At the time of writing, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and the week following, which is when my second cataract surgery will be done. I'm listening to children playing next-door and a bird on the windowsill that seems to want my attention. Instead, I'll share with you my picks of the new crime fiction being released throughout the month of December.
I've grouped these picks of mine according to their release dates. I hope I've chosen some that tickle your fancy and that you'll include on your own wishlists. Book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. So without further ado, let's take a look at the brand-new mysteries coming out in December!
=== December 1 ===
Title: Bleak Harbor
Author: Bryan Gruley
Series: #1 in the Bleak Harbor series set in Michigan.
378 pages
When Danny’s mother, Carey, and stepfather, Pete, receive a photo of their brilliant, autistic, and socially withdrawn son tied to a chair, they fear the worst. But there’s also more to the story. Someone is sending them ominous texts and emails filled with information no one else should have. Could the secrets they’ve kept hidden—even from one another—have led to Danny’s abduction?
As pressure from the kidnapper mounts, Carey and Pete must face their own ugly mistakes to find their son before he’s taken from them forever."
=== December 4 ===
Title: Not of This Fold
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Series: #4 in the Linda Wallheim series set in Utah.
361 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Now that all five of her sons have left home, Mormon bishop’s wife Linda Wallheim has quite a bit of time on her hands, most of which she spends worrying about the state of the country and how her youngest son, Samuel, who is openly gay, is faring on his mission in Boston. She has also become close with one of the women in her ward, Gwen Ferris.
But Gwen is quickly losing faith in the church, and her issues with the Mormon power structure are only reinforced by her work in Draper’s local “Spanish ward.” The ward’s members comprise both legal and undocumented immigrants who aren’t always getting the community support they should be from their church.
When Gabriela Gonzalez, a young mother and Gwen’s friend in the Spanish Ward, is found strangled at a gas station, Gwen is paralyzed with guilt. The dead woman’s last phone call was to Gwen, and her voicemail reveals that she knew she was in danger. When Gwen decides the police aren’t doing enough to get justice for Gabriela, who was undocumented, she decides to find the killer herself. Linda reluctantly takes part in Gwen’s vigilante sleuthing, fearing for her young friend’s safety, but what the pair discovers may put them both in danger."
But Gwen is quickly losing faith in the church, and her issues with the Mormon power structure are only reinforced by her work in Draper’s local “Spanish ward.” The ward’s members comprise both legal and undocumented immigrants who aren’t always getting the community support they should be from their church.
When Gabriela Gonzalez, a young mother and Gwen’s friend in the Spanish Ward, is found strangled at a gas station, Gwen is paralyzed with guilt. The dead woman’s last phone call was to Gwen, and her voicemail reveals that she knew she was in danger. When Gwen decides the police aren’t doing enough to get justice for Gabriela, who was undocumented, she decides to find the killer herself. Linda reluctantly takes part in Gwen’s vigilante sleuthing, fearing for her young friend’s safety, but what the pair discovers may put them both in danger."
Title: Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors
Author: Christopher Fowler
Series: #16 in the Bryant & May police procedural series set in England.
420 pages
Synopsis: "Hard to believe, but even positively ancient sleuths like Bryant and May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit were young once . . . or at least younger. Flashback to London 1969: mods and dolly birds, sunburst minidresses—but how long would the party last?
After accidentally sinking a barge painted like the Yellow Submarine, Bryant and May are relegated to babysitting one Monty Hatton-Jones, the star prosecution witness in the trial of a disreputable developer whose prefabs are prone to collapse. The job for the demoted detectives? Keep the whistle-blower safe for one weekend.
The task proves unexpectedly challenging when their unruly charge insists on attending a party at the vast estate Tavistock Hall. With falling stone gryphons, secret passageways, rumors of a mythical beast, and an all-too-real dismembered corpse, the bedeviled policemen soon find themselves with “a proper country house murder” on their hands.
Trapped for the weekend, Bryant and May must sort the victims from the suspects, including a hippie heir, a blond nightclub singer, and Monty himself—and nobody is quite who he or she seems to be."
After accidentally sinking a barge painted like the Yellow Submarine, Bryant and May are relegated to babysitting one Monty Hatton-Jones, the star prosecution witness in the trial of a disreputable developer whose prefabs are prone to collapse. The job for the demoted detectives? Keep the whistle-blower safe for one weekend.
The task proves unexpectedly challenging when their unruly charge insists on attending a party at the vast estate Tavistock Hall. With falling stone gryphons, secret passageways, rumors of a mythical beast, and an all-too-real dismembered corpse, the bedeviled policemen soon find themselves with “a proper country house murder” on their hands.
Trapped for the weekend, Bryant and May must sort the victims from the suspects, including a hippie heir, a blond nightclub singer, and Monty himself—and nobody is quite who he or she seems to be."
Title: Mind Games
Author: Nancy Mehl
Series: #1 in the Kaely Quinn Profiler series set in St. Louis.
336 pages
Synopsis: "Kaely Quinn's talents as an FBI behavior analyst are impossible to ignore, no matter how unorthodox her methods. But when a reporter outs her as the daughter of an infamous serial killer, she's demoted to field agent and transferred to St. Louis.
When the same reporter who ruined her career claims to have received an anonymous poem predicting a string of murders, ending with Kaely's, the reporter's ulterior motives bring his claim into question. But when a body is found that fits the poem's predictions, the threat is undeniable, and the FBI sends Special Agent Noah Hunter to St. Louis.
Initially resentful of the assignment, Noah is surprised at how quickly his respect for Kaely grows, despite her oddities. But with a brazen serial killer who breaks all the normal patterns on the loose, Noah and Kaely are tested to their limits to catch the murderer before anyone else--including Kaely herself--is killed."
When the same reporter who ruined her career claims to have received an anonymous poem predicting a string of murders, ending with Kaely's, the reporter's ulterior motives bring his claim into question. But when a body is found that fits the poem's predictions, the threat is undeniable, and the FBI sends Special Agent Noah Hunter to St. Louis.
Initially resentful of the assignment, Noah is surprised at how quickly his respect for Kaely grows, despite her oddities. But with a brazen serial killer who breaks all the normal patterns on the loose, Noah and Kaely are tested to their limits to catch the murderer before anyone else--including Kaely herself--is killed."
Title: Murder at the Mill
Author: M.B. Shaw
Series: #1 in the Iris Grey series set in rural England
387 pages
At the Wetherby's Christmas Eve party, the mulled wine is in full flow - but so are tensions and rivalries among the guests. On Christmas Day, the youngest member of the Wetherby family, Lorcan, finds a body in the water. A tragic accident? Or a deadly crime?
With the snow falling, Iris enters a world of village gossip, romantic intrigue, buried secrets, and murder."
=== December 5 ===
Title: Broken Ground
Author: Val McDermid
Series: #5 in the Karen Pirie police procedural series set in Scotland.
432 pages
Six feet under in a Highland peat bog lies Alice Somerville’s inheritance, buried by her grandfather at the end of World War II. But when Alice finally uncovers it, she finds an unwanted surprise―a body with a bullet hole between the eyes. Meanwhile, DCI Pirie is called in to unravel a case where nothing is quite as it seems. And as she gets closer to the truth, it becomes clear that not everyone shares her desire for justice. Or even the idea of what justice is.
An engrossing, twisty thriller, Broken Ground reaffirms Val McDermid’s place as one of the best crime writers of her generation."
=== December 6 ===
Title: Death of an Eye
Author: Dana Stabenow
Series: #1 in the Eye of Isis historical mysteries set in Egypt in 47 BCE.
400 pages
Synopsis: "Alexandria, 47BCE: Cleopatra shares the throne with her brother Ptolemy under the auspices of Julius Caesar, by whom Cleopatra is heavily pregnant with child. A shipment of new coin meant to reset the shaky Egyptian economy has been stolen, the Queen’s Eye has been murdered and Queen Cleopatra turns to childhood friend Tetisheri to find the missing shipment and bring the murderer to justice."
=== December 11 ===
Title: The Big Empty
Author: Stan Jones & Patricia Watts
Series: #6 in the Nathan Active police procedural series set in Alaska.
264 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
Synopsis: "Evie Kavoonah, a young mother-to-be, and her fiancé, Dr. Todd Brenner, are on a flight over the Brooks Range when their bush plane runs out of gas and hits a ridge, instantly killing them both. Chukchi police chief Nathan Active doubts he’ll find anything amiss when his close friend, Cowboy Decker, asks him to look into the possibility of foul play. Evie was like a daughter to Cowboy, who trained her to fly, and he insists there’s no way his protégée made a fatal mistake that day. Nathan reluctantly plays along and discovers that Cowboy’s instincts are correct—the malfunction that led to the crash was carefully planned, and several people in the village have motives for targeting the pair.
Meanwhile, Nathan’s wife, Gracie, is pregnant, but so scarred by memories of domestic abuse that she isn’t sure she should have the baby. Nathan must support her and their adopted daughter, Nita, while managing an increasingly complex and dangerous murder case."
Meanwhile, Nathan’s wife, Gracie, is pregnant, but so scarred by memories of domestic abuse that she isn’t sure she should have the baby. Nathan must support her and their adopted daughter, Nita, while managing an increasingly complex and dangerous murder case."
Title: A Suspicion of Silver
Author: P.F. Chisholm
Series: #9 in the Sir Robert Carey historical series set in Elizabethan England.
300 pages
Sir Robert Carey has just foiled a double plot against King James. He rides for Leith hunting the would-be assassin now identified as Joachim Hochstetter, also known as Jonathan Hepburn. Has he taken ship for the Continent, or ridden nearly 130 miles south and west into England? There at Keswick, his family, originally from Augsburg, runs a mining operation that pays a royalty to Queen Elizabeth in gold. It's ruled by the widow Radagunda Hochstetter, his mother.
Sir Robert's other problem? His dour, difficult, and now treasonous henchman, Sergeant Henry Dodd, has disappeared somewhere on the snowy moors. Why can't anyone find Dodd's body?
Before going after Hochstetter, Carey must escort Dodd's widow back to her home at Gilsland. It's a complex operation involving a cart, Widow Ridley and Skinabake Armstrong. That's the man who sold Janet Dodd to Wee Colin, the Elliot headman, on her way to Edinburgh before Dodd disappeared.
If Hochstetter goes to ground in Keswick, how far will the colony of German miners go to protect Radagunda's favourite child? He may be an outlaw in Scotland, and King James certainly wants his head, but Carey has no official authorization to kill the man in England.
Predictably, the Hochstetter family is politely obstructive. But something else is going on. What in the name of everything unholy is that well-known reiver, Wattie Graham of Netherby, doing so far over the border in peaceful Keswick?
Sir Robert is tested to the utmost in chasing the traitor (underground), solving a murder, arranging a duel - and then his courtship of another man's wife takes a deadly turn."
=== December 13 ===
Title: Carrion Comfort
Author: Aline Templeton
Series: #2 in the DI Kelso Strang police procedural series set in rural Scotland.
329 pages
UK Release
When a man’s body is found in a dilapidated cottage, DCI Kelso Strang is drafted in from Edinburgh to take charge of the investigation. Still grieving the loss of his wife, battle-scarred Strang finds himself burdened with an over-eager detective constable and a lazy, obtuse detective sergeant. With inadequate resources at his fingertips, and his boss breathing down his neck to wrap up the case quickly and without embarrassment to the force, Strang must pick his way through the minefield of the local relationships and resentments of the sleepy village community. But will he be able to put this case to rest before more lives are destroyed?"
=== December 18 ===
Title: Liars' Paradox
Author: Taylor Stevens
Series: #1 in the Jack and Jill thriller series.
320 pages
Synopsis: "They live in the shadows, Jack and Jill, feuding twins who can never stop running. From earliest memory they’ve been taught to hide, to hunt, to survive. Their prowess is outdone only by Clare, who has always been mentor first and mother second. She trained them in the art of espionage, tested their skills in weaponry, surveillance, and sabotage, and sharpened their minds with nerve-wracking psychological games. As they grew older they came to question her motives, her methods—and her sanity . . .
Now twenty-six years old, the twins are trying to lead normal lives. But when Clare’s off-the-grid safehouse explodes and she goes missing, they’re forced to believe the unthinkable: Their mother’s paranoid delusions have been real all along. To find her, they’ll need to set aside their differences; to survive, they’ll have to draw on every skill she’s trained them to use. A twisted trail leads from the CIA, to the KGB, to an underground network of global assassins where hunters become the hunted. Everyone, it seems, wants them dead—and, for one of the twins, it’s a threat that’s frighteningly familiar and dangerously close to home . . ."
Now twenty-six years old, the twins are trying to lead normal lives. But when Clare’s off-the-grid safehouse explodes and she goes missing, they’re forced to believe the unthinkable: Their mother’s paranoid delusions have been real all along. To find her, they’ll need to set aside their differences; to survive, they’ll have to draw on every skill she’s trained them to use. A twisted trail leads from the CIA, to the KGB, to an underground network of global assassins where hunters become the hunted. Everyone, it seems, wants them dead—and, for one of the twins, it’s a threat that’s frighteningly familiar and dangerously close to home . . ."
Most publishers must think that no one has time to read in December because the selection is a bit light compared to other months, but there's still plenty of good reading to be found. And if we're talking covers, isn't Dana Stabenow's Death of an Eye eye-catching?
Did I manage to choose any books that made it onto your personal wishlists? Which ones? You know inquiring minds would love to know!
