Thanks to FictFact I was alerted to the newest forthcoming Maisie Dobbs mystery due out next Spring! It seems such a very long way away, next March, doesn't it? But it is always nice to have good things (good books) to look forward to, and having a new Maisie Dobbs book out there on the horizon always makes me happy. I could use a little brightness in my life at the moment. So Maisie made me think about all the other new mysteries I will be looking forward to read in the upcoming months. Here are ten of them I plan on looking for (with Maisie at the top, of course).
To Die But Once: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear -- Alas, no cover art as yet or content description, but no worries. Whatever Maisie's next adventure entails I am up for it!
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt -- This one is not exactly a straightforward mystery per se, but it sounds quite intriguing. A story of Lizzie Borden. "As the police search for clues, Emma comforts an increasingly distraught Lizzie whose memories of that morning flash in scattered fragments. Had she been in the barn or the pear arbor to escape the stifling heat of the house? When did she last speak to her stepmother? Were they really gone and would everything be better now? Shifting among the perspectives of the unreliable Lizzie, her older sister Emma, the housemaid Bridget, and the enigmatic stranger Benjamin, the events of that fateful day are slowly revealed through a high-wire feat of storytelling." And this one is due out in just a very few weeks, August 1.
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey -- This is a new series by Massey. She turns her attention from contemporary Japan to 1920s India featuring one of the first women lawyers. "Inspired in part by a real woman who made history by becoming India’s first female lawyer, The Widows of Malabar Hill is a richly wrought story of multicultural 1920s Bombay as well as the debut of a sharp and promising new sleuth, Perveen Mistry." I actually had this on my tablet as an eGalley, but they only allow a very short reading time (and it will disappear in a day or two) that I just couldn't manage to do more than dip into the story a tiny bit. Such a pity as it does look promising, but now I will have to wait until January to read it in earnest.
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn -- "Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, mother, their teenaged son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble?and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems. Twisty and powerful, ingenious, and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock." I'm all for twisty turny and love anything Hitchcock inspired!
Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton -- I love Sharon Bolton's books and there was a time when I was on top of all that she had published, but now I have fallen behind, in particular with her Lacey Flint series. But her newest looks like a standalone. Just in time for fall, this is being released early in September. "In Dead Woman Walking, from master of suspense Sharon Bolton, the sole survivor of a hot-air balloon crash witnesses a murder as the balloon is falling. Just before dawn in the hills near the Scottish border, a man murders a young woman. At the same time, a hot-air balloon crashes out of the sky. There’s just one survivor. She’s seen the killer’s face – but he’s also seen hers. And he won’t rest until he’s eliminated the only witness to his crime. Alone, scared, trusting no one, she’s running to where she feels safe – but it could be the most dangerous place of all..."
Force of Nature by Jane Harper -- Yay. She is one of my great new finds this year, and while her second book will be out in October in Australia, we'll see it here in the US early in 2018. "Five women pick up their backpacks and start walking along a muddy track. Only four come out on the other side. The hike through the rugged Giralang Ranges is meant to take the office colleagues out of their air-conditioned comfort zone. At least that's what the corporate retreat website advertises. Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a particularly keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing bushwalker. Alice Russell is the whistleblower in his latest case – and Alice knew secrets. About the company she worked for and the people she worked with. Far from the hike encouraging teamwork, the women tell Falk a tale of suspicion, violence and disintegrating trust. And as he delves into the disappearance, it seems some dangers may run far deeper than anyone knew."
Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys -- This one is coming out shortly in paperback in the UK (and will be published in hardcover here in the US in January . . . you know which copy I will be ordering . . .). "Sparkling cocktails, poisonous secrets ... 1939, Europe on the brink of war. Lily Shepherd leaves England on an ocean liner for Australia, escaping her life of drudgery for new horizons. She is instantly seduced by the world onboard: cocktails, black-tie balls and beautiful sunsets. Suddenly, Lily finds herself mingling with people who would otherwise never give her the time of day. But soon she realizes her glamorous new friends are not what they seem. The rich and hedonistic Max and Eliza Campbell, mysterious and flirtatious Edward, and fascist George are all running away from tragedy and scandal even greater than her own. By the time the ship docks, two passengers are dead, war has been declared, and life will never be the same again."
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James -- A reminder I am behind,too, in Simone's books. (Writing this post makes me want to walk over to my stacks and pick up a book by Simone and Sharon Bolton . . .). This newest is not out until next March so maybe I have time to catch up? "Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . . Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.
The Unquiet Grave by Sharon McCrumb -- I have never read any of Sharon McCrumb's books, but I think I really should (I tend not to read many US mystery crime writers for some odd reason . . .). This one sounds especially good. "From New York Times bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb comes a finely wrought novel set in nineteenth-century West Virginia, based on the true story of one of the strangest murder trials in American history—the case of the Greenbrier Ghost." I guess Seprember 12 isn't too long to wait.
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan -- And last one, by an author you might not think of as a mystery writer! "Mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful, with the pace and atmosphere of a noir thriller, Egan’s first historical novel is a masterpiece, a deft, startling, intimate exploration of a transformative moment in the lives of women and men, America and the world. Manhattan Beach is a spectacular novel by one of the greatest writers of our time." Due in early October it might make for a very good, very different RIP read!
And you? Looking forward to a good mystery or crime novel coming out soon?