New fiction books for December 2023
by Brandon King
Looking for a new book to read? Take a look at our latest fiction titles for December 2023.
We publish new recommendations every month. Browse our featured titles.
Murder Town, by Shelley Burr
Gemma Guillory has lived in Rainier her entire life. She knows the tiny town's ins and outs like the back of her hand, the people like they are her family, their quirks as if they were her own. She knows her once charming town is now remembered for one reason, and one reason only. That three innocent people died. That the last stop on the Rainier Ripper's trail of deaths fifteen years ago was her innocuous little tea shop. She knows that the consequences of catching the Ripper still haunt her policeman husband and their marriage to this day and that some of her neighbours are desperate - desperate enough to welcome a dark tourism company keen to cash in on Rainier's reputation as the murder town.
When the tour operator is killed by a Ripper copycat on Gemma's doorstep, the unease that has lurked quietly in the original killer's wake turns to foreboding, and she's drawn into the investigation.
Dead Sweet, by Katrin Juliusdottir
When Óttar Karlsson, a wealthy and respected government official and businessman, is found murdered, after failing to turn up at his own surprise birthday party, the police are at a loss. It isn't until young police officer Sigurdís finds a well-hidden safe in his impersonal luxury apartment that clues start emerging.
As Óttar's shady business dealings become clear, a second, unexpected line of enquiry emerges, when Sigurdís finds a US phone number in the safe, along with papers showing regular money transfers to an American account. Following the trail to Minnesota, trauma rooted in Sigurdís's own childhood threatens to resurface and the investigation strikes chillingly close to home…
Murder at the Louvre, by Jim Eldridge
Paris, 1899. Abigail Wilson has received an invitation from Professor Alphonse Flamand, a prominent French Professor of Archaeology, to join him on a dig in Egypt. Overjoyed to be presented with such an opportunity, Abigail and her husband, Daniel, travel to Paris to meet the Professor at his office in the Louvre to discuss plans.
However, when Abigail goes to the appointment, she finds Flamand dead with a knife in his chest. In a whirl of confusion and despite her pleas of innocence, Abigail is arrested.
Determined to prove that she has been framed for Flamand’s brutal murder, Daniel and Abigail, the Museum Detectives, will delve far into the shadowy corners of the City of Light for the truth.
The Cold Case, by Will Shindler
2009: During a summer heatwave, teenagers are going missing. Junior officer Alex Finn takes the case and fears that the disappearances are linked. In a race against the clock to find and rescue the children alive, Finn and his team are only partially successful. Two of the children are saved, but they were too late for Oliver. And the killer got away.
2023: DI Alex Finn is still tormented by the cases of his youth - none more than so than the 2009 kidnappings. And it seems someone else has not forgotten either. They want answers after all this time, and with a gun in their pocket and their sights set on Alex, they'll do anything to get what they're after...
Broken Trust, by Robert B. Parker
The beautiful wife of one of the world's richest men comes to Spenser in the hope that he can find out what skeletons lurk in her husband's closet. Though he is a generous philanthropist and loving family man, she is concerned - he has recently become secretive, bordering on paranoid, and she wants Spenser to find out why. As Spenser digs into the billionaire's past, he realises that the man may have done terrible things to rise to the top - but he also may have had good reason to. What he discovers will cause him to question his own views on morality - and place him in grave danger.
The Traitor's Wife, by Sarah Steele
Naples, 1943: Luisa Giordano has faced many losses: her mother to a deadly illness, the man she loved to the Nazis when war came to Italy, and her unborn child at the hands of her own husband. All Luisa has left is her voice, and when she learns her husband is colluding with the enemy, she knows she must use it to fuel the women of Naples with fire.
Los Angeles, 1962: Hollywood starlet Lola Hart has come a long way from the backstreets of Naples, the glamorous parties a way to dull the pain of the past. When she is offered the role of a lifetime portraying a heroine of the Italian resistance, she knows returning home means confronting old ghosts. But as she seeks out the story behind the film, she realises there are many in Naples with secrets, and that the woman she is to play held the greatest one of all...
Raiders of the Lost Heart, by Jo Segura
Rival archaeologists must team up on a secret Aztec expedition, or it could leave their careers - and hearts - in ruins. Dr. Socorro 'Corrie' Mejia has a bone to pick. Literally. It's been her life goal to lead an expedition in search of the remains of her ancestor - an ancient warrior of the Aztec empire. But when she is invited to join an all-expenses-paid dig to do just that, Corrie is sure it's too good to be true. As the world-renowned expert, Corrie should be leading the expedition not sharing the glory with her disgustingly handsome grad school nemesis. Dr. Ford Matthews has been finding new ways to best her since they met, and the last thing they both need is a reminder of their rocky past. But with a thief lurking around their campsite, the pair are forced to keep their rivalry - and lingering attraction - under wraps.
Borrow Raiders of the Lost Heart →
The Meiji Guillotine Murders, by Futaro Yamada
Tokyo, 1869. It is the dawn of the Meiji era in Japan, but the scars of the bloody recent civil war are yet to heal. The new regime struggles to keep the peace as old scores are settled and dangerous new ideas flood into the country from the West. A new police force promises to bring order to this land of feuding samurai warlords, and chief inspectors Kazuki and Kawaji are two of its brightest stars. Together they investigate a spree of baffling murders across the capital, moving from dingy drinking dens to high-class hotels and the heart of the Imperial Palace. Can they solve these seemingly impossible crimes and save the country from slipping into chaos once more?
Borrow The Meiji Guillotine Murders →
Perfect Little Lives, by Amber Brown and Nicole Danielle Brown
Simone's mother was murdered when she was thirteen. When her father was convicted, everything changed. Overnight, Simone went from living in a wealthy white neighborhood to scraping by. Ten years later, Simone has given up on her dreams and lives a quiet life, writing book reviews and getting serious with her boyfriend. But with a true crime documentarian hounding her for a scoop and a surprise encounter with her childhood next-door neighbour, Hunter, the past seems set on catching up with Simone once again.
A River of Golden Bones, by A.K. Mulford
Twins Calla and Briar have spent their entire lives hiding from the powerful sorceress who destroyed their kingdom…and from the humans who don’t know they are Wolves. Each twin has their own purpose in life: Briar’s is to marry the prince of an ally pack and save the Golden Court. Calla’s purpose is to remain a secret, her twin’s shadow... the backup plan.
No one knows who Calla truly is except for her childhood friend—and sister’s betrothed—the distractingly handsome Prince Grae. But when Calla and Briar journey out of hiding for Briar’s wedding, all of their well-made plans go awry. The evil sorceress is back with another sleeping curse for the last heir to the Golden Court.
Calla must step out of the shadows to save their sister, their kingdom, and their own legacy. Continuing to hide as a human and denying who she truly is, Calla embarks on a quest across the realm, discovering a whole world she never knew existed. Outside the confines of rigid Wolf society, Calla begins to wonder: who could she be if she dared to try?