, as judges for the annual library tree decorating contest. The other two judges are writers Sandra O’Day and Janet Malone. They’re bestselling Mississippi authors, but bitter competitors. In fact, the feud between them is the stuff of legends. For years, they’ve brawled, their sales skyrocketing with each cat fight. Sandra’s most recent true crime book documents the 1920s rum-running era of Al Capone, who built a mansion in BSL and a distribution network for his liquor. Janet’s book, scheduled to be published in January, is a fictional account of the same material―which only heightens their bitter rivalry. Sarah Booth and Tinkie are shopping with little Maylin when they see Sandra and Janet outside a bookstore, fur flying, and when Sandra vanishes from her own gala later that night, suspicion turns to Janet. Janet accuses Sandra of attempting to manipulate the media by a fake disappearance, but is it a stunt, or is something more sinister at play? (Release date is Oct. 11.)

Deborah E. Kennedy’s Billie Starr’s Book of Sorries sounds unusual so I wanted to share this one. Jenny Newberg, Queen of Bad Decisions, is about to make another one. In a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business, down-on-her-luck single mother Jenny is on a first-name basis with the debt collector at the bank, who is moving toward foreclosure. She is constantly apologizing to her precocious young daughter, Billie Starr, who is filling a book with her mother’s sorries, and it seems to Jenny that no apology will ever be enough. When her world is rocked to its core and Billie Starr may be in danger, Jenny is forced to do what she once thought impossible: trust in herself and her own power to make things right. (Release date is Oct. 4.)

Because I wrote the review of Laurie Loewenstein’s Funeral Train, I’m going to include a quote from that. “The sequel to Death of a Rainmaker . . . is just as atmospheric. The anguish and struggles of the Dust Bowl and Depression years are vividly depicted in this historical mystery.” Already suffering the privations of the 1930s Dust Bowl, an Oklahoma town is further devastated when a passenger train derails—flooding its hospital with the dead and maimed. Among the seriously wounded is Etha, wife of Sheriff Temple Jennings. Overwhelmed by worry for her, the sheriff must regain his footing to investigate the derailment, which rapidly develops into a case of sabotage. (Release date is Oct. 4.)

I don’t know if other fans of Jenn McKinlay’s Library Lover’s Mysteries will agree, but I found The Plot and the Pendulum to be one of her best in this series. Books and the library, Edgar Allan Poe, a special collection of books, and, a raven. Does it get much better? Halloween is approaching in Briar Creek, and things get spooky when a skeleton is found and connected to a decades-old cold case. Library director Lindsey Norris is happy to learn the Briar Creek Public Library is the beneficiary of the Dorchester family’s vast book collection. However, when Lindsey and the library staff arrive at the old Victorian estate to gather the books, things take a sinister turn. One of the bookcases reveals a secret passage, leading to a room where a skeleton is found, clutching an old copy of The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

Here’s a Christmas romance, Susan Mallery’s Home Sweet Christmas. It’s a witty and heartfelt story of two friends who unexpectedly fid the person – and the place, in which they belong this Christmas. With twinkling humor and heartfelt Christmas spirit, two friends find love in a town called Wishing Tree. (Release date is Oct. 4.)

Mia P. Manansala’s third Tita Rosie’s Kitchen mystery, Blackmail and Bibinkga, is also set during the December holidays. It’s Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. Sure, her new business, the Brew-ha Cafe, is looking to turn a profit in its first year. And yes, she’s taken the first step in a new romance with her good friend Jae Park. But her cousin Ronnie is back in town after ghosting the family fifteen years ago, claiming that his recent purchase of a local winery shows that he’s back on his feet and ready to contribute to the Shady Palms community. Tita Rosie is thrilled with the return of her prodigal son, but Lila knows that wherever Ronnie goes, trouble follows. (Release date is Oct. 4.)

Carol J. Perry’s High Spirits, the second Haunted Haven mystery. It’s my type of cozy mysteries with ghosts and a little paranormal activity. It also doesn’t hurt that the series is set in Florida where Maureen inherited an inn, a few ghosts, an a few senior guests who help out around the inn. It’s the Christmas season, and Haven’s vintage movie theater, the Paramount, has come up with a great “Twelve Days of Christmas” idea. They’ll feature an impressive list of the best classic Christmas movies ever made—shown by one-time movie actor-turned-projectionist Decklin Monroe. But nobody bothered to tell Maureen that the Paramount is haunted by the ghost of a man who was murdered a few years back. When there’s a new murder, Maureen tries to juggle holiday plans with a murder investigation. (Release date is Oct. 25.)

I’ve read all the Cash Blackbear mysteries by Marcie R. Rendon including Sinister Graves, the third one to feature the young Ojibwe woman. She’s a college student who occasionally helps Sheriff Wheaton, her guardian. When a young woman floats to town in the flooding after the snowmelt in the Red River Valley of Minnesota, Cash heads to the White Earth Reservation to try to identify the woman. When Cash happens upon two small graves in the yard of a rural, “speak-in-tongues kinda church,” Cash is pulled into the lives of the malevolent pastor and his troubled wife while yet another Native woman dies in a mysterious manner. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

Lefty Award winner, Raquel V. Reyes returns with her second mystery featuring Miriam Quinones-Smith, Cuban-American cooking show star in Miami. In Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking, Miriam is dealing with the local fall festivities, including the woman’s body she finds in her yard where she’s lying among the tombstone decorations. Then, when Miriam’s mother-in-law volunteers her to chair her club’s fall gala, Miriam and her friends see a man go over a stairway, falling to his death. Now, Miriam is juggling physical issues, fall events, and a murder investigation. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

Christina Romeril’s A Christmas Candy Killing is not only a Christmas mystery, it’s also a debut. Identical twin sisters Alex and Hannah are the owners of Murder and Mayhem, a mystery bookshop that sells their famous poison-themed Killer Chocolates. But now, there’s a real killer in their midst. Shortly before Christmas, their septuagenarian neighbor, Jane, confides to Alex that a murderer from a true-crime show has taken up residence in the village. Unfortunately, she’s also shared her suspicions with town gossip Netta. The next morning, Alex shows up at Jane’s house to watch the show, but instead discovers Jane’s body, with a box of Killer Chocolates nearby. Because Alex is one of the sheriff’s suspects, she sets out to draft her own list of suspects who might have wanted to kill Jane. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

I always include David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carptenter mysteries in the Treasures list because those covers are wonderful. Check out Santa’s Little Yelpers. ‘Tis the season in Paterson, New Jersey: Lawyer Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever, Tara, are surrounded by holiday cheer. It’s even spread to the Tara Foundation. The dog rescue organization, not used to having puppies, has their hands full with a recent litter. Eight puppies are a lot to handle, and Andy is relieved when his co-worker Chris Myers agrees to foster them. Myers, a newer employee at the Tara Foundation, did time for a crime he swears he didn’t commit. When Myers discovers a key witness against him lied on the stand, he goes to Andy to ask for representation in getting the conviction overturned. Myers thinks they can have this wrapped up by Christmas, no problem. Well, of course, there is a problem. (Release date is Oct. 11.)

Chief of Police Samuel Craddock is back! It’s been a few years, but Terry Shames brings him back in Murder at the Jubilee Rally. There’s already turmoil in Jarrett Creek because the Jubilee Motorcycle Rally is back, and some residents want to keep the riders out of town. By the time a business owner’s body is found at the rally, Craddock already has to juggle issues. One of those is the presence of his great-niece, a teenager in trouble with her parents. Now, Samuel just to keep a murder investigation and a teenager separate. By the way, I’ve read it. It’s great to have Samuel back, and it’s a terrific mystery. (Release date is Oct. 4.)

There are so many other books you’ll want to check out as well.

Abbott, Bailee – Kill Them with Canvas (10/11)
Adair, Marina – Situationship (10/25)
Cardinal, Ann Davila – The Storyteller’s Death (10/4)
Coburn, Jennifer – Cradles of the Reich (10/11)
Erickson, Alex – Death by Spiced Chai (10/25)
Grandin, Temple – Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions (10/11)
Griffin, Laura – Vanishing Hour (10/25)
Haines, Lise – Book of Knives (10/4)
Henry, Julia – The Plot Thickets (10/25)
Hewson, David – The Medici Murders (10/4)
Hill, Jemele – Uphill: A Memoir (10/25)
Lush, Tara – Live and Let Grind (10/11)
Macchio, Ralph – Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me (10/18)
Millet, Lydia – Dinosaurs (10/11)
Moore, Alan – Illuminations (10/11)
Mujica, Barbara – Miss Del Rio (10/4)
Nwabineli, Onyi – Someday, Maybe (10/4)
Oren, Michael – Swann’s War (10/25)
Saunders, George – Liberation Day (10/18)
Schweblin, Samanta – Seven Empty Houses (10/18)
Setiya, Kieran – Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way (10/4)
Shapiro, Dani – Signal Fires (10/18)
Shepherd, Megan – Malice House (10/4)
Spitale, Samuel C. – How to Win the War on Truth (10/25)
Tran, E.M. – Daughters of the New Year (10/11)
Wu, Constance – Making a Scene (10/4)
Young, Kate – Crime for the Books (10/11)