New Releases I’m Excited About: Early 2020 Mystery & Suspense

Hi friends! It’s time for a new season of new books! At the start of each new publishing season, I find myself buried a little deeper beneath my TBR pile (the term ‘pile’ is misleadingly small), and the early 2020 crop of new releases is positively magnificent. So long, all my hopes of ever catching up! lol. Today we’re looking at Early 2020 Mystery & Suspense New Releases – my favorite genre!! 🙂

Here is the schedule of posts for the week so you can zero in on your fave genre!

Monday: Contemporary Fiction (non-Amish & non-suspense)
Tuesday: Historical Fiction (non-Amish & non-suspense)
Wednesday: Amish Fiction
Thursday: Speculative & Youth
TODAY: Mystery/Suspense
Saturday: Non-Fiction

In my continued quest to streamline these posts and make them less overwhelming for me and for you too (because, sweet mercy, that’s a lot of covers and links in one place lol), I’m only selecting a few I’m most giddy about to spotlight here and then I’ll also include a link to my Goodreads shelf with ALL the books I’m excited about for early 2020. The shelves will stay up until next year.

spotlight on titles i’m most giddy about

THE GRAY CHAMBER
(True Colors #5)
Grace Hitchcock
Barbour / January 1, 2020

On Blackwell Island, New York, a hospital was built to keep its patients from ever leaving. With her late father’s fortune under her uncle’s care until her twenty-fifth birthday in the year 1887, Edyth Foster does not feel pressured to marry or to bow to society’s demands.  Finding a loophole in the will, though, her uncle whisks Edyth off to the women’s lunatic asylum just weeks before her birthday. At the asylum she meets another inmate, who upon discovering Edyth’s plight, confesses that she is Nellie Bly, an undercover journalist for The World. Will either woman find a way to leave the terrifying island and reclaim her true self?

TRAINED TO DEFEND
(K-9 Mountain Guardians #1)
Christy Barritt
Love Inspired Suspense / January 1, 2020

“Take Buzz and run. Far away…and don’t trust the police.” Framed for her boss’s murder, Sarah Peterson is on the run—with only her boss’s loyal husky, Buzz, for protection. To clear her name and keep her safe, she must rely on her ex-fiancé, former detective Colton Hawk. The police aren’t the only ones searching for Sarah and the brave dog…the real killer is on the hunt, determined to silence them for good.

END GAME
(Capital Intrigue #1)
Rachel Dylan
Bethany House / January 7, 2020

When elite members of the military are murdered on the streets of Washington, DC, FBI Special Agent Bailey Ryan and NCIS Special Agent Marco Agostini must work together to bring the perpetrator to justice. Unfortunately, all evidence points to a Navy SEAL sniper whom Bailey refuses to believe is guilty. With the stakes getting higher by the moment in a twisted conspiracy, there’s a rush against the clock to determine whom they can really trust.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE
(Danger Never Sleeps #1)
Lynette Eason
Revell / January 7, 2020

Honorably discharged from the Army after an explosion nearly killed her, former military psychiatrist Brooke Adams has set up shop to help others. Former Army Special Ops Sergeant First Class Asher James could handle anything that war sent his way–terrorists, bombs, bullets. The only thing that scares him now is sleep. As the shadows close in, the nightmares begin. Finally convinced that he needs help, Asher makes an appointment with a counselor, and Brooke is pressed by her boss to take him on. When he arrives at her office she isn’t there–but a dead body is. When it becomes clear that Brooke was the real target of the attack–and that her secrets go even deeper than his own–Asher vows to protect her no matter what.

DARK WATER
(Lantern Beach Blackout #1)
Christy Barritt
River Heights / January 28, 2020

Colton Locke can’t forget the black op that went terribly wrong. In an effort to heal and start again, he moves to Lantern Beach, NC. Working with his new team offers him hope for his future, but when the wife of his deceased best friend shows up asking for help, he knows he can’t refuse to revisit his past. Soon, it becomes clear that someone wants Elise dead. Is it because she knows too much? Or is it to keep her from finding out the truth?

COLD CASE CONNECTION
(Roughwater Ranch Cowboys #3)
Dana Mentink
Love Inspired Suspense / February 1, 2020

Hunting down old leads puts a murderer on their trail. Convinced his sister’s death wasn’t an accident, private investigator Sergio Ross is determined to catch her killer. But with all the clues hinting at a connection to another unsolved murder, he has to join forces with Helen Pike—a woman linked to both deaths—to find the truth. Can they follow the cold evidence trail to get justice…before they become the next victims?

BELINDA BLAKE & THE BIRDS OF A FEATHER
(Exotic Pet-Sitter Mystery #3)
Heather Day Gilbert
Lyrical Press / February 4, 2020

When exotic pet–sitter Belinda Blake starts pecking at the details of a suspicious accident in her sleepy hometown, she inadvertently digs up a murder case that won’t be solved without ruffling a few feathers . . .At first, the gruesome demise of Jackson Hait appears to be a random tragedy. But Belinda quickly uncovers connections to a tight-knit group of friends and a similar death three years earlier . . . one that wasn’t as accidental as it seemed. Now, Belinda must pluck the truth from a tangled nest of lies before a cruel killer takes wing.

ON THE LAMB
(Kebab Kitchen Mystery #4)
Tina Kashian
Kensington / February 25, 2020

Lucy Berberian is busy preparing her family’s Mediterranean restaurant for Easter on the Jersey Shore–but a batch of sweets is to die for . . .Bikers are thundering into the seaside town of Ocean Crest for the annual Bikers on the Beach gathering that raises funds for injured veterans. It’s a big boost for the Kebab Kitchen, as well as for local businesses like Melanie Haven’s candy shop. But Melanie is about to find herself in a sticky situation.

THE BLUE CLOAK
(True Colors #6)
Shannon McNear
Barbour / March 1, 2020

Based on real events beginning in 1797 — Rachel Taylor lives a rather mundane existence at the way station her family runs along the Wilderness Road in Tennessee. She attends her friend’s wedding only to watch it dissolve in horror has the groom, Wiley Harpe, and his cousin become murderers on the run, who drag their families along. Declaring a “war on all humanity,” the Harpes won’t be stopped, and Ben Langford is on their trail to see if his own cousin was one of their latest victims. How many will die before peace can return to the frontier?

KILLER HARVEST
Tanya Stowe
Love Inspired Suspense / March 1, 2020

Can she stop a deadly crop virus from ending up in the wrong hands? Biologist and single mom Sassa Nilsson just witnessed her mentor’s brutal murder by environmental extremists. Now she’s the last link to a deadly pathogen they plan on unleashing—and their number one target! But can handsome border patrol agent Jared De Luca shield Sassa and her baby long enough to find a cure…before the entire world faces the unthinkable consequences?

ONE LITTLE LIE
(Pelican Harbor #1)
Colleen Coble
Thomas Nelson / March 3, 2020

When Jane Hardy is appointed interim sheriff in Pelican Harbor, Alabama, after her father retires, there’s no time for an adjustment period. He is arrested for theft and then implicated in a recent murder, and Jane quickly realizes she’s facing someone out to destroy her father. Reid Bechtol is a well-known journalist who makes documentaries, and his sights are currently set on covering Jane’s career. Jane finds herself depending on Reid’s calm manner as he follows her around taping his documentary, and they begin working together to clear her father. But Reid has his own secrets from the past, and the gulf between them may be impossible to cross.

KINGS FALLING
(The Book of the Wars #2)
Ronie Kendig
Bethany House / March 31, 2020

Leif Metcalfe and his team, dubbed Reaper, need to recover the stolen, ancient Book of the Wars if they hope to stop the Armageddon Coalition and their pursuit of global economic control. But their attention has been diverted by a prophecy in the book that foretells of formidable guardians who will decimate the enemies of ArC. While Iskra Todorova uses her connections in the covert underworld to hunt down the Book of the Wars, Leif and Reaper attempt to neutralize these agents but quickly find themselves outmaneuvered and outgunned.

DEAD END
(Kaely Quinn Profiler #3)
Nancy Mehl
Bethany House / March 31, 2020

When a body is discovered in a field in Iowa, the police uncover fourteen additional corpses ranging from 20 years old to recent. The remains point to a serial killer with an MO the authorities have seen before–Ed Oliphant, a man who has been in prison for over 20 years . . . and is Special Agent Kaely Quinn’s father. Kaely’s always refused to confront her past, but if she wants to prevent any more deaths, she must come face-to-face with the man she’s hated for years. Will this most personal case yet cost Kaely her identity and perhaps even her life?

SILENT SHADOWS
(Harbored Secrets #3)
Natalie Walters
Revell / March 31, 2020

Pecca Gallegos moved to the tiny town of Walton, Georgia, to protect her son and escape the dangerous lifestyle that once defined her. When a series of strange circumstances evolve into threats, Pecca finds herself confiding in an unlikely ally–her stubborn patient. Army veteran Colton Crawford is desperate to recover from the undiagnosed disorder that is ruining his life, and his instincts are on high alert when threats against his nurse and her son force him to take action. But Colton’s involvement only ramps up the danger when he uncovers a family secret revealing that whoever is after Pecca is closer–and more deadly–than they realized.

FLIGHT RISK
Cara Putman
Thomas Nelson / April 7, 2020

Savannah Daniels has worked hard to build her law practice, to surround herself with good friends, and to be the loyal aunt her troubled niece can always count on. But since her ex-husband’s betrayal, she has trouble trusting anyone. Jett Glover’s father committed suicide over a false newspaper report that ruined his reputation. Now a fierce champion of truth, Jett is writing the story of his journalism career—an international sex-trafficking exposé that will bring down a celebrity baseball player and the men closest to him, including Savannah’s ex-husband.

PULP FRICTION
(A Cider Shop Mystery #2)
Julie Anne Lindsey
Kensington / April 28, 2020

Thanks to Winnie’s new cider shop, Smythe Orchards is out of the red and folks can get their fix of the produce and other delectable products they love all year round. The locals are even booking the shop for events, including a June wedding! Winnie couldn’t be happier to see the barn filled to the rafters for the big bash—until her doting ex, Hank, is caught in a heated argument with the groom. Winnie plans to scold Hank after the party, but spots him running off instead. And when the groom turns up dead, apparently hit by the honeymoon getaway car, Hank is the main suspect. Now Hank is on the lam, and it’s up to Winnie to get to the core of the truth—before the real killer puts the squeeze on her . . .

my goodreads shelf (2020 mystery & Suspense releases)

Books not on Goodreads yet

Guardian by Sara Davison – February
Song in the Dark by Jessica White – March
Lost Down Deep by Sara Davison – April
A Latte Difficulty by Angela Ruth Strong – April

my fave covers?

What about you? Which Early 2020 Mystery & Suspense New Releases did you add from my Goodreads shelf to yours? Which covers are your favorites?

If you don’t see your book mentioned here or in my goodreads list, I apologize! It’s impossible to keep up with all the books LOL! Please feel free to leave your release info for Christian / clean fiction in the comments ?