And so it’s early November, a good time to start dreading the holidays and hoping we have some semblance of normality in the new year. By all means don’t work too hard; nothing else is going to happen before then. I mean, I hope nothing happens. It will be fine. Seriously.
Here are some books to ride out 2021 on.
Wanda M. Morris, All Her Little Secrets
(William Morrow)
Ellice Littlejohn has buried her past and built a good life (I feel like I could recycle that sentence, so it might come up again). She’s an Ivy Leaguer and an African American attorney at a corporate firm in Atlanta. Oh, and she’s seeing a rich, fancy white guy—her boss, Michael. That’s the set-up; what follows is a really good workplace thriller which resonates with many contemporary issues, from #metoo to the racial biases in the American criminal justice system.
Thomas Perry, The Left-Handed Twin
(Mysterious Press)
Thomas Perry is a writer who could keep you very busy. Series (multiple), standalones (many), and I wouldn’t be surprised if he were writing romances or fantasy novels under a nom de plume. He’s like a crime fiction character actor—you recognize the face but he disappears into the part and you can’t quite place him. Twin is another installment of my favorite Perry series, featuring Jane Whitefield, a woman who helps people disappear (I have not personally tested her methods but if I needed to I absolutely would.). This time a woman named Sara Doughton appeals to Jane for help, and she has some trouble behind her, including a nasty ex-boyfriend and the Russian mob.
Alison Gaylin, The Collective
(William Morrow)
In my line of work I read a lot of books about mothers and mothering, and it is rare that I come across a book which really interrogates maternal love and expectations (the last one I can think of is Adrian McKinty’s The Chain). Alison Gaylin is up to the task. The Collective is about a secret society of aggrieved mothers who help each other exact revenge on the people who harmed their children. The crimes are carefully plotted and involve many other group members and are executed so that none of them would be suspects in the collective’s crimes. Camille Gardner, whose 15-year-old daughter was murdered five years before by a rich, privileged boy from the local liberal arts college. Still grieving, Camille is recruited to the cause and quickly becomes enmeshed in the group. Gaylin uses the ideas of maternal grief and revenge to clever and creepy ends.
Hannah Morrissey, Hello, Transcriber
(Minotaur Books)
This is a debut with a great conceit and a very ominous mood. Hazel Greenlee is a transcriber for the police department in Black Harbor, a town in Wisconsin which has been decimated by drugs and crime. Hazel becomes captivated by the murder of a young woman whose cause of death was supposedly an overdose. The lead detective, Nikolai Kole, is charismatic and driven. Soon Hazel is a part of the case, and her life just got dangerous.
Kieran Scott, Wish You Were Gone
(Gallery Books)
Kieran Cott is new to crime fiction but a seasoned novelist: she’s written more than 50 books for children and teens. She is a skilled storyteller, and this one has all of the makings of melodrama: Emma Walsh is stuck in an abusive marriage with an alcoholic husband and two kids to protect. But when James Walsh is found dead in an auto accident, Emma recognizes that she has an opportunity for a fresh start. But the secrets she’s kept were not all buried with her husband, and as she pushes to reenact her husband’s final day she learns facts she’s rather not know.
