New British Books This Week + the Christmas Season Begins...

November 16, 2025

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The idea of the “acceptable Christmas season” is a funny thing. Many Americans insist that there shouldn’t be even a whisper of Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. In the UK, lights displays typically start coming on in early November (Oxford Street was on the 3rd).

We tend to split the difference and start talking about Christmas books and Christmas authors in mid-November - but the authors who write Christmas books often start much, much earlier. North Wales-based author Trisha Ashley has talked about spending summers in her own personal snowglobe, thinking and writing about winter and holiday coziness.

It seems like a great way to get Christmas fatigue (at least it would be if I tried it), but I’m glad some people are willing to think about Christmas almost year-round to create the books so many of us enjoy at this time of year.

If you’ve never tried a Trisha Ashley book, one of her titles, The Christmas Invitation, is on sale for 99 cents at time of writing (Sunday morning, the 16th of November).

Synopsis: Recovering from illness and tired of London life, Meg accepts an invitation to spend Christmas in a snowy hilltop village, only to find herself face-to-face with Lex, the man from her past. As old secrets resurface amid festive warmth and village cheer, Meg begins to wonder if this Christmas might bring the fresh start she never knew she needed.

If that sounds like the kind of book you like, she’s written plenty of others in varying lengths: The Christmas Retreat, One More Christmas at the Castle, A Winter’s Tale, Twelve Days of Christmas, A Christmas Cracker, Footsteps in the Snow (short stories), and The Magic of Christmas, just to get you started.

Need something a bit more violent and ‘manly’? Skip these and go for Eastgate by JD Kirk. It’s the polar opposite, and it’s hilarious (like all the Bob Hoon novels).

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New British Books This Week (or So)

The Queen Who Came in From the Cold by SJ Bennett

In 1961, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret are traveling by royal train when a witness reports seeing a murder from one of the carriages. With no body and only a missing photographer to go on, the Queen and her assistant, Joan McGraw, launch a secret investigation that leads them into a world of Cold War spies and royal intrigue.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

The British Christmas Cookbook by Melissa S. Wright

Step into a world of snow-dusted villages, twinkling lights, and warm British kitchens filled with the scent of mince pies and spice. This festive guide brings together classic holiday recipes, cozy winter bakes, and regional favorites from across the UK—plus charming traditions and homemade gift ideas to make your Christmas feel wonderfully British.

Get it: Amazon

Shocking Crimes by Michael Hambling

When a child’s mummified body is found in a suitcase in Bournemouth, Detective Sophie Allen must uncover the truth behind a decades-old crime linked to a young woman in a coma—and a secret someone will kill to keep buried on the Dorset coast.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Murder on the Clock by Lucy Connelly

(IRISH) When a beloved clockmaker in Shamrock Cove is found dead and her mother’s watch goes missing, Mercy McCarthy teams up with her sister and clever dog, Mr. Poe, to uncover secrets, rivalries, and a killer before the town’s summer festival begins.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Hyde & Seek by John A. Hoda

In Victorian London, Dr. Jekyll’s dark alter ego, Mr. Hyde, secretly hunts killers in the shadows—but when social reformer Francine Murphy draws the attention of Jack the Ripper, Hyde must risk exposure to save her in this gothic twist on the classic tale.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Revenge, Served Royal by Celeste Connally

At Windsor Castle for Queen Charlotte’s royal patisserie contest, Lady Petra Forsyth is meant to judge cakes—not corpses—but when a guest is strangled and her maid’s brother is accused, she must uncover a royal scandal and unmask a killer before another judge takes the poisoned tea meant for her.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Path of Gold by AJ Mackenzie

In 1343, English envoy Simon Merrivale travels from King Edward III’s court to Castile, where war and intrigue await; but as the siege of Algeciras rages, Merrivale discovers a plot that could destroy England’s fragile alliance and plunge both nations into chaos.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Broken Bones by John Carson

When a child’s bones are found beneath a house in Fife—once home to his girlfriend, Ruth Calder—DCI Liam Brodie is drawn into a chilling case that links buried secrets, small-town betrayals, and his own haunted past in this gripping new Scottish crime thriller.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

The Silver Book by Olivia Laing

In 1974, a young English artist fleeing London is drawn into Rome’s dazzling film world when he becomes apprentice and lover to famed designer Danilo Donati, working on Fellini and Pasolini’s sets—but as Italy’s political tensions mount, his hidden secret ignites a tragedy that blurs the line between art and reality.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Exposure by Mark Dawson

When assassin Charlie Cooper is sent to kill a rogue scientist in London, he’s drawn into a global chase from Britain to Singapore, where old flames, deadly biotech secrets, and double-crosses blur the line between mission and survival.

Get it: Amazon

What Sheep Think About the Weather by Amelia Thomas

When journalist-turned-farmer Amelia Thomas begins noticing odd behavior from the animals on her small British farm, she sets out to discover whether creatures—from pigs and pheasants to octopuses and chimps—are truly trying to communicate with us. Her search blends science, wonder, and humor into a heartfelt exploration of what happens when we finally start to listen.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

No Man’s Land by Simon Tolkien

In early 20th-century Britain, orphaned London boy Adam Raine rises from the coal mines of Yorkshire to the battlefields of World War I, navigating class divides, forbidden love, and betrayal as he comes of age in a nation on the brink of modernity.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Daughters of Nicnevin by Shona Kinsella

In 18th-century Scotland, as the Jacobite uprising tears through the Highlands, two witches summon the fae queen Nicnevin to protect their village with men made of earth—only to face dark consequences when the real men return home.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

‘It’s a peculiar thing to take a step forward in middle age, but having done it I don’t intend to retreat.’

Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop

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