Reading Ahead: January 2016, part 3

This is the final installment of January's Reading Ahead posts, but don't worry! There is SO MUCH that made my list of Meg's Picks, I'll be regaling you with them all month long! And honestly, the two titles below could be on that list, too. Curious? Read on!

The Girls She Left Behind, by Sarah Graves. If you're a fan of authors like Linda Castillo or Lisa Gardner, you really should try Sarah Graves's Lizzie Snow series a try--this is the second in the series, following 2015's debut, Winter At the Door. Ex-Boston homicide detective turned sheriff's deputy in Maine's Great North Woods, Lizzie Snow is finding her first brutal Maine winter bad enough. But near the small town of Bearkill a stubborn forest fire now rages out of control, and as embers swirl dangerously in the smoke-filled air, a teenage girl with a history of running away has dropped out of sight again. The locals and the law both think Tara Wylie is up to her old tricks—until her mother receives a terrifying text message. Lizzie must race against the clock and the encroaching flames to save an innocent and corner a monster.

My Name Is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout. I have been a fan of Pulitzer winner Strout's work for over a decade, since reading Amy and Isabelle way back in 1999. So I am always delighted to see a new title of hers slated for publication. Here, she explores the tender relationship between mother and daughter:
Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy’s childhood in Amgash, Illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy’s life: her escape from her troubled family, her desire to become a writer, her marriage, her love for her two daughters. I really can't wait.