The January Texas Books Preview showcases a bundle of bookish adventures in the new year. Warm up with a new romance, wander the globe from your cozy book nook, wrap your brain around a tantalizing mystery, or whisk yourself into another universe with our bevy of beautiful books. Whatever your wintry plans, Lone Star Lit has the book for you!
Bound in Silence: An Unsolved Murder in a Small Texas Town
Christena Stephens
On a nearly moonless night in October 1943, a prominent Texas doctor and his wife were found bound, shot, beaten, and murdered. The only witness: their five-year-old daughter, who was so traumatized by the crime and the events that followed that she refused to speak of it for 70 years.
Eight decades later, the questions linger over the plains of the Texas Panhandle: who killed the Hunts and why?
Author and historian Christena Stephens spent more than a decade researching the Hunt murders, re-examining every twist and turn in the legal process, uncovering new evidence, and drawing new conclusions about who might have been responsible.
Bound in Silence is a true crime tour-de-force, a meticulously researched, impeccably told tale of unsolved murder on the High Plains.
Dead Land: A Cass Callahan Novel, Book One
Chris Mullen
For fans of Craig Johnson and C. J. Box, Dead Land embarks on an exhilarating journey alongside Cass Callahan into the heart of Texas—where answers are scarce and perils run as deep and enduring as the Rio Grande.
Against the backdrop of expansive landscapes, Cass’s resolve is tested. And when dead bodies are discovered on his land, he learns that the CR (Callahan Ranch) is concealing secrets darker than listless shadows.
ire’ne lara silva
In the eaters of flowers, her third book of poems for Saddle Road Press, after the much-loved Blood Sugar Canto and CUICALLI / House of Song, ire’ne lara silva writes about the loss of her brother and adopted son. In her unique canto style she sings the stunned, broken months following his death, navigating grief, loss, loneliness, and the remembrance of joy, as she begins to re-assemble her life.
Diane Dickinson
Lara Maxwell, a top producing realtor in Houston's number one boutique real estate firm, Drake Properties, is suddenly thrust into the darker side of success when she finds her prominent broker shot dead following a public open house. The murder thrusts Lara into Houston real estate's full-throttle world of explosively spiraling secrets.
No one at Drake Properties is beyond suspicion as Houston police detectives begin their investigation. When the lead detective is convinced of Lara's innocence, she convinces her to assist police as a mole in the office. Determined to help police find the killer, Lara dives headfirst into her new role.
Final Transaction is a fast-paced take on how relationships, if held together by closeted behavior, can lead to lethal consequences.
Manning Wolfe
Hunted By Proxy takes you on a heart-pounding journey through the life of a criminal defense attorney, whose world, as he knew it, was wiped out by the very client he tried to save. Can attorney Quinton Bell hang on to his new life as he hides in plain sight?
Quinton establishes a new life and law practice in Houston and thinks he’s outrun the dangerous adversaries who chased him there. Just as he begins to relax, he receives a mysterious note that proves to him that he’s still in danger and running from a powerful and relentless adversary. But who?
With each passing moment, the noose tightens, and he must draw on every ounce of wit to outsmart those who still want him exposed, or worse, dead.
Leslie A. Piggott
When Cari accepts Bob's invitation to join him for a vacation in Wisconsin, she has no idea what's in store. The relaxing week away turns nightmarish early on when she startles an intruder at Bob's family's bed and breakfast. His aunt confesses that this isn't the first break-in: it's the fourth one in as many weeks. Never one to walk away from an investigation, Cari teams up with the local sheriff's department to track down the mystery man. The closer she gets to his true identity, the more mysterious the case becomes. As she pours her attention into finding the intruder, she realizes Bob is becoming increasingly distracted. Once again, she struggles to balance her love of sleuthing and her personal life. Can she save the family business and her relationship?
Rogue Agent: A Star Nation in Peril, Book One
Skyler Ramirez
When everyone else dies trying…they call her.
For four centuries, the Order of the King’s Cross has worked in the shadows to protect Promethean society. Known only to the King and his closest advisors, the agents of the Order carry out their monarch’s will throughout the Federated Planets and their neighboring star nations, cleaning up messes, investigating heinous crimes, and most often, eliminating threats.
Heather Kilgore is one of the deadliest agents the Order has ever trained. Young, focused, and coldly efficient, the King sends her in when all else has failed. But when a man she once called her love, a traitor to his star nation, turns up dead under mysterious circumstances, Kilgore may have finally met the mission she can’t complete.
Laurie Woodford
At the age of forty-nine, Laurie Woodford rents out her house, packs her belongings into two suitcases, and leaves her life in upstate New York to relocate to Seoul, South Korea. What begins as an opportunity to teach college English in Asia evolves into a nomadic adventure.
Laurie spoon-feeds orphans in Ethiopia, performs 108 bows at a Buddhist mountain temple, walks shelter dogs in Peru, milks goats in Fuerteventura, and gets lost in Mexico, all the while navigating dating at midlife.
After four years of traveling, Laurie’s return “home” becomes an unexpected adventure of its own when she ends up in Arkansas and meets Bruce, a bird-loving, bearded Quaker and then struggles to reconcile her need for freedom with her longing to feel settled.
Veil of Stillness: A Kessler Effect Novel, Book Four
Vannetta Chapman
Veil of Stillness is a gripping tale of one town’s fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Set in Alpine, Texas, nine months after all of the lower orbital satellites crashed to Earth, the story follows Logan Wright and Tanda Lopez on a perilous journey to the Rio Grande Valley in search of food.
In a world where communication is non-existent and resources are scarce, Logan and Tanda must rely on their instincts and ingenuity. As they traverse the dystopian landscape, they encounter dangers at every turn. But amidst the chaos, Logan and Tanda discover unexpected allies and learn to rely on one another in ways they never thought possible.
Amanda Waters
Rosalee McDonnell is a 63-year-old widow living a quiet life. A chance encounter with her neighbor nudges Rosalee out of her usual routine, and prompts her to make new friends for the first time in decades. Amid this journey of self-discovery, she unexpectedly reconnects with George Barnes, her first love, the man who broke her heart at 17, and someone she thought she'd never see again. George wants to rekindle their romance, but Rosalee isn’t sure she can trust him. As she navigates new friendships, family tension, grief, and her own complicated feelings, Rosalee also recalls the summer of 1973 when she and George met and fell in love.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
There are so many Texas-connected books publishing this month that we couldn’t feature all of them. The following books also publish in January:
CHILDREN'S, MIDDLE GRADE, & YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
Apple Black: Neo Freedom by Odunze Oguguo
Be A Creative Changemaker by Paula Liz
Between Two Brothers by Crystal Allen
Cloudbreak by Leticia Urieta
A Drop of Venom by Sajni Patel
Elijah's Easter Suit by Brentom Jackson
Ephraim's Garden by Loralee Evans
The Last Stand by Antwan Eady, Illustrators Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey
Texas Baby by Jerome Pohlen, illustrated by Brooke O'Neill
Texas Ice Storms by Trudy Becker
Texas Rangers All-Time Greats by Ethan Olson
There's a Duck in the House by Don Winn
Witch Slapped by Sarah Noffke and Michael Anderle
NONFICTION / POETRY
Art Seeking Understanding edited by David Lyle Jeffrey and Robert C. Roberts
Be A Creative Changemaker by Paula Liz
The Black Yearbook [Portraits and Stories] by Adraint Khadafhi Bereal
Borrowed Time by Dennis Carlyle Darling
Emergent Quilombos Black Life and Hip-Hop in Brazil by Bryce Henson
Far from Ordinary by Lisa Haneberg
Frontera: A Journey across the US-Mexico Border by Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera and Sergio Chapa
The History of a Periphery by Juliet B. Wiersema
How to Drown a Boy by J. Bruce Fuller
Images in the River by Cynthia Davis and Verner D. Mitchell
Long Live the Matadors by Stacy Stockard Caliva
Making Space by Melissa K. Byrnes
Naturalist's Austin: A Guide to the Plants and Animals of Central Texas by Lynne M. Weber & Jim Weber
Objective Religion: Freedom, Politics, Secularization edited by Byron R. Johnson
Who Will Take Care of Me Now? by Sherry Buckley Brown
Witness to War by Susan Toomey Frost
LITERARY & HISTORICAL FICTION
Letters for Lucien by Suzy England
Mockingbird Summer by Lynda Rutledge
The Queen of Sugar Hill by ReShonda Tate
MYSTERY / THRILLER / FANTASY
The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
A Caterer's Guide to Valentines and Violence by Jessica Thompson
Death and Peaches by Nova Walsh
A Death At The Inn by Joan Hall
Death by Flapper by Brittany E. Brinegar
The Deep End by Nina Atwood
Dig Deep for Murder by Bruce Hammack
Foxholes by Travis Tougaw
Happy New Year Murder by Rachel Woods
Her Hidden Grave by Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Her Last Cry by Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Her Silent Bones by Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Murder in the Alps by Sara Rosett
Murder Takes the Fifth by K.P. Gresham
The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh
Not This Time by Blake Pierce
Point Blank by Lisa Harris
Portrait of Deception by Kathryn Dodson
Power in Justice by Kirby Ann
Redemption Road by L.J. Breedlove
Revolution - A Four Worlds Story: Warfare, rebellion, and betrayal! by Skyler Ramirez
Snowballs, Fluff, and Murder by Leanne Leeds
Summer Rain by AJ Llewellyn & DJ Manly
A Witchy Christmas by Rhonda Hopkins
A Witchy Secret by Rhonda Hopkins
A Witchy Spookfest by Rhonda Hopkins
ROMANCE
All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
Anita Farleigh Unpacks by Laurie Woodford
The Artist's Muse by Kirsten Osbourne
Austin Heat: The One that I Crave by Amarai Nylix
Cavanaugh Justice by Marie Ferrarella
Cloudy with a Chance of Romance by Olivia Sands
A Court of Schemes and Secrets by Samantha Britt
The Cowboy and His Best Friend's Daughter by Kaci M. Rose
Cowboy Billionaire's Fate by Sylvia McDaniel
The Cowboy Texas Ranger's Unexpected Love by Janalyn Knight
The Crown's Choice by Kirsten Osbourne
Dangerous Texas Hideout by Virginia Vaughan
Deadly Evidence by Roxanne Rustand
Deadly Mountain Escape by Mary Alford
Falling in Line by Kasey Stockton
Fortune's Baby Claim by Michelle Major
Go Find Less by Thea Claire
Hank: Men of Clarence County by Tilly H. Colson
Heart's Resolve by Carrie L. Carr
Her Chance at Family by Angie Dicken
Her Mail-Order Husband by Day Leclaire
Hurt in Her Eyes by Calle J. Brookes
Independence Trail by Betty Woods
Kellan by Barb Han
Meadow Falls by Carolyn Brown
Must Love Bees by Sasha Summers
My Hot Enemy by Natasha L. Black
Night of Mercy by Jo Grafford
No Boundries by Karen Kelley
One in a Million by Janet Daily
Ranger's Dilemma by Sofia Aves
The Rancher's Love Song by Makenna Lee
Sadie and the Bad Boy Billionaire by Emma St. Clair & Jenny Proctor
Say You'll Be Mine by Naina Kumar
Sold to the Circus by Lani Lynn Vale
Spiced Right by Gigi Templeton
Texas Destiny by Peggy McKenzie
Texas Law: Lethal Encounter by Jennifer D. Bokal
Trouble with Grace by A.T. Butler
Wedded to His Enemy Debutante by Samantha Hastings
The Werevamp Diaries: Hallow Moon by Olivia Hardin
When Cupid's Arrow Strikes by Kathryn Kaleigh
Wildridge by Maggie Bradford
Woven Through the Pages by Kathryn Kaleigh
Wrangling a Texas Sweetheart by Katie Lane
Other Fiction
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal by Casey Nash
The Orphan Chronicles: Evolution by Nita DeBorde
The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team and Other Stories by Joe R. Lansdale
Teleosis by Amy W. Vogel
The Void Beyond the Walls by Relvin Gonzalez
Want to make sure your forthcoming Texas-connected titles are included in our feature? Email us at Publicity@LoneStarLiterary.
