Best Upcoming Books: October 2020
October is a spooky month, but it’s also a great month to stay inside and read! The fall weather and the falling leaves always makes for a great reading background and I love curling up with a good book and a Pumpkin Spice latte around this time of year.
This month has some great titles that I can’t wait to get my hands on. The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmartin is a book that I can already tell is going to keep me up all night until I finish it. A man replaces himsself with a clone and things go wrong? That is just my kind of story! This is a really good month for science fiction as Kim Stanley Robinson also has a new book coming out called The Ministry for the Future that deals with climate change.
Of course, you can’t do October without horror and I’m already mentally preparing myself for The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. A woman discovers a portal to another world and that sounds fun, right? But this portal leads to a place with monsters who feed off your fear and that does not sound fun at all!
I’m also very excited for a couple of thrillers/mysteries coming out this month. Confessions on the 7:45 is straight out of Alfred Hitchcock as two strangers meet on a train and the next thing you know one of their nanny’s goes missing. This month also sees Stuart Turton’s follow-up to The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, a book called The Devil and the Dark Water that looks like a great read.
A ton of good stuff this month. Check out my list of the best upcoming books for October 2020.
Best Upcoming Cozy Mystery Books: October 2020
A Crime of a Different Stripe by Sally Goldenbaum - Buy at Amazon: The fifteenth entry in Sally Goldenbaum’s Seaside Knitters Mystery. The series has been going on awhile now and shows no signs of slowing down. This one sees a mysterious murder putting neighbor against neighbor and the knitters coming together to piece together the clues to try to solve the case.
Murder is in the Air by Frances Brody - Buy at Amazon: Kate Shackleton is a fantastic character in 1930s Yorkshire in this series. This book sees her selected by a local brewery queen named Ruth to accompany her to a garden party. When there, Ruth discovers a dead body in the fermantation room. At first it looks like a simple case of asphyxiation, but looking deeper into the case it becomes apparent that it was a murder. This is a muddy case, but Kate decides to dig her heels in and investigate.
Have Yourself a Fudgy Little Christmas - Buy at Amazon: Is it too early for Christmas cozies? I say no! If I can drink Pumpkin Spice lattes in September then I can read Christmas cozies in October.
The Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews - Buy at Amazon: This is the 28th (!!!) book in the Meg Lanslow Mystery series. This is another Christmas mystery so you know I am going to be all over this one.
A Death Long Overdue by Eva Gates - Buy at Amazon: The latest in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series takes place in the summer on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A college class is having their 40th reunion at the Lighthouse Library where Lucy and her colleagues have put together an exhibit of library artifacts. Some of the guests decide to walk down to the pier after the reception where they find the dead body of Helena Sanchez. She’s the former director of the library who had plenty of enemies at the reception. Lucy starts asking questions which quickly puts her into the killer’s cross-hairs.
Best Upcoming Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books: October 2020
The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmartin - Buy at Amazon: They had me at “for fans of Blake Crouch“. This book from Jane Gilmartin follows a man who agrees to become apart of an illegal cloning experiment. He is all too eager to do so as his family life is not how he imagined it to be. Jeremiah moves to an apartment while the clone moves in with his family, but he is soon troubled to see his “life” spin out of control. To escape this nightmare scenario, Jeremiah will have to stand up to himself.
Gatekeeper by Alison Levy - Buy at Amazon: This truly intriguing new sci-fi series follows Rachel Wilde, from an alternate dimension, who is given the unusual assignment to find a person who has been trying to break down dimensional barriers and to track down a missing line of gatekeepers. The missing gatekeepers may be descended from a girl who went missing in West Africa hundreds of years ago so she has no leads to go on. She’ll seek help from Bach, a raving homeles man, who will set her on the path to finding her targets.
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson - Buy at Amazon: Kim Stanley Robinson is pretty much must-read when it comes to science fiction and this latest book on climate change looks to be another winner.
A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire - Buy at Amazon: Maguire is known for Wicked which re-imagined the world of Oz. Now, Maguire turns his talents to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans”. This book takes that classic tale and turns it into the story of a young girl coming-of-age in 1960s New York. Her life is turned upside down when a handsome swan boy with one wing lands on her roof. She tries to help build him a wing so he can fly home, but the job is too much for her to do alone. She is staying with her grandparents and her struggles parallel theirs as they struggle with money and keeping the family store open.
Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker - Buy at Amazon: Talking trees? Sarcastic owls? Dangerous mermaids? Sign me up! This new fantasy where two young kids climb a stone wall into the Up and Under – a unique fantasy land – sounds like a lot of fun and I can’t wait to check it out.
Best Upcoming Horror Books: October 2020
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher - Buy at Amazon: A chilling story of a young woman named Kara who discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s home. She quickly becomes obsessed with it and starts to explore. The portal leads to countless alternate realities, but each one is haunted by creatures who can hear thoughts that become stronger based on your fears of them.
Dead Lies Dreaming by Charles Stross - Buy at Amazon: The long-running Laundry Files series continues here. The story follows Wendy as she is dragged into the world of a billionaire named Rupert de Montfort Bigge. Rupert has found the one true copy of the Necronomicon and he’s hired a girl named Eve to procure it by any means necessary. Wendy is after Eve’s brother Imp and soon becomes entangled in this world of corruption, assassination, thievery, and magic.
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth - Buy at Amazon: Danforth makes her adult debut with this creative horror comedy. The book tells the story of a New England boarding school for girls where two girls were found dead in 1902. The girls were part of a private club called the Plain Bad Heroine Society an their deaths lead to the school being shuttered for good. A hundred years later, an author writes a book about them and a movie is set to be made of their story at the original boarding school. However, as the cast arrives they soon find that the past and present is aligned in ways they could’ve never expected.
The Haunting of H.G. Wells by Robert Masello - Buy at Amazon: A plot against England during the Great War takes H.G. Wells, the celebrated author, to an eerie wasteland that the living, the dead, and those stuck in between all call home. Wells will head there to investigate and will end up doing battle with secret agents and depraved occultists as he tries to save his country…and the world.
The House of a Hundred Whispers by Graham Masterton - Buy at Amazon: The British horror master returns with this book set in a rambling Turdor mansion on the edge of Dartmoor. The owner has died and his long estranged children have come to inherit the estate. The atmosphere of the home quickly changes around them and they become so creeped out they decide to leave and never come back. There’s only one problem: their son has gone missing inside the house.
Best Upcoming Mystery/Thriller Books: October 2020
Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger - Buy at Amazon: A chance encounter on the train between Selena and a beautiful stranger named Martha ends up changing Selena’s life, and not for the better. The two women strike up a conversation which Selena admits that she believes her husband is sleeping with the nanny. The woman, Martha, shares her own story of infidelity and then Selena exits the train, never to see her again. However, a few days later Selena’s nanny disappears and her marriage problems grow larger. She begins to question who exactly Martha was and her search will lead her to some surprising places that she is not ready to go.
The Searcher by Tana French - Buy at Amazon: Tana French‘s latest is sure to be one of this month’s biggest hits. The book the book sees a divorced former Chicago cop packing up his life and moving to a bucolic Irish village. He is looking for the perfect escape in a small town far away from the big city. Unfortunately, Cal is put into action when a local kid goes missing and his brother comes to him for help. Cal will soon uncover the dark layer hiding underneath this town and uncover many of its dark secrets.
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton - Buy at Amazon: I love The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and am really excited for whatever Turton does next. What’s he doing next is this book and it looks great! It takes place in 1634 when a great detective named Samuel Pipps is arrested and transported to Amsterdam for a crime he may or may not have committed. His bodyguard is determined to prove him innocent, but the ship’s voyage will prove to be harder and much stranger than either imagined.
The Book of Malachi by T.C. Farren - Buy at Amazon: A good science fiction thriller with a high-concept premise is always a good read. This book sees Malachi, a mute man, who receives a job offer from an organ-farming project that will give him a new tongue if he comes to work. He’s sent to an oilrig where he’s put alongside warlords and mass murders who are prisoners/donors. Malachi begins to doubt if these people truly deserve what is coming to them or if he should risk everything to save them from their fate.
Dead Perfect by Noelle Holten - Buy at Amazon: This is the third book in the DC Maggie Jamieson Crime Thriller series and it looks to be another excellent entry in the series. In this one, Maggie comes across a dead body that has been disfigured with their clothes changed so that they look like someone else. That someone else? One of Maggie’s close friends.
Best Upcoming Romance Books: October 2020
Happily Letter After by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward - Buy at Amazon: Two great authors team up for this one to tell a love story that starts with a letter. There is a newspaper that fulfills wishes once per year and a young girl named Birdie sends in letters with her wishes. She does it months after the newspaper was doing that, but someone keeps fulfilling them. She knows she shouldn’t, but what harm could it do? And then she got a look at Birdie’s father.
Mistletoe and Mr. Right by Sarah Morgenthaler - Buy at Amazon: Is it too early for Christmas romance? Never! This one looks especially good as it is part of the Moose Springs, Alaska series and takes place in a small, quirky winter town.
Pride and Papercuts by Staci Hart - Buy at Amazon: Inspired by the great Jane Austen, this book sees Liam Darcy is a real love/hate relationship with a co-worker. The two don’t get along and don’t agree on anything, but if they could just be civil to each other and show more of themselves… who knows what could happen?
Feel the Fire by Annabeth Albert - Buy at Amazon: You wanna talk about hot? This firefighter series by Annabeth Albert is hot! This is the third book in the series that sees two high school sweethearts brought back together by their jobs in fire fighting. The two men soon discover that the old bond has never been broken, but old wounds and new truths might stop them before they get started.
In A Holidzae by Christina Lauren - Buy at Amazon: Last Christmas book, I promise! This one looks good as Mae is spending her last Christmas in the snowy Utah cabin that she’s spent every holiday in since she was born. As she leaves, she is overwhelmed with sadness and pleas to the universe to show her what will make her happy. The next thing you know, she’s on a plane headed back to Utah to live the whole thing over again. And again.
That’s a lot of books! I am excited to read it all, but please let me know in the comments if I missed any or share with me what you plan on reading this month. I’m always on the lookout for more!
