Hi. Barb here.

Jim wrote yesterday about the release of his new thriller Darkness First. I got to see him on a great panel at Bouchercon where he talked about why he decided to go with Harper Collins new ebook-first digital imprint. It was a fascinating session and I came away more than anything wanting to read this book. I downloaded it to my Kindle yesterday.

As it happens, I have four other writer friends who’s books were released yesterday. Let’s take a look, shall we? October promises to be a great reading month.

First up, Jessie Crockett’s first Sugar Grove mystery, Drizzled with Death. I blog with Jessie over at Wicked Cozy Authors, and I’ve written here about our writing retreats in Old Orchard Beach.

Jessie’s previous mystery, Live Free or Die, was the 2011 winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award for Mainstream Mystery. I think this new book looks great.

Here’s the description:

Meet Dani Greene—a fourth-generation maple syrup maker dealing with a first-class troublemaker…

The annual pre-Thanksgiving pancake-eating contest is a big event in Sugar Grove, New Hampshire. It’s sponsored by the Sap Bucket Brigade, aka the firefighters auxiliary, and the Greene family farm provides the syrup. But when obnoxious outsider Alanza Speedwell flops face first into a stack of flapjacks during the contest, Greener Pastures’ syrup falls under suspicion.

Next up, New York Times bestselling author, Sheila Connolly’s seventh book in her Orchard Mystery series, Golden Malicious. Sheila is a powerhouse who writes three series for Berkley Prime Crime–the Orchard series, Museum series and Irish series.

Here’s the description:

While orchard owner Meg Corey dreads the labor of manual irrigation to stave off a drought, her boyfriend, Seth, couldn’t be more excited about doing historic renovation on one of Granford’s oldest houses. Tagging along as he picks up supplies is supposed to give Meg a much-needed break, but the trip turns rotten when she almost trips over a dead body at an old saw mill’s forest reserve.

“A page-turning thriller. Nick Young is a noir hero for the twenty-first century.” Is what I said about fellow Grub Street Launch Lab alum Ron MacLean’s literary thriller Headlong.This is the only one of these books I’ve already read and I thoroughly recommend it.

Here’s the description:

It’s a hot Boston summer, and Nick Young, a washed-up journalist back in town to care for his dying father, is feeling the heat. Using his old skills to solve a mystery before the police do: to connect the dots between a major labor strike, a violent Occupy-style movement, and a murder that may involve his best friend’s teen son.

Headlong is a literary thriller about fathers, sons, eco-terrorism, murder, immaturity, anarchism, marriage, friendship, and failure.

As a Level Best Books anthology editor, I’ve had the pleasure of publishing Michael Nethercott’s crackling short fiction. That makes me particularly look forward to his debut novel, The Seance Society.

Here’s the description:

It’s 1956, and Lee Plunkett has taken over the family business as a private investigator despite his reluctance to follow in his father’s footsteps. When murder intrudes on a group of ghost seekers, Lee is asked to solve the case by a cop on the verge of retirement. At the urging of his perpetual fiancée Audrey, Lee enlists the help of Mr. O’Nelligan, a scholarly Irishman with a keen eye for solving mysteries. The duo is drawn into a murder investigation involving the “Spectricator,” a machine designed to communicate with the dead. Soon, Plunkett and O’Nelligan are knee-deep in a suspect pool that includes a surly medium, a former speakeasy queen, a mysterious Spanish widow, and a whole slew of eccentric servants. Engaging, charming, and smart, The Séance Society by Michael Nethercott is a fresh take on the traditional mystery genre for readers who love original characters, witty dialogue, and a great whodunit.

I don’t know about you all, but I know what I’ll be doing in October.