From this list of forthcoming historical fiction titles, I pick the following that I would very much like to read next year:

Dale Cramer, Paradise Valley, Bethany House (in 1921, a new Ohio law forces the Amish to attend public schools), January 2011. I’ve read several other novels by Mr. Cramer, and I think he’s quite a good writer. Here’s my review of Levi’s Will, another Amish-themed novel by Cramer.

J.J. Murphy, Murder Your Darlings, Signet (an Algonquin Round Table mystery featuring Dorothy Parker), January 2011. Although Dorothy parker would have been an uncomfortable person to know, she remains fascinating to look at from a distance. Her acerbic wit engages my own sense of humor, but again I’m glad to escape the exercise of that wit upon my foibles.

Jill Paton Walsh, The Attenbury Emeralds, Minotaur (new Dorothy Sayers-inspired mystery, which revisits Lord Peter Wimsey’s first case; set in 1951), January 2011. I’ve read at least one of Jill Paton Walsh’s Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, the first called Thrones, Dominations, and I thought she did a good job of following in the footsteps of a master mystery writer, Dorothy Sayers.

Anne Perry, Treason at Lisson Grove, Ballantine (first Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery in three years; set in Victorian London), April 2011. I like Anne Perry’s Victorian mysteries, although the author’s personal story is rather bizarre, especially for a writer of murder mysteries.

Mary Doria Russell, Doc, Random House (chronicles of the lives of Doc Holliday and his girlfriend Kate in Dodge City, Kansas, during one memorable summer), May 2011. Ms. Russell’s The Sparrow was one of the very best books I read in 2009, so I’m willing to try out anything she writes, even a novel with a western setting.

Nicola Upson, Two for Sorrow, Harper Paperbacks (third installment of Josephine Tey mystery series), July 2011. I’ll only read this one if I can manage to find and read the first two in the series and if I like them. I’m quite fond of Josephine Tey’s novels, so I hope this fictional version of the author does her justice.