Brighten The Days of December With These 9 Darkly Funny Novels

Annie is a successful comic book artist who finds the rights are suddenly available to her favorite out-of-print superhero — Lethal Lynx. She would love the chance to tell this story in her own way, but there’s something off about this opportunity of a lifetime. Annie sets out to uncover the truth in this page-turner.

A struggling writer, David, wakes up in the morning to find his date dead. So, he does what anyone would do in that situation: he calls his literary agent, Stacey. In this darkly hilarious thriller, the pair try to retrace David’s steps from the night before, just in case he had something to do with it.

Based on events that happened to Short’s own family, this locked room mystery takes place on an island in the middle of Lake Eerie. When a gangster and his eclectic entourage descend upon the island in the midst of an ice storm in 1932, a woman is left dead and the other, who is a gangster’s wife hiding as a maid, is fighting for survival.

Rosie is a Peruvian American with big dreams of making it in New York City. Her ex-crush Aiden is in her writing workshop and though Rosie finds him talented, he is also obnoxious. When the two spar in class, their professor orders them to write a book together. The two are reluctant until the book turns steamy and they work out their feelings on the page. How does it end, though?

Married couple Keru and Nate come from different backgrounds. Keru’s parents are Chinese immigrants who hold their daughter to impossibly high standards while Nate’s rural, white family are highly suspicious of their in-laws. When the couple decide to vacation together with both sides, they try to answer the big questions like how to blend two very different families. What could possible go wrong?

Eve is in the dumps due to the death of her father, a stressful job and some strange incidents. She doesn’t want to go to her sister’s wedding alone so she follows a story her Yiddish grandmother once told her and creates a golem. He’s protective and handsome, but of course, her clay creation takes a dark turn and the remote family wedding mudslides into trouble.

Two sisters couldn’t be more different — Su is a rich politician’s wife in Singapore and Emerald is a directionless sugar baby in New York City. The two hold a secret: they used to be snakes in Singapore a thousand years ago. When Emerald experiences a crisis, Su rushes to her side, but will Emerald’s antics out them?

Maddie wants to honor her brother’s dying wish, even if it means taking a trip around the world with her brother’s best friend, who is also her ex. The two set out on their journey, greeting new destinations and reliving their past. Maddie thinks her brother is matchmaking from the grave and she wants to kill him — too bad he’s already dead.