Our beloved retail establishments have already begun putting out their Christmas goodies, so please don't hurt me for putting mine out on the shelf. I know I'm not the only one who enjoys reading a Christmas-themed mystery or two each holiday season, and since I
am an enabler, it's my duty to let you know about some of the new mysteries that will be available this year. You need a little time to see which ones catch your eye so you can get your hands on them, right? (Well... that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)
Here are my picks from this season's list of brand-new holiday-themed mysteries. I've grouped them by release dates and included the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book spots. (Synopses courtesy of Amazon
and Barnes and Noble.)
Ho, ho, ho-- a'reading I will go!
=== Available Now ===
Title: Naughty: Nine Tales of Christmas Crime
Short Stories
ISBN: 9781477421857
Publisher: CreateSpace
Paperback, 210 pages
Synopsis: "In
this collection of hilarious short stories, you'll see what the
thieves, killers, psychos and scumbags are up to come the holidays...and
it's not caroling door to door. Well, not unless they're casing the
neighborhood for a break-in, as a rag-tag gang does in the title story.
You'll also meet a mall elf menaced by a very, very bad Santa (in "I
Killed Santa Claus"), a London police inspector hunting for the man who
murdered Ebenezer Scrooge (in "Humbug"), a trucker out to save his
shipment of Cabbage Patch Dolls from bumbling hijackers (in "Special
Delivery") and many more characters you'll never forget.
Originally published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, these nine tales from award-winning short story master Steve Hockensmith (Holmes on the Range, Dreadfully Ever After) are sure to have you ho-ho-hoing from the first page to the last."
Title: The Christmas Carol Murders
Series: #1 in the Dickens Junction series set in Oregon
ISBN: 9780985323608
Publisher: Harrison Thurman Books
Paperback, 276 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books
Synopsis: "It's the holiday season in Dickens Junction, Oregon. Local bookstore
owner Simon Alastair is getting ready for the community's annual
celebration of Charles Dickens's well-known story. But when a mysterious
stranger shows up in the Junction and is murdered hours later, Simon
begins to suspect that his little community has been targeted for
destruction by a shadowy organization. With the support of Zach, a
dashing young magazine reporter, Simon decides to investigate the crime
himself. When a second murder follows, Simon must confront the worst
questions of all: which of his friends and business associates is a
ruthless murderer? And why is everyone suddenly reading Ayn Rand?
The
Christmas Carol Murders is the first of an exciting new cozy mystery
series combining the atmosphere of a classic Agatha Christie puzzle, the
deft touch of Charlotte MacLeod, a hint of Oscar Wilde's humor, and the
literary spirit of the great Charles Dickens."
Title: Elvis and the Blue Christmas Corpse
Series: #5 in the Southern Cousins series set in Mississippi
ISBN: 9780758241436
Publisher: Kensington
Hardcover, 262 pages
Synopsis: "Someone's ringing slay bells and Callie, her bodacious Cousin Lovie, and
the basset hound who believes he's the King reincarnated must go on the
hunt for a killer who's anything but jolly.
It may be Christmas in Tupelo,
but there's precious little peace in the valley for the Valentine gang.
Callie Valentine Jones' not-quite-ex Jack is trussed up like a holiday
turkey, recovering from a shattered leg. Cousin Lovie's on the rebound,
looking for love in all the wrong stockings. And Elvis the basset hound
is out for revenge on the Lhasa Apso who's been singing "Merry
Christmas, Baby" to his sweet French poodle behind his tail.
Everyone finally gets into the
spirit when Uncle Charlie is pressed into service as Santa at a weekend
charity event in the mall. But Yuletide cheer turns to Yuletide fear
after a killer tries to zap Charlie back to the North Pole marked
"Return to Sender"--and sends Rudolph to the big reindeer pen in the
sky.
Determined to find out who's
decking the mall with Christmas corpses, Elvis and the Valentines fill
up their sleigh with suspects. Could it be the cookie lady who puts more
than sugar into her Christmas goodies? The deranged vet who vows to
barbecue Santa? Or the former beauty queen who's been stalking Charlie
in her spare time? Can the Valentine gang unmask this devil in disguise
in time to turn their "Blue Christmas" all Christmas-y and white?"
Title:
Mistletoe, Merriment, and Murder
Author:
Sara Rosett
Series
: #7 in the Mom Zone series
ISBN: 9780758269218
Publisher: Kensington
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Synopsis: "Super organizer Ellie Avery could really use some Christmas cheer when
Gabrielle Matheson, a grinchy professional rival, sets up shop in the
same small Georgia town. But before the halls are even halfway decked
with holly, someone uses Ellie's terrifically tasteless white elephant
swap gift as ...a murder weapon! Ellie's now a suspect. Besides playing
Mrs. Santa for her Air Force pilot husband and their two kids, shielding
her eyes from the garishly over-decorated house down the street, and
helping a client who's a hardcore hoarder, Ellie also has to solve this
ho-ho-homicide ...and find a killer who wishes her a very deadly
Christmas."
Title:
December Dread
Author:
Jess Lourey
Series: #8 in the Murder-by-Month series set in Minnesota
ISBN: 9780738731889
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Paperback, 288 pages
Synopsis: "With Christmas just over a week away, ’tis the season for grinning sales
elves on TV, maddeningly jolly Muzak, and a guilty Nut Goodie
addiction. But for Mira James and other Battle Lake-area women, the
holidays are marred by something far worse—a serial killer leaving candy
canes as his calling card. His target? Thirty-something brunettes who
look just like Mira. When a woman from her high school graduating class
becomes his latest victim, Mira plows through a case of online dating
turned deadly with Mrs. Berns at her side. Will she earn her detective
stripes . . . or end up deader than the Ghost of Christmas Past?"
Title:
The Snow White Christmas Cookie
Author:
David Handler
Series: #9 in the Berger and Mitry series set in Connecticut
ISBN: 9781250004543
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 272 pages
Synopsis: "The newest adventure featuring the mismatched romantic crime-fighting
duo of New York City film critic Mitch Berger and Connecticut State
Resident Trooper Desiree Mitry presents Des with her first taste of
Christmas in the historic New England village of Dorset.
And what
a taste it is. Three blizzards have blanketed the village in forty
inches of snow. Bryce Peck, Mitch’s blue-blooded neighbor out on Big
Sister Island, has just been found dead of a drug overdose. Young Kylie
Champlain has slammed her car head-on into an office building after
she’s caught trying to shoplift a pair of Ugg boots. And a grinch has
taken to stealing the mail from Hank Merrill’s postal route, which
happens to be the main route through the historic district.
Stealing
the U.S. mail is a serious federal crime, but Des soon discovers that
she’s onto something much bigger: a black-market prescription drug gang
with ties to organized crime. And now a fourth blizzard is on its way.
And so is another murder. And, somehow, the man in her life has managed
to land himself smack dab in the middle of the whole mess. Not to
mention that he’s in way over his head with Josie Cantro, the beautiful
and treacherous life-coach who just may be responsible for it all. If
Des doesn’t act fast, this will truly be a Christmas to remember---but
for all of the wrong reasons."
=== October 26 ===
Title: The Gingerbread Bump-off
Series: #6 in the Fresh-Baked series set in Texas
ISBN: 9780451234834
Publisher: NAL Trade
Paperback, 304 pages
Synopsis: "Not only will Phyllis Newsom's house be featured in the annual
Christmas Jingle Bell Tour of Homes, she also has a Christmas Eve
bridal shower and a New Year's Eve wedding to bake goodies for. But
like her tasty treats, she rises to the occasion.
Before the tour
gets under way, Phyllis makes a gruesome discovery on her porch:
someone has tried to kill her friend. As Santa's naughty list gets
longer, Phyllis tries to catch a half-baked killer.
"
=== October 30 ===
Title: A Christmas Garland
Series: #10 in the Christmas mysteries
ISBN: 9780345530745
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Hardcover, 208 pages
Synopsis: "'An annual treat,' declared The Wall Street Journal of Anne Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries. Now she continues this magnificent tradition with A Christmas Garland, a
yuletide tale set in exotic India. This time the mistress of mystery
tells the story of a terrible crime that sets the stage for another:
accusing an innocent man of murder.
The year is 1857, soon
after the violent Siege of Cawnpore, with India in the midst of
rebellion. In the British garrison, a guard is killed and an Indian
prisoner escapes, which leads to yet more British deaths. Cries for
revenge are overwhelming. Despite no witnesses and no evidence against
him, a luckless British medical orderly named John Tallis is arrested as
an accomplice simply because he was the only soldier unaccounted for
when these baffling crimes were committed.
Though chosen to
defend Tallis, young Lieutenant Victor Narraway is not encouraged to try
very hard. Narraway’s superiors merely want a show trial. But inspired
by a soldier’s widow and her children, and by his own stubborn faith in
justice, Narraway searches for the truth. In an alien world haunted by
memories of massacre, he is the accused man’s only hope.
The
trial of John Tallis equals the white-knuckle best of Anne Perry’s
breathtaking courtroom dramas. And thanks to a simple Christmas garland
and some brilliant detective work, Narraway perseveres against appalling
odds, learning how to find hope within himself—and turn the darkest
hour into one full of joy and light."
Title: Eleven Pipers Piping
Series: #2 in the Father Tom Christmas series set in England
ISBN: 9780385344463
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Hardcover, 496 pages
Synopsis: "Father Tom Christmas, the recently widowed vicar adjusting to life in
the English village of Thornford Regis, would do almost anything to
avoid attending the annual Robert Burns Supper at the local hotel. But
as chaplain to a traditional Scottish pipe band, Father Tom must deliver
the grace—and contend with wailing bagpipes, whiskey-laced parishioners
reciting poetry, and the culinary abomination that is haggis.
As snow falls to unprecedented depths, the revelers carry on—briefly
interrupted by an enigmatic stranger seeking shelter. Then Will Moir,
proprietor of the hotel and a dedicated piper, inexplicably goes
missing—only to be found later in the hotel’s dark tower, alone and dead
from what appears to be a heart attack.
Father Tom’s own
heart sinks when he learns the actual cause of Will’s demise. When word
gets out, the flurry of innocent speculation descends into outlandish
gossip. And, for all its tranquil charm, Thornford Regis has plenty to
gossip about—illicit trysts, muted violence, private sorrows, and old,
unresolved tragedies. The question is: Who would benefit most from the
piper’s death? Suspicion swirls around many, including Will’s beautiful
widow, their shadowy son, Will’s obnoxious brother-in-law, and even the
mysterious party crasher, who knows more than she lets on about the
grudges she left behind—but never forgot."
=== November 6 ===
Title: The Twelve Clues of Christmas
Series: #6 in the Royal Spyness series
ISBN: 9780425252789
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Hardcover, 320 pages
Synopsis: "She may be thirty-fifth in line for the throne, but Lady Georgiana
Rannoch cannot wait to ring in the new year—before a Christmas killer
wrings another neck…
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me—well, actually, my true love, Darcy O’Mara, is spending a feliz navidad
tramping around South America. Meanwhile, Mummy is holed up in a tiny
village called Tiddleton-under-Lovey with that droll Noel Coward! And
I’m snowed in at Castle Rannoch with my bumbling brother, Binky, and
sourpuss sister-in-law, Fig.
So it’s a miracle when I contrive
to land a position as hostess to a posh holiday party in Tiddleton. The
village is like something out of A Christmas Carol! But no sooner
have I arrived than a neighborhood nuisance, a fellow named Freddie
falls out of a tree, dead…. Dickensian, indeed.
Freddie’s merely
a stocking stuffer. On my second day in town, another so-called
accident turns up another mincemeat pie—and yet another on my third. The
village is buzzing that a recent prison break could have something to
do with it… that, or a long-standing witch’s curse. I’m not so sure. But
after Darcy shows up beneath the mistletoe, anything could be possible
in this wicked wonderland."
Title: The Clue Is in the Pudding
Series: #20 in the Pennyfoot Royal Hotel series set in England
ISBN: 9780425253274
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Paperback, 304 pages
Synopsis: "The kitchen staff of the Pennyfoot Hotel is toiling away to prepare the
finest meal for the guests on Christmas. And the plum pudding may very
well be to die for…
Cecily Sinclair Baxter could use a Christmas
miracle. Mrs. Chubb, the Pennyfoot’s housekeeper, must travel up north
for a family emergency, and Cecily needs a temporary replacement. The
agency doesn’t have much to offer on short notice during this busy time
of year. But they have someone—Beatrice Tucker—who turns out to be more
of a curse. She fights with just about everyone, including Archibald
Armitage.
Star of the London stage, Armitage is staying at the
Pennyfoot this holiday season. His presence turns out to be a blessing
after he rescues the stable manager’s dog from drowning in the icy duck
pond. But not everyone in Badgers End is a fan of the actor…
When Armitage drops dead after Beatrice serves him some plum pudding,
everyone assumes the huffy housekeeper is the culprit. But as Cecily
begins to investigate, the list of suspects grows, and solving this case
may not be as easy as pie…or pudding."
Title: Mrs. Jeffries and the Mistletoe Mix-Up
Series: #29 in the Mrs. Jeffries series set in England
ISBN: 9780425251706
Publisher: Berkley
Mass Market Paperback, 272 pages
Synopsis: "Moments after a high tea is interrupted by a fire in the servants’
hall, art collector Daniel McCourt is found sprawled on the floor of his
study under a bundle of mistletoe, his throat slit by the bloody sword
lying next to his body. Could the killer be a disgruntled lover, sending
a message by murdering McCourt under the mistletoe? Could it be one of
his fellow collectors, pointedly using one of McCourt’s own acquisitions
to kill him?
Inspector Witherspoon is determined
to solve the case—preferably before Christmas Eve—but of course he will
need some assistance from the always sharp-witted Mrs. Jeffries, who has
her own theories on why McCourt had to die by the sword…"
That's my list! How about you? Did any of these titles catch your eye? Which ones?
