A freezing set of new reads fit for February

Despite the lack of snow at the moment, it's rather chilly in my neck of the woods which makes a few fear filled books seem all too perfect to curl up with.

My latest library haul had me grabbing a couple of literary fright fests that came out earlier last year. As much as I like Stephen King, sometimes it is best to catch up with him this way and The Outsider does have quite the spooky set-up.

Police detective Ralph Anderson is dead certain that well liked teacher and Little League coach Terry Maitland is the one responsible for the gruesome death of a young boy, with all of the evidence pointing right smack in that direction. Trouble is, there is also plenty of proof that Terry was nowhere near the victim and it's just as reliable as Anderson's case.

Before long, Anderson has to seek outside help in order to figure this strange situation out and things go from bad to worse to what the hell in no time flat. Can he and his new consultant Holly,a woman who is no stranger to unusual criminal doings, be able to solve this murder and perhaps others that have yet to happen?

King does enjoy genre blending and this mix of supernatural with straight forward police work does sound intriguing, to say the least. There are plans to turn this story into a HBO limited series in the near future but I would like to read the book first this time around.

Unlike some folks who vehemently dislike changes from script to screen(the big one for the upcoming Pet Semetery remake is not that bad, in my opinion), I'm at the stage in my entertainment life where a little compare and contrast is a good thing. Also, as time goes by,Stephen King continues to challenge his audience with newer sets of mind games and he should be appreciated for that effort indeed:

I paired that book with The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware, the second novel of hers that I've borrowed from the library. Our leading lady is Harriet, a fortune teller who is barely keeping her head above financial waters as a loan shark is breathing down her neck.

When a letter arrives saying that she's listed as a heir from a grandmother that she never knew, Harriet decides to take a chance and see if she can claim some of this fortune that fate seems to have tossed into her lap.

However, the matter proves to be more complicated than that and along with deceiving those assembled at Trepassen House who are actually family, she soon discovers that a tale of a trapped girl from the past may be a big part of what's going on with this remote estate. Solving this mystery could lead to riches or take Harriet down the path to ruin of a permanent sort.

Ware has been compared to Agatha Christie(The Woman in Cabin 10 did have some of that vibe) and this particular story feels as if Christie and Daphne Du Maurier decided to team up there. I do like a modern thriller with old fashioned themes,plus tarot cards play a huge part here and once upon a time, I dabbled in those as well. Fortunately, my tarot readings never stirred up the trouble that Ware's heroine finds herself in and hopefully can see a way out of before it's too late:

In addition to that deadly duo, a couple of upcoming thrillers arrived in my mailbox that should prove to be seasonably chilling as well.

I do have to admit that Serena Kent's Death in Provence may be more of a mild mystery sauce that a spicy suspense story. Penelope Kite decides to recover from divorcing her cheating husband David by buying an old house in need of repair that's located in the French provincial town of St. Merlot's

While settling in, Penelope stumbles across the body of one of her more disagreeable neighbors in the very swimming pool that they were disputing the ownership of. While the local police are doing an investigation, she can't help but use her resources as a former forensic assistant to get to the bottom of the matter before another body is fished out from the bottom of the pool.

Serena Kent happens to be the joint name of a husband and wife team who are planning to make this book the start of a lively new series. This combo of Miss Marple meets Under The Tuscan Sun could be one to watch for,especially as the warm weather returns.

Freshly out in paperback, The French Girl by Lexie Elliott has it's title maiden's body discovered after a ten year long disappearance, which sets off a number of fear factors for the six Oxford students who were the ones to last see her alive during a week spent at a remote farmhouse.

Out of that group, Kate feels the most tense, due to her jealousy of the girl named Severine back then which to Kate breaking up with her boyfriend Seb, and is reliving that time emotionally to the point of possibly seeing the ghost of Severine pop up in her current life.

Is it stress over the new business that she's starting up or does Kate know something about the death of Severine that she ought to confess? Reuniting with her old friends might aid her memory yet other forgotten remembrances might also return that could implicate them all?  While this does seem like poolside reading, The French Girl might be a good way to feel the heat of a murder yet unsolved during these frosty midwinter days:

So many mysteries to explore this early in the year and I'm still making plans for Spring Into Horror this April. At least that readathon will include mystery titles as well from one more than one subgenre there and while a mystery reading group might be fun to join, it also might be scarier than any page turning terror I've yet to encounter: