It's Ho-Ho-Homicide for the Holidays for Mystery Readers

Murder Over Mistletoe? Yes, Please! Christmas is meant to thrill.

USA TODAY bestselling thriller author Rebecca Forster has a confession. Not every reader wants heartwarming romances, cookie recipes, and stories about magical snowmen during the holidays. Some readers want murder. Not actual murder, of course. Just enough fictional mayhem to make their own family Christmas seem wonderfully normal. After all, somewhere between the third relative asking about your love life, the decades-old fruitcake no one remembers saving, and the annual family disagreement over whose turn it is to host Christmas dinner, many readers begin craving something with a little more... suspense. A certain disturbing thought quietly creeps in… "MAYBE what this family gathering needs is a dead body."

Okay, not literally. But fictionally? Absolutely.

"Christmas is the perfect inspiration for a thriller writer," Forster says. "Family tensions. Old grievances. Spilled secrets. Impossible expectations. Everyone's a suspect before the presents are opened."

Unlike most Christmas stories, Forster's holidays don't take place in front of a fireplace. In fact, her version of Christmas doesn't even come with snow. In her hit Witness series, the holidays unfold on the beach — surfboards strung with lights, seashells instead of holly on the wreaths, and Santa looking perfectly comfortable in a Hawaiian shirt. It's a hot, bright, sun-bleached Christmas that feels nothing like a greeting card — a holiday setting that somehow makes danger feel brutally unexpected.

"Consider my work a gift to the family — I put all the chaos of the season into a book so you can have a peaceful holiday." Forster says with a laugh.

Chaos arrives in abundance in The 9th Witness, the newest installment in Forster's bestselling nine-book Witness series. While longtime fans will enjoy seeing attorney Josie Bates return, newcomers can jump right in because the novel stands completely on its own.

In The 9th Witness, Christmas is approaching, but Josie Bates isn't feeling much holiday cheer. A devastating miscarriage, her employer's impending retirement, and her husband's overseas assignment have left her emotionally adrift. Then, a woman named Lily Daye dies and unexpectedly names Josie as the executor of her estate. In the spirit of the season, Josie tries to understand the final wishes of a stranger. Suddenly she's facing a ruthless attorney, a court on a deadline, and a man with more money than God. Josie is prepared to fight for justice... or die trying.

So if your holiday reading leans a little more toward mystery than mistletoe, get ready. Pour the eggnog. Turn on the tree lights. Tis the season to get your thrills between the covers of a thrilling book. Five Christmas Thrillers to Stuff Every Mystery Reader's Stocking:

• The 9th Witness A Josie Bates Thriller (The Witness Series) by Rebecca Forster

• The Christmas Mystery: A Detective Luc Moncrief Mystery (BookShots)

  by James Patterson with Richard DiLallo

• The Gift: A Christmas Thriller Short Story by Freida McFadden 

• The Winter Killer (DI James Walker series 3) by Alex Pine (Author)

• The Girl and the Black Christmas (Emma Griffin® FBI Mystery) by A.J. Rivers