Family tales for winter reading

At this time of year, our lives revolve around family, as do these new novels, for better or worse.

Watching You, Lisa Jewell

The British author’s last novel, “Then She Was Gone, “was by far and away the year’s most popular thriller, and remains on the bestseller list eight months after its release. Fans have a treat in store with “Watching You,” her 16th novel. Joey and her hapless new husband move in with her older brother and his wife on a posh Bristol street. Soon she’s nursing a serious crush on Tom, the head of the local high school, with a much younger wife and a son who spies on the neighbours. Across the way lives Jenna and her delusional mum. We know there will be a murder. But which of these characters (if any) is the victim? Jewell keeps us waiting.

The Dakota Winters, Tom Barbash

The Winters include 23-year-old son Anton, recovering from malaria acquired in Gabon during his stint with the Peace Corps; father Buddy, a latenight talk-show personality, recovering from a nervous breakdown; plus Anton’s mother and brother, Kip, but this novel really focuses on the father-son relationship. It is 1980 and the Winters live at The Dakota, the fabled Manhattan co-op apartment building, home to the rich and famous, including John Lennon (who live a floor above and who we readers know will be dead by year’s end). An entertaining trip to a bygone New York, filled with snippets of show-biz lore.

The Three Beths, Jeff Abbott

Mariah’s mother, Beth, vanished a year ago, and most residents of this suburb of Austin, Texas, believe Craig, Mariah’s dad, murdered his wife. Mariah, determined to prove her father’s innocence, discovers that six months before Beth disappeared a young woman named Bethany also went missing. This sets Mariah on a quest to establish a connection between the missing Beths. Soon a third Beth, this one named Lizbeth, becomes part of the puzzle. A well-constructed family-driven twister.