Benoit, Deborah J. The Gardener’s Plot. Minotaur. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781250334978. 336p. $28.  MYSTERY 

Benoit won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition for this cozy debut set in the Berkshires, starring amateur sleuth Maggie Walker. She volunteers to work in the community garden, but on opening day, more is found in the garden than plants—a body has been buried. Maggie digs in and investigates.

Connally, Celeste. All’s Fair in Love and Treachery. (Lady Petra Inquires, bk. 2). Minotaur. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781250867605. 304p. $28. MYSTERY

Agatha Award nominee Connally’s second in her Regency England “Lady Petra Inquires” series sees Queen Charlotte asking Petra to investigate the death of a worker at the Asylum for Female Orphans. In so doing, Petra also stumbles across a plot to overthrow the monarchy.

Day, Maddie. Deadly Crush. (Cece Barton Mysteries, bk. 2). Kensington Cozies. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781496742339. 288p. $27. MYSTERY

Agatha Award–winning Day (who also writes as Edith Maxwell) offers the second in the “Cece Barton Mysteries,” set in California’s wine country. Wine bar manager Cece investigates the death of an abusive man with help from her twin sister, who runs a B&B. There are plenty of suspects, but also kittens, wine, and scenery.

Johnson, Craig. Tooth and Claw: A Longmire Story. (A Longmire Mystery). Viking. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9780593834169. 208p. $25. MYSTERY

Bestseller Johnson (the “Longmire” series; also adapted on Netflix) offers a short holiday novel set in Alaska, featuring a baby polar bear and a young Walt and Henry, who are looking for work after returning home from the Vietnam War. They find it with an oil company, but there is danger on the tundra.

Laurie, Victoria. A Trinket for the Taking. Kensington Cozies. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781496742490. 304p. $27. MYSTERY

Psychic Laurie (author of the “Psychic Eye,” “Ghost Hunter,” and “Life Coach” series) offers a new cozy witch mystery featuring 200-year-old Dovey Van Dalen, whose job is retrieving magical artifacts from the human world. Her newest mission puts her in the path of the sexy FBI agent Gib Barlow.

Lynch, Christina. Pony Confidential. Berkley. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9780593640364. 384p. $28. MYSTERY

Lynch, a former editor at the Harvard Lampoon and the author of several historicals and thrillers, pens a cozy in which a pony serves as both narrator and detective when his former owner is accused of murder. The horse uses his smart and devious mind (and his cuteness) to identify the real killer.

Morita, Jennifer K. Ghosts of Waikiki. Crooked Lane. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781639109395. 288p. $29.99. MYSTERY

Morita, a former reporter for the Sacramento Bee, debuts with a mystery set in Hawai‘i, featuring Maya Wong, an out-of-work journalist, and her ex, Koa Yamada, a homicide detective. Maya has agreed to ghostwrite the biography of a land developer, only for him to die under suspicious circumstances. She is drawn into the case, facing assailants and finding clues.

Pham, Jacquie. Those Opulent Days. Atlantic Monthly. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9780802163806. 304p. $27. MYSTERY

Pham’s debut is set in 1920s French-occupied Vietnam and puts colonialism and wealth disparity on the suspect list. Best friends since childhood, Duy, Phong, Minh, and Edmond each now head their family’s businesses. They gather for an indulgent evening, but one of them does not live through the night—and any of the surviving three could be a killer.

Rowell, D. M. Silent Are the Dead. (Mud Sawpole, Bk. 2). Crooked Lane. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781639104994. 320p. $29.99. MYSTERY

Kiowa author and Mary Higgins Clark Award finalist Rowell offers a sequel to Never Name the Dead. On Kiowa tribal land, Mud Sawpole discovers an illegal fracking operation, a murder, and the theft of artifacts. She and her cousin Denny investigate, trying to figure it out before more people are killed, all while Mud tries to stay alive.

Straley, John. Big Breath In. Soho Crime. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781641296540. 198,765p. $28.95. MYSTERY

Shamus Award winner Straley (“Cecil Younger” series) writes an off-kilter standalone set across the Pacific Northwest. Retired marine biologist Delphine is facing her end when she sees a woman and child victimized and later discovers that the woman has disappeared. Delphine decides to mount a rescue with the help of friends and a queer biker gang.

WIlliams, Beatriz & others. The Author’s Guide to Murder. Morrow. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9780063259867. 416p. $30. MYSTERY

Bestselling novelists Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White team up to pen a locked-room literary satire mystery set in a Scottish castle. American Brett Saffron Presley, author extraordinaire, bought the castle to promote his brand and lure other writers there to partake of its glamour. When Presley ends up dead in the castle’s study, the suspects are three authors.

Forthcoming Series Titles

Bowen, Rhys. We Three Queens. (Royal Spyness Mystery, bk. 18). Berkley. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9780593641361. 384p. $28. MYSTERY

Connelly, Michael. The Waiting. (A Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch Novel, bk. 6). Little, Brown. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9780316563796. 400p. $30. MYSTERY

Driscoll, Sara. Summit’s Edge. (An FBI K-9 Novel, bk. 9). Kensington. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781496744005. 304p. $28. MYSTERY

Evanovich, Janet. Now or Never. (Stephanie Plum, bk. 31). Atria. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781668003138. 320p. $29.99. MYSTERY

Frost, Jacqueline. I’ll Be Home for Mischief. (A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery, bk. 5). Crooked Lane. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781639109067. 288p. $29.99. MYSTERY

Goldenbaum, Sally. The Herringbone Harbor Mystery. (Seaside Knitters Society, bk. 7). Crooked Lane. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781496747181. 304p. $27. MYSTERY

Lupica, Mike. Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property. (Spencer, bk. 52). Putnam. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9780593716137. 352p. $30. MYSTERY

Manansala, Mia P. Guilt and Ginataan. (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery, bk. 5). Berkley. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9780593549186. pbk. 304p. $19. MYSTERY

Reyes, Raquel V. Dominoes, Danzón, and Death. (A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery, bk. 4). Crooked Lane. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781639109043. 320p. $29.99. MYSTERY

Simpson, Rosemary. Death Takes the Lead. (A Gilded Age Mystery, bk. 9). Kensington. Nov. 2024. ISBN 9781496741073. 304p. $27. MYSTERY