Santa and Company 

Author: Fern Michaels

When longtime friends Amy, Frankie, Rachael, and Nina reunited for a holiday singles cruise, it not only deepened their bond, it changed their lives. Now they're getting together for another adventure, and what better winter setting than a fabulous ski lodge? Even in this unlikely spot, it seems there's no way to avoid their pasts. And as the mischievous Rachael and her sidekick Amy go to great lengths to patch up old friendships and spread the spirit of the season, the New Year may contain all kinds of new beginnings.

Tom Lake 

Author: Ann Patchett

In the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theatre company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Christmas Presents

By: Unger, Lisa.

Instead of presents this Christmas, a true crime podcaster is opening up a cold case... Madeline Martin has built a life for herself as the young owner of a thriving business, The Next Chapter Bookshop, despite her tragic childhood and now needing to care for her infirm father. When Harley Granger, a failed novelist turned true crime podcaster, drifts into her shop in the days before Christmas, he seems intent on digging up events that Madeline would much rather forget. She's the only surviving victim of Evan Handy, the man who was convicted of murdering her best friend Steph, and is suspected in the disappearance of two sisters, also good friends of Madeline's, who have been missing for nearly a decade. It's an investigation that has obsessed her father Sheriff James Martin right up until his stroke took his faculties. Harley Granger has a gift for seeing things that others miss. He wasn't much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth--and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed--and some want reopened. And he has a lot of questions about the night Stephanie Cramer was killed, Ainsley and Sam Wallace disappeared, and Madeline Martin was left for dead, bleeding out on a riverbank. Since Evan Handy went to jail, three other young women have gone missing, most recently a young college dropout named Lolly. Five young women missing in the same area in a decade. Are they connected? Was Evan Handy innocent after all? Or was there some else there that night? Someone who is still satisfying his dark appetites? As Christmas approaches and a blizzard bears down, Madeline and her childhood friend Badger return to a past they both hoped was dead--to find the missing Lolly and to answer questions that have haunted them both, discovering that the truth is more terrible and much closer to home than they think. Coupling a picturesque, cozy setting with a deeply unsettling suspenseful plot, Christmas Presents is a chilling seasonal novella that can be enjoyed all year long.

A Christmas Vanishing

By: Perry, Anne.

Charlotte Pitt's clever grandmother investigates the sudden disappearance of her dear friend in this chilling holiday whodunit by New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry. Mariah Ellison, Charlotte Pitt's grandmother, accepts her longtime friend Sadie's gracious invitation to spend Christmas with her and her husband, Barton, in their picturesque village. But upon arrival, Mariah discovers that Sadie has vanished without a trace, and Barton rudely rescinds the invitation. Once Mariah finds another acquaintance to stay with during the holiday season, she begins investigating Sadie's disappearance. Mariah's uncanny knack for solving mysteries serves her well during her search, which is driven by gossip as icy as the December weather. Did Sadie run off with another man? Was she kidnapped? Has someone harmed her? Frustratingly, Mariah's questions reveal more about the villagers themselves than about her friend's whereabouts. Yet in the process of getting to know Sadie's neighbors, Mariah finds a kind of redemption, as she rediscovers her kinder side, and her ability to love. It is up to Mariah to master her own feelings, drown out the noise, and get to the bottom of what occurred, all before Christmas day. With the holiday rapidly approaching, will she succeed in bringing Sadie home in time for them to celebrate it together--or is that too much to hope for?

None of This Is True 

Author: Lisa Jewell

Popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Josie has been listening to Alix's podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix's life - and into her home.

Twas the Bite Before Christmas An Andy Carpenter Mystery.

By: Rosenfelt, David.

Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter is at the Tara Foundation's annual Christmas party. The dog rescue organization has always been his true calling, and this is one holiday tradition he can get behind because every dog that's come through the rescue--and their families--are invited to celebrate. This year's party is no exception. But before the stockings can be hung by the chimney with care, homicide detectives ruin the evening. Derek Moore, one of the foundation's best foster volunteers, is arrested for murder. Andy discovers Derek--whose real name is Bobby--is in the witness protection program after giving evidence against his former gang. The police believe Bobby murdered a member. But Bobby swears to Andy he didn't do this. He's built a new life, a new business, has two new dogs after being a double foster-failure. There isn't much Andy likes about this case, but he likes Bobby. If he's innocent, Andy wants to help. Before Andy can settle down for his long winter's nap, he has a client's name to clear, a murderer to catch, and two new dogs to look after: a golden and a Dalmatian. Andy's golden retriever, Tara, will have to adjust to not being the only golden at the house while Andy gets to the bottom of this one...

The Bone Hacker : A Temperance Brennan Novel 

Author: Kathy Reichs

Called in to examine what is left of a body struck by lightning, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan traces an unusual tattoo to its source and is soon embroiled in a much larger case. Young men - tourists - have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos for years. Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands' seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn't so sure. And then she turns up disturbing clues that what's at stake may actually have global significance.

A Bird in the Hand : A George and Molly Palmer-Jones Mystery  

Author: Ann Cleeves

One of the best birders in England, young Tom French is found dead. Everyone liked him. George Palmer-Jones, an elderly birdwatcher who decides quietly to look into the brutal crime, discovers mixed feelings aplenty. But as he and his fellow "twitchers" flock from Norfolk to Scotland to the Scilly Isles in response to rumours of rare sightings, George - with help from his lovely wife, Molly - gradually discerns the true markings of a killer. All he has to do is prove it - before the murderer strikes again.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas

By: Wiggs, Susan.

Brenda Malloy wants nothing to do with Christmas ever again. Last year, Brenda and her husband rushed their beloved dog Tim to the emergency vet on Christmas eve. The good news: Tim survived after the vet cleared the obstruction--a pair of women's lace undies. The bad news: the undies were not Brenda's. A year after the breakup, Brenda has put her life back together. She's trained for a marathon, is writing a children's novel, and she's found purpose and healing as a volunteer with a dog rescue organization in Houston, Texas. The rescue partners with a program in Avalon, New York--a small, snowy town deep in the Catskills. Now Brenda is arranging the transport of rescued dogs from Houston to Avalon--just in time for a merry Christmas with their forever families. Brenda's friends worry about her driving a van two thousand miles with twelve dogs in crates, but she shrugs off their concern. How hard can it be? She knows the way, and she's just looking to escape the Christmas overload for a while. But a blinding snowstorm, an escaped mutt, and a life-saving encounter with Adam Bellamy--a single dad and paramedic--means Brenda has to stay in Avalon longer than she planned. As she drops off each precious pup at their new homes, some of the comfort and joy of the season begins to creep up on Brenda despite her determination to avoid the holidays. Perhaps you can bring Christmas into your heart after all...if you have the right furry friends to guide the way.

After Death 

Author: Dean Koontz

Michael Mace, head of security at a top-secret research facility, opens his eyes in a makeshift morgue twenty-four hours following an event in which everyone perished. Having awakened with an extraordinary ability unlike anything he - or anyone else - has ever imagined, Michael is capable of being as elusive as a ghost. Meanwhile, the Internal Security Agency's most vicious assassin, Durand Calaphas, will stop at nothing to get his man. If Michael dies twice, he will not live a third time.

Lion and Lamb 

Author: James Patterson & Duane Swierczynski

Philadelphia is in a state of shock over the fate of two hometown heroes: Eagles starting quarterback Archie Hughes, and his even more famous wife, Grammy-winning singer Francine Hughes. One spouse is murdered. The other is the prime suspect. Veena Lion and Cooper Lamb are rival PIs working the same intense headline-making case. Between them, they know every secret in Philadelphia. Together, they prove how two wrongs can make a right.

Dead Mountain : A Nora Kelly Thriller 

Author: Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

In 2008, nine mountaineers failed to return from a winter backpacking trip in the New Mexico mountains. At their last campsite, searchers found a bizarre scene: something had appeared at the door of their tent so terrifying that it impelled them to slash their way out and flee barefoot to certain death in a blizzard. Now, two more bodies from the lost expedition are unexpectedly discovered in a cave. Young FBI Agent Corrie Swanson teams up with archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate what really happened on that fateful trip fifteen years ago - and to find the ninth victim.