Most-Anticipated December 2020 Crime Fiction Releases
The end of the year is upon us, and I know I’m not the only one who won’t be sad to say goodbye to 2020. But before we close the book on this year and turn our attention to 2021, let’s not forget to celebrate the very exciting new crime fiction releases that December 2020 is bringing with it! This month, a few of my most highly-anticipated releases of the whole year will be releasing. From serial killer thrillers to detective novels and legal thrillers, this month has a whole variety of buzz-worthy new crime releases in store for readers, and I’m rounding up my personal most-anticipated list in today’s blog post! Read on for my picks for new crime fiction releasing in December 2020.
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LAZARUS by Lars Kepler
Publication Date: December 1, 2020
Why I’m Excited:
Lars Kepler is one of my all-time favorite authors, and their newest release LAZARUS is the perfect creepy, thrilling addition to your winter TBR. Kepler’s books are known for being action-packed, dark, and gory, and in LAZARUS, they up the ante. LAZARUS begins with a series of brutal crimes: across Europe, some of the region’s most notorious criminals are being picked off. For detective Joona Linna, these crimes can only mean one thing: someone is trying to send him a message. In LAZARUS, one of the darkest demons from Joona Linna’s past comes back to haunt him. Fans of Kepler’s superb serial killer thriller THE SANDMAN will fall instantly in love with their newest release. LAZARUS is a bloody, page-turning, action-packed serial killer thriller perfect for a weekend binge-read.
About the Book:
Sometimes the past won't stay buried.
A mysterious killer is brutally murdering Europe's most loathsome criminals. When police discover that two of the victims have disturbing connections to Detective Joona Linna, it's clear that somebody's trying to send him a message. As the body count rises, the evidence seems to point to a ghost from Joona's past . . . the most terrifying villain he's ever had to face.
THE DEAD SEASON by Tessa Wegert
Publication Date: December 8, 2020
Why I’m Excited:
If you’ve been around CBTB this year, you’ve no doubt heard me raving about Tessa Wegert’s outstanding crime fiction debut, DEATH IN THE FAMILY. I read DEATH IN THE FAMILY around its publication in February of this year, and was instantly captivated by Tessa Wegert’s engaging, immersive storytelling. This month, Tessa Wegert is back with THE DEAD SEASON. In DEATH IN THE FAMILY, Wegert introduced readers to Shana Merchant, a police officer who recently survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now, in THE DEAD SEASON, Shana is back—and so is the villain who abducted her a couple years prior. In THE DEAD SEASON, Blake Bram has a plan for Shana, and he issues her an ultimatum: return to her hometown to solve a cold case, or more blood will be spilled, and it will be on her hands. I can’t wait to be back in Shana Merchant’s world!
About the Book:
Senior Investigator Shana Merchant has spent years running from her past. But she never imagined a murder case would drive her to the most dangerous place of all—home.
After leaving the NYPD following her abduction by serial killer Blake Bram, Shana Merchant hoped for a fresh start in the Thousand Islands of Upstate New York. Her former tormentor has other plans. Shana and Bram share more than just a hometown, and he won’t let her forget it. When the decades-old skeleton of Shana's estranged uncle is uncovered, Bram issues a challenge: Return home to Vermont and solve the cold case, or the blood he spills next will be on her hands.
As Shana interviews members of her family and the community, mining for secrets that could help her solve her uncle's murder, she begins to realize how little she remembers of her childhood. And when Bram grows impatient and kidnaps again, leaving a trail of clues Shana alone can understand, she knows his new victim will only survive if she wins the psychopath’s twisted game. In order to solve one mystery, Shana must wade into her murky past to unravel another.
TAKE IT BACK by Kia Abdullah
Publication Date: December 8, 2020
Why I’m Excited:
I don’t normally gravitate towards legal thrillers, but TAKE IT BACK by Kia Abdullah has completely caught my attention. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those books that has so much more complexity and depth than a simple “legal thriller.” TAKE IT BACK has received incredible praise already: The Guardian raves that the book is “a superb legal thriller that fairly crackles with tension,” while Publishers Weekly calls it “riveting” and “thought-provoking.” In TAKE IT BACK, one of London’s brightest legal minds abandons her high-profile career to work at a sexual assault center, and takes on a controversial case: that of a teenage girl who has accused four boys in her class of an unthinkable crime. Based on the descriptive copy and early reviews I’ve read, this one looks like it will tackle some very disturbing and significant themes, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of it.
About the Book:
From author Kia Abdullah, Take It Back is a harrowing and twisting courtroom thriller that keeps you guessing until the last page is turned.
One victim.
Four accused.
Who is telling the truth?
Zara Kaleel, one of London's brightest legal minds, shattered the expectations placed on her by her family and forged a brilliant legal career. But her decisions came at a high cost, and now, battling her own demons, she has exchanged her high profile career for a job at a sexual assault center, helping victims who need her the most. Victims like Jodie Wolfe.
When Jodie, a sixteen-year-old girl with facial deformities, accuses four boys in her class of an unthinkable crime, the community is torn apart. After all, these four teenage defendants are from hard-working immigrant families and they all have proven alibis. Even Jodie's best friend doesn't believe her.
But Zara does―and she is determined to fight for Jodie―to find the truth in the face of public outcry. And as issues of sex, race and social justice collide, the most explosive criminal trial of the year builds to a shocking conclusion.
SNOWDRIFT by Helene Tursten
Publication Date: December 8, 2020
Why I’m Excited:
Helene Tursten’s quiet, immersive brand of crime writing captivated me in her 2019 release HUNTING GAME, and I’m so excited to catch up with her compelling series protagonist in her forthcoming release. Readers who love slow-burning Nordic Noir will find Tursten’s Embla Nystrom series right up their alley; SNOWDRIFT is the third installment in this series, and promises another atmospheric and immersive reading experience. In SNOWDRIFT, Embla Nystrom gets a call that she’s been waiting to receive for years: a call from her best friend, who disappeared 14 years prior. The call is brief, disconnecting shortly after Embla picks up. She’s determined to track down her best friend, but her investigation takes a sinister turn when one of the last people to see Embla’s best friend alive is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Wintertime is always my ideal time to read slow-burning detective novels, and SNOWDRIFT looks poised to deliver exactly that kind of reading experience.
About the Book:
When a new lead breaks in the cold case that has long haunted Swedish Detective Inspector Embla Nyström, the truth she’s been seeking about her best friend’s disappearance may finally be revealed—if it doesn’t kill her first.
One winter night, 28-year-old Detective Inspector Embla Nyström receives a phone call that sends her reeling. It’s been fourteen years since her best friend disappeared from a nightclub in Gothenburg, but Embla recognizes her voice before the call abruptly disconnects. Embla is thrilled to learn Lollo is still alive, but before she can dive into the case, she gets another phone call—this time from a relative. A man has been found shot dead in one of the guest houses he and his wife manage in rural Sweden. Could she come take a look?
When Embla arrives on the scene, she receives another shock. The dead man is Milo Stavic, a well-known gang member and one of the last people seen with Lollo. And, as Embla soon learns, the same night that Milo was shot in the guest house, his brother Luca was also killed. Why, after all these years, is someone targeting the Stavic brothers, and where is the third brother? With help from a handsome local detective and his police dog in training, Embla launches an investigation into the three Stavic brothers, hoping it will bring her closer to finally finding Lollo and putting an end to her terrible nightmares.
WINTERKILL by Ragnar Jonasson
Publication Date: December 10, 2020 (Kindle edition & UK paperback - US paperback to come March 1, 2021)
Why I’m Excited:
I’m a huge fan of Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jonasson, and his Dark Iceland books will always hold a very special place in my crime-reading heart. The Dark Iceland books were some of the first I ever received to review here on Crime by the Book, and in the years since, the series has remained one of my most-loved, and most-recommended. Anyone who loves classic crime fiction, slow-burning mysteries, and police procedurals simply must check out Ragnar Jonasson’s Dark Iceland books. Up until a couple of months ago, I actually thought that this series had ended forever—so you can imagine how thrilled I was to discover that Jonasson had planned one more installment, WINTERKILL, to be published this December! WINTERKILL promises to deliver everything I love most of all in Jonasson’s writing: a wintry atmosphere, a chilling mystery, and a return to some of his iconic characters. If possible, the plot of WINTERKILL sounds like it might be my favorite plot of any of Jonasson’s Dark Iceland books yet.
Note: This book will be published as an e-book on December 10, and as a paperback edition in the UK on December 10 as well.
About the Book:
A blizzard is approaching Siglufjörður, and that can only mean one thing…
When the body of a nineteen-year-old girl is found on the main street of Siglufjörður, Police Inspector Ari Thór battles a violent Icelandic storm in an increasingly dangerous hunt for her killer … The chilling, claustrophobic finale to the international bestselling Dark Iceland series.
Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.
Ari Thór Arason is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air.
Three days before Easter, a nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room, there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart of her death…
As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one unscathed.
Chilling, claustrophobic and disturbing, Winterkill is a startling addition to the multi-million-copy bestselling Dark Iceland series and cements Ragnar Jónasson as one of the most exciting and acclaimed authors in crime fiction.
And that’s a wrap on my picks for December 2020 highly-anticipated crime fiction! Are any of these titles on your TBR? Happy reading! xx A
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.