BOOKS On long winter nights curl up with a whodunit

A mix of winter mysteries can help keep the cold outside

By Michele Ross

As nights grow longer and cold weather returns, it’s once again the season to find our diversions inside. What could do more to pass the time and to keep winter at bay than to settle into an armchair by a crackling fire and tackle a good, spinetingling mystery novel? Here’s a selection of a few new whodunits and thrillers to help take the chill out of a January night.

All the Queen’s Men

By S. J. Bennett

A sequel to last year’s charming “The Windsor Knot,” “All the Queen’s Men” again finds Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth solving crimes in royal places. This time, it’s 2016 and Her Majesty is already dealing not only with Brexit but also with troubling American politics. But she will also try to determine how a missing painting is connected to the surprising death of a staff member—inside Buckingham Palace! And once again, the Queen’s capable and loyal assistant, Rozie is there to help. Keep calm and read on! (Morrow, $27.99, March) can’t forget a family tragedy of decades ago, and his digging will lead to people who will do anything to keep some things secret. (Hanover Square Press,$27.99, February)

Autopsy

By Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell made bestseller lists in 1990 when she created medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Then a computer analyst at the office of the chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Va., Cornwell drew on her experiences, introducing readers to a fresh genre, the forensic thriller. In “Autopsy,” Cornwell brings Scarpetta back after a five-year break, Scarpetta is again in Virginia and is soon dealing not only with a murder, but the challenge of working a crime scene remotely in outer space. (Morrow, $28.99).

Beach Wedding

By Michael Ledwidge

A lavish wedding in the Hamptons, with lots of family, tons of money, a taste for revenge and buried secrets— what could possibly go wrong? Tom Rourke is now a rich hedge-fund manager, but he wasn’t always. He grew up in the working-class part of the Hamptons and has come back to celebrate his upcoming wedding at a huge, rented estate. Brother Terry, now a cop, A killer. dubbed “The Florist” because he brands his victims with a rose, has Scotland Yard puzzled. They turn to Miss Brickett’s Inquiries service for help. She assigns the case to Marion Lane, who will investigate despite having problems and perils of her own. Is there a traitor among the staff? Inquiring readers will want to know, and trust Marion Lane to find the truth. (Park Row, $27.99 February)

Marion Lane and the Deadly Rose

By T.A Willberg

Marion Lane is again handling inquiries and investigations in mid-century London (following last year’s lauded “Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder”).

The Match

By Harlen Coben

Veteran bestselling author Coben brings back the character of Wilde, introduced in Coben’s “The Boy from the Woods” (2020). As a boy, Wilde was found living in the woods with no memory of his past. “The Match” explores Wilde’s search for the truth of his background. In his usual fluid fashion, Coben explores topics ranging from family and fame to current events, all wrapped up in a twisty plot. (Grand Central, $29, March).