I bet many of you are in the same boat as I: you were given gift cards over the holidays, and they're burning holes in your wallet. I buy books from three major places: all my Kindle format books from Amazon, and the physical books are purchased mostly from The Poisoned Pen in person and online from BookOutlet.com. Well, I've already splurged at Book Outlet, and I'm trying to stay away from The Poisoned Pen until the next author event I'll be attending. Wish me luck!
You know me. I keep my eyes peeled for new crime fiction to read, and the following books are my picks of what's being released during the month of January. They're listed by release dates and include all the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book procurement sites. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Who knows? Perhaps you'll find a title or two to use those gift cards on....
=== January 1 ===
Title: The House of Susan Lulham
Series: Novella in the Merrily Watkins series set in England near the Welsh border
ISBN: 9781782397557
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Hardcover, 192 pages
Synopsis: "The angular, modernist house was an unexpected bargain for Zoe and
Jonathan Mahonie—newcomers to the city of Hereford and apparently
unaware that the house's pristine, white interior walls had been coated
with the lifeblood of a previous owner. How is Merrily Watkins, diocesan
exorcist for Hereford, to know if Zoe Mahonie is lying or deluded when
she claims that the wrathful Susan Lulham is still in residence? Then
comes another bloody death. Who is the real killer?"
=== January 5 ===
Title: To Helvetica and Back
Series: #1 in the Dangerous Type cozy series set in fictional Star City, Utah
ISBN: 9780425277256
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "Star City is known for its slopes and its powder. But nestled in the
valley of this ski resort town is a side street full of shops that
specialize in the simple charms of earlier eras. One of those shops is
the Rescued Word, where Chester Henry and his adult granddaughter Clare
lovingly repair old typewriters and restore old books. Who ever thought
their quaint store would hold the key to some modern-day trouble?
When a stranger to town demands they turn over an antique Underwood typewriter they’re repairing for a customer, Clare fears she
may need to be rescued. A call to the police scares the man off, but
later Clare finds his dead body in the back alley. What about a dusty
old typewriter could possibly be worth killing for?"
Title: Copy Cap Murder
Series: #4 in the Hat Shop cozy series set in London, England
ISBN: 9780425279588
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Synopsis: "For Scarlett Parker, part of the fun of living in London is celebrating
the British holidays, and she’s excited to share her first Bonfire Night
with her cousin Vivian Tremont. Invited to a posh party by their friend
Harrison Wentworth, Scarlett and Viv decide to promote their hat shop,
Mim’s Whims, by donning a few of their more outrageous creations. The
hats prove to be quite the conversation starters as the girls mix and
mingle with the guests—never suspecting that one of them is a killer.
It’s
a cold, clear night, perfect for the British tradition of tossing a
straw stuffed effigy of Guy Fawkes, traitor to the crown, onto the
bonfire. But instead of a straw man, they realize in the heat of the
moment that the would-be Guy Fawkes is actually Harrison’s office rival
and he’s been murdered. Before the smoke has cleared, Harrison is the
Metropolitan police’s prime suspect, and Scarlett and Vivian must find
the real homicidal hothead before their dear friend’s life goes up in
flames."
Title: Monty and Me
Series: #1 in the Monty and Sidebottom series set in England
ISBN: 9780008124045
Publisher: Avon
Hardcover, 400 pages
Synopsis: "You might think that dogs can’t understand us…but you’d be wrong.
Apart
from an obsession with cheese, Monty is a perfectly rational animal. So
when his beloved master is stabbed to death, Monty decides to use his
formidable nose to track the killer down.
Luckily he manages to
find a home with Rose Sidebottom, the young policewoman who’s
investigating the case. But with her colleagues turning against her, and
the wrong man collared, she’s going to need a little help…"
=== January 12 ===
Title: I Am Your Judge
Series: #4 in the Kirchhoff and von Bodenstein police procedural series set in Germany
ISBN: 9781250071682
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 416 pages
Synopsis: "Police Detective Pia Kirchhoff is about to leave on her long-delayed
honeymoon when she receives a phone call. An elderly woman has been shot
and killed while walking her dog. A short while later another murder is
committed and the modus operandi is eerily similar - a woman is killed
by a bullet that smashes through her kitchen window ... and in both
cases the same weapon fired the shot. Two more murders follow in short
order. None of the victims had enemies and no one knows why they were
singled out. As fear of the Taunus Sniper grows among the local
residents, the pressure rises on Detective Kirchhoff. She and her
partner, Oliver von Bodenstein, search for a suspect who appears to
murder at will, but as the investigation progresses, the police officers
uncover a human tragedy.
I am Your Judge is tightly plotted, and delivers surprise twists at every turn with a story that is ripped from the headlines."
Title: The Girls She Left Behind
Series: #2 in the Lizzie Snow police procedural series set in Maine
ISBN: 9780553390438
Publisher: Bantam
Hardcover, 272 pages
Synopsis: "For Lizzie Snow, the ice and snow of her first punishing North Woods
winter are dreadful enough. But near the small town of Bearkill a
stubborn forest fire now rages out of control, and as embers swirl
dangerously in the smoke-filled air, a teenage girl with a history of
running away has dropped out of sight again. The locals and the law both
think Tara Wylie is up to her old tricks—until her mother receives a
terrifying text message.
Equally disturbing: Henry Gemerle—a
kidnapper and rapist who once held three girls prisoner for fifteen
years—has escaped, and may be lurking in Bearkill. As the fire closes
in, Lizzie teams up with her boss, Sheriff Cody Chevrier, and state cop
Dylan Hudson to search for the missing girl and the wily fugitive. But
they’re blocked by Tara’s mother, a frustrating teller of needless lies
and keeper of dark, incomprehensible secrets.
Following a
trail of grisly clues—a bloodstained motel room, a makeshift coffin in a
shallow grave—Lizzie is drawn ever closer to the flames in her race to
save an innocent and corner a monster. Someone else also wants to find
Tara Wylie and Henry Gemerle, though, for reasons that have nothing to
do with mercy or justice. And when they all meet, the inferno
threatening Bearkill will pale in comparison to the hell that’s about to
break loose."
Title: Hour of the Wolf
Series: #7 in the Chief Inspector Van Veeteren police procedural series set in a country that resembles Sweden
ISBN: 9780307906878
Publisher: Pantheon
Hardcover, 320 pages
Synopsis: "A boy in a dark duffel coat. Lying in the ditch. Contorted at impossible
angles, with his back pressed up against a concrete culvert and his
face staring straight at him. As if he were trying to make some kind of
contact. As if he wanted to tell him something.
In the
middle of a damp, dark night, a young man is struck by a car after
leaving his girlfriend’s house. The driver, drunk, leaves the body by
the side of the road. Wrestling with guilt, the driver tries to put the
murder out of his mind—until a blackmail note arrives, setting into
motion a chain of events that will draw everyone involved into a fog of
crime.
Reinhart, the new chief inspector of the Maardam police
force, sets his team to work. But when the victim of a second, possibly
related, killing is identified, Reinhart realizes that this is no
ordinary investigation. In Hour of the Wolf, former chief
inspector Van Veeteren—a legend now in retirement—is called upon to face
his greatest trial yet, when someone close to him is found dead.
Van Veeteren’s former colleagues, desperate for answers, struggle to
decipher the clues to these appalling crimes. As the killer becomes
increasingly unhinged and unpredictable, Van Veeteren is forced to
reenter a world he left behind, and to avenge a death. Told with Håkan
Nesser’s trademark eye for detail, breakneck plotting, and gut-wrenching
moral tension, Hour of the Wolf finds the Nordic noir superstar spinning one of his darkest tales yet."
Title: A Taste for Nightshade (APA The Penny Heart in the UK)
Standalone set in England
ISBN: 9781250056924
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Hardcover, 464 pages
Synopsis: "Manchester 1787. When budding young criminal
Mary Jebb swindles Michael Croxon's brother with a blank pound note,
he chases her into the night and sets in motion a train of sinister
events. Condemned to seven years of transportation to Australia, Mary
sends him a 'Penny Heart'-a token of her vow of revenge.
Two
years later, Michael marries naïve young Grace Moore. Although
initially overjoyed at the union, Grace quickly realizes that her
husband is more interested in her fortune than her company. Lonely and
desperate for companionship, she turns to her new cook to help mend her
ailing marriage. But Mary Jebb, shipwrecked, maltreated, and recently
hired, has different plans for the unsuspecting owners of Delafosse
Hall.
A Taste for Nightshade is a thrilling historical
novel that combines recipes, mystery and a dark struggle between two
desperate women, sure to appeal to fans of Sarah Waters and Carolly
Erickson."
Title: The Crooked House
Author: Christobel Kent
Standalone set in England
ISBN: 9780374131821
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
Hardcover, 368 pages
Synopsis: "Published in the United Kingdom in 2015, Christobel Kent's The Crooked House
has drawn comparisons to works by the pantheon of British female
literary suspense writers--Daphne du Maurier, Agatha Christie, P. D.
James, and Kate Atkinson. In this darkly atmospheric psychological
thriller, she accomplishes what those celebrated writers do best: she
creates an insular world (a single house, a small town) where something
sinister has occurred, and subtly inflects each page with the toxic
residue of violence.
Much like the unnamed narrator of Rebecca,
Alison lives her life under the radar. She has no ties, no home, and
she spends her days at a backroom publishing job. Which is how she wants
it. Because Alison used to be a teenager named Esme, who lived in a
dilapidated house by a bleak estuary with her parents and three
siblings. One night, something unspeakable happened in the house, and
Alison emerged the only survivor. In order to escape from the horror she
witnessed, she moved away from her village, changed her name, and cut
herself off from her past.
Only now her boyfriend invites her to a
wedding in her old hometown, and she decides that if she's going to
have any chance of overcoming the trauma of what happened, she'll have
to confront it. But soon Alison realizes that that night's events have
left a terrible mark on everyone in the village, and she begins to
suspect that they are all somehow implicated in her family's murder."
=== January 19 ===
Title: Even Dogs in the Wild
Series: #22 in the Inspector Rebus police procedural series set in Scotland
ISBN: 9780316342513
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Hardcover, 352 pages
Synopsis: "Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is feeling the heat. She's
investigating the death of a senior government prosecutor, David Minton,
who has friends in high places. When one of their own is killed, the
powers that be want answers fast. But Clarke is puzzled: if Minton died
in a robbery as everyone thinks, why is nothing missing from his home?
The answer may lie not in what was taken, but in what was left behind at
the scene--an ominous note.
Malcolm Fox is feeling useless.
Shunned by his colleagues because of his past in the Complaints bureau,
he's been reassigned to a grunt detail, helping a surveillance team--one
that trusts him even less than his own boss does--track a notorious
Glasgow crime family. Helping Clarke with the Minton case is the only
thing that makes Fox feel like a real cop.
Newly minted civilian
John Rebus is feeling restless. Being a cop is in his blood and he's
failing miserably at retirement. So when Clarke and Fox ask for his
help, Rebus doesn't need long to consider his options. But before he can
get his bearings, a call comes from Rebus's old nemesis--"Big Ger"
Cafferty. Someone just fired a bullet through his front window--and sent
him a note identical to Minton's. The normally unflappable old gangster
is on edge, but for the life of him Cafferty can't figure out who he's
wronged. And the only man he trusts with his life is Rebus.
As
the cases collide, it's up to Clarke, Fox, and Rebus to connect the dots
and save their unlikely ally Cafferty, whose past harbors a shocking
secret that implicates Minton's friends in an unspeakable crime. Even Dogs in the Wild
reunites crime fiction legend Ian Rankin's greatest characters in an
explosive story exploring the darkest corners of our desires."
=== January 26 ===
Title: The Ex
Standalone set in New York City
ISBN: 9780062390486
Publisher: Harper
Hardcover, 304 pages
Synopsis: "In this breakout standalone novel of suspense in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on a Train,
a woman agrees to help an old boyfriend who has been framed for
murder—but begins to suspect that she is the one being manipulated.
Twenty years ago she ruined his life. Now she has the chance to save it.
Widower
Jack Harris has resisted the dating scene ever since the shooting of
his wife Molly by a fifteen-year-old boy three years ago. An early
morning run along the Hudson River changes that when he spots a woman in
last night’s party dress, barefoot, enjoying a champagne picnic alone,
reading his favorite novel. Everything about her reminds him of what he
used to have with Molly. Eager to help Jack find love again, his best
friend posts a message on a popular website after he mentions the
encounter. Days later, that same beautiful stranger responds and invites
Jack to meet her in person at the waterfront. That’s when Jack’s world
falls apart.
Olivia Randall is one of New York City’s best
criminal defense lawyers. When she hears that her former fiancé, Jack
Harris, has been arrested for a triple homicide—and that one of the
victims was connected to his wife’s murder—there is no doubt in her mind
as to his innocence. The only question is who would go to such great
lengths to frame him—and why?
For Olivia, representing Jack is a
way to make up for past regrets, to absolve herself of guilt from a
tragic decision, a secret she has held for twenty years. But as the
evidence against him mounts, she is forced to confront her doubts. The
man she knew could not have done this. But what if she never really knew
him?"
Title: A Prisoner in Malta
Series: #1 in the Christopher Marlowe historical series set in England and Malta
ISBN: 9781250058423
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 320 pages
Synopsis: "In 1583, the nineteen-year-old Christopher
Marlowe---with a reputation as a brawler, a womanizer, a genius, and a
social upstart at Cambridge University---is visited by a man
representing Marlowe's benefactors. There are rumors of a growing plot
against her majesty Queen Elizabeth I, and the Queen's spymaster, Sir
Francis Walsingham, has charged young Marlowe with tracking down the
truth. The path to that truth seems to run through an enigmatic
prisoner held in complete seclusion in a heavily guarded dungeon in
Malta. Marlowe must use every bit of his wits, his skills, and his
daring to unravel one of the greatest mysteries in history and help
uncover and unravel scheme of assassination and invasion, one involving
the government of Spain, high ranking English nobles, and even Pope
himself.
Christopher Marlowe---Elizabethan playwright, poet, and
spy---is one of the most enigmatic figures in Renaissance England. The
son of a shoemaker from Canterbury, he attended Cambridge University
on scholarship and, while frequently in trouble, was bailed out through
the intercession of Queen Elizabeth I's Privy Council. Long rumored to
have been an agent on behalf of the Queen's spymaster, Edgar Award
winner Phillip DePoy's new series brings Marlowe and his times to life."
Title: Where My Heart Used to Beat
Standalone set in England, France, and Italy
ISBN: 9780805097320
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Hardcover, 352 pages
Synopsis: "London, 1980. Robert Hendricks, an established psychiatrist and author,
has so bottled up memories of his own wartime past that he is nearly
sunk into a life of aloneness and depression. Out of the blue, a
baffling letter arrives from one Dr. Alexander Pereira, a neurologist
and a World War I veteran who claims to be an admirer of Robert's
published work. The letter brings Robert to the older man's home on a
rocky, secluded island off the south of France, and into tempests of
memories--his childhood as a fatherless English boy, the carnage he
witnessed and the wound he can't remember receiving as a young officer
in World War II, and, above all, the great, devastating love of his
life, an Italian woman, "L," whom he met during the war. As Robert's
recollections pour forth, he's unsure whether they will lead to
psychosis--or redemption. But Dr. Pereira knows. Profoundly affecting
and masterfully told, Where My Heart Used to Beat sweeps through
the 20th century, brilliantly interrogating the darkest corners of the
human mind and bearing tender witness to the abiding strength of love."
Well... inquiring minds want to know-- Did you find any titles to spend those gift cards on? Which ones???
