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

Hi reader friends! We’re continuing our week-long preview of the fabulous books releasing from September-December 2020. Today we’re looking at my fave genre – Late 2020 Mystery & Suspense New Releases.

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

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

Check out Wednesday’s post for the lowdown on how this works.

Can someone please figure out how to give me about 24 extra hours in each day for reading all of these? K, thanks.

spotlight on titles i’m most giddy about

(there are so many. i’m not even sorry.)

TREACHEROUS MOUNTAIN INVESTIGATION
Stephanie M. Gammon
Love Inspired Suspense / September 1, 2020

Years ago, Elizabeth Hart took down a human trafficking ring in the Rocky Mountains with a single blog post—and now someone wants revenge. But her ex-fiancé, Officer Riggen Price, won’t let anyone hurt her or his newly discovered son. With the threats only escalating, can Liz trust the man who broke her heart…and live to give their family a second chance?

THE HAUNTING AT BONAVENTURE CIRCUS
Jaime Jo Wright
Bethany House / September 1, 2020

1928 – The Bonaventure Circus is a refuge for many, but Pippa Ripley was rejected from its inner circle as a baby. When she receives mysterious messages from someone called the “Watchman,” she is determined to find him and the connection to her birth. As Pippa’s search leads her to a man seeking justice for his murdered sister and evidence that a serial killer has been haunting the circus train, she must decide if uncovering her roots is worth putting herself directly in the path of the killer. Present Day – The old circus train depot will either be torn down or preserved for historical importance, and its future rests on real estate project manager Chandler Faulk’s shoulders. As she dives deep into the depot’s history, she’s also balancing a newly diagnosed autoimmune disease and the pressures of single motherhood. When she discovers clues to the unsolved murders of the past, Chandler is pulled into a story far darker and more haunting than even an abandoned train depot could portend.

LITTLE BOOKSHOP OF MURDER
(A Beach Reads Mystery #1)
Maggie Blackburn
Crooked Lane Books / September 8, 2020

Summer Merriweather’s career as a Shakespeare professor hangs by a bookbinder’s thread. Academic life at her Virginia university is a viper’s pit, so Summer spends her summer in England, researching a scholarly paper that, with any luck, will finally get her published, impress the Dean, and save her job. But her English idyll ends when her mother, Hildy, shuffles off her mortal coil from an apparent heart attack. Returning to Brigid’s Island, NC, for the funeral, Summer is impatient to settle the estate, sell her mom’s embarrassingly romance-themed bookstore, Beach Reads, and go home. But as she drops by Beach Reads, Summer finds threatening notes addressed to Hildy: “Sell the bookstore or die.” The police insist there’s not enough evidence to launch a murder investigation. Instead, Summer and her Aunt Agatha screw their courage to the sticking place and start sleuthing, with the help of Hildy’s beloved book club.

CHECKED OUT FOR MURDER
(Haunted Library Mystery #4)
Allison Brook
Crooked Lane Books / September 8, 2020

Daphne Marriott strolls into Clover Ridge and informs librarian Carrie Singleton that she’s a psychic. But had she foreseen what fate awaited her, Daphne would have steered clear of the quaint Connecticut town. Evelyn, the library ghost, tells Carrie that there’s more to Daphne than she lets on. The mysterious woman grew up in Clover Ridge with her no-good dad, who apparently met his end at the hands of Daphne’s brother, Billy. When Daphne is found dead soon after at a meet-and-greet with moviemakers filming locally, Carrie and Evelyn investigate, assisted by bushy-tailed library cat Smoky Joe. But the suspect list could overflow the library shelves. Has Billy killed another relative? Is their long-missing mother involved? Or Daphne’s mean ex-husband? Carrie’s sure she knows who committed the crime, but can she bind together the clues before the culprit Dewey-decimates the town?

TWO REASONS TO RUN
(Pelican Harbor #2)
Colleen Coble
Thomas Nelson / September 8, 2020

Police Chief Jane Hardy is still reeling from the scandal that rocked her small-town department just as she took over for her retired father—the man who wrecked her life with one little lie. Now she’s finally been reunited with her presumed-dead fifteen-year-old son, Will, and his father, documentarian Reid Bechtol. When a murder aboard the oil platform Zeus exposes an environmental terrorist’s plot to flood Mobile Bay with crude oil, Jane and Reid must put their feelings for each other behind them and work together to prevent the rig from being sabotaged. Then the terrorist puts her son Will’s life on the line. Protecting him could be the common ground they need . . . but then ghosts from the past threaten to ruin Jane and Reid for good. 

UNDEFEATED
(Against All Odds #1)
C.D. Gill
September 9, 2020

You’re innocent, but you just spent 5 years in jail. Would you be okay with never learning the truth? Former soccer coach Xander Reinerman barely made it out of prison alive with scars and panic attacks as souvenirs. Five years ago, someone framed him for steroid sales and drugging his university soccer players. Now he’s out to show the world especially his family that he isn’t the monster the media made him out to be. After Golden’s philanthropist Gia Carter offers shelter to the mysterious dark-haired stranger in town, her life begins to unravel at breakneck speed. Someone’s out to ruin her and they won’t stop until she’s headed back to her parents in a body bag.

MURDER, FORGOTTEN
Deb Richardson-Moore
Lion Fiction / September 18, 2020

Julianna Burke, bestselling mystery novelist, has a secret that those closest to her are hiding from the world. Julianna is losing her memory, and with it her powerful gift for storytelling that propelled her to fame. A further devastating blow comes when Connor, Julianna’s beloved husband, is murdered. Even this is not something Julianna’s mind can hold on to, and every day her assistant has to break the heart-wrenching news all over again. Julianna is desperate to know what happened to her husband. As she battles her failing mind to investigate, a detail of the murder surfaces that makes Julianna question everything she’s ever known. Somehow she must fight to find the truth, even though her grip on reality is fading…

DEATH BY BAGPIPES
(Travel Can Be Murder #4)
Jennifer S. Alderson
Traveling Life Press / September 18, 2020

When a trip to Scotland ends in tragedy, travel guide Lana Hansen must sleuth out who murdered her guest before she ends up paying the piper. Lana hasn’t seen her ex-husband, Ron, since their divorce was finalized eight months earlier. So when they bump into each on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, she is not exactly jumping for joy. To make matters worse, Ron threatens a member of her tour group—a beloved and respected magician named Presto! The Amazing. Ron is convinced Presto stole one of his magic tricks—the same act that propelled the famous magician into stardom—and swears he will get his revenge. After Presto is scared to death by a group of well-meaning bagpipers, the police suspect he was first poisoned—and that Ron is the culprit! When another guest is murdered, Lana must decide how far she is willing to go to save the man who broke her heart.

SHE KNOWS HER GOD
(Asia Bancroft #1)
Joy Ohagwu
Life Fountain Books / September 22, 2020

Asia Powers, a small-town girl with big dreams and secrets of her own, founded Missing But Treasured Inc. with one goal—to find women like her who were taken from their place of safety. Traveling overseas to find a missing only daughter sets a dangerous criminal hot on her trail. Caught in the thick web of international trafficking, and confronting more than one dangerous enemy, she is given a single warning: Not to return home if she wants to live. Will she comply?

SALTWATER COWBOY
(Saltwater Cowboys #1)
Christy Barritt
River Heights / September 22, 2020

When a mysterious woman washes up in Cape Corral, a wild horse sanctuary off North Carolina’s coast, law enforcement officer Levi Sutherland is determined to figure out if she’s connected with the crimes recently plaguing the island. The problem is, she can’t remember anything . . .

MISTLETOE, MOUSSAKA & MURDER
(A Kebab Kitchen Mystery #5)
Tina Kashian
Kensington / September 29, 2020

Not even her impending nuptials can keep Lucy Berberian, manager of her family-owned Kebab Kitchen, from the Jersey Shore’s annual Polar Bear Plunge. But her dive into the icy ocean is especially chilling when she finds a fellow swimmer doing the dead man’s float–for real . . . When Lucy learns the victim is Deacon Spooner, the reception hall owner who turned up his nose–and his price–at her wedding plans, she can’t help wondering who wouldn’t kill the pompous caterer. Perhaps the culprit is the wedding cake baker whose career Deacon nearly destroyed? Or the angry bride whose reception he ruined? With her maid of honor, Katie, busily planning Lucy’s wedding without her, Lucy will have to get to the bottom of this cold-hearted business in time for Kebab Kitchen’s mouthwatering Christmas celebration–and before her hometown’s holiday spirit washes out to sea . . .

THE RED RIBBON
(True Colors)
Pepper Basham
Barbour / October 1, 2020

In Carroll County, a corn shucking is the social event of the season, until a mischievous kiss leads to one of the biggest tragedies in Virginia history. Ava Burcham isn’t your typical Blue Ridge Mountain girl. She has a bad habit of courtin’ trouble, and her curiosity has opened a rift in the middle of a feud between politicians and would-be outlaws, the Allen family. Ava’s tenacious desire to find a story worth reporting may land her and her best friend, Jeremiah Sutphin, into more trouble than either of them planned. ​The end result? The Hillsville Courthouse Massacre of 1912.

COLD CASE PURSUIT
(True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn #7)
Dana Mentink
Love Inspired Suspense / October 1, 2020

Decades after her parents’ murders, Penelope McGregor’s grateful the killer’s finally been identified—until he comes after her. Now Detective Tyler Walker and his K-9 partner, Dusty, must protect Penelope and catch the culprit…while making sure his little girl stays out of the crosshairs. But can the single father outplay a killer whose endgame will leave no one safe?

A DEATH LONG OVERDUE
(Lighthouse Library Mystery #7)
Eva Gates
Crooked Lane Books / October 6, 2020

It’s summertime in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Bertie James’s college class is having their 40th anniversary reunion. The opening night reception is held at the Lighthouse Library and Lucy and her colleagues have assembled an exhibit of library artifacts showing how libraries have changed over the years. After the reception, some of the women take a walk down the boardwalk to the pier, using flashlights to illuminate the dark path, but what’s scarier than the dark is finding the former director of the Lighthouse Library floating lifeless in the water. Helena Sanchez, the former director, wasn’t much loved and spent the party being rude to almost everyone there. As a result, Lucy finds herself in deep water as she rocks the boat, questioning several suspects. But she’ll have to batten down the hatches and fast before she’s left high and dry…and right in the killer’s crosshairs.

EVERYWHERE TO HIDE
Siri Mitchell
Thomas Nelson / October 6, 2020

Law school graduate Whitney Garrison is a survivor. She admirably deals with an abusive boyfriend, her mother’s death, mounting student debt, dwindling job opportunities, and a rare neurological condition that prevents her from recognizing human faces. But witnessing a murder might be the crisis she can’t overcome. Though Whitney saw the killer, she has no idea what he looks like. He knows where she lives and works. He anticipates her every move. Worst of all, he’s hiding in plain sight and believes she has information he needs. As the hunter drives his prey into a net of terror and international intrigue, Whitney’s only ally, Detective Leo Baroni, is taken off the case. Stripped of all semblance of safety, Whitney must suspect everyone and trust no one—and hope to come out alive.

BACKLASH
(Capital Intrigue #2)
Rachel Dylan
Bethany House / October 6, 2020

CIA analyst Layla Karam is thrust into a dangerous DEA field operation against a cartel that puts a target on her back. Though Layla never wanted to be a field agent, Langley had other ideas. After one of her team members is murdered because of fallout from the op, Layla is left scrambling to find safety. At the same time, the CIA opens up an internal investigation against her. Out of options, Layla turns to ex-boyfriend and private investigator Hunter McCoy for help finding out who might want to ruin her career. Layla and Hunter soon discover a mole inside the DEA has sold out the team’s identity to the cartel. She must clear her name with the Agency and protect herself and her teammates from cartel retaliation. With threats on all sides, Layla must put her trust in Hunter–the man who broke her heart–and hope they both come out of it alive.

MISTLETOE AND MURDER
Various Authors (see description below)
October 6, 2020

Danger and suspense await you this Christmas season in Mistletoe and Murder: A Christmas Suspense Collection featuring 10 individual tales of suspense from some of today’s most talented Christian Suspense authors. Come with us on a heart-racing journey through the holidays as USA Today, Christian Booksellers Association, and ECPA Bestselling authors Mary Alford, Adam Blumer, Liz Bradford, Vicki Hinze, Shaen Layle, Loree Lough, Nancy Mehl, Cara Putman, Lynn Shannon, and Virginia Vaughan, weave tales of suspense that will have you flipping pages well into the new year.

THE PRICE OF VALOR
(Global Search & Rescue #3)
Susan May Warren
Revell / October 6, 2020

Former Navy SEAL Hamilton Jones thought that the love of his life was dead. But when a girl claiming to be his daughter shows up with a dire message from his wife, Ham knows he will stop at nothing to find her and bring her home. Kidnapped by rebels while serving as an interpreter in Ukraine, Signe Kincaid has spent the past decade secreting out valuable information about Russian assets in the US to her CIA handler. Fearing for her daughter after being discovered as an operative, Signe sends her to Ham for safekeeping. She’s ready to give her life for her country, and she can hardly expect Ham to rescue her after breaking his heart over and over. When Ham discovers the reason Signe has kept her distance, he must choose between love for his wife and love for the nation he has vowed to protect. Will he save the many? Or the few?

POINT OF DANGER
(Triple Threat #1)
Irene Hannon
Revell / October 6, 2020

Radio talk show host Eve Reilly is used to backlash from her pot-stirring on-air commentary and interviews, but now it seems a disgruntled listener is resorting to more than angry words to express their displeasure. When a suspicious package arrives on her doorstep, Eve turns to law enforcement for help. Police detective Brent Lange can’t find any evidence to link the string of unsettling incidents that follows, but he’s convinced they’re connected. As the harassment grows more menacing, it becomes clear someone wants Eve’s voice silenced–permanently. But unless he can track down her foe, fast, the gutsy woman who is willing to take risks for what she believes–and who is swiftly winning his heart–may not survive.

DANGEROUS DECEPTIONS
Various Authors (see description below)
October 13, 2020

Lives…and hearts…are on the line in eight brand-new Christian Romantic Suspense novels from the genre’s most explosive authors. Lethal Outbreak: Lisa Harris & Lynne Gentry. Collision Course: Elizabeth Goddard. Glimmer in the Darkness: Robin Patchen. Expired Plot: Lisa Phillips. Ice: Lynnette Bonner. Never A Traitor: Jan Thompson. Ben in Love: Luana Ehrlich. Liar Like Her: D.L. Wood

THE SOUND OF FALLING LEAVES
Lisa Carter
Kregel / October 20, 2020

After aspiring opera singer Tessa loses her voice in a fire, she needs both a place to heal and a way to keep music in her life. She retreats to her aunt’s apple orchard in rural North Carolina to collect folk ballads. But amid the autumn splendor of this isolated Appalachian community, she uncovers an unnerving connection between a murder case and a long-ago disappearance. Tessa gets a glimpse into an almost-forgotten world, encounters a corrupt, small-town political dynasty, and finds superstition and prejudice at every turn. She’s also drawn to Zeke, the handsome but enigmatic orchard caretaker, who shows her that mountain justice is neither impartial nor just. But battling a conspiracy of silence, Tessa isn’t sure if she can trust him. Yet somewhere in the mists of the Blue Ridge Mountains, evil lurks, and a killer is determined to keep the past where it belongs–dead and buried.

FAIR TRADE
(Barks & Beans Cafe Mystery #3)
Heather Day Gilbert
Woodhaven Press / October 27, 2020

With the one-year anniversary of the now-successful Barks & Beans Cafe approaching, siblings Macy and Bo Hatfield set up an iced coffee booth at the state fair. Taking a break from brewing, Macy bumps into Carolina, a long-lost childhood friend who’s now sitting pretty as a country superstar. Macy tries not to fangirl too hard when her old friend extends an invitation to meet the rest of the Carolina Crush band before their opening show. But when Carolina falls victim to not one, but two near-death experiences, Macy takes it upon herself to find out who has it in for her old friend. Fortified with plenty of roasted corn, cinnamon rolls, and her brother’s signature iced maple latte, Macy takes to the Ferris wheel to get the lay of the land from the air. She discovers too late that this year’s fair isn’t all fun and games…but she’s already locked in for the ride.

GRAVE CHRISTMAS SECRETS
Sharee Stover
Love Inspired Suspense / November 1, 2020

At a prehistoric site, forensic anthropologist Taya McGill uncovers a recently buried body days before Christmas—and finds herself in a killer’s sights. Now on the run with undercover ATF agent Keegan Stryker, she must rely on him to guard her as they figure out why someone would kill to keep this murder unsolved. But can they unearth the truth before someone silences them both for good?

THE ESCAPE
(US Marshals #1)
Lisa Harris
Revell / November 3, 2020

US Marshals Madison James and Jonas Quinn are thrust into a high-profile case when they are called on to transport two prisoners across the country on a private plane. But when the plane experiences engine trouble en route from the Pacific Northwest to Colorado, the pilots crash-land the aircraft deep in the heart of the sprawling Salmon-Challis National Forest.  When Madison and Jonas regain consciousness, they find both pilots and one prisoner dead–and one fugitive on the run. They’ll have to negotiate the rugged and remote backcountry through Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado while tracking a murderer who is desperate to disappear–and will do anything to stop them.

SOUL RAGING
(The Book of the Wars #3)
Ronie Kendig
Bethany House / November 3, 2020

Sometimes, the only hope is the enemy. Leif Metcalfe is done waiting for answers and seizes control, a move that comes with a high price and a deadly risk: teaming up with the enemy. He can only hope that what he uncovers will heal the wounds he’s inflicted on those he loves.  Iskra Todorova believes Leif is on a collision course with death and knows firsthand the irrevocable cost of that path to the soul. While trying to protect her daughter and intervene with Leif, Iskra is forced to set her sights on the man behind the evil organization ArC–Ciro Veratti. Torn apart by injuries and opposing views on how to handle Leif’s act of treachery, team Reaper hunts one of their own. The only thing they agree on is not stopping but starting the final battle prophesied in the Book of the Wars.

NIGHT FALL
(Nighthawk Security #1)
Susan Sleeman
November 4, 2020

Olympic downhill skier, Harper Young, knows what it’s like to look danger in the face. After all, she does it every time she races down a ski slope. She’s fine with that danger and even excels under the pressure, winning Olympic gold. And as a governor’s daughter, she’s familiar with receiving threats from the general public. But when a stalker turns his sights on Harper, she possesses zero skills to protect herself. Former Navy SEAL and ATF Agent, Aiden Byrd of Nighthawk Security is well versed in protection skills and knows the dangers she faces. Problem is, there’s an instant attraction between Aiden and Harper, and Aiden has to fight hard to remain professional. As the stalker grows bolder and tries to end Harper’s life, Aiden’s only hope in keeping her safe is to deny his feelings. Something that borders on impossible.

BURYING DAISY DOE
(Star Cavanaugh Cold Case #1)
Ramona Richards
Kregel / November 17, 2020

Every small town has one unsolved case that haunts its memory, festering for generations below the surface with the truth of humanity’s darkness. Star Cavanaugh is obsessed with the one that tore her family apart. Over sixty years ago, Daisy Doe was murdered and discarded outside Pineville, Alabama, buried without a name or anyone to mourn her loss. When Star’s father tried to solve the case, he was also killed. Now a cold-case detective with resources of her own, Star is determined to get to the bottom of both crimes. But she’ll have to face an entire town locked in corruption, silence, and fear–and the same danger that took two other lives. The only people in town she can trust are her grandmother and the charming Mike Luinetti, and both of them trust a God Star isn’t sure she believes in. Can Christians so focused on the good really help her track down this evil?

FISHING FOR TROUBLE
(Alaskan Diner Mystery #2)
Elizabeth Logan
Berkley / November 24, 2020

Summer has come to Elkview, Alaska, bringing twenty hours of sunlight every day, not to mention a surge of tourists and seasonal workers. Chef Charlie Cooke is eager for a busy yet relaxing season, but when a young man working a summer job at the local fish processing plant dies moments after walking into the Bear Claw Diner, she’s quickly swept into the investigation. Soon, through her best friend Annie Jensen, Charlie learns that another student worker at J and M Processing has disappeared, leaving more questions and fewer answers. The near-endless sunlight gives plenty of time to search for clues, but Charlie will have to work with Annie and local reporter Chris Doucette to net the killer before anyone else gets hurt.

THE GOLD DIGGER
(True Colors)
Liz Tolsma
Barbour / December 1, 2020

In 1907, shy but loyal Ingrid Storset travels from Norway to support her grieving sister, Belle Gunness, who owns a farm in LaPorte, Indiana. Well-to-do widow Belle, who has lost two husbands and several children, provides Ingrid with enough money to start a small business. But Ingrid is confused by the string of men Belle claims to be interviewing for her next husband. When Nils Lindherud comes to town looking for his missing brother, who said he was going to marry Belle, Ingrid has a sinking feeling her sister is up to no good.

DEATH BY FOUNTAIN
(Travel Can Be Murder #5)
Jennifer S. Alderson
Traveling Life Press / December 18, 2020

Wedding bells are ringing, and Lana Hansen could not be happier! Wanderlust Tours guide Randy Wright and his Italian girlfriend are tying the knot in Tuscany, right after he and Lana finish leading a Christmas-themed tour around Rome. Unfortunately for Randy, his ex-girlfriend is still convinced they are meant to be together. When she tracks him down in Saint Peter’s Square, they have a nasty fight, and Randy threatens to harm her if she doesn’t leave him be. After her body is found in the Trevi Fountain, Randy is immediately arrested. Lana is convinced he didn’t do it, yet none of her other guests seemed to have wished the young women ill. With a shortage of suspects, Lana must dig deep in order to sleuth out who really killed Randy’s ex-girlfriend—before his visit to the Eternal City becomes permanent.

add these to your wish list

all the new releases by each separate month
(amazon affiliate links used)

Books i want to read that aren’t up yet

Deadly Connection by Jennifer Pierce (October)
Phoebe’s Christmas by Sydney Betts (October)
Forgiven Again by Gina Holder (November)
Laurel’s Wish by Mary Vee (November)

my fave covers?

What about you? Which Late 2020 Mystery & Suspense New Releases are you most anxious to read? Which covers are your favorites?

If you don’t see your book mentioned here or in my goodreads/amazon lists, 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.