Finding a good book to fall into this November/December

We're now in the midst of autumn and this year, it's not just the holiday season that is fast upon our heels. A certain major event will be happening early next week and hopefully, things will go well on that front(I voted via absentee ballot and got it in early, along with my family) for all concerned.

How that night will turn out is a key factor in our collective attitude going forward to the end of this rather hectic year. Either way the die is cast, a good book is going to be a big help in getting through these most challenging times.

So, this short but snappy list of upcoming titles for November and December ought to be useful whether you're making a seasonal gift list or in the mood for a page turning delight:

THE STORY FLOWS ON...

 In Philippa Gregory's second entry in her new Fairmile series, Dark Tides , her leading lady Alinor is now living with her daughter Alys in London of 1870.

Hoping to make a new life as a wharf owner, Alinor is still distraught over the passing of her son Rob, made worse by the manipulations of her daughter-in-law Livia. Suspicious of  Livia's claims, Alinor asks her granddaughter Sarah to go to Venice to find out the truth about Rob's demise.

Meanwhile, another blast from the past returns as James, the royal spy who abandoned her long ago, arrives to proclaim his desire to marry Alinor and claim their mutual child. She insists that the child is not his and any promises from those days have been broken completely.

Those worries, along with her brother Ned  making a new life in New England, are a heavy toll upon Alinor yet perhaps her gift of second sight might prove useful to seeking more than one solution. Gregory's knack for weaving intricate plot points into a story telling tapestry are well known and seeing her latest pattern laid out for these characters should prove to be elegant fictional embroidery at it's finest(November):

 

MAIDENS OF MYSTERY

 

It is an undisputed fact that Agatha Christie is considered "the Queen of Mystery" and yet one of the biggest mysteries connected to her has never been solved.

In the upcoming novel The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict, we get a fictional possibility as to what occurred during those eleven days in 1926 in which one of the most famous writers in the world seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Was she truly in danger or was this a planned happenstance, due to her husband Archie's constant betrayals of their wedding vows? As clues mount up and the police are fixing their sights on him as the prime suspect, Archie finds himself having no choice but to play out the hand that his wife has dealt him.

Questions abound-can Archie pull himself back from the brink before it's too late? Even if Agatha is fine and well, where is she and how is she able to manipulate things from her hidden location? Will things ever be the same between the two of them again, once this is all said and done with? 

Benedict does like to portray engaging women and Agatha Christie is quite the challenge yet I suspect that her literary solution to this real life puzzle will by the end form a solid picture for mystery fans to enjoy(December):

 

 
 

Speaking of Christie, Anthony Horowitz certainly celebrated the spirit of her work in his novel Magpie Murders awhile back and now he's bringing that vibe back again with a character from that book in Moonflower Murders.

After her harrowing experience with the final novel by late mystery writer Alan Conway, Susan Ryland has left the publishing world to live a more peaceful life on the island of Crete. Nonetheless, her knowledge of Conway's great detective Atticus Pund has a set of worried parents seeking her assistance.

Eight years ago, the wedding of Cecily Treherne and Aiden Macneil was marred by the murder of a guest at the hotel used for the ceremony. A foreign born maintenance man was blamed for the crime yet the bride felt that he was innocent.

With Cecily now missing, the Trehernes offer Susan a good amount of money to help in this case, particularly due to their daughter's use of the third book in the Atticus Pund series as a blueprint for solving this crime. Despite her better judgement, Susan decides to play detective and even consults that particular book to see what Cecily was thinking.

Perhaps, Cecily was too close to the truth and Susan's sleuthing might not render the results that the Treherne family is looking for. Yet, she may do some good and possibly bury her own demons from the past as well. Magpie Murders was an amazing read and it will be hard to top it but Horowitz ought to be more than capable of giving us another fun thrill ride(November).

A SINISTER SCOOP OF COZY MYSTERY

Ellie Alexander's Bakeshop Mystery series is rather addicting(to me, at least!) and it's good to see that we're getting another delicious slice of cozy mystery cake from her before this year is out.

Chilled to the Cone has professional baker and occasional detective Juliet Capshaw happy to add another business project to the already expanding ones centered at her family bakeshop Torte.

Setting up a pop-up ice cream shop during the spring season in Ashland sounds like a great opportunity yet before the the first scoop can be sold, a death lands on Torte's doorstep that puts the whole project into a deep freeze.

Can Juliet find out who killed the beloved street performer known as "The Wizard" to thaw out her new venture in time or will this meltdown lead to a chilling end?  This may not feel like ice cream season but Alexander is great at delivering a sweet surprise to her readers in any and all fabulous flavors(December):

 

Like I said at the beginning of this post, with any luck, things will start to look better for our future after next Tuesday and regardless of that, we need to hold each other up as best as we can. Still going to be a tough road ahead no matter what.

In the meantime, I'm going to try and take things in stride-if we can make to Thanksgiving without too much hassle, that'll be fine with me. While this upcoming holiday season is not going to be the same, we can always find comfort among the chaos with our loved ones, plus don't skip the rolls!: