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Kimberly Belle, author of The Personal Assistant

When Alex first began posting unscripted family moments and motivational messages online, she had no intention of becoming an influencer. Overnight it seemed she’d amassed a huge following, and her hobby became a full-time job --- one that was impossible to manage without her sharp-as-a-tack personal assistant, AC. But all the good will of her followers turns toxic when one controversial post goes viral in the worst possible way. Alex reaches out to AC for damage control, but her assistant, whom she trusted with all her secrets, is now missing. As Alex digs into AC’s identity --- and a woman is found murdered --- she’ll find the greatest threat isn’t online, but in her own living room.

Louise Penny, author of A World of Curiosities

As the villagers of Three Pines prepare for a special celebration, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged and shattered. Now they’ve arrived in Three Pines. But to what end? Gamache and Beauvoir’s memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother’s murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt?

December 2, 2022

We had such a good time Thanksgiving weekend! Dinner on Thursday became a multi-course affair as we forgot to cook the yams. We had set up a card table in the garage where it was cold, and all the prepped dishes were out there. My big mistake was sending Greg and Cory there to grab various items (they clearly overlooked something still there), and I misplaced my menu among a stack of recipes (next time I am tacking that on the bulletin board). As we were getting everything onto serving dishes, Tom said, “The Yams! We forgot the yams!” So we told everyone to eat slowly and that yams would be arriving...in 45 minutes. Yes, we all laughed. That was after I had forgotten to make the stuffing for the mushrooms, but we solved that drama when our guests were just late enough for me to toss that together and bake them.

A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney

December 2022

A HEART THAT WORKS, a memoir by actor Rob Delaney, is my final Bets On selection of 2022. While it’s the saddest book that I read this year, it’s also one that I literally could not put down.

Rob’s son, Henry, was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was just a year old. Rob's family had moved from Los Angeles to London for his work. His wife, Leah, gave birth to Henry there. For a while, their lives were crazy busy, which is what happens when there are three young boys in the house. Then came the diagnosis that changed their lives and took them on a journey that was not going to have a happy ending.

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro

December 2022

Is it possible that SIGNAL FIRES is the first Dani Shapiro book that I have read? It definitely has me scrambling to see what else I have missed. But before I do, let me tell you why I am betting on this book, which completely grabbed me from the start and held me through 200 pages of characters and plot.

The book is set on Division Street, a quiet suburban block in Westchester County, New York. As it opens in 1985, there is an accident that will forever change the brother and sister who were in the car when it happened --- a terrible tragedy where a young woman died. And the first secret is laid out. From there, we delve deeply into the lives of two families who are neighbors. The accident happens on a night when Sarah Wilf has had too much to drink, and she tosses her car keys to her younger brother, Theo, so he can drive. Their passenger in the front seat is Misty Zimmerman, who dies when Theo loses control and hits an oak tree on the front lawn of their house. The family pledges to keep secret that Theo was driving. But the guilt that the teens feel will be something that they carry with them.

The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward

December 2022

Amanda Eyre Ward draws her latest work of domestic suspense, THE LIFEGUARDS, from a time of life that many of us know well --- when your friends are the parents of your children’s friends.

Here we have three women --- suburban moms Liza, Whitney and Annette --- who live in Austin’s Zilker Park neighborhood. Their boys --- Charlie, Xavier and Bobcat (Robert) --- are close friends and lifeguards at the same pool. These Three Musketeers, as they refer to themselves, are finally off on their own, or at least their version of this. Their moms hang out enjoying margaritas and conversation. Life is placid and good until one night when the boys ride their bikes to where their moms are drinking. While they were hanging out at one of Zilker Park’s watering holes, they found the body of a young woman. They are quick to note that they have no idea who she is. But something sounds just a bit fishy here.

End-of-the-Year Contest 2022

Congratulations to the winners of our 2022 End-of-the-Year Contest! One Grand Prize winner received all 40 of Carol Fitzgerald's Bookreporter.com Bets On picks from 2022, while eight others won a selection of five of these titles. You can see all the winners below, along with 2022's Bets On books.