Abrams, Maria. Death in the Downline. Quirk. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781683694144. pbk. 304p. $18.99. MYSTERY

Down-on-her-luck Drew runs into her ex–best friend Steph when she moves back home. Drew soon becomes involved in the multi-level marketing scheme in which Steph seems to be thriving. When a distributor dies under mysterious circumstances, Drew starts investigating, hoping to save herself and her friend. Horror writer Abrams (She Who Rules the Dead) turns to mystery.

Chern, Lina. Tricks of Fortune: A Play the Fool Mystery. (Katie True, bk. 2). Bantam. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9780593500682. pbk. 336p. $18. MYSTERY

Following her LJ-starred debut, Play the Fool, Edgar Award winner Chern returns with a second Katie True mystery, which can be read as a stand-alone. Tarot-reading Katie is embroiled in a case involving a murdered police officer who saved her when she was a child. Things get complicated when the chief suspect in the murder is Katie’s best friend.

Donovan, Kemper. Loose Lips. (Ghostwriter Mystery, bk. 2). John Scognamiglio Bks. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781496744548. 336p. $28. MYSTERY

Donovan follows bestseller The Busy Body, an Indie Next and LibraryReads pick, with this second case featuring the nameless ghostwriter heroine. This time the action takes place on a cruise, one focused on a writing seminar. Multiple plots will be afoot as an attendee is murdered and still others are sickened.

Dove, Laurie L. Mask of the Deer Woman. Berkley. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9780593816103. 336p. $29. MYSTERY

Nonfiction author and journalist Dove writes her first novel starring ex–Chicago detective Carrie Starr, who takes the position of tribal marshal on her father’s childhood reservation. Reeling at the death of her own daughter, Starr finds herself investigating other missing girls and seeing the figure of the legendary deer woman, who might be either comfort or retribution.

George, Nicholas. A Lethal Walk in Lakeland. (A Walk Through England Mystery, bk. 2). Kensington Cozies. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781496745293. 288p. $27. MYSTERY

The second “A Walk Through England Mystery,” following George’s debut, A Deadly Walk in Devon, sees former San Diego detective Rick “Chase” Chasen on a coast-to-coast walk through the Lake District. He hopes for relaxation and maybe connection with Mike, the handsome colleague he met on his first tour—but instead finds a murder.

Gilbert, Victoria. Schooled in Murder. (A Campus Sleuth Mystery, Bk. 1). Crooked Lane. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781639109234. 272p. $29.99. MYSTERY

Retired librarian Gilbert (author of the “Blue Ridge Library Mystery,” “Booklover’s B&B Mystery,” and “Hunter and Clewe” series) begins a new series featuring author and writing teacher Jen Dalton. When a colleague is found dead and a student goes missing, it is up to Jen and a cohort of friends to solve the case.

Moke, Jenny Elder. She Doesn’t Have a Clue. Minotaur. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781250354969. pbk. 336p. $17. MYSTERY

Award-winning children’s author Moke makes her adult debut with this mix of mystery and romance, set at a destination wedding on an island off the coast of Seattle. Bestselling mystery author Kate Valentine is in attendance, along with her romantic regret, her editor, and, it seems, a murderer. As the weather threatens to keep everybody in place, Kate must investigate.

Patterson, James & Brian Sitts. Holmes Is Missing. (Holmes, Margaret & Poe, bk. 2). Little, Brown. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9780316569972. 400p. $30. MYSTERY

The second in bestselling Patterson and frequent collaborator Sitts’s “Holmes, Margaret & Poe” series, starring Auguste Poe, Margaret Marple, and Brendan Holmes, sees the three detectives involved in an abduction case: not only have six children gone missing but so has Holmes and a number of A-listers. It will be up to Poe and Marple to put together the clues.

Wade, Kevin. Johnny Careless. Celadon. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781250355102. 240p. $27.99. MYSTERY

Edgar-nominated screenwriter Wade (Blue Bloods) debuts with a procedural about Police Chief Jeep Mullane, who is running a small precinct on Long Island’s North Shore after earning his detective shield at NYPD. When the body of his childhood friend washes up, Jeep is caught in a deep game of privilege, power, and a web of lies. With a 100K-copy first printing.

Yardley, Ellen. Eleanor and the Cold War. (An Eleanor Roosevelt Mystery, bk. 1). Kensington. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781496750075. 288p. $27. MYSTERY

Yardley, a pseudonym for a New York Times bestselling author, launches a new series with Eleanor Roosevelt as sleuth, along with her trusty private secretary, 25-year-old Kay Thompson. Together the two investigate the murder of a Swedish woman in Washington’s Union Station. The Soviets might be involved, and Eleanor, Kay, and a handsome detective are determined to find out why.

Forthcoming Series Titles

Crais, Robert. The Big Empty. (Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, bk. 20). Putnam. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9780525535768. 400p. $30. MYSTERY

Delany, Vicki. The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime. (A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery, bk. 10). Crooked Lane. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781639109265. 288p. $29.99. MYSTERY

Mosley, Walter. Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right. (King Oliver, bk. 3). Mulholland. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9780316573269. 336p. $29. MYSTERY

Ryan, Annelise. Beast of the North Woods. (A Monster Hunter Mystery, bk. 3). Berkley. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9780593816059. 336p. $28. MYSTERY

Stabenow, Dana. Abduction of a Slave. (Eye of Isis, bk. 4). Head of Zeus. Jan. 2025. ISBN 9781035910069. 384p. $28.99. MYSTERY