Now if everyone would just get on the same page! COVID-19 is raging here. Hospitals are beginning to run out of room in their morgues and are using refrigerated trucks to store victims' bodies. And still people pour in to enjoy our weather, bringing who knows what with them (and taking who knows what away). Denis reports record numbers of golfers with all their clubs flying into the Valley, and although Phoenix cancelled all upcoming sporting events, the other towns in the metropolitan area did not follow suit, so those people are coming in droves. We need some key people in charge who have spines and who are willing to do what needs to be done.
It's a good thing that I seldom ever have problems being sidetracked by books because do I ever need that distraction! The following books are my picks of the best new crime fiction being released throughout the month of January and they are grouped by release date. Covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.
Let's take a look to see if any of my picks tickle your fancy, too.
===January 12 ===
Author: Vicki Delany
Series: #6 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop cozy series set in Massachusetts
304 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "'I am not a Consulting Detective,' Gemma Doyle reluctantly tells
10-year-old Lauren Tierney, when the little girl comes to the Sherlock
Holmes Bookshop and Emporium to beg Gemma to find her missing cat,
Snowball. Gemma might not be able to follow the clues to find the cat,
but her dog Violet follows her nose to locate the missing kitten in a
neighbor's garden shed. Gemma and Violet proudly return Snowball to her
grateful owner, and Gemma basks in praise for a job well done. But a few
days later Lauren is back with ten dollars in hand, wanting to once
again hire a consulting detective, and this time for a far bigger job:
Her mother has been accused of murdering her garden club rival.
Sheila Tierney's garden, which everyone said was the one to beat for the West London Garden Club trophy, had been vandalized the night before the club's early summer tour. Sheila confronted her former friend and gardening partner Anna Wentworth in a towering rage, and the women nearly came to blows. Later that night, after having won the trophy for best garden, Anna is found murdered and Sheila Tierney is the police's prime suspect.
Despite herself, and despite the disapproval of her police detective boyfriend Ryan Ashburton, the game is once again afoot, and Gemma finds herself and Jayne Wilson using their powers of deduction to ponder yet another curious incident."
Author: Kwei Quartey
Series: #2 in the Emma Djan private investigator series set in Ghana.
336 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Hard-hitting talk show host Augustus Seeza has become a household name
in Ghana, though notorious for his lavish overspending, alcoholism, and
womanizing. He’s dating the imposing, beautiful Lady Araba, who leads a
selfmade fashion empire. Fearing Augustus is only after her money,
Araba’s religious family intervenes to break them up. A few days later,
just before a major runway show, Araba is found murdered in her bed. Her
driver is arrested after a hasty investigation, but Araba’s favorite
aunt, Dele, suspects Augustus Seeza was the real killer.
Almost a year later, Dele approaches Emma Djan, who has finally started to settle in as the only female PI at her agency. To solve Lady Araba’s murder, Emma must not only go on an undercover mission that dredges up trauma from her past, but navigate a long list of suspects with strong motives. Emma quickly discovers that they are all willing to lie for each other—and that one may still be willing to kill."
Author: Reavis Wortham
Series: #8 in the Red River historical series set in Texas.
368 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "It's January 1969 in the small rural community of Center Springs,
Texas. Constable Ned Parker is looking into the seemingly accidental
death of his nephew R .B., who was found in his overturned pickup near
Sanders Creek bridge. At first it appears that R. B. drowned in the
shallow water, but something doesn't add up for Ned, who begins turning
over stones in search of what really happened the night R. B. died. 
Title: Bryant & May: Oranges and Lemons 
Title: The Scorpion's Tail
Title: The House on Vesper Sands
Eventually, the investigation leads Ned back to the Starlite Club, a dangerous honky-tonk recently constructed in a no-man's land on the Lone Star side of the Red River. Although his investigation uncovers suspicious characters, drugs, and gambling, it's the series of murders that eliminated any potential witnesses to what happened to R. B. on that cold January night, that's the most troubling.
As he works his way
through the cover-up, which leads all the way to the coroner's office,
Ned finds himself involved in a high-stakes game of consequences with no
good end in sight. Are the good citizens of Center Springs conspiring
against Constable Parker in his search for the truth?"
Author: Christopher Fowler
Series: #18 in the Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery series set in England.
464 pages
Synopsis: "On a spring morning in London’s Strand, the Speaker of the House of
Commons is nearly killed by a van unloading oranges and lemons for the
annual St. Clement Danes celebration. It’s an absurd near-death
experience, but the government is more interested in investigating the
Speaker’s state of mind just prior to his accident.
The task is given to the Peculiar Crimes Unit—the only problem being that the unit no longer exists. Its chief, Raymond Land, is tending his daffodils on the Isle of Wight and senior detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are out of commission—May has just undergone surgery for a bullet wound and Bryant has been missing for a month. What's more, their old office in King’s Cross is being turned into a vegetarian tapas bar.
Against impossible odds, the team is reassembled and once again what should be a simple case becomes a lunatic farrago involving arson, suicide, magicians, academics and a race to catch a killer with a master plan involving London churches. Joining their team this time is Sidney, a young woman with no previous experience, plenty of attitude—and a surprising secret."
The task is given to the Peculiar Crimes Unit—the only problem being that the unit no longer exists. Its chief, Raymond Land, is tending his daffodils on the Isle of Wight and senior detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are out of commission—May has just undergone surgery for a bullet wound and Bryant has been missing for a month. What's more, their old office in King’s Cross is being turned into a vegetarian tapas bar.
Against impossible odds, the team is reassembled and once again what should be a simple case becomes a lunatic farrago involving arson, suicide, magicians, academics and a race to catch a killer with a master plan involving London churches. Joining their team this time is Sidney, a young woman with no previous experience, plenty of attitude—and a surprising secret."
Authors: Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Series: #2 in the Nora Kelly archaeologist series set in New Mexico.
416 pages
Synopsis: "Following the acclaimed debut of Old Bones, this second "happily
anticipated" new thriller in Preston & Child's series features Nora
Kelly, archaeologist at the Santa Fe Archeological Institute, and rookie
FBI Agent Corrie Swanson, as they team up to solve a mystery that
quickly escalates into nightmare (Booklist).
A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Corrie is assigned what seems to her a throwaway case: to ID the body and determine cause of death. She brings archaeologist Nora Kelly to excavate the body and lend her expertise to the investigation, and together they uncover something unexpected and shocking: the deceased apparently died in agony, in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, with a rictus of horror frozen on his face.
Hidden on the corpse lies a 16th century Spanish gold cross of immense value.
When they at last identify the body -- and the bizarre cause of death -- Corrie and Nora open a door into a terrifying, secret world of ancient treasure and modern obsession: a world centered on arguably the most defining, frightening, and transformative moment in American history."
A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Corrie is assigned what seems to her a throwaway case: to ID the body and determine cause of death. She brings archaeologist Nora Kelly to excavate the body and lend her expertise to the investigation, and together they uncover something unexpected and shocking: the deceased apparently died in agony, in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, with a rictus of horror frozen on his face.
Hidden on the corpse lies a 16th century Spanish gold cross of immense value.
When they at last identify the body -- and the bizarre cause of death -- Corrie and Nora open a door into a terrifying, secret world of ancient treasure and modern obsession: a world centered on arguably the most defining, frightening, and transformative moment in American history."
Author: Paraic O'Donnell
Standalone historical thriller set in England.
408 pages
Synopsis: "London, 1893: high up in a house on a dark, snowy night, a lone
seamstress stands by a window. So begins the swirling, serpentine world
of Paraic O’Donnell’s Victorian-inspired mystery, the story of a city
cloaked in shadow, but burning with questions: why does the seamstress
jump from the window? Why is a cryptic message stitched into her skin?
And how is she connected to a rash of missing girls, all of whom seem to
have disappeared under similar circumstances? 
Title: Knock Knock
Title: Ink and Shadows
On the case is Inspector Cutter, a detective as sharp and committed to his work as he is wryly hilarious. Gideon Bliss, a Cambridge dropout in love with one of the missing girls, stumbles into a role as Cutter’s sidekick. And clever young journalist Octavia Hillingdon sees the case as a chance to tell a story that matters―despite her employer’s preference that she stick to a women’s society column. As Inspector Cutter peels back the mystery layer by layer, he leads them all, at last, to the secrets that lie hidden at the house on Vesper Sands.
By turns smart, surprising, and impossible to put down, The House on Vesper Sands offers a glimpse into the strange undertow of late nineteenth-century London and the secrets we all hold inside us."
=== January 19 ===
Author: Anders Rosland
Series: #8 in the Ewert Grens police procedural series set in Sweden.
448 pages
Synopsis: "Seventeen years ago, Criminal Inspector Ewert Grens was called to the
scene of a brutal crime. A family had been murdered, and the only
survivor--and witness--was the five-year-old daughter. The girl was
placed in the witness protection program, and the case went cold, but
years later, Grens is still haunted by the seemingly random slaying, and
the little girl who was spared. So when he learns that the apartment
where the crime occurred is now the scene of a mysterious break-in,
Grens immediately fears that someone is intent on silencing the only
witness. He races to find her...before they do.
Meanwhile, someone in the city's criminal underworld is executing weapons smugglers, and has placed former police informant Piet Hoffman's family in grave danger. He must unravel the secret threat to his family, all while keeping secrets of his own. Soon his hunt for answers intertwines with Ewert's, and the two men find themselves in the middle of a criminal conspiracy that is more complicated--and dangerous--than they could have imagined."
Meanwhile, someone in the city's criminal underworld is executing weapons smugglers, and has placed former police informant Piet Hoffman's family in grave danger. He must unravel the secret threat to his family, all while keeping secrets of his own. Soon his hunt for answers intertwines with Ewert's, and the two men find themselves in the middle of a criminal conspiracy that is more complicated--and dangerous--than they could have imagined."
=== January 26 ===
Author: Ellery Adams
Series: #4 in the Secret, Book & Scone Society cozy series set in North Carolina.
304 pages
Synopsis: "Nora Pennington is known for her window displays, and as Halloween
approaches, she decides to showcase fictional heroines like Roald Dahl's
Matilda and Madeline Miller's Circe. A family-values group disapproves
of the magical themes, though, and wastes no time launching a modern-day
witch hunt. Suddenly, former friends and customers are targeting not
only Nora and Miracle Books, but a new shopkeeper, Celeste, who's been
selling CBD oil products.
Nora and her friends in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society are doing their best to put an end to the strife--but then someone puts an end to a life. Though the death is declared an accident, the ruling can't explain the old book page covered with strange symbols and disturbing drawings left under Nora's doormat, a postcard from an anonymous stalker, or multiple cases of vandalism.
The only hope is that Nora can be a heroine herself and lead the Secret, Book, and Scone Society in a successful investigation--before more bodies turn up and the secrets from Celeste's past come back to haunt them all . . ."
Nora and her friends in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society are doing their best to put an end to the strife--but then someone puts an end to a life. Though the death is declared an accident, the ruling can't explain the old book page covered with strange symbols and disturbing drawings left under Nora's doormat, a postcard from an anonymous stalker, or multiple cases of vandalism.
The only hope is that Nora can be a heroine herself and lead the Secret, Book, and Scone Society in a successful investigation--before more bodies turn up and the secrets from Celeste's past come back to haunt them all . . ."
Well, what do you think? I was so pleased to see a new book in the Red River series by Reavis Wortham; the entire series puts you right in the middle of 1960s Texas, and the characters and stories are hard to beat. I want to read them all, but I must admit that-- along with Laying Bones-- Preston & Child's The Scorpion's Tail and Kwei Quartey's Sleep Well My Lady are the ones that I'm looking forward to the most. I need engaging stories with a strong sense of place to keep my mind from wandering into dangerous territory.
Here's to a new year of new and exciting books. Happy Reading!
