There are some big authors coming out to play in September, although sometimes it’s the lesser known authors whose books stand out. I have twelve books “in my closet” so I better read faster.

There are so many books about families working together, but award-winning author Lou Berney takes it in a little different direction in Crooks. It’s called “A sweeping crime thriller saga of four Mafia siblings navigating secrets, betrayal, and the dark side of family bonds.” You’ve never met a family like the Mercurios.They say the American dream is going farther in life than your parents ever did. But how does that work if your parents are criminals? For Buddy, a low-level mob wise guy, and Lillian, a charming pickpocket, the criminal underworld is the only life they’ve ever known. When they’re forced to flee the glittering Babylon of Las Vegas, they end up opening a club in Oklahoma City—a town that quickly feels like a gold mine of fresh marks and easy new money. Along for the ride are their five children, all of them raised into the family business of crime—until the day comes when they each have a chance to make their own way in the world, even if they can never completely escape the family’s long, dark shadow. “Crooks is an epic novel about a truly unforgettable family–forty years of peril as each Mercurio has to grapple, in their own way, with the family’s powerful criminal legacy.” Epic novel. Something you hear a lot. But, it is Lou Berney, so that might be right. (Release date is Sept. 9.)

I know some readers who gave up on the Reacher books after Lee Child turned the series over to his brother. They might be interested in Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories. After making his debut in 1997’s The Killing Floor, Jack Reacher has quickly become one of the most popular―and most enduring―fictional heroes to emerge in the past half century. Now, his creator tells the stories behind the stories. These are the origin tales of all of the Reacher novels written solely by Lee Child, chock full of colorful anecdotes and intriguing inspirations. One by one, they expand upon each novel and place it in the context not only of the author’s life, but of the world outside the books. And taken together, they chart the rise of an action icon, from 1999’s The Killing Floor to 2019’s Blue Moon. An afterword by crime fiction expert and bookseller Otto Penzler considers the importance of the character and novels in the canon of contemporary crime fiction. In addition to the essays, this collection also includes an original Reacher short story―the first new Reacher appearance entirely written by Lee Child since 2019. (Release date is Sept. 9.)

A Tour to Die For is Michelle Chouinard’s second Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco Mystery. Capri Sanzio knows that when you give serial killer walking tours for a living, unexpected situations are more common than San Francisco’s famous fog. So, when one of her guests claims to see a woman being attacked during a tour, Capri remains unphased. The police search the apartment in question and find no evidence of anything amiss, so they chalk it up to a false report from a true crime fanatic looking to be a part of a case. And Capri thinks they might be right, since lately her tours have been attracting even more obsessives than usual–as it turns out, finding the actual serial killer who committed the “Overkill Bill” murders didn’t stop the constant questions about her grandfather’s supposed crimes, it only intensified them. But Capri would never forgive herself if someone is in trouble and she walks away. Plus, something about the whole situation has every one of Capri’s investigative journalist instincts going haywire–why would someone lie about seeing an attack? So Capri starts to dig, and when her questions lead to a body, she finds herself at the center of another murder investigation. (Release date is Sept. 23.)

Ann Cleeves brings back a beloved character from the Shetland series, but puts Jimmy Perez in a new setting in The Killing Stones. It’s been several years since Detective Jimmy Perez left Shetland. He has settled into his new home in Orkney, the group of islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, with his partner Willow Reeve and their growing family. One stormy winter night, his oldest and closest friend, Archie Stout, goes missing. Ever the detective, Perez catches a boat to the island of Westray, where Archie worked as a farmer and lived with his wife and children. But when he arrives he finds a shocking scene: Archie’s body, on an archaeological dig site and an ancient Westray story stone with precise spirals carved into it beside him, the clear murder weapon. The artifact, taken from a nearby museum, seems to suggest a premeditated murder. Personal note – I loved the Shetland series, but found them darker and more atmospheric than Cleeves’ other books. We’ll see what happens in Orkney. (Release date is Sept. 30.)

In The Examiner, Janice Hallett once again turns to emails, text messages, and essays to tell her story. Gela Nathaniel, head of Royal Hastings University’s new Multimedia Art course, must find six students from all walks of life across the United Kingdom for her new master’s program before the university cuts her funding. The students are nothing but trouble from day one. There’s Jem, a talented sculptor recently graduated from her university program and eager to make her mark as an artist at any cost. Jonathan, who has little experience aside from running his family’s gallery. Patrick manages an art supply store, but can barely operate his phone, much less design software. Ludya is a single mother and graphic designer more interested in a paycheck than homework. Cameron is a marketing executive in search of a hobby or a career change. And Alyson, already a successful artist, seems to be overqualified. When the examiner, the man hired to grade students’ final works, sifts through the students’ final essays, texts, and message boards, he becomes convinced that someone is in danger…or already dead. (Release date is Sept. 10.)

Yes, there’s murder, but there’s nothing much cozier than Liz Ireland’s Mrs. Claus series. The sixth mystery is Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine. It’s the wedding of the winter—Claire and Jake—and April and Juniper will be bridesmaids. Everyone’s feeling the love. Even the reindeer who pull April’s sleigh are feeling the Valentine’s vibes: both Wobbler and Cannonball fancy Flouncy, a doe from the Vixen herd. As for April, of course she couldn’t be happier being married to Nick (aka THE Santa Claus), but now that they’re no longer newlyweds, has their romance been a bit backburnered? As the bridal party assembles at the Order of Elven Seamstresses for a fitting, Juniper’s new boyfriend, Sterling Redwinkle, stops by with a corsage. While he’s pinning it on Juniper, he’s pricked by a rose thorn and collapses. Though he’s rushed to the Santaland infirmary, he dies within hours. It turns out the thorns were covered in deadly poison. But who was the killer’s target—sweet Sterling or the now heartbroken bridesmaid? (Release date is Sept. 30.)

I’ll try Ragnar Jonasson’s The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer.

One winter evening, bestselling crime author Elín S. Jónsdóttir goes missing.

There are no clues to her disappearance and it is up to young detective Helgi to crack the case before its leaked to the press.

As Helgi interviews the people closest to her―a publisher, an accountant, a retired judge―he realizes that Elín’s life wasn’t what it seemed. In fact, her past is even stranger than the fiction she wrote.

As the case of the missing crime writer becomes more mysterious by the hour, Helgi must uncover the secrets of the writer’s very unexpected life. (Release date is Sept. 9.)

A magical cookbook and a summer on her family’s Italian olive farm help a brokenhearted social media chef cook up a satisfying new life in The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake by Rachel Linden. Rising star Jules Costa loves re-creating vintage recipes for her popular online cooking show. But when personal and professional disaster strikes, her only chance to save her career is to complete her new cookbook before the end of the summer. Panicked, Jules returns to her family’s beloved olive farm on the shores of Italy’s stunning Lake Garda. Seeking culinary inspiration, she’s hoping to convince her spunky eighty-year-old Nonna Bruna to share her precious collection of family recipes. Jules’s plans quickly go awry as she discovers that Nonna’s cookbook has magical and unpredictable powers. It reveals only one recipe at a time, offering a cooking experience guaranteed to satisfy the chef’s palate and bring clarity to their life. Yet the pages remain stubbornly blank for Jules. To make matters worse, the olive farm is in deep financial trouble, and Jules soon uncovers a web of family secrets involving the cookbook and a lost recipe for orange blossom cake that holds the key to everything. Then there’s Nicolo, the boy next door, who broke her young heart years ago. He is now all grown up, even more attractive, and the only person poised to help Jules find answers. (Release date is Sept. 30.)

Paul Levine’s Midnight Burning is an Einstein-Chaplin thriller. It’s 1937 and clouds of war gather over Europe, and American fascists march at home. While the FBI chases suspected communists, Nazi agents plot an armed insurrection. When the world’s two most famous men—Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin—uncover the scheme, which includes the assassination of Hollywood’s biggest stars, they fight back with nothing but their ingenuity, raw courage, and the fierce resolve of Georgia Ann Robinson, LAPD’s first Black female officer.

A dangerous chase takes our heroes into the heart of darkness, a fascist encampment in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles where a militia armed with machine guns plans its attack. Batten the hatches: it’s brains versus brawn in an explosive, unforgettable finale. (Release date is Sept. 16.)

How about a historical mystery about “Two queer women in turn-of-the-century New York”? A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau is the first Harriman and Mancini mystery. Margot Baxter Harriman took the reins of B&H Foods after her father passed. It’s not easy being a business woman in 1912, but she is determined to continue what her grandparents started decades ago, no matter what it takes. So when Margot finds Mrs. Gilroy, her father’s former assistant, dead in the office with a half-finished note confessing to nebulous misdeeds at B&H, she seeks out help from a very discreet, private investigator to figure out what’s going on. Her company, and her good name, are at stake if scandal breaks…and she could lose everything, including her freedom. Loretta “Rett” Mancini has run her father’s investigation operation since he started becoming increasingly forgetful. When Margot offers her the chance to look into the potential scandal with B&H, she jumps at it. But the more the two dig in, the more it becomes clear that Margot’s company may be too far lost…and someone is willing to kill them both to keep things quiet. (Release date is Sept. 16.)

Here’s one that some of us are eager to read, J.D. Robb’s lates Eve Dallas book, Framed in Death. Manhattan is filled with galleries and deep-pocketed collectors who can make an artist’s career with a wave of a hand. But one man toils in obscurity, his brilliance unrecognized while lesser talents bask in the glory he believes should be his. Come tomorrow, he vows, the city will be buzzing about his work. Indeed, before dawn, Lt. Eve Dallas is speeding toward the home of the two gallery owners whose doorway has been turned into a horrifying crime scene overnight. A lifeless young woman has been elaborately costumed and precisely posed to resemble the model of a long-ago Dutch master, and Dallas plunges into her investigation. (Release date is Sept. 2.)

How can I resist a book called The Librarians by Sherry Thomas? Sometimes a workplace isn’t just a workplace but a place of safety, understanding, and acceptance. And sometimes murder threatens the sanctity of that beloved refuge….In the leafy suburbs of Austin, Texas, a small branch library welcomes the public every day of the week. But the patrons who love the helpful, unobtrusive staff and leave rave reviews on Yelp don’t always realize that their librarians are human, too. Hazel flees halfway across the world for what she hopes will be a new beginning. Jonathan, a six-foot-four former college football player, has never fit in anywhere else. Astrid tries to forget her heartbreak by immersing herself in work, but the man who ghosted her six months ago is back, promising trouble. And Sophie, who has the most to lose, maintains a careful and respectful distance from her coworkers, but soon that won’t be enough anymore. When two patrons turn up dead after the library’s inaugural murder mystery–themed game night, the librarians’ quiet routines come crashing down. Something sinister has stirred, something that threatens every single one of them. And the only way the librarians can save the library—and themselves—is to let go of their secrets, trust one another, and band together….All in a day’s work. (Release date is Sept. 30)

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How about you? What titles jump out at you? Or, what did I miss that has a September release date?