Looking for a good book to tide you through the coldest months? Here are 10 books coming out this month that librarians are especially excited to pick up.

Top Pick: The Maid by Nita Prose

A socially awkward hotel maid finds herself at the center of a murder investigation when she discovers a wealthy hotel guest dead in his bed one day.

Molly loves her job, loved her recently deceased grandmother, and cherishes the way the rules of her work let her blend in with others. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection. But Molly’s orderly life is turned on its head the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself very dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s odd demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect and she finds herself in a web of subtext and nuance she has no idea how to untangle.

What to read while you wait:
– The Lazarus Hotel: another locked room mystery set in an upscale hotel
– Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine: about an isolated young woman and the friendships she develops after she and a coworker help save an elderly man who collapses
– Pretty as a Picture: a locked room mystery with a protagonist who also just wants to do her job

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk

Liesl Weiss has been (mostly) happy working in the rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she’s left to run things, she discovers that the library’s most prized manuscript is missing. Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book but is told repeatedly to keep quiet to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian goes missing as well. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues’ pasts like the threads of a rare book binding.

Electric Idol by Katee Robert

A modern retelling of the old myth of Psyche and Eros, set in the glittering metropolis of Olympus. When her family executed a coup that dethroned Zeus himself, Psyche knew she’d have to face Aphrodite’s ire eventually. But she never expected her literal heart to be at stake…or for Aphrodite’s gorgeous son to be the one ordered to strike the killing blow. Second book in the Dark Olympus series.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath. When a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren’t actually there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a killer?

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

After five years working at Parson’s Press, an old-school business book publisher, Nora is the last editorial assistant standing, desperate to get out. But she can’t leave until she finds another job to cover rent, especially when Parsons cuts already unlivable salaries. That’s when Nora is forced to lie her way into moonlighting for a rival publisher … and maybe poaching a few authors along the way. But when Nora accidentally falls for Andrew Santos, an author Parsons Press can’t afford to lose, she must decide where her loyalties lie.

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

True crime writer Wylie Lark, snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book, discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins

When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Shimmering on the horizon after days at sea, Meroe Island is every bit the paradise the foursome expects, despite a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. But what they don’t expect is to discover another boat already anchored off Meroe’s sandy beaches. When it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in on them. And when one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, Lux begins to wonder if any of them are going to make it off the island alive. Recommended for fans of Ruth Ware.

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley & Austin Sigemund-Broka

They were cowriting literary darlings until they hit a plot hole that turned their lives upside down. Three years ago, Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen were the brightest literary stars on the horizon, their cowritten books topping bestseller lists. But on the heels of their greatest success, they ended their partnership on bad terms. They haven’t spoken since, and never planned to, except they have one final book due on contract. Forced to reunite, they hole up in the tiny Florida town where they wrote their previous book. While passion and prose push them closer in the Florida heat, Katrina and Nathan will learn that relationships, like writing, sometimes take a few rough drafts before they get it right.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Set in near-future America, The School for Good Mothers introduces readers to a government-run reform program where bad mothers are retrained using robot doll children with artificial intelligence. Protagonist Frida Liu, a 39-year-old Chinese-American single mother in Philadelphia, loses custody of her 18-month-old daughter, Harriet, after she leaves Harriet home alone for two hours on one very bad day. To regain custody, Frida must spend a year at a newly-created institution, where she practices parenting with bad mothers from all over the county. The mothers, whose transgressions range from benign to horrific, are under constant surveillance. If they don’t pass all the school’s tests, their parental rights will be terminated. Suggested for readers of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood or The Power by Naomi Alderman

Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer. In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues.

See the full list here: Library Reads January 2022

Descriptions provided by the publishers.