December Treasures in My Closet

[Lesa Holstine]

With the December holidays, people probably don't take as much time to read. These books, scheduled for December publication, may still be treasures that you'll want to watch for. If you don't have time to read them before Christmas, why don't you ask for one of them as a present? Or a true treasure would be a gift of all of the following books!

I just know that Chris Grabenstein asked for the publication date of Hell for the Holidays to be changed to December, so the book would appear in my Treasures column two months in a row. Christopher Miller, from Slay Ride, reappears in this second thriller, to take on domestic terrorists.

Lonnie Cruse, author of the Metropolis Mystery series, starts a new series with Fifty-Seven Heaven. The new book, still set in Metropolis, Illinois, introduces Kitty and Jack Bloodworth, owner of a 1957 Chevy, known as Sadie. No one expected Kitty's cousin to end up as a body stuffed in the trunk of the beloved car.

In Lindsay Ashford's Strange Blood, forensic psychologist Megan Rhys is called in to help police investigate when women are killed, dying with pentagrams carved on their faces.

In the case of Qiu Xiaolong's Red Mandarin Dress, I'm the one who jumped the gun, thinking the publication date was earlier than December. (It wasn't my fault with Hell for the Holidays.) In Red Mandarin Dress, Chief Inspector Chen Cao finds himself in the middle of a highly sensitive case, possibly the first sexual serial killer in Shanghai.

Without Warning by Eugenia Lovett West thrusts Emma Streat, an ex-opera singer, into the international high-tech world after the hit-and-run death of her husband.

Christmas presents for you, or your family member who enjoys crime fiction? Or leisurely reads from your local library after the holidays? Order your own December treasures now from your favorite bookstore or library.