This fall is going to be different than any other fall publishing season.  Publishers pushed back the date of publication for thousands of books when Covid-19 closed bookstores and sent people home in March.  This is currently resulting in a problem for printers who are overwhelmed and causing more delays.  So, if you are anxiously waiting for a book by your favorite author be prepared for printing and shipping delays. 

 

Mystery and crime readers already have gotten off to a good start with both Ruth Ware with “One by One” when a co-worker goes missing at a corporate retreat in the mountains and Louise Penny continuing her Inspector Gamache series with “All the Devils are Here.”  And that is but the tip of the iceberg for new mysteries this month. 

 

Alyssa Cole known for her historical romances ventures into the thriller genre with “When No One is Watching” about the gentrification of a Harlem neighborhood that reveals far more than real estate ventures.  Rachel Howzell Hall introduces a new private investigator tracking down a missing dog in “And Now She’s Gone.” 

 

Longmire returns with an art heist entry with “Next to Last Stand” by Craig Johnson while Wendy Walker’s “Don’t Look for Me” re-visits the missing mother trope.  Ann Cleeves’ Detective Vera Stanhope finds herself involved in the classic country house mystery in “The Darkest Evening.”   

 

Sophie Hannah continues the adventures of Hercule Poirot in “The Killings at Kingfisher Hill” while Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith’s “Make Them Cry” is described as a high-octane drug thriller. 

 

“The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes” by Elissa R. Sloan looks at a Spice Girls type group that finds fame and media attention but ends with murder. 

 

This brings us up to October with new mysteries/thrillers including: “Dear Child” by Romy Hausmann, “Invisible Girl” by Lisa Jewell, “The Searcher” by Tana French, “The Dirty South” by John Connolly, “The Unspoken” by Ian K. smith, “A Time for Mercy” by John Grisham, “Snow” by John Banville, and “The Sentinel” by Lee Child and Andrew Child. 

 

I found these titles on CrimeReads (just Google it) which covers all sorts of mysteries, thrillers, and true crime books past and present.  It is a great place to discover new possibilities, but remember this fall, no publication date is certain.