By Rachel Burt

We’re a month into 2022, and one of my favorite things to do at the beginning of a new year is to update my reading list with new titles.  There are a number of highly anticipated books set to be released this year, and I’ve chosen some that have made it onto my personal Goodreads list.  If you’re looking for more recommendations, the Hackettstown Library also has an online Readers’ Advisory service!  Answer a couple of questions on our form and we will hand-pick your next book.  If you’re stuck in a reading rut, give it a try!

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide.  Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could stay with him, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. But when she shows up to his apartment, he’s not there.  The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions unfold.  Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly.  Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The Maid by Nita Prose

Publishers Weekly predicts that “fans of fresh takes on traditional mysteries will be delighted” by this debut, which is already slated for a film adaptation. Twenty-five-year-old Molly Gray enjoys her job as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, where she can put her love of cleaning to good use.  But her life is turned upside down when she discovers the body of tycoon Charles Black in his suite — and then finds herself being named the prime suspect. Readers will find it easy to root for Molly in this charming cozy mystery.

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists marriage to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him – and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearance. These three sections are joined in an enthralling and ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

Eight months after losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, Lillian Carter’s life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists’ models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge. But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate.  When she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion, Lillian jumps at the chance. But the longer she works as a private secretary to the demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family—pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the stakes just may be life or death.

Nearly fifty years later, model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of New York City’s most impressive museums. But when she is dismissed from a Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica’s financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.

Contact your local library to check the availability of these or any other titles!

(Rachel Burt is the Executive Director at the Hackettstown Free Public Library)