September's Hot Titles

Barbara Peters from Poisoned Pen Bookstore warned me there are tons of crime novels due out in September. When you see this formidable list of September possibilities, you might be as intimidated as I am. Just because kids are back in school doesn't mean we have THAT much more time to read. In fact, some of us have no more time to keep up than we ever did. So, my motto for September? Keep reading! Here are some titles that might catch your eye.

Rhys Bowen kicks us off with her latest Royal Spyness mystery, Naughty in Nice. Her Majesty the Queen sends Lady Georgiana to Nice on a secret assignment to recover the Queen's stolen snuff box. She meets Coco Chanel who asks Georgie to model her latest fashion. Before the fashion show is over, she finds herself involved in murder.

Robert B. Parker fans will have the chance to find out if Michael Brandman can successfully take over the Jesse Stone series with Killing the Blues. Police Chief Jesse Stone teams up with Sunny Randall to solve the case when a high-ranking crime figure is found dead in Paradise Beach.

Lethal by Sandra Brown finds Honor Gillette caught up in a nightmare situation when she rushes from the house to help a sick man, only to come face-to-face with a man accused of murdering seven people the night before.

James Lee Burke is a favorite in the mystery community. He brings back Sheriff Hackberry Holland in Feast Day of Fools. When the town drunk witnessed a man being tortured to death, he reluctantly told the sheriff. That's when Hack realized a serial killer had returned.

Did you ever wonder about Jack Reacher's past? In The Affair, Lee Child finally reveals why Reacher started walking and became a revered vigilante hero.

I'm a fan of Margaret Coel's books. In her second novel to feature journalist Catherine McLeod, The Perfect Suspect, Catherine looks for the real killer of a candidate for governor. His estranged wife is arrested, but an anonymous caller claims she saw the real killer, but is afraid to go to the police.

My late husband loved Jackie Collins' Lucky Santangelo novels. Only in the last year of his life did I get him to read women authors, but he always read Collins. Goddess of Vengeance brings back Lucky, although a billionaire businessman is determined to take everything from her in a battle for power.

Detective Charlie Parker returns in John Connolly's The Burning Soul. He becomes involved in a web of deceit when a young girl goes missing, and people in town have secrets they're trying to keep.

Linda Howard's latest suspense novel is Prey, featuring a woman who has a camping/tour guide company. The adventure turns dangerous when she goes on a trip with a businessman and his client.

Arnaldur Indridason's Operation Napoleon sounds intriguing. In 1945, a plane carrying Germans and Americans crashed in Iceland, but one man left for help, carrying a briefcase secured to his wrist. Decades later, the U.S. is trying to cover up an operation to retrieve a plane from a glacier in Iceland. Their activities are threatened when one man disappears without a trace, leaving his sister with questions.

The Pirate King is the latest Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes novel by Laurie R. King. Mary Russell's employer sends her to investigate criminal activities surround Ffyette Films, currently filming a pirate movie in Lisbon and Morocco. The set is dangerous, possibly deadly for Mary, since the director has cast actual pirates in some of the roles.

Jake Lassiter returns in Paul Levine's Lassiter. When Amy Larkin returns to the Everglades, she's looking for her sister who vanished twenty years earlier. She seeks help attorney Jake Lassiter, the last person to see Krista alive.

There's a tangled web of lies for Detective Inspector Alex Morrow to unravel in Denise Mina's The End of the Wasp Season. When a millionaire kills himself, few people care. But, the murder of a young woman leaves a community stunned. It's that second case that is assigned to the pregnant investigator.

Spencer Quinn brings back one of my favorite pair of detectives, Chet and Bernie, in The Dog Who Knew Too Much. It's Bernie who was invited to be the keynote speaker at a P.I. convention, but the man in charge actually has plans for Chet. Meanwhile, the duo has been hired to find a kid who is missing from a wilderness camp.

Ruth Rendell's former Chief Inspector Wexford is called in to help in a grisly case after a man pulls back the cover of a manhole in his backyard, and discovers the skeletons of four people who had been entombed there for the last twelve years. It's The Vault.

Homicide cop Eve Dallas' latest case is New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb. Eve returns to the city she's named for, plunging back into nightmares from her childhood where a man has escaped from Rikers, determined to continue abducting young women, and planning to get revenge on Eve, the woman who stopped him ten years earlier.

In S.J. Rozan's Ghost Hero, P.I. Lydia chin has been asked to track down paintings supposedly painted by Chau Chun, known as the Ghost Hero. Despite the fact Chau has supposedly been dead for twenty years, someone else is looking for those same paintings.

Here's the debut novel I'm anticipating, Edward Lazellari's Awakenings. A New York City cop and a washed-up photographer have only one thing in common. They both suffer from amnesia. But now, their forgotten pasts are about to catch up with them as otherworldly magic collides with modern times.

***
OK, brace yourself. The Christmas novels will start appearing in September this year. Here are four possibilities for holiday reading.

Heather Graham's An Angel for Christmas brings two strangers into the lives of the MacDougal family, a family who never has experienced a joyous Christmas


1225 Christmas Tree Lane is this year's holiday novel by Debbie Macomber. Life in Cedar Cove is full of surprises for Beth Morehouse. First, someone leaves a basket of puppies on her doorstep. Then, her daughters invite their dad, Beth's long-divorced husband, to their home for Christmas.


A Lawman's Christmas is a McKettricks of Texas novel by Linda Lael Miller. When Blue River, Texas' town marshal dies, it leaves the town without protection, and Dara Rose Nolan without a husband and father for her daughters. They can't survive on her income, and they'll have to move out of the house so the new marshall, Clay McKettrick, can move in.

I'll admit I loved Sherryl Woods' Chesapeake Shores Christmas, so I'm looking forward to the return of the O'Briens in An O'Brien Family Christmas. Laila Riley had once been involved with Matthew O'Brien, but broke it off. She's be invited to join the family for a holiday in Dublin, but she's not sure she can risk her heart again.

So, September will bring some hot titles, some favorite authors and characters, and a sleeper or two. Which books do you hope to pick up at your favorite bookstore or public library?

September Treasures in My Closet

I have some very interesting book treasures in my closet that are scheduled for September release. This month, they're not all crime fiction. It's quite a mixed stack, so it will be interesting to see which ones interest readers.

In September, Jeffrey Archer returns to the storytelling genre that made him a bestselling author. Only Time Will Tell kicks off a new series, a multigenerational saga. It's the story of the Clifton family, a story that spans the last one hundred years. Only time will tell if Archer can bring back the popularity of the epic family saga. Time, and you. This coming Thursday night, I'm going to offer readers the chance to win five copies of this book. Five of you will have the chance to preview the September release.

Floors by Patrick Carman is a mystery adventure for middle-grade readers, but I'm a sucker for a good story, no matter who the target audience. Readers can check-in at the magical Whippet Hotel, where the owner has gone missing, and it's up to Leo Fillmore, the janitor's son, to follow the clues, solve the puzzles, and save the day.


The Blood Royal is the ninth installment in Barbara Cleverly's mystery series featuring Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands. In 1922, Sandilands is given the task of not only running CID, but also the Special Irish Branch. He's juggling Irish terrorism and high-profile assassination attempts when he locks horns with a Russian princess running a spy network. When an assassination attempt succeeds, Joe has to discover who is behind the violence, the Irish or the Russians.

Damage Control is Denise Hamilton's latest suspense novel, a story of teenage friendship and adult lives. Maggie Silver is asked to take on her toughest client in a PR firm, a Senator from California whose young, female aide has been found murdered. Maggie's job is to prevent a scandal and run damage control, but her job is complicated by her ties to Paxton's family. His daughter was her best friend in high school. It's a story that combines murder, celebrity, spectacle, and friendship. And, Denise Hamilton will be appearing for Authors @ The Teague on Sept. 15 to discuss the book.

Agatha Award-winning author G.M. Mailliet introduces a new sleuth in Wicked Autumn. Max Tudor is a former MI5 agent turned Anglican priest. Max found his own peaceful world at St. Edwold's, in the idlyllic traditional English village of Nether Monkslip. But when an unpopular woman dies, Max suspects murder rather than an accidental death.

Erin Morgenstern's novel, The Night Circus, already has the book world buzzing. It's a debut set within an enchanted circus at the turn of the nineteenth century with dueling magicians, and a powerful love story.

In Yankee Doodle Dixie, author Lisa Patton sends her heroine from Whistlin' Dixie in Nor'easter, Leelee Satterfield, back home to Memphis, where she's ready to pick up where she left off. This time, though, she's a single mom opening a restaurant, and forced to prove herself again. Fortunately, she has three close friends to pepper her with advice and peach daiquiris. Watch for this book on Thursday night. If you don't want to win Jeffrey Archer's new book, take a chance on winning this one.

In September, Brian Selznick, creator of the Caldecott Medal Winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, returns with a book that weaves together two stories, one in words, which takes place in 1977, and other in pictures, which takes place fifty years earlier in 1927. In Wonder Struck, he weaves back and forth between the two until the stories come together in a visually stunning book.

Champagne for Buzzards is Phyllis Smallman's fourth book in the Sherri Travis series. Bartender Sherri Travis doesn't do country, and she's not happy with the seven-foot snakes and nasty horses on a ranch in Florida's ranch country. She really isn't happy when she encounters psychotic neighbors, and finds a dead man in the back of her pickup.

Kelli Stanley brings back Miranda Corbie in City of Secrets, the sequel to City of Dragons. When Pandora Blake is murdered at San Francisco's 1940 World's Fair, and her body marked with an anti-Semitic slur, Miranda is soon entangled in a web of deceit and betrayal. Once again, Stanley recreates the noir atmosphere of 1940s San Francisco.

In Lisa Tucker's latest novel, The Winters in Bloom, a family discovers that it's only when the walls between the present and past crumble that the future can bloom. When Michael Winter disappears from his own backyard, his parents embark on a journey of time and memory to reveal secrets that may have caught up with them.

Theresa Weir's The Orchard is another book that's causing buzz, but it's a memoir. Grand Central Publishing calls it, "Silent Spring, set on a farm in the Midwest." Theresa Weir found life with her young husband on the family farm to be far more difficult than she expected. But, when the dangerous chemicals used on farms proved to take a toll on the land and the people who tend it, she and her husband fought to save ground that had been in the family for generations.

Simon Wood will be appearing for Authors @ The Teague on Sept. 21. In Did Not Finish, Wood takes  readers into a world of vehicle insurance fraud, organized crime, and murder. No one paid too much attention when Derek Deacon threatened to kill his championship rival, Alex Fanning. But, when Fanning dies after making contact with Deacon's car during a race, a conspiracy ensues. Rookie driver Aidy Westlake and his team push for the truth, with so many others pushing against them.

There are so many books in my closet that I want to read in September. And, most of them seem to be coming out on September 13. So, I'm apologizing right up front. I can't review everything on September 12 or 13. I'm looking forward to reading these books. But, just wait until you see some of the other hot titles for September. Check them out tomorrow.

August's Hot Titles

I think I have more treasures in my closet for August than books that appear on this list. Even so, here are the books I'm predicting will be hot in August. Do you have any other suggestions?

I'll start with Cleo Coyle's latest Coffeehouse mystery, since I'm a fan. I'm looking forward to  Murder by Mocha. Clare is poised to make millions when her Village Blend coffee beans are used to create a java love potion to be sold exclusively on a popular web site. When one of the web site's editors is murdered, Clare is convinced someone was after the secret formula.

It's murder and mayhem for Temple Barr and Midnight Louie in the latest mystery from Carole Nelson Douglas, Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta. Asked to look into the death of a rich woman's handyman, Temple discovers a horde of greedy relatives waiting for Aunt Violet to die.

Karin Fossum puts an aging Inspector Konrad Sejer on a case in Bad Intentions. The corpses of young men have been surfacing in local lakes. Although one man survived, he had a nervous breakdown, and was later found in a lake, an apparent suicide. Sejer isn't so sure, but he doesn't know if he has the strength to continue his investigation.

Romance and suspense combine in Julie Garwood's The Ideal Man. As the witness to the shooting of an FBI agent, Dr. Ellie Sullivan is assigned an agent to protect her 24 hours a day, an agent she finds attractive.

Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner are the editors of Home Improvement (Undead Edition). The fourteen stories introduce readers to the paranormal perils of do-it-yourself renovation. Authors include Patricia Briggs, Simon R. Green, E.E. Knight, S.J. Rozan, Kelner, and Harris, with a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story.

Wiliam Kent Krueger threatens Detective Cork O'Connor's family in Northwest Angle. Cork and his daughter are forced to take refuge on an island during a violent storm. Inside a cabin they find the body of a dead teenage girl, and a baby boy who is alive. Now, the family faces a greater danger than just a storm.

And, it's another book from James Patterson! This time, he joins forces with Marshall Karp for Kill Me If You Can, the story of a man who has visions of a life of luxury when he finds a duffel bag filled with $13 million in diamonds. Once he learns there's an assassin hunting him, he just wants to survive.

The Cut is George P. Pelacanos' latest book. Spero Lucas returned from Iraq to work as a special investigator recovering stolen property. Now, his talents have brought him to the attention of a crime boss who hires Lucas to find out who has been stealing from his operation. This job could cost Lucas too much.

Douglas J. Preston and Lincoln Child bring back Pendergast in Cold Vengeance. When a trip with his brother-in-law, Esterhazy, turns violent, leaving Pendergast critically wounded, the last thing he hears is Esterhazy say Pendergast's dead wife is still alive. Pendergast survives, only to begin a hunt for the truth.

Kathy Reichs takes Temperance Brennan into the world of NASCAR in Flash and Bones. The day before a race, a body is discovered in a barrel of asphalt next to Lowes Motor Speedway. A crew member confides to Tempe that it might be his sister, who disappeared twelve years earlier. Now, Tempe is looking into a case that the FBI was unable to solve.

Darkness, My Old Friend is Lisa Unger's latest thriller, the story of a girl who skipped school, only to see a man digging up a body. In her haste, she runs away, dropping her cell phone. The next day, the man returns the phone. How much danger is Willow in now?

These are the books I'm highlighting for August. What else are you waiting to read?

August Treasures in My Closet

This is one of my favorite monthly posts. I love to share forthcoming books, and find out which titles excite readers. This time, I get to share some exciting debut novels by a number of authors. These are the August releases that I already have in my closet.


Sara Blaedel was voted the most popular novelist in Denmark in 2010 and 2011. Call Me Princess marks her American debut. When the victim of a brutal crime commits suicide, a woman who met her rapist on a dating website, Detective Inspector Louise Rick immerses herself in the online dating world to find a serial rapist and killer.

C.J. Box' standalone is Back of Beyond. Cody Hoyt, a cop, and a recovering alcoholic, takes a closer look at the death of his AA sponsor. That's when he discovers that the outfitter guiding his son on a horseback trip could be a killer.

The Burning brings us the U.S. debut of another author, Jane Casey. Maeve Kerrigan is an ambitious detective constable, determined to catch a killer no one has seen. The media call him The Burning Man, a brutal murderer who sets the bodies of his victims on fire in London's parks.

Ready Player One is Ernest Cline's first novel.  Set in 2044 in a grim, poverty-stricken world, it tells the story of Wade Watts, just one more person who prefers an online utopia, and dreams of finding the ultimate lottery ticket that lies within the virtual reality. When he stumbles upon a puzzle, he finds himself pitted against thousands of others in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize.

Then there's Ronald De Feo's debut, Calling Mr. King.  Mr. King is an American-born contract killer who botches a job in Europe, and is sent to New York. While there, he grows interested in art and culture. So, what happens when he's called back to the job, and doesn't want to go?

Vanessa Diffenbaugh's debut novel is The Language of Flowers. The publisher calls it "A story of love, family, and second chances." But, it's the story of Victoria Jones, who spent a childhood in foster-care. At eighteen, she has no place to sleep except a public park, where she plants a small garden that is discovered by a local florist. Victoria discovers she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses, but eventually has to make a choice about her future.

After a thirteen year absence, Australian author Garry Disher brings back his cool thief Wyatt Wareen in Wyatt. Wyatt was always popular in Australia. This heist novel introduces the likeable antihero to the American audience.

Irene Daggett Weiss is a struggling movie-maker in the early 20th century. In Irene Fleming's The Brink of Fame, she's left stranded and destitute. A film tycoon comes to her rescue with a job offer directing a film in Hollywood, provided she can track down and bring back his missing movie star.

Nancy Gotter Gates' Life Studies is the story of a woman trying to maintain a relationship despite tragedies and mysteries.

In Jane Haddam's latest mystery, Flowering Judas, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is brought in to consult on a case in upstate New York, where the body of a man who disappeared twelve years earlier is found.

The popular series for kids, The 39 Clues, launched in 2008 with Book 1: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan. Now, three years later, a brand new story arc of the series launches with The 39 Clues: Cahils vs. Vespers: Book 1: The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman. It's planned as a six book series, with the final one by David Baldacci. Dan Cahill and his older sister, Amy, thought they won the hunt for 39 Clues. But, now Cahills are being kidnapped by a group called the Vespers, and Amy and Dan have to fulfill a bizarre ransom request to save their friends.

No Rest for the Wicked by Elizabeth C. Main brings back Jane Serrano, founder of the Murder of  the Month Book Club. After bringing a killer to justice, she'd just like life to return to normal. but, when a book club member is accused of killing her ex-husband, a skilled con artist, the book club members band together to try to find the real murderer.

Jess McConkey's Love Lies Bleeding is "A haunting story about the lengths to which people will go to keep their pasts buried." A random act of violence left Samantha Moore in a coma for two months. But she's a totally different person when she awakens, and her family sends her to a small town to recover. However, Samantha might have reasons for her fears, and the people in this town may not be what they appear to be.

If I only had the chance to read one book in August, it would be Louise Penny's new Chief Inspector Gamache novel, A Trick of the Light. Clara finally has her art show, but, the next day, a body is found in her garden in Three Pines. Of course, Gamache is called to investigate. He finds the art world gathered, and nothing is as it seems.

David Reid's novel, Suffer in Silence, is the story of men training to become Navy SEALS who are pushed to their physical and mental limits. What happens when those thresholds are crossed?

Hunting guide Alison Coil returns in Buried By The Roan, Mark Stevens' second mystery set in Colorado. The fate of the Roan Plateau, and the controversy over energy development are at the heart of this mystery in which one of Allison's clients dies. The ranch owner was in the middle of a bitter feud with a neighbor, an environmental zealot. A battle over drilling could have led to murder.

Carrie Vaughn's popular Kitty Norville series started as a short story. Now, Kitty's Greatest Hits collects a number of previously written stories about Kitty, the werewolf and radio personality, as well as a new story, and a new novella.

Kate White's latest thriller, The Sixes, is set in a college town, "Where a student's death sends one woman on a search for the truth and into the clutches of a frightening secret society."

August looks exciting. And, there are a number of opportunities to discover new authors. Did you see a title or two you would like to read? If not, wait until you see tomorrow's hot titles list!

July Mystery Releases from Penguin's Berkley Prime Crime and Obsidian

 I hope you enjoy the book chat featuring ten books and three cats.

 

July's Hot Title

Let's discuss the books that might be hot in July. If I missed something in this post or my Treasures in My Closet post, let me know. Tell me what books you're excited about reading in July.

Here's one you might not have heard about, but it's been discussed by librarians and publishers. The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is a novel by Melanie Benjamin. Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, better known as Mrs. Tom Thumb, tells her own story of public triumphs and personal tragedies.

Jim Butcher's Ghost Story is the book I'm anticipating. Without revealing much for those who didn't read the last book, this thirteenth book in the series finds Harry Dresden without magic to help him, hunted by several dark spirits, while still trying to help his friends. (This book was originally scheduled for earlier publication, then postponed, so it might sound familiar to you.)

Tom Clancy and Peter Telep team up for Against All Enemies in which a CIA agent and his team must infiltrate Mexican drug cartels to uncover a terrorist plot against the U.S.

Escape is Barbara Delinsky's latest novel, the story of a woman who was not happy with anything in her life, so she left work, packed her bags, and took off for a New Hampshire town, hoping to change her life.

Can Felix Francis successfully take over his father's writing? He tries in Dick Francis's Gamble. Foxy Foxton, a former jockey witnesses a friend's murder at the Grand National races, and begins to question whether it was a case of mistaken identity or something more sinister.

Here's another book with a great deal of prepub buzz. Under the pseudonym Paul Harper, David Lindsey gives us Pacific Heights. Two women, wives of powerful men, are having affairs with the same man, some who is able to play out their untold fantasies without them telling him. When that gets a little creepy, they discover they go to the same therapist. That brings Detective Marten Fane into the case.

John Hart's latest novel is Iron House, the story of two orphaned brothers separated at a young age. Twenty years later, when one is a seasoned killer, they reunite to solve the mystery of their shared past.

Greg Hurwitz' latest thriller is You're Next. Mike was abandoned by his father at age four, and raised in foster care. He's happily married with a child and a thriving business until something from his past threatens his family. Since the police are no help, he turns to an old friend for protection.

Iris Johansen fans will want her new book in the Eve Duncan series, Quinn. Joe Quinn fell in love years earlier with Duncan, but her desire to find her missing daughter took priority. Can CIA agent Catherine Ling outsmart Duncan's first love to help Eve and Quinn?

Special Agent Maggie O'Dell is back in Alex Kava's Hotwire. When an evening of drug-fueled fun for a group of teens ends in an explosive light show with some teens apparently electrocuted, and the survivors marked for elimination, O'Dell's investigation lands her in the middle of a conspiracy.

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Dominion by Eric Van Lustbader brings back Jason Bourne. While on a mission to kill a Colombian drug lord, Bourne learns he's been targeted for death by a secret international cabal.

Fantasy readers might want George R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons, a story that ushers in a new era for the history of the Seven Kingdoms. It's the fifth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series.

I'm a big fan of Anne Rivers Siddons' books. Burnt Mountain, her latest, is about a woman who fell in love at summer camp in Georgia, and then experienced her first heartbreak. Years later, married to a man who becomes distant, Thayer confronts dark secrets about her mother, her first love, and her husband.D

Daniel Silva brings back master art restorer Gabriel Allon in Portrait of a Spy. Allon must deal with a terrorist attack in Covent Garden in Paris, one that he could not prevent.

Chevy Stevens, author of the popular Still Missing, returns with Never Knowing. A  woman about to be married is quite happy, by wants to know about her birth parents. A search reveals hurtful and shocking results, and the knowledge that some questions are better left unanswered.

So, what July books are you going to order from your favorite bookstore or place on hold at your local library? July is definitely a hot month for books.

July's Treasures in My Closet

There's a wealth of July reading in my closet this month, twenty books. I hope you're interested in some of them!

Tony Abbott's Lunch-Box Dreams may have been written for readers ten and up, but I'm eager to read this story of racial tensions in the South in 1959. When a family is forced to cut short their trip to Civil War battlefields, they return home on a bus, and witness an incident that threatens to deny seats to a black family. They don't know the family is desperate because their child is missing. It's a story that presents Jim Crow, racism, and segregation from multiple perspectives.

Meg Langslow is feeding her twins when she hears noises, and discovers the animals from a local shelter are now in her living room, stolen by family members and friends when the shelter repealed its no-kill policy. Now, she has to juggle feedings and a murder investigation in Donna Andrews' The Real Macaw.

The Samaritan is a debut thriller from Stephen Besecker. Kevin "Hatch" Easter is a husband, a Seneca Indian, and a CIA tracker whose life is shattered when a mob collection gone wrong leaves three people dead, including Kevin's wife. A few days later when the gunman is found dead, they close the case. But, someone thinks the guilty parties are still out there, and that person wants revenge.

What happens to a woman who's preparing to be a chef, about to start at the Culinary Institute of America, when an accident destroys the ability to smell, a sense essential to cooking? Author Molly Birnbaum dropped her plans, quit her restaurant job, sank into depression, Then, she picked herself up, and moved on to try to overcome her condition, a story she tells in Season to Taste.

Alafair Burke's first standalone novel is Long Gone. Alice Humphrey had her dream job managing a Manhattan art gallery until the day she walked in to find the gallery stripped bare, and a dead body on the floor, the man who hired her. But, nothing is as it appears, and Alice has to prove she was set up.

Once again, journalist and part-time spy for the British, Hannah Vogel, is caught up in the stories of 1930s Berlin in Rebecca Cantrell's A Game of Lies. Posing as a travel reporter covering the 1936 Berlin Olympics, she finds her relationship with an SS officer complicated by his alcoholism, and her identity threatened. When her mentor dies before he can reveal important information about the Nazis, Hannah must uncover a killer and get a package out of the country while protecting her true identity.

Acclaimed author Colin Cotterill debuts a new series with Killed at the Whim of a Hat. Set in rural Southern Thailand, it features a former crime reporter and her eccentric family. Will it do for Thailand what Alexander McCall Smith's books did for Botswana?

William Dietrich's Blood of the Reich takes readers from Berlin 1938 to Seattle today. It's a story of a team of daring American adventurers in a race to stop Nazis from acquiring a mythical and dangerous substance rumored to bestow immortality to those who find it.

Requiem for a Gypsy is the fourth book in Michael Genelin's Commander Jana Matinova series set in Slovakia. When the wife of a prominent businessman is killed, Jana has to discover the link between that murder, an anonymous man run down in Paris, a dead Turk with an icepick in his eye, and an international network of bank accounts going back to World War II.

Kathleen George's police procedurals are set in Pittsburgh. Now, in Hideout, two young brothers flee after a woman dies in a hit-and-run accident. As detectives search for them, they create a terrifying hostage situation.

Rizzoli and Isles must go into the past of Boston's Chinatown in Tess Gerritsen's latest novel, The Silent Girl. A violent death is connected with a murder-suicide in a Chinatown restaurant nineteen years earlier. The two women must outwit an unseen enemy in a case with echoes of an ancient Chinese legend.

Once a child of the sixties, Charlie feel under the sway of a cultlike figure in California. Now, years later when disaster strikes, Charlie's younger brother, Jay, is determined to uncover the truth in a quest that leads into the depths of evil in Andrew Gross' Eyes Wide Open.

Will Lavender's Dominance has a fascinating premise. In 1994, a famed literature professor taught a special class called Unraveling a Literary Mystery, from his prison cell. Now, Aldiss, convicted twelve years earlier of murdering two grad students, asks his students to solve a riddle, who is Paul Fallows, a reclusive author. They'll play a game called the Procedure, going inside Fallows' novels to answer that question. Now, years later, the Harvard professor who solved that riddle as a member of the class, must use that same information to stop a killer.

Librarian and author Jenn McKinlay debuts a new series, the Library Lover's Mysteries, with Books Can Be Deceiving. Lindsey Norris is just learning her way around her new job as director of the Briar Creek (Connecticut) Public Library when a famous author ends up dead, and his girlfriend, a friend of Lindsey's is suspect number one. Lindsey's afraid they'll book the wrong person for murder.

In Kwei Quartey's Children of the Street, Inspector Darko Dawson is called to investigate when the street children of Ghana begin falling to a chain of murders.

Five very different women find friendship and love on the barrier island known as Happiness Key. In Sunset Bridge, author Emilie Richards brings together a former socialite with just five ramshackle beach cottages, and the women who are her tenants. The women learn how much they need each other as a tropical storm brews, with a wind that carries surprises and secrets.

Deadly Reunion is a Cealie Gunther mystery by June Shaw. Cealie meets some high school friends for a reunion on a cruise ship in Alaska. Secrets lead to deaths, and while she looks for a killer, she's forced to wonder whether she ever really knew her former friends.

Andreas Steinhofel's juvenile mystery, The Spaghetti Detectives, unites an unusual pair. Rico has mild learning difficulties, but he's skilled at noticing things no one else does. Oscar may be a genius, but he's boy with a great deal of anxiety. It's up to Rico and Oscar to crack the case when kids start to go missing.

Kitty's Big Trouble is the ninth Kitty Norville adventure by Carrie Vaughn. A call for help from a powerful vampire ally in San Francisco sends Kitty and her friends to fight another powerful vampire, who brought together a team of werewolves and vampires.As they make their way into a world that exists under San Francisco, they come face to face with a power Kitty had no idea existed.

We go from Andrew Gross' Eyes Wide Open to John Verdon's Shut Your Eyes Tight. Once again, retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney has a case he can't resist. When a newly wed bride is brutally murdered, the police suspect a Mexican gardener. But, the victim's mother doesn't believe, and Gurney takes on an investigation that covers generations of evil.

Are you intrigued by any of these books? If not, wait for the hot titles list tomorrow.

June Mystery Releases from Penguin's Berkley Prime Crime and Obsidian

Welcome to this month's book chat featuring the June releases from Berkley Prime Crime and Obsidian. This month's chat features a guest appearance by Josh.  Enjoy!

June's Hot Titles

There are so many terrific June books that are already in my closet that I don't know if I'll have time to pick up many of these hot titles. But, some of them might be the ones you're waiting to read. So, I'll pass along the titles. You can order them now at your local bookstore, or place holds at your favorite public library.

Mary Kay Andrews kicks off the list with Summer Rental. Three women, best friends since Catholic grade school, find themselves in their mid-30s, looks for a change in life.

The theme for June seems to be summer. David Baldacci's One Summer tells of a terminally ill  man who tries to prepare his family for his death. When his wife dies before he does, killed in a car accident, the children are split up and sent to live with relatives. Reuniting for the summer, Jack has to figure out how to rebuild their lives as a family.

Long Gone is Alafair Burke's first standalone. After being out of work for months, Alice loves her new job managing a new art gallery, until the morning she arrives and finds the gallery stripped bare and a dead man on the floor.

Jan Burke brings back Irene Kelly in Disturbance. The sons of a serial killer are now master criminals, planning to spring their father from prison and then kill the person they blame for putting him there, investigative journalist Irene Kelly.

Here's a combination - Jeffery Deaver and James Bond. Deaver brings James Bond back in Carte Blanche, a cat-and-mouse game that roams from the Balkans to London and then Africa, with all the plot twists readers expect from Deaver.

Robert Dugoni will be appearing for Authors @ The Teague at the end of June. His latest novel is Murder One, bringing together two attorneys who are recovering from tragedies. David Sloane's wife was murdered, and Barclay Reid's daughter died from an overdose. Now, Barclay is on a crusade against the drug traffickers. When one turns up dead, Barclay is accused, and David takes the case.

Stephanie Plum is back in Janet Evanovich's Smokin' Seventeen. The bail bonds office goes up in flames, bodies appear in the vacant construction lot, and one of Stephanie's old flames returns to town. Just a day in the life of the New Jersey bounty hunter.

In Joseph Finder's Buried Secrets, a hedge fund titan needs help. His daughter has been kidnapped, and buried underground. If the kidnapper's demands aren't met, she'll be allowed to die, with her death streamed live on the internet.

If you prefer your June reading a little less crime ridden, there's Dorothea Benton Frank's Folly Beach. Cate Cooper returns to her old hometown when her husband dies, leaving her with no money and no peace of mind. Can you go home again?

Steve Hamilton, who just won the Edgar Award for The Lock Artist, brings us Misery Bay, an Alex McKnight novel. Two months after a young man's suicide, McKnight's attempt to find answers turns into a nightmare of violence and bloody revenge, along with a race to catch a killer.

Alexander McCall Smith fans will welcome The Dog Who Came in From the Cold. It's the story of Freddie de la Hay, a Pimlico terrier who lives in a crumbling mansion block called Corduroy Mansions, along with a motley crew of residents.

James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge team up for Now You See Her. Two years earlier, Jeanine Fournier appeared to have the perfect life with a police-officer husband, and their first child on the way. Then, she uncovered a secret that caused her to run for her life and change her identity.

Marcus Sakey's latest is The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes. Here's the blurb. "The man had a life anyone would envy. The trouble was, when he awoke on the beach, alone, naked, cold, and tired, the only thing he could remember about it was a woman's face. He had no idea who he was, or where he was going. All he knew was that if he found her, he would find himself.

Sarah Strohmeyer's Kindred Spirits actually belongs in my Treasures in My Closet post, but I thought it was a July release. It's about The Ladies' Society for the Conservation of Martinis, formed by four young mothers so they could meet once a month, as an outlet. When circumstances tear them apart, they are only brought together again by tragedy.

Scott Horvath is on a list of Americans deemed too dangerous to be roaming when the former President of the United States sets in place a plan to destroy America. It's Brad Thor's Full Black.

And, I'll end with another story of four women, Jennifer Weiner's Then Came You. Four total strangers come together, and struggle to make a family. But, their plans are thrown into disarray when one woman becomes a widow.

So, what did I miss? What's not here or in my closet that you're waiting to read in June? Let us know!

June's Treasures in My Closet

The June books are so exciting I can't wait to share them with you. Today, it's the treasures in my closet, and there are some gems here. I promise!

S.J. Bolton's Now You See Me kicks off the list. Lacey Flint, a young detective constable in London, stumbles onto a woman brutally stabbed just moments before. Within 24 hours, a reporter receives a letter pointing out similarities between the murder and Jack the Ripper's first, taunting Lacey by name. If the killer is bent on recreating London's past, the police have only five days until the next attempt.

Breaking Silence, like Linda Castillo's previous books, is set in Amish Country in Ohio, and features Chief of Police Kate Burkholder. Kate is called to the scene of a tragedy on an Amish farm, where the Slabaugh parents and uncle are found dead in what appears to be an accident. But, the coroner discovers evidence of foul play, and Special Agent John Tomasetti is sent to learn if these deaths are connected to recent hate crimes.

Melissa de la Cruz's Witches of East End introduces the Beauchamps, a family of incredibly powerful witches, who have been living in North Hampton, suppressing their powers. When they give in to temptation, and start to use their magic, they bring unwanted attention to themselves. And, it seems that there are dark powers working against them.

Paul Doiron, author of the Edgar nominee, The Poacher's Son, takes readers back to the Maine wilderness, and back in the life of game warden Mike Bowditch, who reopens a seven year old murder case, with opponents trying to prevent him from bringing a killer to justice.

There's been a lot of buzz about Daisy Goodwin's debut novel, The American Heiress. Here's the blurb. "Growing up in the opulent world of New York and Newport in the Gilded Age, Cora Cash has everything she could possibly want - except a title. Be careful what you wish for. What happens after the fairytale wedding to an English lord?"

Bones of a Feather is the latest Sarah Booth Delaney southern mystery by Carolyn Haines. When P.I. Sarah Booth Delaney takes on the Levert sisters as clients, she becomes involved with the family's sordid past, a missing four-million-dollar necklace, and then, a missing Levert.

A Bedlam of Bones by Suzette Hill brings back Reverend Oughterard, the renowned "humbug crunching vicar," and his talking cat and dog, Maurice and Bouncer. This time, they take on a blackmailer who is stalking the bishop. Think Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries set in a quaint British village mystery.

Here's one to watch for, Craig Johnson's latest Walt Longmire mystery, Hell is Empty. A confessed murderer and other convicts escape in a snowstorm, and it's up to Walt, guided only by Indian mysticism and a  battered paperback of Dante's Inferno, to pursue them into the icy hell of the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area.

Fred Lichtenberg takes readers into the complex world of a small Long Island community in Hunter's World.. When a syndicated romance columnist is murdered, lewd paintings are uncovered that lead to scandal. When the townspeople turn on Police Chief Hank Reed, he finds himself alone in the investigation, risking everything to find the killers.

Vigilante Stella Hardesty is back in Sophie Littlefield's A Bad Day for Scandal. When big-city businesswoman Priss Porter returns to town with a body in her town, she tries to blackmail Stella into helping her dispose of the body. Stella refuses to cooperate, but when Priss goes missing, Stella's implicated. It isn't long before she and her business partner Chrissy Shaw take the investigation into their own hands.

Inspector Peter Diamond returns in Peter Lovesey's Stagestruck. Diamond has to confront his own mysterious and deep-seated theater phobia to find a killer who strikes during a celebrity appearance at Bath's Theatre Royal. There are bitter rivalries, the disfigurement of a diva, and, of course, murder.

Rosamund Lupton's debut novel, Sister, was a hit in the UK. It's a thriller that proves there is nothing as strong as the bond between sisters. When Beatrice's sister, Tess, goes missing, she returns to London. When Tess is found dead, apparently by suicide, everyone but Bee accepts that she killed herself. But, Bee knows different, and, determined to find a killer, she takes over Tess' life to learn the secrets that could cost Bee her own life.

The Counterfeit Madam by Pat McIntosh is the eighth mystery to feature Gil Cunningham, set in medieval Glasgow. Gil is ordered to investigate an outbreak of counterfeit coins in Glasgow, but when he tries to look into the death of his sister's godmother, Dame Isabella, he continues to find false coins. Gil and his wife, Alys, are soon involved in sinister matters in their investigation.

The end of June brings us Brenda Novak's Inside, the story of Virgil Skinner. He spent fourteen years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, but, once he's out, he can't escape the gang he joined in order to survive. If they can't get to him, they'll go after his sister and her kids. To protect her, he goes undercover, back into prison to infiltrate another gang. Warden Peyton Adams doesn't want him in her prison. She's afraid she might not be able to protect the man she's attracted to.

With You Belong to Me, author Karen Rose begins a new romantic suspense series that  features Baltimore homicide detectives, district attorneys and prosecutors as lead characters. Two decades earlier, a young woman was brutally assaulted and murdered while onlookers did nothing. Now, someone is getting revenge on those witnesses, and Baltimore medical examiner Dr. Lucy Trask is the one finding the bodies. Detective J.D. Fitzpatrick has to convince Lucy to share secrets of her past connection to the case, secrets that might lead to her own death.

Karin Slaughter brings us a novel that looks as if it's going to be a powerful thriller, Fallen. Faith Mitchell is a cop. But, she's also a daughter. Her mother isn't answering her phone. Her front door is open. When she sees a bloodstain, she charges into her mother's house, finding a man dead,  and a hostage situation. But, she doesn't find her mother. Suddenly, Faith is a witness, and a suspect who finds out what hides behind the thin blue line; police corruption, bribery, and murder.

And, the final book in this month's treasures is John Milliken Thompson's The Reservoir. Thompson started out researching an old Richmond, Virginia court case for a nonfiction book. He ended up writing a story of historical fiction, beginning with the discovery of a woman's body floating in the city reservoir. Suicide? Or foul play involving an affair with an ambitious young lawyer. It's a story that ends in a riveting courtroom climax.

Well, I'm all set for June, even if no other books show up in my closet. And, just think. June's hot titles will be discussed tomorrow. What appeals to you in the list?

May's Hot Titles

Thank heavens May doesn't have quite as many hot titles as April did. I have the feeling I'm never going to catch up. But, here are some of the titles that might be hot in May. Preorder them now from your favorite bookstore, or place them on hold at your local library.

In Lawrence Block's A Drop of the Hard Stuff, newly sober Matthew Scudder puts his recovery and his life on the line to investigate when a childhood friend is gunned down.

Hiss of Death is the latest Mrs. Murphy mystery by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown. Mary Minot "Harry" Haristeen becomes ill, so it's up to cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with the Corgi, Tucker, to find the villain behind a murder close to home.

Jim didn't read many women writers. He was a little prejudiced until I pushed him to read  some thriller writers such as Tami Hoag and Lisa Gardner. But, for some reason, he always found time for Jackie Collins' Lucky Santangelo novels. Goddess of Vengeance finds Lucky trying to save her family, love, and life when a billionaire businessman plans to take everything from her.

Patrick Dewitt's The Sisters Brothers has had some pre-pub buzz. Hired guns Eli and Charlie Sisters have a difficult time killing their latest mark. Along the way, Eli begins to question why he kills and whom he kills for.

Spider Web is Earlene Fowler's latest Benni Harper mystery. When a local festival is ruined by the shooting of a cop by someone with a grudge against the police, Benni fears for her police chief husband, and others who might get caught in the crossfire. Earlene Fowler will be joining Carolyn Hart for an Authors @ The Teague appearance on Monday, May 9 at 10:30 AM.

Fans of Sookie Stackhouse will be pleased to see Charlaine Harris' Dead Reckoning. When the bar Sookie works at is firebombed, much of the town suspects local anti-shifters. Sookie suspects otherwise, but she's too preoccupied with her love interest, Eric Nortman, to pay attention to the twisted activities happening.

Jo Nesbo brings Oslo police detective Harry Hole back in The Snowman. A young boy names Jonas can't find his mother, but there's a snowman with Jonas' mom's scarf around its neck in the front yard, a snowman that wasn't there before. When someone sends an odd letter to Harry, it appears that the culprit wants to play a game.

I'm going into mourning once I finish Sixkill, Robert B. Parker's last Spenser novel. I read  all forty Spenser books, including his YA one. Spenser forms an alliance with an actor's Native American bodyguard in order to investigate when the actor is accused of rape and murder. I'm going to miss Spenser.

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro join forces for Tenth Anniversary, the latest Women's Murder Club book. Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the brutal bating of a teenage girl and the kidnapping of her baby, while Assistant D.A. Yuki Castellano prosecutes the biggest case of her career.

In Thomas Perry's The Informant, a professional killer who betrayed the Mafia is threatened when a Mafia hit team catches up with him, so he turns to Elizabeth Waring, an official with the Organized Crime Division of the Justice Department, offering her a deal.

Lucas Davenport is back in John Sandford's Buried Prey. When the bodies of two girls are found beneath an old house, Davenport remembers the kidnapping, and the death of the kidnapper. Now, with the case reopened, he's once more involved in the investigation.

Karin Slaughter's Fallen takes Special Agent Faith Mitchell into a case she doesn't want to visit. The agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation finds her four-month-old daughter in a tool shed, her mother gone, and a bloody handprint on the door to her mother's home. Faith might not know her mother as well as she thought.

Pumped for Murder is the latest in Elaine Viets' Dead-End Job mystery series. Helen Hawthorne is in for the workout of her life when she takes a job at a gym to check out a client's husband. Soon, her workout schedule must accommodate a murder investigation.

Did you find something you want to read in the May selections? What did I miss?

Don't forget to order your copies at the public library or your favorite bookstore.

May's Treasures in My Closet

May's Treasures in My Closet pile isn't quite as intimidating as April's was. I may never catch up. But, here are some forthcoming books that you might want to order from your favorite bookstore or request at your public library.

Let's start with Gordon W. Dale's Fool's Republic. It's a political thriller in which Simon Wyley is imprisoned for crimes against the state after a lifelong pattern of battles against authority. It's a novel about one man's search for freedom.

I mentioned Vicki Delany's Among the Departed yesterday. Fifteen years earlier a young Moonlight Smith was the last one to see her best friend's father before he disappeared. Now, when a police dog uncovers bones, Constable Molly Smith is thrown back into that story, as Sergeant John Winters reopens that investigation.

Miranda James brings back librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine coon cat, Diesel, in Classified as Murder. Soon after Charlie starts the inventory of a rare book collection, he finds his client dead. Charlie suspects the man's family, and he'll need Diesel's help to solve the case.

The Girl's Guide to Homelessness is Brianna Karp's memoir. She went from a childhood of violence and abuse to a steady job and a home of her own. But, when the Great Recession hit, Karp lost her job, was forced into the streets, and began a life as a homeless person. This memoir tells her story, and the stories that inspired her to become an activist for the homeless community.

People have been waiting for Erik Larson's new book, In the Garden of Beasts. It's the story of one family in the shadow of Hitler's rise to power. In 1933, William E. Dodd became America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany, taking along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. Dodd grows fearful of the Nazis, while Martha becomes entranced, having one affair after another. It promises to be another powerful work of nonfiction.

Sons and Princes is James LePore's story of two people on a collision course with each other, and the Mafia. Chris Massi tried to stay on the right side of the law, despite his family connections to the mob. Michele Mathias is a drug addicted street player whose life intersects with Chris' when her roommate is murdered. It's a story of two people in a suspenseful drama.

British heartthrob Nicholas Hoult is scheduled to play R in the film adaptation of Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies. Who is R? He's a zombie whose relationship with a human girl will change his world and that of his fellow Dead. What happens when the cold heart of a zombie is tempted by the warmth of human love?

The Tender Mercy of Roses marks Anna Michaels' debut. The body of rodeo star Pony Jones is discovered in the northern Alabama woods, and it's her spirit that helps reveal clues about her murder. The mystery brings together Pony's father, determined to revenge his daughter's death, and a hard-drinking woman, a former detective who feels a connection to Pony Jones.

Ben Pastor's Lumen is called "A wartime political intrigue, a detective story, a psychological thriller, and a religious mystery rolled into one. It follows Wehrmact Captain Martin Boma and a Chicago priest in 1939 in Poland as the two investigate the murder of an abbess with alleged powers.

Edgar award-winning author Stefanie Pintoff brings back Detective Simon Ziele and criminologist Alistair Sinclair in the third book in the historical series, Secret of the White Rose. When the murder of a judge sets off a witch hunt against anarchists, the victim's widow enlists the criminologist to find the true killer.

Spencer Seidel takes readers deep into family secrets in his debut novel, Dead of Wynter. Alice Wynter reluctantly returns home to the Maine lake country following her father's murder and her brother's disappearance. But, it seems the family, including Alice's mother, have secrets to hide.


Purgatory Chasm is also a debut mystery. Steve Ulfelder tells of  smart-talking former alcoholic, just a car mechanic trying to make his way. When Conway Sax reluctantly helps another former alcoholic, he becomes suspect number one in the man's murder. Now, he needs to catch a killer, clear himself, and keep a promise.

And, the last debut novel is Jan Merete Weiss' These Dark Things. Captain Natalia Monte of the Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is called in to investigate the discovery of a college student's corpse in the ancient catacombs of Naples. While Monte's case becomes more dangerous, the city's crime families go to war.

May is bringing us novels in black and blue, exciting possibilities with debut novels, and, hopefully, good reading. Check back tomorrow for other forthcoming books in the Hot Titles column.

Penguin's Berkley Prime Crime & Obsidian April Mysteries

Sorry, I spelled "Prime" wrong in the title, but I had downloaded the video before I noticed. Then, it was staring at me.

Oh, well, at least I found a cat to appear in the video. Hope you enjoy the April books!




Enjoy!

April's Hot Titles

Yesterday, we discussed the April book releases in my closet. Now, we have the chance to talk about the books not in my closet. There are a number of exciting books coming out in April, including ones by some of my favorite authors. I hope you find books by some of your favorites in this list.

Susan Wittig Albert returns with the next China Bayles mystery, Mourning Gloria. China hears  the screams of a woman in a burning house trailer, but can't save her. But, when a reporter disappears while working on the case, now considered a homicide, China is determined to find her.

In David Baldacci's The Sixth Man, private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell look into a case that could end their partnership, that of an alleged serial killer now locked away in a mental institution.

Elizabeth Berg brings us Once Upon a Time, There was You. John and Irene married for all the wrong reasons, and finally divorced. But, when tragedy strikes their teenage daughter, they're brought back together, and begin to see each other differently.

I'm an unabashed fan of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books. The last book left us hanging. Now, Harry Dresden returns in Ghost Story, with no magic to help him, and he's being hunted by several dark spirits. Even so, nothing will prevent Harry from helping his friends when they're in danger.

The two sisters who own a pizza shop return in Chris Cavender's A Pizza to Die For.  They don't mind a little competition, but Judson Sizemore will go to extremes to promote his shop. When he ends up dead, the sisters are under suspicion.

The Clarks both have books due out in April. In Mary Higgins Clark's I'll Walk Alone, a woman whose toddler disappeared two years earlier is about to be indicted for identity theft, and is suspected of murder. Someone is determined to destroy her sanity and life. Carol Higgins Clark brings back private investigator Regan Reilly and her husband, Jack in Mobbed. While working a case, Regan runs into old friends. She almost doesn't recognize one, for a good reason.

The Bride's House is Sandra Dallas' new book. It's the story of the women who lived in a Colorado house built in 1880.  Susan, the latest in the long line of strong women who lived there, will be forced by the house's secrets to question herself.

It seems as if it's been longer than two years since Diane Mott Davidson's last Goldy Schulz mystery. There's a killer arsonist threatening Goldy's friends in Crunch Time. Once she takes them in, she may be next, unless she can find the killer.

Miles to Go is the second installment in Richard Paul Evans' series about Alan Christofferson, a man who lost everyone he loved. In this book, Evans continues his walk from Spokane to Key West, encountering new people, and new lessons about love.

Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli have a strange case in Lisa Jackson's Born to Die. Lookalikes are dying, and Dr. Kacey Lambert is uncomfortable with her resemblance to two of the dead women. Digging into their past, she discovers a link between them and a man she's just started dating.

I have to say the summary of Iris Johansen's Eve sounds similar to the summary of her last book. Once again, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is trying to help a woman find her missing son. The woman, a CIA agent, learns there is a man in Eve's past who could be linked to the disappearance of both of their children.

Pot-growning twins Paul and Lacey Hansen are in trouble in Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward. They can't call the police when a body turns up on their property, so they move it. When it turns up again, they discover it's Lacey's ex-boyfriend, whose death is linked to their parents' deaths a decade earlier.

It's a Blossom Street road trip in A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber. Bethanne Hamlin is taking a road trip to Florida with her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth, who is going to attend her 50th high school reunion. The women all have decisions to make, and their journey shows them sometimes you have to take a turn in the road.

In Katherine Hall Page's The Body in the Gazebo, Faith Fairchild agrees to keep an eye on her friend's ailing elderly mother while Pix is out of town. But, when a mysterious letter arrives, Faith realizes the older woman's illness is partially caused by something horrific from her past.

In Nora Roberts' Chasing Fire, smoke jumper Rowan Tripp has been having dreams featuring her late partner. Is he warning her about coming danger in her job, or in her romantic relationship with another smoke jumper?

In Save Me by Lisa Scottoline, Susan Pressman, a volunteer at her daughter's school, manages to save her daughter and Amanda, her daughter's bully, following an explosion. But, when Amanda was injured going back inside, Susan is blamed. In order to vindicate herself, she has to learn why Amanda returned to the school.

I'm also excited about three debut novels. Red on Red by Edward Conlon tells of the partnership between two NYPD detectives. They had radically different approaches to their work; one was drawn to cases of rough and ordinary combat. The other was compelled by ghost stories, suicides, and missing persons. Together, their partnership altered their views of the world.

Joel McHenry's The Kitchen Daughter

And, the third debut novel is The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen. Now, the two sisters are known as kind ladies of Spring Green, Wisconsin who nurse injured birds back to life. But readers learn of their earlier lives, especially the summer when a cousin came to town and changed their lives forever.

I can't cover every new book coming out in April. What titles have I missed that have you excited? Let me know!