Fellowes, Jessica. The Mitford Trial. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jan. 2021. (Mitford Mysteries). 352p. ISBN 9781250316837. $27.99. CD. MYSTERY/HISTORICAL

In this fourth in Fellowes’s “Mitford Murders” series, based on a real-life crime, lady's maid Louisa Cannon is approached by a shadowy stranger who asks her to spy on Diana Mitford (at the moment indulging in an affair with the monstrous Oswald Mosley) and her sister Unity. Later, when Louisa accompanies the Mitfords on a cruise, someone ends up dead in the water. With 75,000-copy first printing.

Gentill, Sulari. Shanghai Secrets. Poisoned Pen: Sourcebooks. Jan. 2021. 400p. ISBN 9781464213618. pap. $15.99. MYSTERY/HISTORICAL

Rowland Sinclair returns in his ninth outing, traveling from Australia to Shanghai in 1935 to represent his brother in international wool negotiations. Never mind that low profile he’s supposed to keep; a Russian taxi dancer he steered across the floor one night—the one who claimed to be Princess Anastasia—is found dead in his room the next morning.

Kellerman, Faye. The Lost Boys: A Decker/Lazarus Novel. Morrow. Jan. 2021. 384p. ISBN 9780062910455. $27.99. lrg. prnt. MYSTERY

In the latest Decker/Lazarus mystery, Peter Decker believes that a developmentally disabled man who vanished while on an outing from his residential home went off with someone he knew, even as the remains of other young men are unearthed in the forest. Originally scheduled for October 2020; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Schaffhausen, Joanna. Every Waking Hour. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jan. 2021. 336p. ISBN 9781250249654. $27.99. MYSTERY

Having escaped the clutches of a serial killer as a teenager, Ellery Hathaway is gingerly reentering normal life as a rookie Boston detective when a 12-year-old girl in her care disappears. It remains uncertain whether Chloe Lockhart ran from her overly protective parents or was kidnapped to pay the price for their dark history, but Ellery has to find her. Fourth in a series; with a 40,000-copy first printing.

Tracy, P.J. Deep into the Dark. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jan. 2021. 352p. ISBN 9781250754943. $26.99. MYSTERY

In this latest from New York Times best-selling Tracy (who wrote the celebrated Monkeewrench series with mother P.J.), emotionally shattered Afghanistan war vet Sam Easton survives by bartending and going to therapy. After he intervenes to help a friend beaten up by her boyfriend, who later turns up dead, Sam looks to be the perfect suspect. But LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan doesn’t buy it. The start of a new series.

Tremblay, Paul. The Little Sleep. Morrow Paperbacks. Jan. 2021. 288p. ISBN 9780062995773. pap. $16.99. MYSTERY

A winner of Bram Stoker and British Fantasy awards, Tremblay stretches the imagination with a South Boston private detective named Mark Genevich, who suffers from narcolepsy-induced hypnagogic hallucinations that may include reality talent show star Jennifer Times trying to hire him to retrieve her stolen fingers. Awakening from a daze, he finds revealing photos of Jennifer on his desk. What’s real? Is this blackmail? A star’s severe case of exhibitionism? Not your standard mystery.